Sarajevo Wartime Frontline Area Becomes ‘Park of Friendship’

A hilltop site in Sarajevo's Sedrenik neighbourhood from which Bosnian Serb forces fired on the city during the wartime siege has been turned into a forest park which opened to the public on Friday.

The project was funded by Turkish General Directorate of Forestry and supported by other Turkish institutions and Sarajevo's Stari Grad municipality, in which the new park is located.

"Kids and families will enjoy the forest and nature in this park where their elders and grandfathers fought and were martyred. This park is a great opportunity to remember and to mark the history," Bekir Karacabey, the director of the Turkish General Directorate of Forestry, told BIRN.

The park covers 6.5 hectares and includes picnic areas, a restaurant, several areas for children, a Bosnian war memorial and a large terrace offering a view of the city below. Its facilities will be run by a Turkish company.

"This is the first and only forest park in Bosnia. We hope that this project will be an example and our cooperation will continue with the General Directorate of Forestry," Nermin Demirovic, the director of the Sarajevo Cantonal Forests Public Company, told Friday's opening ceremony.

The strategic hill location now occupied by the park was held by Bosnian Serb forces during the siege of Sarajevo until it was taken by Bosnian Army special forces units called the Black Swans in 1994.

Remains of an old military trench can still be seen in the park. Photo: BIRN.

The opening ceremony. Photo: BIRN.

A view of Sarajevo from the park. Photo: BIRN.