Turkey welcomes Serbia 'apology' for Srebrenica massacre

Serbia's parliament approved a declaration condemning the 1995 Serb massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica, but stopped short of calling the killings "genocide".

Turkey welcomes Serbia 'apology' for Srebrenica massacre

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday that the decision, which was made by Serbian Parliament about "Srebrenica massacre", was an important decision.

Serbia's parliament approved a declaration Tuesday condemning the 1995 Serb massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica under Slobodan Milosevic, but stopped short of calling the killings "genocide".

Davutoglu told reporters that Serbian Parliament's apologizing regarding the Srebrenica massacre was important for the peace and stability in Balkans.

"We consider this decision is very important to exceed the psychological threshold in Balkans," said Davutoglu.

The execution of Srebrenica's men and boys by Bosnian Serb troops was Europe's worst carnage since World War II. It has become a symbol of the atrocities of the Balkan wars.

Noting that Turkey's policy in Balkans was very clear, Davutoglu said that Turkey undertook a very active role in Balkans in the last 6-7 months.

He added that Turkey's Balkans policy was security for all countries, sustainability of high-level dialogue, increasing economic development and preserving cultural pluralism.

He said that stability of Bosnia-Herzegovina was the basic element for the stability of Balkans.

The EU also wants Serbia to arrest ex-Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic, who was charged with genocide by a U.N. court for orchestrating the Srebrenica massacre.

The parliamentary declaration on Srebrenica calls for the arrest of Mladic and urges authorities to do all they can to find him.

Former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic is being prosecuted by the U.N. tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, for allegedly masterminding Serb atrocities throughout the Bosnian war, including the Srebrenica massacre.

Karadzic has refused to enter a plea, but insists he is innocent of charges that he ordered atrocities, including the shelling and sniping campaign that killed thousands of civilians in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, and the executions in Srebrenica.

In 2009, a European Parliament resolution condemned the Srebrenica massacre as genocide and called on the region to commemorate its July anniversary. The Hague-based International Court of Justice also has ruled that genocide was committed in Srebrenica, and that Serbia had not done enough to prevent it.

Agencies

Güncelleme Tarihi: 02 Nisan 2010, 14:45
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