ANKARA
Ahmet Bayric, the sole photojournalist to witness the tragedy of the 100 kilometer "death march" of Muslim Bosniaks fleeing the Srebrenica massacre, has shared his photographic collection - "Srebrenica Hell Way" - with the Anadolu Agency to mark the 19th anniversary of the event.
In July 1995, more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniak men and boys were killed and many more forced to flee after Serb forces under the leadership of Ratko Mladic conquered the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. The forces are reported to have sorted those who remained in the town by gender, trucked the males away and executed them, quickly ploughing the bodies into hastily made mass graves.
Two international courts have recognized the act as ”genocide.” It is considered the worst massacre on European soil since the Nazi era. Although the actual number of dead is still uncertain, more than 5,000 bodies have so far been recovered in and around the town and thousands more are still missing.
After a seven-day walk, around 3,500 men fleeing the killings reached the safety of the village of Tuzla, around 100 kilometers away in the country’s northeast.
Bayric a witness to the march, said he could not digest what happened to him.
Before the war hit Zvornik in Serbia, Bayric -- also a Muslim Bosniak -- and his family managed to escape to Austria. Zvornik was the subject of its own massacre, Serb paramilitary groups attacking the city at the beginning of the War in 1992.
Bayric said he stayed in Austria for two months, but decided to return to Bosnia.
He told AA that in sharing these photographs his aim is to show what really happened in Srebrenica.
Every year, thousands of people from around the world retread the steps of those who escaped - but this time in reverse, from Tuzla to the massacre site. Last year, thousands of people from Turkey, Spain, US, Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Germany and Austria took part in the march to remember Srebrenica victims.
Mladic was extradited to The Hague in 2011 on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide. His trial formally began in May 2012.
The photographic collection is currently available to Anadolu Agency subscribers.
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