Europe is not likely to directly react in terms of sanctions but Sarajevo did send out a bad signal on Sunday, said history professor Husnija Kamberovic, commenting the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Sarajevo the last weekend.
Speaking for N1, Kamberovic said the essence of Erdogan's visit was his pre-election rally, which was banned in other parts of Europe.
Erdogan paid a controversial working visit to Bosnia on Sunday, during which he met Bosniak member of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic and spoke at what was perceived to be a pre-election rally for Turkish diaspora in Europe.
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“I believe the talk about this will last until elections in Bosnia, I believe this is actually a message, a strong warning, a signal to Europe about what is happening in Bosnia,” said the professor.
Turks from the EU countries poured into Sarajevo to attend the sixth congress of the Union of European Turkish Democrats, which is taking place of the June election in Turkey.
Germany and The Netherlands previously banned Erdogan's campaigning on their territory but Bosnia agreed to host the rally.
Commenting the words of President Izetbegovic, who said during the Sarajevo rally that Erdogan was “a man sent by God”, Kamberovic noted this was “a strong and exaggerated” statement and “an indicator of the world where Izetbegovic lives and his closeness with Erdogan.”
“It seems as if Izetbegovic lost contact with reality, as if he lives in a virtual world, as if he doesn't see what is actually going on here…”, concluded the professor.
