Izetbegović

Türkiye on Saturday marked the 21st death anniversary of Alija Izetbegovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina's first president who led the country to independence from the former Yugoslavia.

Turkey on Oct. 19 marked the 18th anniversary of the death of Alija Izetbegovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina's first president and a pivotal figure in the troubled history of the Balkans.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told parliament on Tuesday that he will make an official trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 29-30 - one of the highest-level Turkish visits to the Balkan country in recent years.

"We will visit Bosnia this week. As you know, Bosnia is a very important country for us," Yildirim said.

"No one, in Europe, in the region and in the country, should try to open a Pandora's Box in Bosnia," the spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ambassador Ibrahim Kalin, said in an address during his visit to Bosnia. 

A day after Bakir Izetbegovic told Deutsche Welle that he hopes Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) will recognize Kosovo, his cabinet issued a statement.

Tanjug said on Tuesday that it was reporting this statement in its entirety, as follows:

Bakir Izetbegovic says that his father, Alija Izetbegovic, left it to Turkish President Recep Tajjip Erdogan to "safeguard" Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH).

According to him, this happened during "one of the last conversations Izetbegovic had with Erdogan."

Bakir Izetbegovic says that his father, Alija Izetbegovic, left it to Turkish President Recep Tajjip Erdogan to "safeguard" Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH).

According to him, this happened during "one of the last conversations Izetbegovic had with Erdogan."

Bakir Izetbegovic, the member of the tripartite Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Monday criticized Czech President Milos Zeman's statement that terrorists could create a base in the Balkan country, stressing that it was a "dangerous lie."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid tribute on Wednesday night to Bosnia's wartime president, Alija Izetbegovic, on the 13th anniversary of his death.

"Alija, as leader in the fight for Bosnian Muslims, enabled the survival of Europe's most important Islamic community," Erdogan tweeted. 

Friday's appointment of Sebija Izetbegovic, wife of the Bosniak member of the Bosnian Presidency, as director of the University Clinical Center of Sarajevo, UKCS, an important medical institute, has caused controversy in Bosnia.

Sebija, who has been director of the Abdulah Nakash hospital in Sarajevo since 2013, was elected at a session of the board of the UKCS on January 6.