Türkiye marks 21st death anniversary of Alija Izetbegovic

By Zehra Nur Celik

Türkiye on Saturday marked the 21st death anniversary of Alija Izetbegovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina's first president who led the country to independence from the former Yugoslavia.

“I commemorate Aliya Izzetbegovic, a brave soldier on the battlefields, a wise leader who led his nation to independence, the first president of brotherly Bosnia and Herzegovina, a man of cause and idea, with longing and mercy on the anniversary of his passing away," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on X.

Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus also released a message in remembrance of the Bosnian leader.

"When we think of Alija Izetbegovic, what comes to mind is an exemplary intellectual, a statesman, and a man of cause who kept a society together that was on the verge of annihilation in the heart of the world, putting first people's dignity and their right to live freely," Kurtulmus said on X.

"If today, there is a front of humanity being formed against the genocide we are witnessing in Gaza, even in the most remote corners of the world, the role of Alija's life and teachings in this can never be denied," he said.

"We have not forgotten, and will never forget, Alija and his struggle; the genocide carried out in Bosnia yesterday, and the one in Gaza today," he added.

Izetbegovic, a politician, writer and lawyer, who came to international prominence during the country's bitter 1992-1995 war, is commemorated every year on his death anniversary.

Often dubbed the "Wise King," Izetbegovic is one of the most important Muslim thinkers of the last century.

The first president of Bosnia and Herzegovina managed to gain independence for his country on March 1, 1992, months after Slovenia and Croatia broke off from the former Yugoslavia.

He died in Sarajevo on Oct. 19, 2003, due to natural causes, having served as president of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992-1996 and as chairman of the Bosnian presidency until October 2000.