Since June 2022, Samir Becic has been contacting Apple’s CEO Tim Cook about implementing a Bosnian language and keyboard on Apple devices. Here is his second letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook:
Tim Cook, CEO
Apple Inc.
Re: Apple’s discrimination against the Bosnian people and their language
Dear Mr. Cook:
I write to you today to request that Apple end its continuing discrimination against the Bosnian people and their language. This discrimination takes the form of the exclusion of the Bosnian language from the Apple iOS QuickType Keyboard as a language option. Although I believe that Apple’s refusal to include the Bosnian language among the keyboard options on its devices is not intended to harm the Bosnian people, or lend aid and comfort to those who seek to wipe them from the face of the earth, that is precisely the effect of Apple’s unfortunate omission.
The Bosnian language is an important symbol of the ongoing struggle of the Bosnian people for survival against the forces of separatism and nationalism that have in the past sought to destroy them, and that today seek to reignite bloodshed and ethnic cleansing in the Bosnian homeland. In recognition of the importance of the Bosnian language as a symbol of the Bosnian people, the Dayton Peace Agreement which ended the 1992-1995 war was written and signed in three languages, Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian, which are now the three official languages of Bosnian-Herzegovina. Despite this history, Apple recognizes only the Croatian and Serbian languages on its keyboards, while the Bosnian language is inexplicably excluded. Sadly, this exclusion aids and lends credibility to those seeking to renew their assault on the existence of the Bosnian people and their culture, such as separatists in the Republica Sprska who have illegally banned the use of the Bosnian language in schools.
As a native-born Bosnian who witnessed first-hand the horrors and unspeakable tragedy of the 1992-1995 genocidal war waged on my country, and the subsequent struggles of the Bosnian people to preserve their homeland and their culture, I can tell you that Apple’s exclusion of the Bosnian language from the Apple iOS QuickType Keyboard is a source of continuing harm. I urge you to end it immediately.
Very truly yours,
Samir Becic
