In Bosnia and Herzegovina’s city of Mostar, historical Karagöz Bey Madrasa (Keyvan Kethüda School) that was restored by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), was inaugurated with a ceremony attended by the Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

Ersoy visited the capital city Sarajevo to hold official talks and attend various inauguration ceremonies and his first stop was the tomb of late Bosnian leader Alija Izetbegovic to say prayers in his name.

Later, Ersoy received information from the authorities about the Ottoman cemetery, which is located across the martyrs’ memorial and where TİKA’s restoration project is underway upon the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Ersoy continued his visit in Mostar to inaugurate historical Karagöz Bey Madrasa, which was restored by TİKA and which is in use today as Mostar Yunus Emre Institute.

In addition to Minister Ersoy, the ceremony for the historical madrasa, which is given to the use of Mostar Yunus Emre Institute, was attended by Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBIH) Minister of Education and Science Elvira Dilberovic, TİKA President Serdar Çam, Yunus Emre Institute President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş, General Director of Foundations Adnan Ertem, Turkish Ambassador to Sarajevo Haldun Koç, Mostar Mayor Ljubo Beslic, students, and guests.

“These works serve as a beautiful bridge between the past and the future.”

In his speech, Ersoy pointed out that 400-year presence of Ottomans in Bosnia and Herzegovina has left many works behind and stated that “these works serve as a beautiful bridge between the past and the future.” Ersoy reminded that after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992-1995, Turkey has assumed responsibility for the rebuilding of the country through TİKA and within this framework, TİKA has completed over 850 projects in Bosnia.

Ersoy expressed that Karagöz Bey Madrasa will continue to serve in line with its customs and functions through Yunus Emre Institute and said, "The madrasa was serving as an educational institution since 1557. We would like to continue this through Yunus Emre Institute.”

Ersoy stressed the importance of cultural exchange for the continuity of good relations between the two countries.

Ersoy remarked, “I would like to emphasize that as the Republic of Turkey, our priority is the unity and integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” and continued,

“We would like to see Bosnia and Herzegovina become a part of the European Union and NATO. To reach these targets, we need Bosnia and Herzegovina to be economically independent and strong. We would like to continue our support with economic programs to strengthen Bosnia economically. We would like to develop tourism projects in touristic cities like Mostar and we would like to finance these through Ziraat Bank, which has over 36 branches in the region.”

“It is our duty to contribute to the building of friendship bridges between the two countries.”

FBIH Minister of Education and Science Elvira Dilberovic noted that the project is an indicator of the sincere and strong relations between Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and cited that the cooperation protocol signed between the ministries of education of both countries is important for the development of friendly relations.

Dilberovic underlined education and culture as two elements that bring together and unite people and said, “It is our duty to improve these friendly relations even further and contribute to the building of friendship bridges between the two countries.”

Ambassador Koç also stated that the relations between Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina follow a favorable trajectory, which is evident from projects such as Karagöz Bey Madrasa.

After the speeches, the students, who were ranked highly in the essay competition organized for November 24th Teachers’ Day, were given their awards.

The inauguration ceremony that was also attended by Bosnia and Herzegovina Islamic Union and the representatives from Turkish organizations in the country, concluded with the exchange of gifts and the reception.