Bosniak Politicians Campaign for Erdogan in Turkish Elections
Senior Bosniak politicians from Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro called on Turks of Bosniak descent to back President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP, in the forthcoming May 14 Turkish elections.
They sent messages over the weekend via social media, and paid visits and joined meetings and political rallies in Turkey itself.
“A modern and strong Turkey under Turkish President Erdogan’s leadership means a modern and strong Balkans. All Bosniaks … and other nations are looking to Erdogan. The policy of Bosniaks from Sandzak is peace, justice and development, the same as President Erdogan and his AKP,” Sulejman Ugljanin, president of the Party of Democratic Action Sandzak in Serbia told thousands of Turkish Bosniaks at a rally in Istanbul’s Bayrampasa district.
Ugljanin said in the so-called “Bosniak getto” of Bayrampasa that for Bosniaks from Sandzak, “Victory for Erdogan and the AKP on May 14 is victory for all of us”.
Ugljanin was accompanied by other senior SDA Sandzak politicians and by Bosniak MPs in the Serbian parliament.
He was not alone in Turkey. Another Bosniak delegation from Montenegro was also present at a political rally of Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.
“Labour Minister of Montenegro Admir Adovic [of the Bosniak Party in Montenegro] is today with us. On one side is Ugljanin, on another side is Adovic. Turkey’s friends are here … We will win with our friends,” Soylu said on Sunday.
Bosniak delegations from Serbia and Montenegro also visited Bosniak migrant NGOs in Istanbul’s Bayrampasa, Sefakoy, Yeni Bosna and Pendik districts that have large Bosniak populations.
The exact number of Turkish citizens with Bosniak origins is not known. Turkey’s constitution forbids keeping records of its citizens’ ethnic background. However, estimates suggest that 2 to 5 million Turkish citizens are of Bosniak origin, mostly in Western Turkey, Thrace and in Istanbul.
Following the collapse of Ottoman Empire, the migration of Muslim Bosniaks from the Balkans into Thrace and Anatolia started. Other major migration waves continued during and after the two world wars and during communist Yugoslavia.
The delegations attended President Erdogan’s grand election rally in Istanbul on Sunday, giving their full support.
Bakir Izetbegovic, leader of Bosnia’s main Bosniak party, the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, also showed support for President Erdogan in the upcoming elections on May 14 on Twitter.
Cijenjeni građani 🇹🇷 bošnjačkog porijekla,
svi smo svjesni historijskog trenutka koje predstavljaju predstojeći izbori za predsjednika 🇹🇷.
Vjerujem da je ogromna većina vas svjesna i epohalne uloge koju predsjednik @RTErdogan ima u preporodu i uzdizanju 🇹🇷 u svakom pogledu. pic.twitter.com/5uCCffRK1X
— Bakir Izetbegović (@Izetbegovic_B) May 5, 2023
“Dear Bosniaks [of Turkey], I invite you to go to the polls and support Recep Tayyip Erdogan because Turkey needs him, but Bosniaks and Bosnia also need him,” Izetbegovic wrote on Saturday in a Twitter thread.
He added that Erdogan’s government was very important for Bosniaks in Bosnia and Sandzak, a region that straddles between Serbia and Montenegro with a Bosniak-majority population.
In his 21-year-long rule, Erdogan has followed a pro-active foreign policy towards the Balkans. He has taken a special interest in the Muslim Bosniaks of Bosnia and Sandzak and has personal connections with conservative Bosniak politicians, including Izetbegovic and Ugljanin.
Turkey is approaching important general and presidential elections on May 14. Polls show the race is tight between Erdogan and his opposition challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, for the presidential seat and the race between their alliances for a parliamentary majority is also neck-and-neck.
