Reconstructed Mosque Reopens to Public in Republika Srpska
The rebuilt Arnaudija mosque, which was badly damaged in 1993 during the Bosnian war, was officially reopened on Tuesday at a ceremony attended by hundreds of Muslims in Banja Luka, the administrative centre of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity.
Husein Kavazovic, the grand mufti of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said at the ceremony that “with today’s reopening of this building, we are correcting at least part of the injustice towards this city, its history and its inhabitants”.
“We hope that the renovation of the Banja Luka mosques will bring back the old spirit of openness to this city and will strengthen good interpersonal relations,” Kavazovic said, Nezavisne Novine reported.
The Arnaudija mosque was originally built in 1595 in a classical Ottoman style by Hasan Defterdar, finance minister of the Eyalet of Bosnia, an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire, according to historians.
It was destroyed on May 7, 1993 by Bosnian Serb forces along with Ferhadija, another famous Banja Luka mosque a few hundred metres away. A total of 16 mosques were destroyed in the city during the war.
Milorad Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska, said that the destruction of the mosques was “a mistake, an act of insanity”.
“The existence of such places of worship cannot be called into question by any demolition or any desecration,” Dodik said.
Dodik thanked Turkey for its financial help in renovating the mosque. Turkish minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoysaid that “the Arnaudija Mosque that we are opening today in Banja Luka was built on peace, brotherhood and harmony”.
Fragments of the demolished Arnaudija mosque were found in various locations, including the River Vrbas, collected and built into the reconstructed mosque. A similar method was used in the reconstruction of the Ferhadija mosque, which reopened in May 2016.
No one was ever held accountable for demolishing either the Arnaudija or Ferhadija mosques.
Source: balkaninsight.com
