In an alarming escalation of political defiance, President of Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik has moved to unilaterally block key state institutions from operating in the RS entity, effectively launching what many experts describe as a direct challenge to the constitutional sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Dodik’s government has passed laws barring the operations of the Court of BiH, the Prosecutor’s Office, SIPA (State Investigation and Protection Agency), and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) within RS territory-despite the fact that these institutions are defined as central pillars of the BiH state under the Dayton Agreement.
Dodik has declared that these bodies are “unconstitutional,” and his administration is working to enforce their exclusion through new laws, arrests, and even threats of property seizure for officials who refuse to comply. He has gone as far as announcing plans to arrest SIPA members entering RS territory and hinted at the formation of a parallel judicial system, raising fears of a de facto secessionist coup in slow motion. The Constitutional Court of BiH has already suspended these RS laws, and arrest warrants have been issued for Dodik and other RS officials over charges of undermining the state order.
Yet while Dodik pushes to dismantle the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina from within, a separate — but equally troubling — intervention is playing out on the cultural front, this time led by the Embassy of Turkey in Sarajevo.
The Turkish Embassy recently demanded the cancellation of a theater play, “Six Against Turkey,” scheduled to be performed at the Sarajevo National Theatre on April 14, 2025. In a sharply worded diplomatic note, Turkey labeled the play as “propaganda” in support of the Gülen movement, a group it blames for the 2016 coup attempt. The play is inspired by the true story of six Turkish nationals-educators living in Kosovo-who were abducted by Turkish intelligence (MIT) in 2018, with the help of Kosovo’s own intelligence agency, and forcibly deported to Turkey.
The play, created as a co-production between Kosovar, Turkish, American, and Serbian artists, critiques rising authoritarianism and nationalist movements in Europe, using the Kosovo case as a dramatic example of how democratic norms can be eroded through foreign interference.
In response, Turkey’s diplomatic mission framed the performance as an affront to its state and president, even calling for Bosnian institutions to intervene and cancel the play-a move that critics see as a clear overreach and an attempt to silence artistic expression and rewrite public memory of a documented human rights violation.
This brings back disturbing memories of the “Kosovo case”, where six Turkish educators-Kahraman Demirez, Mustafa Erdem, Hasan Hüseyin Günakan, Yusuf Karabina, Osman Karakaya, and Cihan Özkan-were seized in a covert operation. Their abduction, orchestrated by Turkey’s MIT and facilitated by Kosovo’s intelligence chief Driton Gashi, was later condemned by international human rights bodies. Gashi was ultimately convicted and sentenced for abuse of power, in a case hailed by the UN as a step forward for the rule of law in Kosovo.
Critics argue this move represents a foreign state dictating what can or cannot be performed in a sovereign country, sparking fears of growing Turkish intelligence operations in the Balkans, and possibly, repetition of extraterritorial kidnappings like those in Kosovo.
With Turkey now pressuring BiH to suppress a theatrical portrayal of that same incident, serious concerns arise: “Could a similar scenario play out in Bosnia and Herzegovina?” Will Turkish intelligence extend its reach into BiH with the tacit support – or forced silence – of local authorities?
As Dodik openly undermines state sovereignty from within and Turkey interferes from abroad, the question must be asked: “Is Bosnia and Herzegovina becoming a playground for foreign and internal power grabs – at the expense of its democratic integrity, sovereignty, and civil freedoms?”
