State Minister Atalay: Bosnian People Will Shape Their Future In Solidarity With Each Other

MOSTAR - Turkish State Minister Besir Atalay said on Friday, ''I believe that Bosnian people will shape their future in solidarity with each other.''
State Minister Atalay, State Minister Mehmet Aydin, Public Works and Housing Minister Zeki Ergezen, Culture and Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Sami Guclu and bureaucrats attended reopening of the ancient stone bridge of Mostar.
Speaking at the ceremony, State Minister Atalay said, ''the bridge had been the symbol of Mostar for centuries. Historians had always eulogized its perfect architecture. Following the war, a number of international organizations and countries extended great efforts for reconstruction of the bridge.''
''I believe that Bosnian people will shape their future in solidarity with each other,'' he added.
The famous thirty-meter single-arched stone bridge of Mostar tumbled into the river on November 9, 1993, when Bosnian Croats blasted its sweeping arch with tank fire during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The bridge was built of limestone in 1566 according to the plans of Mimar Haireddin, a disciple of Sinan, the greatest architect of the Ottoman Empire.
Reconstruction works began in 1997, but the rebuilding of the 30-meter span got under way in earnest in June 2002, after workers extracted the scattered remnants from the riverbed.
The project cost 15 million U.S. dollars, much of which was donated by Turkey, the United States, Italy, the Netherlands and Croatia, as well as numerous organizations.
(UK) 23.07.2004