Bakir Izetbegović

Educational inspectors at the Administration for Inspection Affairs of Sarajevo Canton on Tuesday ordered Sarajevo University to revoke the doctoral diploma of Sebija Izetbegovic, who is director of the University Clinical Centre in Sarajevo and is considered to be one of the most powerful individuals in the Bosnian healthcare system.

The Senate of Sarajevo University revoked the teaching contract of Sebija Izetbegovic, director of the Sarajevo Clinical Centre and professor at the Faculty of Medicine in the Bosnian capital, removing her as a full professor at the Faculty of Medicine on Wednesday. 

The diploma of Sebija Izetbegovic, director of the Sarajevo Clinical Centre and professor at the Faculty of Medicine in the Bosnian capital, was revoked on Monday following an investigation into her master's qualifications.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) and Bosnia presidency member Milorad Dodik (L) meeting in Sarajevo, July 8, 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/FEHIM DEMIR

The Bosnian Serb leader earlier threatened to withdraw all Bosnian Serb officials from state-level institutions and re-establish a Bosnian Serb army, fomenting fresh fears of Bosnia's collapse and of armed conflict.

This visit is more personal than business visit.
Erdogan paid a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on the day of the marriage of Bakir Izetbegovic's daughter.

FOTO TANJUG/ FOTO FENA/ HARUN MUMINOVIC

Immediately upon his arrival in Sarajevo, Erdogan went to the grave of the Bosniak leader Alija Izetbegovi, at the Kovai cemetery.

Erdogan at a ruling party congress in March 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/TURKISH PRESIDENT PRESS OFFICE.

Turkish public broadcaster TRT reported that Erdogan will also open a mosque in Sarajevo's old town that was restored by Turkish General Directorate for Foundations.

Hundreds of people came to pay their respects as a convoy carrying the remains of 19 victims arrived in Sarajevo before their burial at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre on the 26th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide on June 11.

Asim Sarajlic, the deputy leader of the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, the strongest Bosniak party in the country, resigned on Monday evening after the leak of an audio file which allegedly revealed details of a corrupt deal involving party officials.

Yet some experts, officials and diplomats say future elections are almost irrelevant while local leaders continue to block the system, playing their lose-lose games.

To make matters worse, Bosnia's unfolding political drama is increasingly intertwined with other regional and international disputes, especially with the tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.

They warn that years of political divisions, zero-sum games, distrust and poor communication between local leaders, as well as growing tensions among key regional and global actors, have left Bosnia a ticking time-bomb that could go off at any moment, leading to the collapse of the remaining joint institutions or even the breakup of the country.