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Foča Фоча
Town and municipality
Coat of arms
Location of Foča within Bosnia and Herzegovina
Foča Location of Foča within Bosnia and Herzegovina
Coordinates: 43°30′23″N 18°46′29″E / 43.50639°N 18.77472°E / 43.50639; 18.77472Coordinates: 43°30′23″N 18°46′29″E / 43.50639°N 18.77472°E / 43.50639; 18.77472
Country	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entity	Republika Srpska
Government
• Mayor	Radislav Mašić (SDS)
• Municipality	1,134.58 km2 (438.06 sq mi)
Population (2013 census)
• Town	12,334
• Municipality	18,288
• Municipality density	16/km2 (42/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Area code(s)	58
Website	www.opstinafoca.rs.ba

Foča (Serbian Cyrillic: Фоча, pronounced [fôtʃa]) is a town and a municipality located in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of Drina river. As of 2013, the town has a population of 12,234 inhabitants, while the municipality has 18,288 inhabitants.

History

The old clock tower of Foča

Early history

The town was known as Hotča during medieval times. It was then known as a trading centre on route between Ragusa (now Dubrovnik) and Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). With Gornje Podrinje Foča was part of the old Serbian State up to 1376, when it was attached to the Bosnian State under the reign of King Tvrtko. After Tvrtko's death the town was ruled by the Hum Dukes among whom the best known was Herzog Stjepan. Foča was the seat of the Ottoman Sanjak of Herzegovina established in 1470, until 1572, when it was moved to Pljevlja.

World War II

In 1941, the Ustaše killed the leading Serbs in Foča.^[1] Between December 1941 and January 1942 over two thousand Bosnian Muslims were killed in Foča by the Chetniks as act of vengeance for repression over Serbs by Muslims in ranks of Ustaše.^[2] Additionaly Chetniks attacked Ustaše and in Foča in August 1942.^[2]

On 13 February 1943, Pavle Đurišić reported to Draža Mihailović the actions undertaken by the Chetniks in the Foča, Pljevlja, and Čajniče districts: "All Muslim villages in the three mentioned districts were totally burned so that not a single home remained in one piece. All property was destroyed except cattle, corn, and senna."^[3]

In the operation Chetnik losses "were 22 dead, of which 2 through accidents, and 32 wounded. Among the Muslims, around 1,200 fighters and up to couple of thousands of civilian victims of both nationalitys."^[3] Đurišić said what remained of the Muslim population fled and that actions were taken to prevent their return.^[3] The municipality is also the site of the legendary Battle of Sutjeska between the Tito's Yugoslav Partisans and the German army. A monument to the Partisans killed in the battle was erected in the village of Tjentište.

Bosnian War and after

Mehmed Pasha Kukavica Mosque was blown up on 28 May 1992. During the war, all of the mosques of Foča were destroyed.

In 1992, the city came under the control of Army of Republika Srpska. Most of the Bosniaks fleed from the area.^[4][5]

Once the Serb volunteers cleared city they continued to secure it through the war. But on 19. December 1992. on Saint Nicholas Serb Slava Bosnian Muslim army units crossed Drina and in one hour massacred 56 civilians of whom 32 man, 21 woman and 3 children (age 7, 10 and 2). There were none Serb soldiers in area because a lot of them were at homes celebrating St. Nicholas. This was the single biggest loss of civilians in Foča during the 90's war. No one was convincted for this act of ethnic cleansing.
13 mosques including the Aladža Mosque were destroyed and the 22,500 Muslims who made up the majority of inhabitants fled.^[6]

Only about 10 Muslims remained at the end of the conflict.^[7] The Tribunal Judges determined beyond a reasonable doubt that the purpose of the Serb campaign in Foča was, among others, "to cleanse the Foča area of Muslims" and concluded that "to that end the campaign was successful.^[7]

In 1995 the Dayton Agreement created a territorial corridor linking the once-besieged Bosnian city of Goražde to the Muslim-Croat Federation; as a consequence, the northern part of Foča was separated to create the city of Foča-Ustikolina.^{[citation needed]}

The city was renamed Srbinje , "place of the Serbs" (from Srbi Serbs and -nje which is a Slavic locative suffix). In 2004, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared the name change unconstitutional, and reverted it to Foča, until the National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina passes an appropriate law.^{[citation needed]}

In October 2004 members of the Association of Women Victims of War (Udruzenje Žene-Žrtve Rata) attempted to lay a plaque in front of the Partizan sports hall to commemorate the terrible crimes that occurred there.

Since the war around 4,000 Muslims have returned to their homes and several mosques have been re-built.^[6] This has taken place largely due to the administration of Zdravko Krsmanović, who was mayor from 2004 to 2012.

In the 2012 elections, however, Krsmanović was defeated and a new mayor, Radisav Mašić, was elected with support of parties SDS and SNSD.^{[citation needed]}

Settlements

Aside from the town of Foča, the municipality includes the following settlements:

Demographics

According to the 2013 census results, the municipality of Foča has 18,288 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of the municipality:

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registred employed people per their core activity (as of 2016):^[9]

Features

Foča houses some faculties (including the Medical and Orthodox Theological Faculty of Saint Basil of Ostrog.) from the Istočno Sarajevo University.

It is also home to one of seven seminaries in the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Seminary of Saint Peter of Sarajevo and Dabar-Bosna. Foča was also, until 1992, the home of one of Bosnia's most important Islamic high schools, the Madrassa of Mehmed-paša.

Sutjeska which is the oldest National Park in Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in the municipality.

Twin towns - sister cities

Foča is twinned with:

• 
  Kragujevac in Serbia
  

Notable people

• 
  Zehra Deović, folk singer


• 
  Veselin Đuho, Croatian water polo player and coach, two-time Olympic champion


• 
  Aida Hadzialic, Swedish politician


• 
  Jelica Komnenović, basketball player, Olympic bronze medalist


• 
  Milan Lukić, convicted Serbian war criminal


• 
  Rade Krunić, Bosnian Serb professional footballer (Italian club Empoli, Bosnia and Herzegovina national team)

See also

• Foča massacres

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Foča.

• Official website