Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has commemorated the victims of the Srebrenica genocide.
"On the 31st anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, one of the most brutal genocides in history, I remember with sorrow and mercy all our Bosniak brothers and sisters who were massacred.
"I respectfully honour the cherished memory of our martyrs and pray for patience and strength for their families and loved ones. We will never forget Srebrenica," he vowed in a social media post on Saturday.
Earlier, in a message read at the ceremony by Turkish Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas, Erdogan described the Srebrenica genocide as one of the darkest and most shameful chapters of modern history.
Erdogan condemned genocide denial, the glorification of convicted war criminals, and attacks against returnees in Bosnia and Herzegovina, calling for a stronger response from the international community.
He reaffirmed Türkiye’s support for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and constitutional order.
“The path to peace in Europe passes through the Balkans, and the path to peace in the Balkans passes through the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Erdogan said.
The Turkish president also said the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza demonstrated that the international community has still not fully learned the lessons of Srebrenica.
After Bosnian Serb forces, under the command of Ratko Mladic, captured Srebrenica on July 11, 1995, Bosniak civilians who had sought refuge at the UN base staffed by Dutch peacekeepers were later handed over to Serb forces.
A total of 8,372 Bosniak men and boys were transported by buses and trucks to forests, warehouses and factories, where they were brutally killed. Their bodies were later buried in mass graves across the country in an attempt to conceal the crime.
More than 1,000 remain unaccounted for
Following the war, victims whose remains were recovered from mass graves and identified have been buried each year on July 11 at the Potocari Memorial Cemetery.
So far, 6,772 victims have been buried at the cemetery, while 250 were laid to rest in local cemeteries at their families' request. The remains of more than 1,000 victims of the genocide have yet to be found.
In a 2007 ruling, the International Court of Justice, based on evidence presented by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), classified the atrocities committed in and around Srebrenica as a genocide.
Ten more identified genocide victims, whose families have approved their burial, will be laid to rest on Saturday at the Potocari Memorial Cemetery as part of the annual commemorations.
