Bosnian-Turkish Relations and Turkey's Role in the Bosnian Conflict Resolution (1992-1995)

Abstract

The Bosnian crisis is one of the last major military conflicts in European history. The disintegration of Yugoslavia has laid the foundation for many of the processes taking place in the Balkan peninsula to this day. For the Bosnian side, the key factor influencing the outcome of the conflict was the intervention of external actors. Turkey has become one of Bosnia’s most active allies at this stage. This was due to many factors, including religious and cultural affinity, historical connections and geopolitical interests of Turkey in the Balkans, and the long-standing personal ties of political leaders. Moreover, the fact of the emergence of an Islamic state in Europe and, secondly, the attempt to adapt Turkey to the post-bipolar format of the world order seem to be the most important factors in Turkey’s Bosnian policy. This work is devoted to a brief but busy period of cooperation between Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War, during which the Bosniacs sought the status of an independent state. The subject of the study was the foreign policy contacts between Turkey and Bosnia (the official name at the period of war — the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina) aimed at settling the conflict. The various initiatives of the Turkish side at the level of the OIC, the United Nations, or in the framework of bilateral negotiations with different countries (USA, Russia, Croatia, etc.) are clear examples of such cooperation. Such actions contributed to the further signing of the peace agreements, as well as to the direction of Bosnian-Turkish relations at the present stage.