Srebrenica genocide committed in front of eyes of whole world, just like today's genocide in Palestine: Turkish justice minister

By Talha Ozturk

SREBRENICA, Bosnia Herzegovina (AA) - The Turkish justice minister told Anadolu on Thursday that a genocide was committed in Bosnia Herzegovina's Srebrenica in front of the eyes of the whole world in 1995 and that today another one is taking place in Palestine, Gaza before the eyes of the whole world.

Yilmaz Tunc's remarks came in Bosnia's Potocari village where the collective funeral is held for 14 newly identified victims of the Srebrenica genocide on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the genocide.

Every year on July 11, newly identified victims of the genocide are buried in a memorial cemetery in Potocari in the country’s east.

"Unfortunately, while this is being done, international institutions have failed to prevent genocide. Just as the time has come for the perpetrators of genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Srebrenica to be punished before the courts, those who commit genocide in Gaza and Palestine will also be punished," Tunc told Anadolu.

A Turkish delegation led by Tunc arrived in Potocari to honor the memory of more than 8,300 boys and men who were murdered in the hills around Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995.

"On the occasion of the commemoration, we want to be with our brothers from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Here, in the period between 1992 and 1995, before the eyes of the whole world, a genocide was committed, in the very heart of Europe, when thousands of people were killed. Later, the perpetrators of the genocide were punished before an international court. About 45 criminals were sentenced to a total of 700 years in prison," said Tunc.

He also said that genocide is still taking place in Gaza, Palestine before the eyes of the whole world.

The youngest victim buried this year is Beriz Mujic, 17, born in 1978 in Zvornik.

His remains were found 28 years after he was killed and was exhumed in May 2023.

He was killed in July 1995 in the Suceska area near Bratunac, and his remains were discovered and exhumed in the Srebrenica municipality area.

Mujic is buried next to his brother Hazim, whose remains were laid to rest in 2013.

The body of their father, Omer Mujic, has yet to be found.

The oldest victim who was buried this year is Hamed Salic, born in 1927. He was 68 when he went missing in the summer of 1995 in the town of Zepa. His remains were exhumed in May 2014 and recently identified.

Thousands of people from various countries are attending the funerals and burials. Following this year's funeral, the number of victims buried at the cemetery will reach 6,765.

- Srebrenica genocide

In the spring of 1993, the UN Security Council declared the city of Srebrenica a "safe area." However, Serb troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic, who was later found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, overran the zone.

Dutch troops responsible for safeguarding people in the UN zone failed to act when Serb forces occupied it on July 11, killing 2,000 men and boys in a single day.

Approximately 15,000 Bosniaks fled to the surrounding mountains, but Serb troops hunted them down, killing an additional 6,000 people.

Serb forces allowed women and children to reach Bosnian-controlled regions but massacred at least 8,372 Bosnian men in forests, factories, and warehouses. The murdered Bosnians were buried in mass graves, with bodies discovered in 570 different locations across the country, including 77 mass graves.

In 2007, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that genocide had been committed in Srebrenica.

Efforts to locate the missing victims of the genocide have continued, with identified remains buried at the Potocari Memorial Cemetery.​​​​​​​

On June 8, 2021, UN tribunal judges upheld a life sentence for Mladic for genocide, persecution, crimes against humanity, extermination, and other war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.