TANASIĆ: BY CLAIMING KULIN BAN AND HIS CHARTER AS THEIR OWN, BOSNIAKS ARE PERSISTENTLY AND BLATANTLY FALSIFYING

Tanasić points out that Bosnia was referred to as a "Serbian kingdom," while Kulin Ban’s Charter was written in both the Serbian language and Cyrillic alphabet, and that academic circles unequivocally regard it as a Serbian monument of literacy, but that Sarajevo falsifiers do not even know when it was created.

BELGRADE, AUGUST 28 /SRNA/ – By attempting to present Kulin ban and his charter as evidence of "Bosnian statehood, language and literacy," Bosniaks in Sarajevo are persistently and blatantly falsifying history and appropriating the medieval Serb Bosnian state, its rulers, Serbian language and entire cultural heritage, prominent Serbian linguist Sreto Tanasić told SRNA. Tanasić, the chair of the Committee for Serbian Language Standardization, stresses that Bosniaks in Sarajevo resort to appropriating the heritage of others because they have nothing which they could support the desired image of themselves with. He stresses that it has never been disputed in science that Bosnia was a Serbian state, as evidenced by historical documents. ROMAN POPES WERE NOT MISINFORMED WHEN REFERRING TO BOSNIA AS A "SERBIAN KINGDOM" Tanasić noted that, for example, just one year before the charter was issued, in 1188, the Roman pope referred to Bosnia as a "Serbian kingdom" in a letter to the Archbishop of Dubrovnik, which is the designation used in a number of papal charters between 1187 and the mid-13th century. "The popes were not misinformed, nor did they falsify this in favour of the Serbs," Tanasić stressed, who is also a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska. He recalls that in the 10th century, Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus referred to Bosnia as "a land inhabited by Serbs," and that it was a separate small territory within the Serbian state of the time, surrounded on all sides by that Serbian state. "Therefore, both the East and the West viewed Bosnia as a Serbian state. At that time, there was no such thing as a `state of Bosnia and Herzegovina,` especially not the kind that Bosniaks in Sarajevo want to create," Tanasić emphasised. Tanasić points out that Kulin Ban's Charter /oath/ was written in Latin and in the Serbian language using Cyrillic, which at the time was the official script of the Serbian language in medieval Bosnia. "It is pure Serbian, Old Serbian, and follows the Štokavian linguistic norm, the same one used in the language of charters sent from Raška to Dubrovnik," he added. In terms of language, alphabet and orthography, Tanasić notes, Kulin's charter is identical to the First Founding Charter of the Hilandar Monastery, issued by the monk Simeon, formerly Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja, on Mount Athos about ten years later. He recalled that Kulin ban's sister was married to Stefan Nemanja’s brother, Prince Miroslav, for whom the Miroslav Gospel was written, a jewel of Serbia’s medieval written heritage. "It is no wonder that they also claim that Gospel as their own, through family ties, as it were," Tanasić said. Tanasić noted that since Kulin Ban's Charter was discovered in the Dubrovnik Archives, it has unequivocally been regarded in academic circles, not only Serb ones, as a Serb written monument. For example, he added, renowned Viennese Slavist Vatroslav Jagić wrote: "Kulin Ban's Charter from 1189 is the first and oldest document written in Cyrillic and in the Serbian language." SARAJEVO FALSIFIERS DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHEN KULIN BAN'S CHARTER WAS CREATED He recalled that Kulin's charter begins with the words "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit," and that the ban also ends it by invoking God and holding the Holy Gospel, a formula also found in other Serb written monuments from that period, based on Eastern Christian spiritual foundations upon which the Serb cultural pattern was built. "We did not know that Bosniak spirituality was also based on those same Eastern Christian foundations. Or perhaps the Bosniak falsifiers found this too much and, moreover, inappropriate, so they often leave out those parts," Tanasić said. According to him, the Bosniaks have made the matter even more absurd by marking the creation of Kulin’s charter on August 29 according to the new calendar. "These Sarajevo falsifiers do not even know when the charter was created," Tanasić said. He pointed out that the Kulin Ban’s Charter states that it was written on August 29, the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist /according to the old church calendar/, which is observed on September 11 according to the new calendar, as evident in the church calendar. "All of this also shows how well-founded their scholarship is, and how much they respect scientific principles. Or perhaps they are celebrating some other Kulin and want to put this Serbian medieval document into his hands," Tanasić said. However transparent and nonsensical this falsification may be, Tanasić stressed, it is necessary to point out every time it occurs that these are blatant lies. He recalled that the language laws of Republika Srpska and Serbia explicitly stipulate an obligation to study and protect Serb written heritage from falsification. Comparing the alleged attempts by Bosniaks to appropriate Serbian heritage, Tanasić recalled, as an example, that Egyptian authorities once decided to erect a huge monument to Alexander the Great in central Cairo as the creator of "Egyptian statehood," and to declare the Library of Alexandria the "foundation of Egyptian culture," which prompted ridicule throughout the cultural world.