Bosnia-Herzegovina celebrates 20th year of independence (3)

SARAJEVO (A.A) - March 1, 2012 - Bosnia-Herzegovina celebrates on March 1 the 20th anniversary of the declaration of its independence in a referendum led by the late Alija Izetbegovic and his close friends following the break up of former Yugoslavia and the establishment of Slovenia and Croatia. Bosnia-Herzegovina celebrates the 20th anniversary of this "honorable day" after paying a painful price. In an exclusive interview with the AA, renowned academician, philosopher and intellectual of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Muhammad Filipovic, said that nationalist movements increased following the death of Yugoslavian leader Tito. At Tito's period, only the Bosnians did not have an idea for ethnic nationality. We have never demanded a separate country for Bosnians. We got used to living with all other ethnic groups at the time of the Ottomans, Filipovic said. Serbian nationalists declared war on Bosnia-Herzegovina following the declaration of independence, Filipovic noted. We were hoping for support from the international community. We thought that the international community could stop attacks on us but they never did. Further, the international community gave us damage by supporting the Serbs and Croatians. Bosnia-Herzegovina declared its independence following a referendum. Later on, the Serbs began killing Bosnians. For 3.5 years, the international community let the Serbs kill Bosnians. At the end of the war, the Srebrenitsa genocide took place. The Srebrenitsa genocide gave a hard time to the Bosnian administration. Bosnians accepted the demands of the Serbs and eventually the Bosnian Serb Republic was established, Filipovic said. -"The most difficult incident for Bosnian people"- The most difficult incident for Bosnian people took place when the Ottomans left Bosnia, Filipovic underlined. Following the departure of the Ottomans, we felt weak in Bosnia and had to deal with occupiers. Yes, the Ottomans left us alone. But they could not protect us after getting weak, Filipovic said. Many Bosnians migrated to Turkey after the massacres. They should, however, not forget that their roots are here. They are responsible for this land and we are responsible for them, Filipovic noted. The Bosnians have no right to complain about the Ottomans. The Ottoman Empire fell due to its own wrong doings. Thank God, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, was able to establish Turkey in the post-Ottoman era. Ataturk made it possible for Turkey to be an important factor in international relations. In the last few years, we feel Turkey's positive impact on the region. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's policies give hope to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Filipovic emphasized. -Late Alija's friend Kljujic- Speaking to the AA, a Croatian member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency during the war and a close colleague of Alija Izetbegovic, Styepan Kljujic, said that the arms embargo on Bosnia during the war meant direct support to those who have committed war crimes. An embargo gets implemented when two sides in a war have been heavily armed and to end further escalation of clashes, Kljujic stressed. However, we were completely unarmed. The communist party of Bosnia-Herzegovina had transferred the weapons to the National Army of Yugoslavia. The West supported Milosevic in this fashion and the Russians were on his side as well, Kljujic said. When we assumed power in the 1990s, we tried to explain that Bosnia-Herzegovina should be in the same status as Croatia and Slovenia. At the time when Europe told Slovenia and Croatia to hold referendum for independence, we demanded a referendum here but the Serbs did not find our decision acceptable, Kljujic said. Despite the fact that the government was weakened by the Serbs, we succeeded in holding a referendum on independence on February 29 and March 1, Kljujic noted. The referendum was a great success as the majority of our citizens opted for independence, Kljujic said. The fact that 64 percent of the people voted for independence was an unbelievable result as this amount of people in Europe do not even go out of their homes to vote in elections, Kljujic said. -Idea of "a single Bosnia-Herzegovina" disappearing- Although Bosnia-Herzegovina achieved independence, the idea of "a single Bosnia-Herzegovina" is slowly disappearing. This is due to the Dayton Agreement, Kljujic noted. "The Dayton Agreement forced everyone to be stuck in his/her religion, race and culture. For instance, books in schools say nothing about the past 20 years. You can not read anywhere what actually happened. Accordingly, the children living in the Bosnian Serb Republic will never know what happened in Sarajevo. They will not know that Alija Izetbegovic was taken as prisoner, who attacked our cities and why Sarajevo is a brave city. They will not learn that 16,000 people were killed in Sarajevo, 1,601 children died, and cultural buildings were demolished. The new generation grows as a violent youth only knowing their own 'rights and truths'. The international community may have stopped the war but it did not implement the essential principles necessary for the development of our country," Kljujic also said.