Pro-Erdogan Turks Hold Anti-EU Protest in Sarajevo

Several dozen people protested in Sarajevo's Bascarsija district on Sunday to express anger about bans in several EU states on rallies in support of a referendum in Turkey on whether to give the president more powers.

Yusuf Isler, a student at the International University of Sarajevo and the organiser of the protest, told BIRN that it was intended to criticise "fascist" European policies which led to Turkish ministers not being allowed to hold rallies in the Netherlands and Germany in recent days.

Reis-ul-Ulema Rifat Fejzic, the head of Montenegro's Islamic Community, who is known to be close to Erdogan's administration, also backed the protest in Sarajevo and criticized the Dutch government's refusal to host rallies by Turkish ministers.
"I was shocked when I heard the Dutch government decision. They did not only stop the rally they also deported an elected minister. This decision [reminded of the] Dutch soldiers' role in Srebrenica Genocide," Feyzic told Anadolu Agency on March 13.
"European countries always criticise that there is lack of democracy and violation of women rights among Muslims and in Muslim countries. However, now the Dutch government banned a democratic rally and deported a Turkish woman minister. This is obviously an antidemocratic, inhumane and uncivilised decision," he concluded.

"We are here to prove that Turkey is not alone. Europe plans to stop our referendum campaigns but it will fail," Isler said.

The protesters, who were mostly Turkish students but included several Bosnians, also demonstrated outside the Dutch embassy in the Bosnian capital. 

Turkey's ambassador to Sarajevo, Haldun Koc, attended the protest, which was held after tensions escalated as the Dutch authorities barred Turkish ministers...