Srebrenica and Rumelia

It has been 20 years since Serbian fascism massacred 8,000 Muslims all together in Srebrenica. An international ceremony was held in Srebrenica for this anniversary. 

The Serbian Army, led by General Ratko Mladic, captured Srebrenica, which had been declared a safe zone by the U.N., and separated women and children up to 11 years old in the city. They machine gunned 8,000 Muslim men in front of mass graves. The date was July 11, 1995. The court called it the “Srebrenica genocide.” 

While this massacre was taking place, head of the U.N. Peacekeeping Force Dutch general Tom Karremans watched. Actually, it was this General Karremans who had collected the weapons of Muslims by saying “We will protect you.”

The Srebrenica butcher General Mladic said the following and the whole world heard it on television: “On July 11, 1995, here we are at the Serbian city, Srebrenica. We are giving this city to the Serbian nation. Finally, after the rebellion against the Turks on this land, it is time to take revenge from the Turks.” 

The human butchers were inspired by the 1389 Kosovo War and 1804 Serbian Rebellion to massacre Bosnian Muslims between 1992 and 1995. Fascist craziness is like this. 

The Srebrenica butcher Mladic has been caught. The International Criminal Court sentenced Mladic to life imprisonment on April 19, 2004 for “genocide” charges. His deputy General Radislav Krstic was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment. The history of justice will remember with respect the Chief Judge Teodor Menon and other judges for their unanimous ruling. 

The only “genocide” conviction in the Bosnian civil war is the Srebrenica massacre. Other convictions are of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic died in jail while he was being tried for “genocide,” taking his place in history next to Hitler. 

“Bosnian butcher” Radovan Karadzic is being tried with 11 files including “genocide.” His verdict is expected in November. 

Bosnian commander Nâsır Oriç was acquitted; he participated, with honor, in the July 11 ceremonies.  
One should not disregard Russia’s negative attitude. By always obstructing U.N. decisions on the Bosniak massacre and by vetoing during critical moments, they have supported their “Orthodox Slav” brothers, the Serbians. 

Moreover, after 20 years have passed since the massacre, at the voting held last week at UN Security Council to declare July 11 as “Srebrenica Genocide Day,” Russia again vetoed.  

There is a court verdict. Some 20 years have passed; it is not possible, at all, to understand Russia’s stance. China, Nigeria, Angola and Venezuela did not participate the humanitarian voting. 

Meanwhile, former U.S. President Bill Clinton indeed deserves respect for being the statesman to activate NATO and the international justice. Bosnians are showing this gratitude. 

Dear readers, have you ever been to Sarajevo? To Mostar or Srebrenica? To Skopje, Sanjak, Ohrid or the Tomb of Gül Baba at Budapest? 

I will write again in a separate piece the huge role the Balkans (or in our words, Rumelia) played in our history and in the formation of our modern Turkey of today. For now, let me just say that you should plan your touristic travels to include Sarajevo first, then all other Balkan cities. You will like them more than Paris and London; you will find them more interesting.  For Turkey to develop friendly relations with the Balkan states, it would serve well to see that we have a shared history.