Endless discussions and criticism were triggered by the announcement of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Sarajevo on May 20 and the declaration of his participation to 6th General Assembly of Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) as the honorary speaker to address voters from the Turkish diaspora.

Politicians, analysts and journalists have been discussing Erdoğan's visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina from different angles. Opposition circles both in Bosnia and Turkey are especially dwelling on this subject.

President Erdoğan's visit was announced while discussions were starting on whether or not the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) pre-election activities for Turkish voters abroad would be realized.

During campaigns for the constitutional referendum in 2017, the AK Party was banned in some European countries. Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya was even prevented from meeting with Turkish citizens in the Netherlands. Not surprisingly, the same comments came from European politicians after the declaration of a snap election on June 24 in Turkey.

Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurtz said, "We won't let Turkish politicians organize pre-election activities in Austria." Right around the same time, President Erdoğan stated on a TV program that he is "planning to attend an international organization's meeting in which several thousands of [members of the] Turkish diaspora will be gathered from all around Europe."Erdoğan's visit to Sarajevo drew so much attention not only because of he is the president of the Republic of Turkey, but also, and mostly, because he is the chairman of the AK Party and a presidential candidate in the June 24 elections.

On the other hand, the announcement that Erdoğan will be the guest of Bakir Izetbegovic increased the relevance of the visit due to the elections agenda of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Izetbegovic is, of course, a member of the presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the president of Party of Democratic Action (SDA), which is the oldest and the biggest Bosniak party in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Recently, the election commission of Bosnia-Herzegovina announced that the general elections will be held on Oct. 7, 2018. The repercussions of Erdoğan's trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina might be divided into two groups, one of which came through the main opposition Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and eternal opposition circles of Erdoğan.

Turkey, because of its foreign policy on the Balkans, specifically Bosnia, might be criticized for having only one actor as a partner – Muslims in general and Bosniaks in Bosnia-Herzegovina – but which other global or regional actor (the EU, Russia, U.S.) has been setting out that kind of prospective and diversified policy toward the region or privately in Bosnia-Herzegovina?

It is no secret that Germany supports Croats more than any other nation and Russia is backing Serbs as both sides claim historical, religious and cultural ties between each other. Sometimes analysts have been at a loss between imagination and reality. This is despite the fact that Turkey approaches the Balkans with as much diversity as possible and Turkish investments in Serbia are a clear proof of that kind of policy.

The Turkish diaspora and Bosnia

The SDA's main opposition, the Union for a Better Future's (SBB) deputy president Damir Arnaut waited for an opportunity to blame the SDA's good relations with the Turkish authorities."Bosnians are not a national subject that can be visited without their knowledge," he said.

The second lucky one was Sadık Ahmetovic, an old SDA member, citing that, "If everyone comes to our country in order to organize political meetings, Bosnia would lose its sovereignty."

Of course Milorad Dodik, president of the Republika Srpska, (abbreviated as RS, one of the two entities in Bosnia-Herzegovina) asked about Erdogan's pre-election rally in Sarajevo and luckily found a chance to blame Bakir Izetbegovic.First of all, Erdoğan was welcomed by the one of the three members of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bakir Izetbegovic, at the presidential building in which ministers of both countries held meetings on several issues.

Secondly, Erdogan was invited as honorary speaker to the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) general assembly and nothing can be as normal as a nongovernmental organization organizing its meeting anywhere in the world with the required permission of the local authorities.

Third, as previous examples show, any international leader can visit Bosnia any time and hold meeting with related societies. Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, the president of Croatia , visits Mostar whenever she wants and organizes meetings with Bosnian Croats. The same example can be applied for Alexander Vucic, president of Serbia.

Moreover, officials from the EU institutions also pay visits to Bosnia-Herzegovina and set meetings with anyone in any context. Lately, the iron lady of Russia, Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the Russian Parliament's upper house, visited Bosnia-Herzegovina and held meetings with presidency members as well as addressing the Parliament and was welcomed by RS President Milorad Dodik.

One can claim that these are not political gatherings but should be aware of Boris Tadic and Vuk Jeremic's appearances during elections in 2010 with Milorad Dodik's election in Doboj as well. Numerous examples can be found of foreign leaders visiting Bosnia-Herzegovina and organizing meetings with their related communities. Erdogan's visit was the latest.

Dodik openly invited the Bosnian-Serb immigrants to Austria to vote in the presidential elections in December 2016 for the nominees of Norbert Hofer, the neo-Nazi Liberal Party of Austria.The second group, the eternal opposition to Erdoğan, positioned themselves as the protector of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Euro-Atlantic perspective. According to them, relations between Erdoğan's Turkey and the EU and the U.S. are not going very well. Furthermore, Euro-Atlantic powers are not fond of Erdoğan anymore, so Bosnia should be careful with its relations with him. Firstly, the basement of the EU is shaking with its policies toward migrants and increasing right-wing neo-Nazi politics which cause Islamophobia.

The main motivation of the EU is democratic standards and human rights, however nowadays and especially after the Syrian crisis and a huge flow of emigrants from Syria, Europeans have lost their compasses. It should be remembered that before the immigrant crisis and the increase of right-wing politics, EU countries were open to Erdoğan and even welcomed his political campaigns.

The protector of Euro-Atlantic interests in Bosnia-Herzegovina should know that Erdoğan's Turkey is the biggest supporter of Bosnia-Herzegovina's NATO membership while Germany was opposing the implementation of the Membership Action Plan (MAP). One should remember that Turkey has always been supporting territorial integrity, the EU's perspective and Bosnia-Herzegovina's NATO membership.

Treating the legal as illegal

Nevertheless, Erdoğan started his visit with a welcome by Bakir Izetbegovic at the International Sarajevo Airport. Even though it was a one-day visit, Erdoğan managed to attend several meetings. His program started with a meeting with Izetbegovic at the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina. After, he visited Alija Izetbegovic's graveyard and then went to greet crowds at Bascarsija. He then addressed tens of thousands of people at the 6th General Assembly of UETD at Zetra Olympic Hall and finally gave a speech at the International University of Sarajevo, where he awarded an honorary doctorate.

Discussions on Erdogan's visit to Sarajevo and meeting with the Turkish diaspora are still ongoing. The messages that Erdoğan gave in his speech to the Turkish diaspora are very important. Recommendations to the Turkish diaspora in Europe such as getting citizenship, being part of society, taking an initiative and being active citizens are really important in terms of lobbying and influence in decision-making processes.

The debate around Erdoğan visit is still continuing in Bosnia. The sister branch of UETD in Sarajevo, which is the Union of the Balkan Democrats (UEBD), was the host of the general assembly and is now facing both applause and criticism. The head of the organization in Sarajevo, Emine Secerovic-Kaslı who is deputy director of STAV magazine, is under great pressure after the event.

Erdoğan started his speech at Zetra Olympic Hall as expected by criticizing European countries for their undemocratic approach toward his rally plans in Berlin, Vienna and so on. He said that Bosnia-Herzegovina shows a democratic stand by providing a chance to meet with the Turkish diaspora in Sarajevo.

* International Relations Studies Association TUİÇ, Ph.D. student at International University of Sarajevo