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Tension between Bosniaks and Serbs grows in Sandzak

 
Hundreds of people take to the streets amidst shouts of “Sandzak is not Serbia” after an international basketball match · Tension has been raising since Muamer Zukorlic won elections in the Bosniak National Council · Police and Muslim demonstrators clashed over land dispute

World Basketball championship semifinals between Turkey and Serbia were held on September 11. Turkey only secured victory in the last minute after a tight and exciting match. The final result not only sparked joy across Turkey but in parts of Serbia, too. Hundreds of young people took to the streets of Novi Pazar a town in the region of Sandzak with Turkish flags and shouting "Sandzak is not Serbia".

Discrimination of the Muslim majority

The region of Sandzak was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1913, although it is currently halfway between Serbia and Montenegro: Its capital is Novi Pazar (in Serbia), populated by 85.000 people. 76% are Muslim Bosniaks and 20 % Orthodox Serbs. The region was not among the most violent territories during the Balkan War, but tension has been on the rise since the early 90's.

The last wave of tension occurred last June, when candidate Muamer Zukorlic won the elections to the National Minority Council of Bosniaks (a body set up to protect minorities within Serbia) in the Sandzak region. The winner proposed self-government for the region, a move that irritated Serbian authorities. Zukorlic went further and urged EU intervention "to end discrimination against Bosniaks in Sandzak". The Serb minority, however, considers Zukorlic an Islamic radical.

Clashes between demonstrators and police

Clashes between Bosniak demonstrators and Serbian police broke out last September leaving dozens of hurt people and several arrested. Incidents began as a thousand protesters blocked the construction of a kindergarten in a disputed plot. Zukorlic then said the confiscation of land represented "the culmination of violence, discrimination and disrespect for basic Muslim rights". After the clashes, the Serbian Minister of Employment, and Social Affairs Rasim Ljajic declared the problem in Sandzak was not causing instability within Serbia and added it is not of "ethnic or political nature, but economic".

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