Amir Reko

Amir Reko
Nickname(s) Makedonac
Born 1963
Gudelj (Jošanica), Yugoslavia (now Bosnia)
Allegiance ARBiH
Unit East Bosnia Operational Group
Commands held Commander of 43rd Drina Assault Brigade in Goražde
Battles/wars Bosnian War

Amir Reko (born 1963), known by his nom de guerre Makedonac ("the Macedonian"), is a Bosnian-Danish entrepreneur, formerly military officer in the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), and a commander in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) during the Bosnian War (1992–1995).

An ethnic Bosniak, Reko was born in the hamlet of Gudelj of the village Jošanica in Foča in eastern Bosnia.[1] During World War II his grandmother was saved by a Serb.[2] He finished primary school in the village of Ustikolina, after which he moved to Sarajevo on higher studies, finishing middle technical school in 1982.[1] He finished the Army military school in 1986 as an infantry.[1] He served as an officer (časnik) in Novo Mesto (in Slovenia), Gospić (Croatia), Pljevlja (Montenegro), Bitola (Macedonia), Zaječar (Serbia).[1]

Reko deserted from the JNA in April 1992.[2] While wanting to preserve "Brotherhood and Unity", the real situation, when the war spilled over into Bosnia and his home village, forced him to leave the JNA.[3] He had received information that Serb forces occupied Foča and his village.[3] He contacted his ethnic Serb friend and JNA colleague Dragan Simić stationed in Niš, and told him that he was to leave to be with his family.[3] Simić offered to help, and the two went for Bosnia.[3] They crossed Serb-held territory into Bosniak-held territory in Goražde where Reko believed his family took refuge.[2] His colleague saved him from Bosnian Serb policemen at Ustiprača.[2]

Reko became the first commander of the 43rd Drina Assault Brigade (43. Drinska udarna brigada) of ARBiH, based in Goražde.[2] His high rank came as the result of his Military Academy diploma.[2] His nom de guerre became Makedonac due to his years of service in Bitola.[2] He was unable to meet up with his family in Gudelj, as that village was under Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) control.[2] Serb soldiers killed his mother Aziza and grandfather (along with five other family members[3]) while cleansing the village of the remaining people, through setting a house which held them on fire.[2] Reko has stated that he knows of the perpetrators, and that one lives in Canada.[3] A few days after, the Municipal headquarters of the Territorial Defense ordered that the Serb village of Bučje be cleansed as it posed a threat due to VRS progress.[2] While an ideal chance for revenge, Reko refused, and was called weak and a traitor.[2] He organized talks with the Bučje inhabitants for the peaceful surrender of them and their weapons.[2] As a result, the village's 45 Serbs and few Bosniaks were saved.[2] Reko learnt that he was an assassination target due to saving Serbs, and that orders came from people currently in the Bosnian government.[3] After the war he set up a memorial to the killed members of his family.[2]

After the war, he moved to Denmark.[1] He became a successful businessman,[2] and established a family, with two children.[3] He and his wife eventually divorced.[3] In 2008, he met with his childhood romance Azra in Bosnia, who was a widow with two children.[3] They eventually married.[3]

He owns a Danish-Bosnian company "Bohen" that produces gaskets, parts of rubber and plastic and parts for water and heating.[1] He currently lives in Denmark with his family.[1] Reko established the political movement "Most 21", aimed at a multi-ethnic unitary state.[3]

A documentary on his life was made in 2016, called Makedonac.[2] There is plans of a movie.[2] He has been interviewed by various newspapers and guested TV shows such as RTRS's Telering,[4] Prva's Život Priča,[5] Face's Face to Face,[6] Happy TV's Jutarnji program,[7] Elta's Razgovor,[8] OSMTV's Lice Nacije.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ličnosti.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DW 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 B92 2017.
  4. ↑ "RTRS - TELERING 05.7.2017". RTRS (via YouTube).
  5. ↑ "Život priča - Čov(J)ek". PRVA (via YouTube).
  6. ↑ "Amir Reko, kapetan koji je spasio 52 Srba: "Tri dana prije ubili su sve moje, ja nisam htio..."". FACE HD TV (via YouTube).
  7. ↑ "Amir Reko, heroj koji je spasio 45 civila od smrti - Dobro jutro Srbijo - (TV Happy 11.12.2017)". Jutarnji Program TV HAPPY (via YouTube).
  8. ↑ "RAZGOVOR AMIR REKO I DRAGAN SIMIC". Elta HD (via YouTube).
  9. ↑ "LICE NACIJE OSMTV, gosti Amir Reko i Olivera Markovic 22 11 2017". OSM Televizija (via YouTube).

Sources

  • "Amir Reko, direktor i suvlasnik Bohen DK i Bohen d.o.o.: BiH može napraviti kvalitetan proizvod, dostaviti ga na vrijeme i biti konkurentna na svjetskom nivou". Ličnosti. eKapija; akta. 22 September 2009.
  • "Amir Reko - čovjek koji nije želio biti zločinac". Politika. DW. 4 January 2017.
  • "Spasao 45 Srba, a tri dana ranije ubili su njegove". B92. 12 October 2017.
  • Dženana Halimović (25 December 2015). "Amir Reko Makedonac: Goraždanski heroj ljudskosti". Slobodna Evropa.
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