Turkish Embassy: Unacceptable to equate Alija Izetbegović with war criminals

(Patria) - The Communications Office of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey (Turkiye) reacted to the equation of Alija Izetbegović, the first president of the Presidency of RBiH, and war criminal Ratko Mladić, as stated in the same sentence by High Representative Christian Schmidt on Friday on Face TV in a conversation with Senad Hadžifejzović.

"Of course, it is unacceptable to equate the late president Alija Izetbegović with persons who are convicted war criminals. We await a statement from the OHR," the Turkish Embassy responded to Patria's inquiry.

Numerous reactions followed yesterday, but those from the international community were absent. This is the first reaction from a member of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), which appoints the High Representative. Turkey represents the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

During the day, the OHR issued a statement and attempted to soften what Schmidt had said, emphasizing that "all malicious and incorrect claims suggesting that the High Representative intentionally equates the first president of the BiH Presidency, Alija Izetbegović, with the convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić" are unfounded.

However, regardless of this clarification, it is evident that Schmidt spoke in the plural about "images in textbooks".