Türkiye opens July 15 Democracy Day Library in Bosnia

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) - The July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day Library, established by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) at a high school in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was inaugurated with a ceremony on Monday.

Travnik Mixed High School, with 900 students and 70 teachers, now features a library with approximately 40,000 books, modernized by TIKA. The high school, which includes Turkish in its curriculum, teaches Turkish to about 100 students annually.

The library includes a Turkish bookshelf area created with contributions from the Yunus Emre Institute. This section also features materials on the July 15 coup attempt by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), aiming to educate young generations accurately about the event.

The opening ceremony was attended by Turkish Ambassador to Sarajevo Sadik Babur Girgin, Central Bosnia Canton Prime Minister Tahir Lendo, Travnik Mayor Kenan Dautovic, TIKA Sarajevo Coordinator Erdinc Isik, and representatives from both countries.

The program also included a photo exhibition and the screening of a documentary "I Was There That Night," depicting the events of July 15 through the eyes of Bosnian students.

The defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in which 252 people were killed and 2,734 were wounded, was plotted and carried out by FETO and its US-based leader Fethullah Gulen.

Gulen has long lived in the US state of Pennsylvania. Turkish leaders have long sought his extradition, but US judicial officials have not approved it.