Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken about the late Bosnian leader Alija Izetbegović in glowing terms. He said he remembers the wise leader with respect and called him a friend. In his telling, Izetbegović was both a friend and a brother to him. Burhanettin Duran, who also took part, pointed to Izetbegović's fight for a free and independent Bosnia and for the dignity of its people. Izetbegović led the country through the war years of the 1990s and died in 2003. The setting, with Erdogan and Duran speaking in the same breath, suggests a commemorative gathering rather than an ordinary press event.