Bisera Turković (néeRešić; born 8 December 1954) is a Bosnian diplomat and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2019 to 2023. She was the first female foreign minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Turković was born in Sisak, present-day Croatia, on 8 December 1954 to a Croat mother and a Bosniak father.[1] Her mother Katarina Kraus hails from Slovenia and her father Muharem Rešić hails from Prijedor. Her paternal grandfather Mehmedalija Rešić lived in the United States from 1909 to 1926, when he returned to Prijedor and married Bahta Mušić, her paternal grandmother. Mušić's family hailed from Užice, present-day Serbia, and resettled to Bosanska Kostajnica. Turković's parents separated when she was still a child and her mother moved to Australia. Turković lived with her paternal grandmother in Bosanska Kostajnica until she started school, when she moved to Zagreb where she lived with her father, simultaneously visiting her maternal grandparents Blanka Korez and Stefan Kraus, and her mother in Australia.[2]
In the early 1990s, Turković worked as chief editor for Hayat TV. She was the first bilateral ambassador appointed in the history of independent Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her first assignment as ambassador was in Zagreb, Croatia (1993–1994). During Turković's tenure, her Party of Democratic Action organised a massive weapons shipment, through Croatia from Iran to the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War, although the United States had imposed a weapons embargo on Bosnia and Herzegovina.[4]
In December 2020, Turković called for the abolishment of Republika Srpska, which was met with heavy criticism by Republika Srpska officials Radovan Višković and Željka Cvijanović who called her statement "hate speech."[8][9]
On 14 July 2021, Turković and the Bosnian Defence Minister Sifet Podžić met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels.[15] On 21 July, she met with British Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas Wendy Morton.[16]
In September 2021, Turković withdrew Aida Smajić, the Bosnian Ambassador to neighbouring Serbia, from her office in Belgrade for urgent consultations, regarding the arrest of Edin Vranj, a former high-ranking official of the Federal Police Administration, upon him entering Serbia due to accusations of alleged war crimes during the Bosnian War.[17] On 18 October 2021, she confirmed Vranj was released from custody, sending regards to the Serbian authorities in the process.[18] At the 28th OSCE Ministerial Council in Stockholm, held in December 2021, Turković met with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, as well as United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken.[19][20] On 21 December, she held a bilateral meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Sochi.[21]
On 24 February 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, marking a dramatic escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014. Regarding the invasion, Turković stated "Bosnia and Herzegovina remains firmly committed to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and we call for an immediate end to fighting and shelling. OSCE principles, security and international law are under attack today. Hostility and suffering of innocent civilians must end immediately", and also called on Russia and Belarus to refrain from using force in the interests of peace, regional and global stability.[22]
On 10 March 2022, she had a meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock upon Baerbock's state visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, during which Turković asked for accelerated start of European Union membership talks in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.[23]
In October 2022, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić-Radman accused Turković of visiting the Islamic countries for buying arms. She referred to the remark as a "dangerous falsehood."[24]
On 21 July 2021, Turković spoke in a telephone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.[26] On 4 August 2021, she met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran, attending his inauguration the following day.[27]
On 6 December 2022, amid the Mahsa Amini protests, Turković met with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. The meeting with Abdollahian was boycotted by the Bosnian Serb[28] and Bosnian Croat representatives,[29] with an explanation that all the civilised world disassociates from and stands against the suppression of human rights in Iran.[28][29] Turković stated that "Iran is our partner and a friend, and a country that unequivocally supports the territorial integrity and independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They supported us in the time of defence and construction of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for which we remain thankful." She added that "little is told about the rights in Afghanistan and Palestine and in the end about human rights in our country". Turković criticised stereotypes in the media and said in the end "imagine me talking to you vailed like this, what would be your perception, stereotype? Human rights include a right of clothes, that everyone should wear what they want and be equally treated".[30]
Other activities
World Bank, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (since 2019)[31]
^ abc"Ambassador". Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the State of Qatar. 12 October 2016. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2020.