In recent days because the eyes of almost everyone from politicians to journalists are necessarily on our eastern neighbors and Southeastern Turkey, no one can pay much attention to events taking place in the Balkans. When our characteristic of being a society with a memory problem is taken into consideration, then there is nothing strange about the situation.

With a dangerous acceleration of tension rising between parties internally, Bosnia has been giving an alarm signal for some time. A certain amount of tension was already existent in Bosnia Herzegovina and this time developments are reminiscent of the pre-war situation. Even the well-planned visit to Sarajevo just at this time by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoğlu was not given enough coverage. Those who did show interest in Davutoğlu’s visit to Bosnia as Turkish foreign minister preferred to give priority to the nostalgic dimension of the event. This visit, however, during meetings that will reshape the state structure of Bosnia was of the nature of a kind of intervention.

The fact that the Dayton Agreement, which ended the Bosnian war and established today’s Bosnian state, no longer works is admitted even by the powers, themselves, who imposed this agreement. In fact, signed in 1995, the Dayton Accords was an agreement that rewarded murderers. Perpetrating genocide against the Bosnians, the Serbian population was rewarded with a lot more land and an opportunity for a separate political structure in the Bosnian state. The only gain of the Muslim Bosnians was that the blood stopped flowing. From the moment of signing it was known and stated by everyone with common sense that in practice this agreement was equivalent to a ceasefire.

Establishing the state of Bosnia Herzegovina, this agreement set up two separate political structures composed of Serbians and Bosnian-Croatians. The state presidency was made into a representative position to be filled by representatives of these three groups in eight-month periods of duty. Thus, it was foreseen that important decisions would be made with the agreement of these three parties. It was inescapable that this situation would turn into a system that obstructed government work and in which the parties put the brakes on each other. Moreover, the administration model that is separated into cantons means a structure that created 13 different constitutions, 13 prime ministers, 13 governments and innumerable ministers. It was obvious that a common, complicated structure like this in which one party had committed genocide towards another would not function in a sound manner.

The Serbs constantly separating and threatening to join Serbia turned into open blackmail. Actually, this inclination also appears from time to time in the Croatians. There are neighbor states that the Serbs and Croatians can join: Serbia and Croatia. A multi-cultural and multi-ethnic united Bosnia is the Bosnians’ only chance. Only as long as these three groups show the will to live together, can the Bosnian state stand on its own feet.

The EU’s provocative attitude continued in the post-Dayton period just as it had during the war. For example, while recognizing visa-free entry to the EU for the Croatians and Serbians supposedly due to dual citizenship, their excluding Bosnians who have the greatest population in the country means support for division of the country.

The renewal of the Dayton Agreement before the 2010 elections and the preparation of a new constitution and its implementation, in fact, the borders being taken up for reconsideration are all on the agenda. During this process there is the risk of EU representation imposing conditions that will make Muslim Bosnians experience a second Dayton injustice.  In meetings that began this month, as expected, the Serbian party resorted to union with Serbia blackmail by taking the new constitution to a referendum. Even if it means the dissolution of Bosnia, they do not want to lose the maximum advantage they gained at Dayton.

Rightly so, the Bosnians, on the other hand, want the articles corrected that block the functioning of the government, that eliminate the quality of being an independent state and that are unfair to Bosnians in every sense.

It is obvious that the parties will not be able to resolve the problem alone. The European Union still continues to act with their traditional bias towards Muslims. America is being tested as to whether or not the injustices it had the parties sign at Dayton will be corrected or not this time.

It is not necessary to state that America’s military presence in the region is more effective than the EU’s geographical proximity. Obama will show in the Bosnia issue how sincere he is just as in the peace discourse regarding Palestine’s being under the hypothec of Israel. Also Turkey will have an important test. Turkey has to become a part of the equation in some way and have an affect on the process. In this respect, we hope the message the foreign minister made recently in Bosnia will affect the process positively.

�lgili Yaz�larDünya, English, Siyaset