southeastern europe

This is a true story ... A story that sometime ago I would have thought was part of some sort of dystopian fiction. As time passes, I cannot shake away the feeling that it increasingly looks and feels like a nightmare that returns night after night with more intensity and power and from which one finds it more and more difficult to wake up.  It happened at Ayios Ilias, part of a long stretch of sand dunes on the west coast of the Peloponnese, just over eight weeks ago, on what would have otherwise simply been just another hot sunny summer day. The beach - a popular destination for groups of young people and families seeking a quiet place by the sea to spend their summer days, was fairly crowded. Built at the point where the sand dunes met the road, the local tavern was also crowded with companies having a late lunch after a day at the beach. In the midst of the terrace, one could see a group of six men in their thirties, all dressed in black. I did not pay much attention at what

The political forces of the countries that have emerged from the breakup of Yugoslavia have been making plans, drawing up communication and campaign strategies for quite a while for 2011. No, it was not because of any special celebration or commemoration (although there are plenty of opportunities for this). And, no, it was not because of any big electoral battles coming up (although, again, there were a few elections scheduled for 2011). Simply 2011 is a population census year. And although national borders are supposed to have solidified after two decades of often violent conflict (again with a few exceptions such as the continually, though low key, contested territorial settlement in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the issue of the independence of Kosovo) the census year controversies indicate that Southeastern Europe continues to experience a latent phase of the protracted conflict that led to the dissolution of Yugoslavia.  Endless contestation of who will conduct it, what questions

"Darbelere Karşı 70 Milyon Adım Koalisyonu" adlı grup, Fener Rum Patrikhanesi önünde eylem yaptı. Yaklaşık 20 kişilik grup, üzerinde Türkçe ve Rumca "Bütün halklar kardeştir" yazılı pankartlar taşıdı. Grup adına açıklama yapan Yıldız Önen, "Bu devirden sonra darbe olmaz demeyi isterdik. Sırlar odasına girildi diye heyecanlananlara Narry Poterromanı okurken için geçmiş, üstün açık kalmış olmalı diyerek diye takılmak isterdik. Koç Müzesi'ndeki denizaltıda bulunan bomba 300 çocuğu öldürmek için o

The Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew has been critical of the stance of the Turkish government towards the Patriarchate and the country's remnants of its once large and vibrant Christian Orthodox community in an interview with CBS television. Watch CBS News Videos Online Patriarch Bartholomew said Turkey’s Greek Orthodox community does not feel that they enjoy full freedoms as Turkish citizens and that they are treated as “second-class citizens.” Referring to circles within the Turkish establishment, the Patriarch said “[They] would be happy to see the patriarchate extinguished or moving abroad, but our belief is that it will never happen”. “I have visited the prime minister, many ministers, submitting our problems … asking [them] to help us,” with no success. The European Union and the US have frequently criticized Turkey for not reopening the Halki Greek Orthodox seminary closed in 1971 and not taking measures to pr

«Η εθνική ταυτότητα δεν καθορίζεται άπαξ και διά παντός» ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΚΑΤΕΡΙΝΑ ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜΑΚΟΥ katoiko@enet.gr   Πώς γεννήθηκαν και πώς διαμορφώθηκαν στην πορεία των δύο τελευταίων αιώνων το ελληνικό και το τουρκικό εθνικιστικό όραμα; Ο Σπύρος Σοφός, ο οποίος συνυπογράφει «Το βάσανο της Ιστορίας», μιλάει για τη σχέση ανάμεσα στους δύο αντίπαλους εθνικισμούς. Σε ποιο βαθμό επηρεάζεται η άσκηση της εξωτερικής πολιτικής της χώρας και -πολύ περισσότερο- η συζήτηση περί της εξωτερικής πολιτικής και ειδικά της σχέσης με τα γειτονικά μας κράτη από τους εθνικούς μύθους και τα ιδεολογήματα που μεταδίδονται από γενιά σε γενιά; Και πού συναντιούνται οι εθνικές μας αφηγήσεις μ' εκείνες γύρω από την οικοδόμηση της τουρκικής εθνικής ταυτότητας; Πώς εξελίχθηκε στον χρόνο η πολύπλοκη σχέση ανάμεσα στα εθνικιστικά σχέδια Ελλάδας και Τουρκίας; Σε αυτά τα ερωτήματα επιχειρεί να απαντήσει η μελέτη που συνέγραψαν ο Σπύρος Σοφός, επιστημονικός ερευνητής στο Κέντρο Ευρωπαϊκών Μελετών του Πανε