On the evening of April 5, 2010, more than a thousand of IUS guests, friends and students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey and other countries attended the Official Opening of the International University of Sarajevo Campus premises in Ilidža. By cutting the red ribbon in the IUS Conference Hall, Campus was officially opened by BH Presidency Chairman Dr. Haris Silajdžić, Prime Minister of Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Grand Mufti Dr. Mustafa ef. Cerić, IUS Rector Prof. Dr. Hilmi Ünlü, Chairman of the IUS Board of Trustees Prof. Dr. Adem Baştürk, Chairman of the Foundation for Education Development Sarajevo Mr. Hasan Topaloğlu, and president of the Higher Education Council of Turkey Prof. Dr. Jusuf Zija Ozcan.
The Ceremony was attended by a large number of distinguished guests such as Turkish Ministers of Foreign Affairs Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Environment and Forestry Prof. Veysel Eroğlu and EU Affairs Mr. Egemen Bagis, Bosnian Minister of Human Rights and Refugees Mr. Safet Halilović, members of the IUS Board of Trustees, members of the Foundation for Education Development Sarajevo, Ambassadors, municipality mayors, etc. Beside the media from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who prepared live transmission of the ceremony, the event was followed by a large number of Turkish journalists as well.
The event started with the short movie about the International University of Sarajevo, its establishment and development, made by the Visual Arts and Communications Design Program. After the movie, IUS Rector Prof. Dr. Ünlü gave an opening speech in which he thanked all guests for joining this event that is significant for both IUS and educational community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and beyond.
The speech of Miss Aida Bulbul, IUS scholarship student followed. „Seeing my name at the top of the result list of the Entrance exam made me realize as never before that this is where I belong to. A scholarship was ideal reward for the efforts and all of the hard work” she said, adding that ” if you need a role model, you are surely to find it in one of the professors”.
Prime Minister of Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the present guests and students and expressed his pleasure to be in Sarajevo. He started his speech with the words from the song “Sarajevo” of the famous Bosnian singer Dino Merlin – “Sarayevo güzel sehir; sensin benim ben senin; u tebi su i kad nisu; tvoji sinovi”. Continuing his speech, Prime Minister stated that, in a short time, International University of Sarajevo became a respectable world university and thanked all those who helped the development of this university. He also expressed his thoughts on the future of the University. “Take a look at the Old Bridge in Mostar, bridge in Konjic; those are the bridges that for hundreds of years were the bridges of friendship, bridges that connected people. I believe that, in a same way, International University of Sarajevo will be the bridge of friendship and peace in the next hundreds of years” said Prime Minister Erdoğan.
After the Prime Minister Erdoğan, BH Presidency Chairman Dr. Haris Silajdžić addressed the audience. In his speech, Dr. Silajdžić emphasized the importance of education by saying that the “education has to be the priority”. Dr. Silajdžić also talked about the situation in the Balkans. “People in the Balkans almost lost their faith in their life together. But there is a hope that Balkan can be what it was once before” he said.
The Official Ceremony ended with the tour of the new Campus premises during which distinguished guests had an opportunity to see the modernly equipped IUS laboratories. After the tour, cocktail and concert of the Bosnian soprano singer Miss. Lejla Jusić was organized for all guests.
