Bosnian Serb ambassadors and consuls sent an open letter to the Foreign Affairs Minister, Bisera Turkovic, informing her that they will not accept her instruction on observing Bosnia’s Independence Day on March 1.

In the letter, 18 ambassadors and consuls say that Turkovic instructed them on February 16 to “mark this non-existent holiday on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of BiH Independence Day, March 1 this year.”

They argued that “with this instruction, as well as previous similar actions, Turkovic is continuously undermining the constitutional order of BiH, abusing the position of minister and usurping the Dayton (Peace Agreement) competence of the BiH Presidency over foreign policy.”

They stressed that March 1, 1992, is the day of the Sarajevo Wedding Attack – the attack of a wedding procession which resulted in the death of the father of the groom and the wounding of a Serbian Orthodox priest. According to the 18 diplomats, this was “the reason for the start of the war in BiH.”

The open letter was signed by Aleksandar Vranjes, Biljana Gutic Bjelica, Bojan Vujic, Bojana Kondic Panic, Boro Bronza, Vera Sajic, Dragan Jacimovic, Dusko Kovacevic, Zeljko Samardzija, Zdravko Begovic, Koviljka Spiric, Marko Milisav, Milica Ristovic Krstic, Milorad Zivkovic, Sinisa Bencun, Sinisa Berjan, Sinisa Mihailovic and Slavisa Ceranic.