SREBRENICA
Muslim Bosnians buried on Wednesday 520 newly identified Srebrenica massacre victims in funeral ceremonies took place at the Potocari memorial cemetery.
Despite the hot weather, approximately 50,000 people gathered at the cemetery for the 17th year of Srebrenica massacre.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag represented Turkey at the ceremony.
Bosniak head of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Presidency Bakir Izzetbegovic, Croatia's Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, Bosnia-Herzegovina's Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija and senior officials of many countries also attended the ceremony.
After leaving a wreath on the monument, Turkish minister Bozdag prayed for deceased ones with the relatives of the victims. Bozdag later had a talk with the families and offered his condolences.
Following formal ceremonies, 520 coffins, draped in Muslim green, were laid to rest at the memorial cemetery.
The emotional ceremony was lively followed by Anadolu Agency, TRT, Al Jazeera, Reuters, AP, AFP and other worldwide media organs.
More than 8,000 Bosnian men were exposed to massacre in Srebrenica during the war in Bosnia, on July 11, 1995.
The war in Bosnia that lasted 3.5 years and continued with the "genocide" in Srebrenica came to an end in 1995 with the Dayton Peace Agreement. Around 100,000 were killed, 500,000 women were raped and 2.5 million people had become refugees. Following the ethnic cleansing, almost no Muslim population was left in the cities of Srebrenica, Foca, Zvornik, Bratunac and Visegrad in the east of country.
