'We will not forget,' Turkish first lady says on 27th anniversary of Srebrenica genocide

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - It was humanity, conscience, and compassion that was buried in Srebrenica 27 years ago, Türkiye's first lady said on Monday, the 27th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide.

"We will not forget either the cry of the Bosniak mothers nor the children who watched the murderous expulsion of their fathers. I commemorate our brothers and sisters who lost their lives in the genocide with mercy," Emine Erdogan said.

Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday marked the anniversary of the genocide, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II, by bidding farewell to 50 newly identified victims of the massacre at a memorial service.

Every year on July 11, newly identified victims are laid to rest at a memorial cemetery in Potocari, eastern Bosnia.

After this year’s funeral, the number of burials in the cemetery rose to 6,721.

The youngest of the victims buried this year was Salim Mustafic, who was 16 when killed, while Husejin Krdzic, 59, was the oldest.

- Srebrenica genocide

More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed when Bosnian Serb forces attacked the eastern town of Srebrenica in July 1995, despite the presence of Dutch peacekeeping troops.

The Serb forces were trying to wrest territory from Bosnian Muslims and Croats to form a state.

The UN Security Council had declared Srebrenica a "safe area" in the spring of 1993. However, troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic, who was later found guilty of war crimes, and crimes against humanity and genocide, overran the UN zone.

Dutch troops failed to act as Serb forces occupied the area, killing some 2,000 men and boys on July 11 alone.

Around 15,000 residents of Srebrenica fled to the surrounding mountains, but Serb troops hunted down and killed 6,000 more people.

The bodies of victims have been found from 570 places across the country.

In 2007, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that genocide had been committed in Srebrenica.

On June 8, 2021, UN tribunal judges upheld in a second-instance trial a verdict sentencing Mladic to life in prison for the genocide, persecution, crimes against humanity, extermination and other war crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina.