ISTANBUL
The Turkish parliament announced on Tuesday a joint statement condemning the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.
“We sincerely share the indescribable pain of the martyrs who were killed in a persecution not seen in Europe since World War II,” the lawmakers said in a statement.
All the Turkish political parties in parliament extended their sympathies to the mourning families of the genocide victims as well as to all of the Bosnian people on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, which they called “one of the darkest chapters in human history.”
“We want to highlight that we will never forget the Srebrenica genocide and that we will never tolerate similar incidents to prevent further suffering,” it added, recalling the words of Alija Izetbegovic, the first president of Bosnia-Herzegovina, on the Srebrenica genocide.
The Turkish parliament firmly supports Bosnia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence and will never forget the Srebrenica genocide, the statement added.
More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed after Bosnian Serb forces attacked the UN “safe area” of Srebrenica, an eastern Bosnian town, in July 1995. Serb troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic – later sentenced to life in prison for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide – occupied the area. The bodies of the victims of the genocide were found in 570 different parts of the country.
