Bosnian leader says Turkey coup bid like Sarajevo siege

By Talha Ozturk and Almir Terzic

BELGRADE, Serbia

A senior Bosnian leader described to Anadolu Agency how the defeated Turkish coup of July 15 was reminiscent of the four-year siege of Sarajevo.

Melika Mahmutbegovic, vice-president of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said the events of that night brought back uncomfortable memories for many Bosnians.

"We were very worried because of the information coming in the first hours, and I can say that other people in Bosnia and Herzegovina shared the same feeling with me.

"Seeing people going out on the streets reminded me of our people going out to the streets after the first victims of Sarajevo siege," Mahmutbegovic told Anadolu Agency earlier this week.

The bloody siege of the Bosnian capital cost almost 14,000 lives and has been described as the longest in modern warfare.

Mahmutbegovic said she was very impressed by the Turkish people's attitude on the night of the coup attempt:

"I was worried because things did not calm down back in Bosnia when people flocked to the streets and people kept dying.

“Fortunately, the Turkish people showed unity and understood how to fight. What Turks have done can only be done by people who love their country and soldiers."

Turkey's government has repeatedly said the deadly coup attempt, which killed more than 240 people and injured nearly 2,200 others, was organized by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen's followers and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

Gulen is also accused of orchestrating a long-running campaign to overthrow the government through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

Speaking about the close cooperation between Turkey and Bosnia, Mahmutbegovic said: "We need to cooperate with a country like Turkey that has opened its doors to our businessmen and is very generous to us."