Victims' associations call on National Theatre to remove controversial play 'Six Against Turkey' from repertoire

(Patria) - The Embassy of the Republic of Turkey has sent a protest note to Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the play
"Six Against Turkey", scheduled for April 14 at the National Theatre in Sarajevo. Turkey has expressed concern over the fact that this play is being performed precisely in a national cultural institution of BiH.

The diplomatic note states that the play contains propaganda elements in favor of a terrorist organization directed against the Republic of Turkey.

"Without delving into the motives and freedom of artistic expression and the right of the management of the National Theatre to make decisions independently, we wish to remind that Turkey is a friendly country to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Turkey was one of the sponsors of the United Nations Resolution on Srebrenica, made a significant contribution to the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague to shed light on the facts about war crimes in BiH. Also, as a member of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), Turkey was the only state that expressed disagreement with the claim that the request for revision of the verdict against Serbia before the International Court of Justice
poses a threat to the constitutional order of BiH", states the joint statement of the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide, the Association "Movement of Mothers of the Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves", and the Association "Women of Podrinje".

"Turkey continuously supports the rights of victims, provides assistance even today, and strongly supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In this regard, we expect the mentioned play to be removed from the repertoire. We pose the question – how would we in BiH, or the management of the National Theatre in Sarajevo, feel if Turkey organized a play titled 'Six Against BiH', with names like Milošević, Karadžić, Mladić, Stanišić, Krajišnik and Plavšić?

We believe that Turkey is a sincere friend of Bosnia and Herzegovina and trust that the competent authorities will understand and respect the request of a country that consistently and strongly supports the interests of our country", the statement said.