The Government of the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish people have been following closely and with sorrow the incidents in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

While respecting the rights of our Bosnian brothers and sisters to demonstrate peacefully in order to proclaim their problems and demands and to react against deadlocks, we believe that demonstrations should remain within the law and refrain from violence. The setting on fire of public buildings, the damaging of Presidency premises – that all Bosnians should take care to protect – and the wounding of a large number of police officers endanger the environment of security, peace and stability that Bosnia and Herzegovina needs. Our sadness was further increased by the damages suffered by Bosnian archives during the incidents.

We call on Bosnian citizens not to resort to force and not to use language encouraging violence while exercising their freedom of expression and demonstration.

We wish a speedy recovery to the Bosnian citizens and to the members of security forces who were wounded during the incidents.

The solutions to the problems of Bosnia Herzegovina, that are stemming partly from the Dayton system and partly from governance errors may be found by Bosnians while remaining within the law.

Turkey, which always stands by the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue to lend its support and assistance to the solution of the problems, as it has done in the past.