Bosnia marks 25th anniversary of Srebrenica Genocide

Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide, bidding farewell to nine newly identified victims of the massacre at a memorial service. Every year on July 11, newly identified victims of the genocide are laid to rest at a memorial cemetery in Potocari, eastern Bosnia. Thousands of visitors from various countries attend the service. The memorial center is the focal point of remembrance for friends and relatives of the victims, mostly men and boys, murdered by Bosnian Serb militias. At this year's ceremony, world leaders sent video messages on the anniversary of the genocide being marked under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was among the leaders who sent a message. Erdogan said that although a quarter of a century has passed since the genocide, our pain is still fresh. 'Although I am not physically among you because of the coronavirus, my feelings and thoughts are always in Bosnia, always with you,' he added. 'We will never forget our martyrs nor the genocide in Srebrenica,' Erdogan said. The Turkish president concluded his address with a message that Turkey and the Turkish people stand by Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sefik Dzaferovic, the Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia, said that Srebrenica has become synonymous with the suffering of innocent people, and the crime committed was called by the only real name -- genocide. 'Today, we are here in the Potocari valley of sorrow and pain to see off together the remains of nine innocent victims, some of whom were young men, killed only because they […] were Bosniaks,' Dzaferovic said. 'Today, 25 years later, the whole civilized world has become aware of the scale of the crime committed and the mistakes made,' said Dzaferovic. Slovenian President Borut Pahor in his video message said the key for the future of Bosnia 'is truth and not denial.' 'We cannot change the past, but we can change the future. For the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the key is truth and not denial, respect and not hatred, open dialogue and not quarrel,' Pahor said. Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said the Srebrenica Genocide is a common shame for all those who did not prevent it. 'It is a testimony to the terrible reality of a bloody war, an eternal warning and reminder to all our people that without the truth of the past there is no peaceful or secure future,' said Djukanovic. Salko Ibisevic, who was only 23 when he was killed, was the youngest victim to be buried this year. Hasan Pezic, the oldest, was 70, and was laid to rest in this year's ceremony. In July 1995, at least 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were chased through the woods in and around Srebrenica by Serb troops in what is considered the worst carnage of civilians in Europe since World War II. The Srebrenica massacre is the only episode of the Bosnian war to be defined as a genocide, including by two United Nations courts. A special U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague and courts in the Balkans have sentenced close to 50 Bosnian Serbs to more than 700 years in prison for Srebrenica crimes. However, adding to the suffering of the survivors, many Serbs still deny the extent of the 1995 Srebrenica killings and often even celebrate the executioners. Last year, top Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik called the massacre 'a fabricated myth.'