In 1991, with the outbreak of Yugoslavian Civil War, the conflicts in the region spread to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the biggest massacre in the Europe since World War II happened with the ethnic cleansing of Muslim Bosnians.

Due to Bosnian Serb forces’ desire to gain the control of the regions were Muslim Bosnian lived, Srebrenica was declared as a "safe zone" by the United Nations (UN) in 1993 for the protection of civilians. After the two-year-long siege, the city fell under the control of Serbs. Despite the declaration of the region as a safe zone by the UN and the presence of 400-armed Dutch peace forces, more than 8000 Muslim Bosnian civilians were massacred on 11 July 1995. Identification of thousands of Muslim Bosnians buried in mass graves is still ongoing.

According to the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, whether in time of peace or in time of war, killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, forcibly transferring children of the group to another group committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group are designated as the crime of genocide. The Convention obligates the states to prevent and punish the crime of genocide.

UN International Court of Justice declared what happened in Srebrenica an act of genocide with the decision it reached in 2007 (Case Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro, Judgment, ICJ, 26 February 2007). Also defined as "the crime of all crimes," genocide is accepted as the cruelest and most inhumane act under the customary international law. Because, as adopted by the UN in the Resolution 96(I) of 11 January 1946, "genocide is a denial of the right of existence of entire human groups."

As expressed by Alija Izetbegović, "No matter what you do, do not forget the genocide. Because if genocide is forgotten, it will be repeated." As the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye, we commemorate the Srebrenica Massacre with deep sorrow on its 28th anniversary, and wish for a world where genocides are not repeated and human rights are promoted and protected.