With the support of TIKA, the Srebrenica Memorial Center will get a Genocide Museum, opening expected on July 11 next year

(Patria) - The Srebrenica Genocide Museum, representing the third and final phase of the long-term cooperation between the Srebrenica Memorial Center and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), is expected to be completed next year and opened on July 11, on the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, Anadolu reports.

The President of TIKA, Serkan Kayalar, visited the Potočari Memorial Center today, accompanied by a large Turkish delegation, where he was welcomed by the Director of the Memorial Center, Emir Suljagić. Kayalar first paid tribute to the victims of the genocide committed in Srebrenica in July 1995 by laying flowers and signed the book of impressions.

Kayalar and Suljagić then toured the cemetery, and then the former battery factory, specifically the site where the Srebrenica Genocide Museum will be located. Suljagić informed Kayalar about the museum's plan and concept on this occasion.

In a statement to the media representatives, Kayalar emphasized that this is his first visit to Potočari.

"Great pain was inflicted here, and I believe the world has not yet confronted that pain. These people paid a price for a nation. That price cannot be paid, it is something very valuable, they are martyrs," said Kayalar.

Referring to the signing of today's protocol, Kayalar reminded that TIKA has been working on the project of converting the former battery factory into a museum for the last three years, and that the first two phases of the project included roof renovation, adaptation, and installation works.

"Today we are here to sign the protocol, after which we will start working on the museum, according to the instructions given by our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. God willing, we will put this project into operation as a world-class Genocide Museum," Kayalar announced.

The Director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, Emir Suljagić, emphasized that the Republic of Turkey is the largest donor, or rather TIKA is the largest institutional donor to the Srebrenica Memorial Center.

“Our cooperation has been ongoing for five years, and two years ago we started working on what will be the central part of this Memorial Center, which is the museum, covering 4,300 square meters, the largest of its kind in the world. With our own narrative. We did not have to fight with anyone here about what we can or cannot say. Because that's how friends cooperate, that's how brothers cooperate. No one tried to tell us exactly what happened here, but people told us this is your story, you will tell it, you will choose everything that goes into the exhibition, this is your narrative, we will be there to help you do it in the best possible way. And that's how it works," said Suljagić.

He added that they "hope that the opening of the Srebrenica Genocide Museum will also be the central event in Potočari for the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the genocide".

"Our entire story should be told here, and not only the story from here, not only what happened in Srebrenica and what happened on the road from here to Tuzla, but also the context in which it happened should be explained," Suljagić explained.

When asked by journalists what the museum would look like, Suljagić said it was difficult to describe what would be exhibited, adding:

"There will be a section where people will be informed about the events leading up to 1992 with a reconceptualization of Bosniaks as a multifaceted element, not from Bosnia but from Asia and so on and so forth. They will be able to see some things they haven't seen before. Video material from investigations, which has never been published anywhere, from the investigations of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia related to Srebrenica, will be exhibited here. For example, footage of the warehouses in Kravica from February and March 1996. So, when bones, shoes, clothes, and so on are lying there."

"We need more friends like the Turks," said Suljagić, noting that with this museum, the Memorial Center will complete its story and have everything an institution of this type should have.

When asked if the opening of the Genocide Museum on July 11, 2025, could be announced, Suljagić said:

"We cannot announce anything yet. Our hope is that it will be on the 30th anniversary, although we cannot commit to that at this moment."

After touring the exhibition in the battery factory, the official signing of the protocol between TIKA and the Srebrenica Memorial Center took place, signed by Kayalar and the acting chairperson of the Steering Board of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, Aida Baručija.