southeastern europe

I was in Turkey during Kenan Evren's violent and excessively repressive coup. I was very young and, coming from a neighbouring country that had experienced its own brutal dictatorship, I was shocked by the indiscriminate brutality of the takeover of power. The extreme violence of the coup cannot be justified by the argument, however true, that it gave an end to widespread social unrest and violent conflict.  Indeed, it should not be forgotten that Evren institutionalised state violence, treated human life as expendable, penalized not only actual engagement in the violence that had marked Turkey's urban landscapes, but also what he and his accomplices deemed to be 'subversive thinking'. Turkey's moderate left was decimated as the ire of the regime was directed more towards them than the Right. The military junta allowed and enhanced the use of demeaning practices such as vengeful systematic torture, 'virginity' tests against 'suspect' wome...

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The Nicosia buffer zone. A wound in the midst of Cyprus Saying that the story of Cyprus is a story of missed opportunities may be a clich é but could not be truer today.  The rejection of the Annan plan by the Greek-Cypriot electorate back in  2004 undoubtedly damaged the cause of the reunification of the island. The election of Dimitris Christofias to the presidency of the republic in 2008 came too late as Mehmet Ali Talat was facing elections two years later. Both leaders had to face internal challenges. For a start, mending the wounds that the bitter 'anti Annan plan' campaign in the south had inflicted upon the cause of a united Cyprus required time and determination, both of which were in short supply. Talat had to counter the criticisms of an ascendant pro-independence  National Unity Party  and its leader Derviş Eroğlu who by 2009 was cohabiting with him as prime minister and in 2010 moved to the presidency of the TRNC. Christofias, despite his pro-reu...

The Name Issue Revisited, an Anthology of Academic Articles  is finally now out. Part I: The Name Issue in the Context  of International Law Matthew CR Craven – What’s in a Name? The Republic of Macedonia  and Issues of Statehood............................................................................... 17 Jean-Pierre Queneudec – The Name and Symbols of the State  in International Law....................................................................................55 Larry Reimer – Macedonia: Cultural Right or Cultural Appropriation?..................... 61 Carlos Flores Juberías – Putting the Name Issue in a Comparative Perspective ..........79 Jana Lozanoska – The True Substance of the Name Issue: Consequences  of an Invented Dispute for the Republic of Macedonia...............................95 Budislav Vukas – The 1995 Interim Accord and Membership of the  Republic of Macedonia in International Organizations................................

On 31 January the BBC News website focused on a fresco in the Church of the Resurrection in Podgorica that depicted hell. Within a vivid red inferno and in the company of biblical figures that have been condemned to burn in hell, one can see figures bearing a resemblance to an ageless Josip Broz Tito (or Michael Caine cast to impersonate him), Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and, behind them barely discernible, Lenin and Stalin. The anonymous artist assumed that propagating and 'implementing' communism was a deadly sin but carefully steered away from any similar judgments as far as the opportunistic nationalism that traumatized the societies of former Yugoslavia are concerned. So no Milosevic, Bulatovic, Karadzic or Mladic are discernible in the political hell featured in the walls of the Church of the Resurrection, perhaps while the verdicts on their genocide indictments are pending ...     A church in Montenegro has sparked controversy by displaying a fresco depic...

An English language version of this text can be found below Μερικες 'αβολες' και μαλλον καθυστερημενες σκεψεις με αφορμη τα γεγονοτα στο κτηριο της ΕΡΤ... Τα αισθηματα μου για την ΕΡΤ ηταν παντα αναμικτα. Δεν μπορω ουτε καν να απαριθμησω τα ποιοτικα πενιχρα προγραμματα, τους υπαλληλους φαντασματα ή τουριστες, τις στιγμες που η ελλειψη ανεξαρτησιας απο την εκαστοτε κυβερνηση την εκανε ξεδιαντροπο εργαλειο δημοσιων σχεσεων πολιτικων παραταξεων, υπουργων και βουλευτων. Ομως μπορω να απαριθμησω (λιγες αλλα οχι ασημαντες) στιγμες (το παλιο Τριτο, το οτι η ΕΡΤ αποτελεσε το μεσο επαφης με το ποιοτικο θεατρο και μουσικη για ανθρωπους παγιδευμενους σε νησιδες πολιτιστικης, και συχνα υλικης, ενδειας, ιδιαιτερα στο τελος της δεκαετιας του 70 και στις αρχες του 80, την ορχηστρα της και λιγοστες αξιοσημειωτες παραγωγες που η ιδιωτικη ραδιοτηλεοραση θα θεωρουσε οικονομικα ασυμφορες). Ακομη και τοτε, οφειλω να ομολογησω πως θα δυσκολευομουν να κατανοησω πως εργαζομενοι που μεχρι προ τινος ...

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 ...