Alija Izetbegović

Bosnian politician, lawyer, philosopher and author (1925–2003)

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Lived 1925–2003, aged 78

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64 languages
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Era
1925–2003
Aged 78
Known for
The Death of Yugoslavia
1995

Summary

Updated 2026-08-16

He led Bosnia and Herzegovina through secession from Yugoslavia and the war that followed — a conflict marked by ethnic cleansing and the Srebrenica genocide, ending only after NATO intervened and the Dayton Agreement froze the lines.

Biography

About

Alija Izetbegović was a lawyer, Islamic philosopher, and author who founded the Party of Democratic Action and became president of Bosnia and Herzegovina's presidency in 1990. When the country's Serb community revolted and formed Republika Srpska to block secession from Yugoslavia, the Bosnian War began. Izetbegović led Bosniak forces initially alongside Croat forces until a separate war broke out between them, resolved when he signed the Washington Agreement with Croatian president Franjo Tuđman. The wider war continued with widespread ethnic cleansing by Bosnian Serb forces, culminating in t…

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In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Alija Izetbegović

Alija Izetbegović

said1970

Do we want the Muslim peoples to break out of the cycle of dependence, backwardness and poverty?...

— p. 5.

Alija Izetbegović

said1970

There is no peace or coexistence between the Islamic faith and non-Islamic social and political institutions.

— p. 30, as quoted in

Alija Izetbegović

said1970

There are immutable Islamic principles which order relations between people, but there is no Islamic economic, social or political structure which cannot be changed...

— p. 31.

Alija Izetbegović

said1970

Islam contains the principle of the umma, i.e. a tendency towards the unification of all Muslims in a single community - religious, cultural and political.

— p. 36.

Alija Izetbegović

said1970