Sarajevo Awaits Erdogan's Turkish Election Rally

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will soon arrive in the Bosnian capital, where tens of thousands of people are expected to attend a rally in support of him and his party ahead of the Turkish elections.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Photo: EPA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is arriving in Sarajevo on Sunday for the sixth assembly of the Union of European Turkish Democrats, UETD, which recently established a sister lobby organisation in Bosnia, the Union of European Balkan Democrats, UEBD.

The Turkish lobbying organizations are close to Erdogan. The UETD’s headquarters is in Cologne, home to one of the biggest Turkish communities in Germany. It has branches in other European cities with significant Turkish populations.

Zafer Sirakaya, president of the UETD, earlier told BIRN that his organisation is an NGO and has no direct links to Erdogan or his party – but concedes that there is a bond of love between the UETD and the Turkish President.

The convention will take place in Sarajevo’s reconstructed 20,000-capacity Olympic hall, known as Zetra, where 10,000 to 15,000 people are expected, the Sarajevo Canton’s Interior Ministry confirmed to BIRN in a statement.

Mehmer Onur Cevik, an expert on Turkish politics at the University of Ghent, Belgium, told BIRN that the rally in Bosnia is not a one-off.

“This rally in Sarajevo is just a beginning. As long as EU-Turkey relations deteriorate, such events will continue, and Turkey will try to increase its visibility and effect local politicians and group who serve Erdogan’s policies best,” he said.

According to the agenda released by the Bosnian tripartite Presidency, on Sunday, Erdogan will meet Bakir Izetbegovic, the Bosniak Presidency member and leader of Bosnia’s main Bosniak party, the Party of Democratic Action, SDA.

Izetbegovic told media that they will discuss the construction plans for the highway from Sarajevo to Belgrade, which Turkey has offered to finance.

Later in the afternoon, Erdogan is expected to join the UETD assembly while in the evening he will attend an Iftar, a traditional Muslim dinner held after sunset during the holy month of Ramadan.

Erdogan has close ties to Bosnia’s Bosniak politicians who look to Ankara as a counterweight to the Serbs’ alliance with Russia.

Some experts say Erdogan is holding the rally in Bosnia partly to take revenge on those European states that have forbidden his party to organise demonstrations in his support on their own territory.

“Turkey-EU relations are not at a good level and the EU is losing its normative power and glamour among candidate countries. Countries are focusing on their own national interest more than ever. That is why, while European countries do not allow Erdogan to organise pre-election rallies, Bosnia allows them. It is all about self-interest,” Cevik said.

Ivana Maric, a Sarajevo-based political analyst, said the rally sent a wrong message to the EU from Bosnia.

“With the image that Bosnia has at the moment, this is not smart move and furthermore, since Bosnia is due to hold general elections this year, this is something that Izetbegovic is using to boost the chances of his party,” Maric told BIRN.

Erdogan’s Sarajevo Rally Triggers Online War-of-Words

Erdogan’s Bosnia Rally May Be Key Game-Changer