Foca has been without its symbol for far too long, and I hope its opening will rekindle the desire of exiled Foca residents to return and rebuild their homes, Bosnia's Grand Mufti Husein Kavazovic said Saturday at the opening ceremony of the reconstructed Aladza Mosque, 27 years after it was destroyed to the ground.
“It pains us that those who ordered Aladza's destructions and those who destroyed it and many other mosques were never adequately punished, as does the fact that no one asked for our forgiveness,” Kavazovic noted.
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“We can't predict the future, but can plan it – and we plan to live here in peace,” the leader of Bosnia's Islamic Community said.
He thanked everyone who contributed to Aladza Mosque's reconstruction, especially the Republic of Turkey and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Aladza Mosque was destroyed at the beginning of the Bosnian war (1992-1995) when the authorities of the then break-away Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina destroyed it to the ground and on August 2, 1992, scattered its remains around the town. Some ended up on the city dump while some were buried underground.
The mosque's reconstruction began in 2014, and it was done according to the blueprints of the original Aladza Mosque.
The Aladza was rebuilt primarily with the support of the General Directorate of the Waqf of the Republic of Turkey, which financed all the construction works, then the United States Embassy in Bosnia, the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments, IRCICA and many others.
The mosque's reconstruction began in 2014, and it was done according to the blueprints of the original Aladza Mosque.
It is listed on the Bosnia's cultural heritage list and the UNESCO's list of world heritage.
The ceremony was attended by representatives of the local community, Gorazde Mufti Remzija Pitic, the directors of the Waqf Directorate of Bosnia and Turkey Senaid Zajimovic and Adnan Ertem, the US Ambassador to Bosnia Eric Nelson, Turkish Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, as well as the Grand Mufti of Bosnia's Islamic Community Husein Kavazovic.
