prijava
SARAJEVO, August 9 (FENA) - Anniversary of the birth of the first president of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegović, was marked yesterday at Kovači Cemetery.
President of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) Bakir Izetbegović, Chairman of the Presidency of BiH Šefik Džaferović and SDA Youth Association attended the anniversary.
On that occasion, delegations laid flowers and said Al-Fatiha prayer at the martyr's memorial and at the cemetery in Kovači.
BiH Presidency Chairman Džaferović pointed out that Alija Izetbegović is the most important person in the modern history of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"He was at the head of BiH during the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia and the struggle to ensure independence and international recognition of BiH and he successfully won that battle. Under his leadership, BiH became an independent, internationally recognized state, a member of the United Nations. He was at the helm of BiH at the time of defense against aggression. BiH has been defended from aggression, preserved in its entirety and democratic. These are achievements that are directly related to the personality of the late Alija Izetbegović and it will forever be inscribed in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was respected in the East and the West as a statesman, as a thinker, writer, humanist,” said Džaferović.
He stated that the work of Alija Izetbegović will remain as a lasting inspiration for future generations, as he fought for freedom, tolerance, and democracy in BiH in almost impossible conditions.
SDA President Bakir Izetbegović remembered his childhood and life with his father.
“Afterwards, there was a turbulent life with prisons, wars, and struggles so I had the opportunity to learn everything from a man who was calm, persistent, who in the end overcame all these problems. The most important lesson my father taught me was faith in God, patience and trust in people,” said Bakir Izetbegović.
Compared to the period in which BiH was led by Alija Izetbegović and today's time, Bakir Izetbergović said that even today we live in a country where political forces are divided.
“Forces that are against BiH and its progress are still active. We are constantly confronted with that and it is something like push and pull. At the time of Alija Izetbegović, there was one hundred percent power in thirty percent of the territory of BiH, and today thirty percent of power is in one hundred percent of the territory, so it is not always easy to pull the right things in the right direction, but I think we keep that stability,” said Izetbegović.
Alija Izetbegović was born in 1925 in Bosanski Šamac. He grew up and studied in Sarajevo, where he graduated from the Faculty of Law.
In 1990, Alija Izetbegović became the first president of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was part of the SFRY until the international recognition of independence on April 6, 1992.
In 1996, he was elected a member, and then the chairman of the Presidency of BiH.
Alija Izetbegović died on October 19, 2003 and was buried at the Kovači Cemetery in Sarajevo.
(FENA) A. B.
