Bosnia Herzegovina marks birthday

of pivotal leader Alija Izetbegovic

Open-door days have started at Alija Izetbegovic Museum in Sarajevo

Talha Ozturk   |08.08.2022

    
BELGRADE, Serbia 

Bosnia Herzegovina marked on Monday the 97th birth anniversary of

Alija Izetbegovic, the country's first president and a pivotal figure in
the troubled history of the Balkans.

Izetbegovic -- a politician, writer, and lawyer -- who came to

international prominence during the country's bitter 1992-1995 war --
is remembered every year on his birthday across Bosnia Herzegovina.
In the capital Sarajevo, open-door days have started at the Alija
Izetbegovic Museum.

The museum, which contains many memories and belongings of

Izetbegovic's life, can be visited free of charge until Aug. 10.

Also, a Sufi music concert and commemoration program will be

organized by the Preporod Bosnian Cultural Association.

Often dubbed the "Wise King," Izetbegovic managed to gain

independence for his country on March 1, 1992 - months after
Slovenia and Croatia broke away from the former Yugoslavia.

Earlier, his writings got him in trouble with the Yugoslav authorities.
Along with 12 other Bosniak scholars, he was jailed for 14 years after
being accused of "separatism and establishing an Islamic state" in
1983 but was released in 1988.

It was in Izetbegovic's Islamic Declaration, published in 1970, that

Bosnian independence, national consciousness and the expansion of
Islamic thought found an audience.

The book dealt with the relationship between the West and the Islamic
world and how to build a new civilization.

He entered politics the same year and founded the Party of

Democratic Action (SDA) in 1990 -- aiming to empower Bosniaks in
their own land.
Being one of the six republics of Yugoslavia, Bosnia's SDA won 86
seats in the 240-seat parliament in the 1990's first multi-party
elections.

In February-March 1992, a referendum on independence for Bosnia

Herzegovina was held, in which 64 percent of its people participated
and voted 99.44 percent in favor of becoming independent.

A month later, the European Union and the United States recognized
the new state.
Izetbegovic died in Sarajevo on Oct. 19, 2003, of natural causes,
having served as president of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina
from 1992 to 1996 and as chairman of the Bosnian presidency until
October 2000.

Genocide

However, the then-political leader of Bosnia's Serbs, Radovan

Karadzic, rejected the result and was the political face of an armed
campaign that culminated in ethnic cleansing, a return to mass murder
in postwar Europe.

But neither during the ensuing war nor during the 1995 Srebrenica
genocide of thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys did
Izetbegovic lose the spirit of resistance.
Support for Izetbegovic and his government came from some
unexpected quarters.

In the US, one sporting megastar was moved by the suffering of

Muslims thousands of miles away in Europe and began rallying
support to stop the suffering.

Muhammad Ali -- the internationally famous boxing star -- lent his

support to Bosnia's campaign for international aid.

Ali went to the UN on behalf of the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

He was welcomed by Muhamed Sacirbey, Bosnia's first ambassador
to the organization, at UN headquarters in New York.

From that time, only one photo remains -- Izetbegovic embracing

Muhammad Ali.

Ali did not speak to the media at the time, but the image remained a
powerful symbol of resistance.

In November 1995, Bosniaks -- amid international pressure -- stopped

the war and signed the Dayton Agreement, bringing peace to the
country.
After stepping down as chair of Bosnia's presidency in 2000,
Izetbegovic lived alone on one floor of his house in Sarajevo.

Leaving a flag to his country, Izetbegovic died eight years after the
Dayton Agreement was signed in 2003.

The death of Izetbegovic was bitter news and media headlines from
that time are proof of the sadness and mourning shown by the
Bosniak people: "He was the father of the people"; "Without Aliya,
Bosnia and Herzegovina would not exist"; "Man of Peace dies"; and
"Thank you, President."

As per his request, Izetbegovic's remains were laid to rest in the

humble Kovaci area of Sarajevo, with the words "I vow to God --
whose strength is above all -- we will not be slaves" on his
gravestone.
"If we forget the genocide done to us, we are compelled to live it
again. I shall never tell you to seek revenge, but never forget what has
been done," Izetbegovic once told his people.

"To become the teacher of the earth below, one has to become the
student of the sky above. Law is not only my profession but my
preference for living and my life's motto.

"We won't seek our future in the past. We won't run after grudge and
revenge."