TCA and U.S. House of Representatives Delegation to BiH and Turkey

Ms. Lejla Hadzic, Director of Communications, participated in the BiH-Turkey Delegation from July 3 to 11, 2010. The delegation of 24 staff members from the U.S. House of Representatives met with Haris Silajdzic, the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Jasmina Pasalic, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH; Vefahan Ocak, Ambassador of Turkey to BiH and Jonathan Moore, Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy to BiH. The delegation also visited Camp Butmir, where European Union peacekeeping forces (EUFOR), which include a Turkish force, oversee the implementation of the Dayton Accords as well as the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial for the victims of the Srebrenica Genocide. On July 11th, a few days after the delegation's visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the 15th anniversary of the mass killings, 800 newly identified victims were laid to rest in the cemetery at the Memorial. The planning and logistics for the delegation's trip to BiH was assisted by the Bosniak-American Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BAACBH) and the American University in BiH. The visit is an extension of collaborations between the Turkish Coalition for America and BAACBH which include a multi-year TCA grant that supports the efforts of BAACBH to represent the Bosnian-American community in Washington, D.C. After concluding its visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the congressional delegation traveled to Turkey and visited Ankara, Istanbul, Patara and Canakkale.