RADOVAN KARADZIC, AL JAZEERA INTERVIEW

THE ARCHITECT OF GENOCIDE DENIES EXISTENCE OF BOSNIAK PEOPLE

Radovan Karadzic is largely known for issuing public threats and denying the existence of Bosniak people.

In a recent interview given to Al Jazeera, Radovan Karadzic has done it again - this time using a mobile phone from his prison cell at the Hague. Asked about how he felt about his role during the Bosnian war, he stated the following historical lie:

"It was a war among Serbs, since the Bosnian Muslims are Serbs who adopted Islam under Turkish rule."

THE FACTS: Bosniaks are NOT Serbs, have NEVER been Serbs, and will NEVER be Serbs. As an alternative to Radovan Karadzic's lies and distortions, here are some facts about the 1300+ year old history of the Bosniak people (in few words):

Bosniaks (also spelled: Bosniacs; sometimes incorrectly refered to as Bosnian Muslims) are autochtone Slavic peoples of Bosnia. Bosniak people speak the Bosnian language. The first dictionary of Bosnian language is 197 years older than the first dictionary of Serbian language. From the 7th - and up until the mid 19th - century, all people who lived in Bosnia, regardless of their faith, identified themselves as Bosniaks (Bosnjani / Bosnjaci).

Serbian historiography - known for habitual lying and ultra-nationalist agenda - considered all people of Bosnia to be "Serbs." This historical lie has been endlessly propagated by the so called 'intelligentsia' gathered around the "Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts" (SANU) and their proxies/sympathizers. The purpose of this racist Serbian propaganda was to assimilate large groups of non-Serbs into the Serbian national identity, steal their land and resources, and complete a failed project of the so called "Greater Serbia" (Velika Srbija).

The fact is that in medieval Bosnia, Bosniaks were largely members of an indigenous Bosnian Church that had its own set of beliefs and teachings - completely separate and different from the official Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The 'official' Churches saw Bosniak 'heresy' as a 'threat.' Those accused of "heresy" would be burned at the stake. Pressured to give up its "heretic" character / teachings, some Bosniaks were forced to convert to Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox faiths. Then, during the Ottoman period (Turkish occupation of Bosnia) mostly heretic Bosniaks in large numbers converted to Islam. However, all people continued to identify themselves as Bosniaks. This would soon change...

In the 19th century, the neighbouring Serbia started opening "Serb schools" in Bosnia and sending teachers to brainwash Orthodox pupils into believing they are Serbs (simply because they shared the same religion). All teachers were trained in Serbia and paid by Serbia. Additionally, Serbia kept organizing and sending political activists to spread the idea of the so called "Serbhood" in remote Bosnian villages, and convincing people of Eastern Orthodox faith they belonged to Serbia. As a result, during the 19th century (Austro-Hungarian period), the Bosniaks of Eastern Orthodox faith acquired Serbian national identity and came to be known as Bosnian Serbs. So, contrary to Radovan Karadzic's lies, it was Orthodox Christians who sold their identity to Serbia and became known as the so called Bosnian Serbs.

Note:
Radovan Karadzic's Al Jazeera interview is available at the following link.