Türkiye is the most similar country to Bosnia-Herzegovina: Muslim leader

Türkiye is the most similar country to Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a common Ottoman heritage, a local Muslim religious leader told Anadolu.

"Türkiye is the closest country to us. We are part of a common heritage, the Ottoman culture. We have excellent relations. We always receive support and understanding from the Religious Affairs Directorate," said Grand Mufti Husein Kavazovic.

Kavazovic highlighted the importance of being friends with a country like Türkiye and said that Türkiye's foreign policy has a balancing role in the Western Balkans

"We feel safe with Türkiye. I think everyone in the world wishes to be friends with Türkiye. We also have spiritual ties with the Turkish people," he said.

Speaking about the Israel-Hamas war, Kavazovic said humanity is failing in Gaza.

"History will not forget those who remained silent about what happened in Gaza. Gaza is undoubtedly a great scar on the history of humanity. We are not in a position to stop the atrocities committed in Gaza. Talking about atrocities after Gaza will be much more serious and different…The most surprising thing is the silence. The powers that could stop the war and civilian deaths in Gaza are silent," he said.

According to Kavazovic, what is happening in Gaza today reminds Bosnians of the Srebrenica genocide that took place in 1995 during the Bosnian War.

"It has been proven in the courts that what happened in Srebrenica was genocide, but what happened in Gaza is nothing but genocide. I appreciate the genocide case filed against Israel by South Africa. South Africa has also experienced many events in its history. This should be a moral lesson for the Islamic world because no such initiative has come from any Muslim country," said Kavazovic.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing at least 25,900 Palestinians and injuring 64,110 others. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war has left 85% of Gaza's population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while more than half of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.