International University of Sarajevo hosted two book promotions on Friday, June 25, 2021 entitled “Tombstones in Bosnia and Herzegovina” by Nihad Kličevič and “Tukey’s Soft Power and Public Diplomacy in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sandžak (2002 – 2017)” by Dr. Jahja Muhasilović.
In an interview for Balkan News, one of the authors, Nihad Kličević, said that the book is a result of a four-year-long theoretic and field research. Kličević mentioned that the book encompasses a period from the 12th to the 21st century and is published in three languages.
“Talking about tombstone is not talking only about a carved stone or a piece of rock. Every tombstone tells its own story, it tells its own universal story about the past", said Kličević.
The author stated that tombstones indicated social relations, especially when it came to tombstones of martyrs with carved war-specific symbols.
He added that he received support from his reviewer Prof. Dr. Hasan Ćeman and Fahri Solak, the General Secretary of Turkish World Union of Municipalities, who had sent him a lot of literature related to tombstones in Istanbul in order to compare them to the ones in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dr. Jahja Muhasilović, the author of “Tukey’s Soft Power and Public Diplomacy in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sandžak (2002 – 2017)”, said that the book was officially his doctoral dissertation.
“The book is important because it deals with Turkey’s soft power that is rather perceptible in our region and public diplomacy being essentially an instrument to deliver that soft power of Turkey”, said Muhasilović.
The focus was, as stated by Muhasilović, on Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sandžak because he believed that Sandžak, had been rather “neglected” in academic circles.
He further analyzed in detail the status between Islamic communities in Serbia where there has been more than a decade-long conflict between two Islamic communities: the one supported by Sarajevo, that is the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the one located in Belgrade, said Muahsilović.
Mr. Fahri Solak was also one of the attendees at the book promotion. He reminded that Turkish World Union of Municipalities was founded in 2003 aiming at sharing experiences and knowledge, as well as promoting cooperation between municipalities.
He reflected on the book promotion stating that both books had a special place in Turkey as such topics had never been examined before.
