FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
As Dodik pushes to dismantle Bosnia and Herzegovina's institutions from within, a separate - but equally disturbing - intervention is being played out on the cultural front, this time led by the Turkish Embassy in Sarajevo....
In an alarming escalation of the political challenge, Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik has moved to unilaterally block key state institutions from operating in the RS entity, effectively launching what many experts describe as a direct challenge to the constitutional sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
Dodik's government has passed laws prohibiting the operation of the Court of BiH, the Prosecutor's Office, SIPA (State Investigation and Protection Agency), and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) within the territory of RS - despite the fact that these institutions are designated as central pillars of the BiH state under the Dayton Agreement.
Dodik has declared these bodies "unconstitutional" and his administration is working to enforce their exclusion through new laws, arrests, and even threats of property seizure for officials who refuse to comply.
He has gone so far as to announce plans to arrest SIPA members who enter RS territory and hinted at the formation of a parallel judicial system, raising fears of a de facto secessionist coup in slow motion.
The BiH Constitutional Court has already suspended these RS laws, and arrest warrants have been issued for Dodik and other RS officials on charges of undermining state order.
However, as Dodik pushes to dismantle Bosnia and Herzegovina's institutions from within, a separate - but equally disturbing - intervention is being played out on the cultural front, this time led by the Turkish Embassy in Sarajevo.
The Turkish Embassy recently requested the cancellation of a theater performance, "Six Against Turkey," scheduled to be performed at the Sarajevo National Theater on April 14, 2025.
In a sharply worded diplomatic note, Turkey labeled the show as "propaganda" in support of the Gulen movement, a group it blames for the 2016 coup attempt.
The show is inspired by the true story of 6 Turkish-educated citizens living in Kosovo, who were kidnapped by Turkish intelligence (MIT) in 2018, with the help of Kosovo's intelligence agency, and forcibly deported to Turkey.
The play, created as a co-production between Kosovar, Turkish, American and Serbian artists, criticizes the growing authoritarianism and nationalist movements in Europe, using the case of Kosovo as a dramatic example of how democratic norms can be eroded through foreign interference.
In response, Turkey's diplomatic mission called the performance an insult to the state and its president, even calling for Bosnian institutions to intervene and cancel the performance - a move that critics see as a clear overreach and an attempt to silence artistic expression and rewrite public memory of a documented human rights violation.
This brings back disturbing memories of the “Kosovo case,” where 6 Turkish educators—Kahraman Demirez, Mustafa Erdem, Hasan Hüseyin Günakan, Yusuf Karabina, Osman Karakaya, and Cihan Özkan—were captured in a covert operation.
Their kidnapping, orchestrated by Turkey’s MIT and aided by Kosovo’s intelligence chief, Driton Gashi, was later condemned by international human rights bodies. Gashi was eventually convicted of abuse of power, in a case hailed by the UN as a step forward for the rule of law in Kosovo.
Critics argue that this move represents a foreign state dictating what can or cannot be carried out in a sovereign country, fueling fears of increased Turkish intelligence operations in the Balkans, and perhaps, a repeat of extraterritorial kidnappings like those in Kosovo.
With Turkey now pressuring BiH to suppress a theatrical portrayal of the same incident, serious concerns arise: "Could a similar scenario occur in Bosnia and Herzegovina?" Will Turkish intelligence expand its reach into BiH with the tacit support – or enforced silence – of local authorities?
As Dodik openly undermines state sovereignty from within and Turkey intervenes from without, the question must be asked: "is Bosnia and Herzegovina becoming a playground for foreign and domestic power grabs - at the expense of its democratic integrity, sovereignty and civil liberties?" / Adapted Pamphlet from Sarajevo Times/
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