Erdogan boasts: Without Turkey, unfortunate events would have taken place in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Still proud of Turkey’s cross-border interventions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that his country is the biggest barrier to the misery of Bosnia-Herzegovina, again like the country’s pre-1995 Dayton agreement.

In a speech delivered during his meeting with representatives of Bosniac civil organizations in Turkey yesterday, President Erdogan noted that Turkey has always supported the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina by preserving the diverse cultural and ethnic structure of the country, without discrimination among its components.

He added: “Since the Dayton Agreement until today, Turkey is the biggest barrier to unfortunate events, as in the past in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Russia Today reported.

He continued: “We never want Bosnia and Herzegovina to become an arena of influence and competition for the parties that have calculations about this region”, he explained. “Accordingly, we have intensified our diplomatic efforts following the recent tension that has made the unity of Bosnia a subject of debate.”

He added: “We know that Turkey’s efforts to maintain peace and stability in this region (the Balkans) are disturbing some circles which are feeding unrest and chaos”, he said, adding that his country will continue to “work for the safety of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the rest of the Balkans despite the axes of evil”.

Erdogan pointed out that he discussed with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, last September 18 in Istanbul, the developments in the region, recalling also that he met with the Chairman of the Bosnian People’s Assembly (the second chamber of the parliament), Bekir Izetbegovic, last Wednesday in Istanbul, and discussed with him ways to contain the tension in the country.

Erdogan said he plans to invite officials from Bosnia and Herzegovina to meet in Ankara in the coming days, stressing that Turkey will continue to promote dialog with various parties to prevent the return of Bosnia and Herzegovina to dark days.

Recently, Milorad Dodik, the Serb leader in Bosnia-Herzegovina, threatened to secede from Bosnia if the “origin of the Dayton Agreement”, which ended the war in the country’s long-suffering political crisis, compounded by Dodik’s recent statements.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is witnessing a political crisis, which started last July 23 in the province of Dodik, over a law criminalizing the denial of the massacres that took place in the country.