‘Everybody talks about Syria, but nobody does anything. Instead of stopping the whips, people count while we are being flogged. How is that possible?’ Ibrahim is twenty years-old, lives in Damascus and longs for a different Syria. The last episode of “From the Caucasus to Beirut”, a journey on the discovery of the Middle-Eastern Armenian diaspora
In Azerbaijan, the hydrocarbon, oil, and gas extraction industry continues to represent the lion's share of the economy. Yet, according to economist Vugar Bayramov, director of the Centre for Economic and Social Development, the mismanagement of profits and the lack of a development strategy for other sectors are likely to create imbalances in the country's economy. Our interview
The crushed salt of Kratovo comes directly from the sun and the wind that kiss the Osogovski mountains, in Macedonia. A journey into the secrets of a family that wants to open the country's first “slow hostel”, distant a three-day horse ride from the Aegean sea
Damascus. When I get there, in December 2011, the uprising against Bashar Al Assad has been going on for ten months. In the city, under the ever-present eye of the dictator, everything seems calm, though at the same time absent and precarious. Even for the historical Armenian community, once again prey to its destiny of chronic lack of safety. The thirteenth episode of “From the Caucasus to Beirut”
A few months ago, Belgrade introduced the BusPlus system, which was supposed to revolutionize the city's public transport. But technological innovations have only masked the inefficiency and poor state of public transport. And violence against those who do not pay the ticket is increasing
Private schools of all levels have flourished over the last ten years. A report about a failing public system, teachers struggling with the laws of the free market, and families struggling with their wallets
An Eco-centre. This is Jasna Živković's answer to the economic problems of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A report about rural development in northern Bosnia, between tradition and innovation
‘With time, the Countries we live in - Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq - have become our home. Arabic has become our language. Unleavened bread has become our food. But let’s not forget it: we belong to a different history’. In the twelfth episode of the series “From the Caucasus to Beirut”, Paolo Martino returns among the Armenians of Lebanon
Amman is the capital of a Country hovering between remaining faithful to a pro-Western monarchy and the shock wave of the Arab Spring. A community of three thousand Armenians, a small star in the firmament of the diaspora, lives and survives the contradictions of the Middle-East. The eleventh episode of our report “From the Caucasus to Beirut”
Efforts to sell 75 percent of Kosovo’s telecom shares are coming to an end. Old American friends are favourites for the country's biggest privatisation yet
An Armenian, a Syrian and a Turk are playing cards in the only inn in town. The three eldersliven up an empty room with ritual jokes, amidst the vapor of coffee. Each of their lives is asynthesis of individual and collective stories gone bad, forsaken like this place. The tenth episode of the story “From the Caucasus to Beirut”
Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić declares himself allergic to Brussels, while the new government grows more and more enthusiastic of Moscow. Data, however, show that from an economics point of view Serbia is very closely linked to the European Union, while pro-Russian sentiments are based on populism
The supervision of Kosovo does not end today: the ICO did many things, good or bad, but it certainly did not supervise Kosovo. Kosovo was, and will continue to be, supervised by foreign powers. A comment
Haki Doku is the first Albanian athlete in the history of the Paralympics. He competed in London on his hand-bike, a special, three-wheeled bike driven by force of arms. The road to get there was an uphill struggle, but thanks to the Integra Foundation and many others, Haki's dream was fulfilled
Bosnia and Herzegovina's major cultural institutions, including the National Museum, the Art Gallery and the National Film Archive, are in a state of neglect. The State does not support them, because doing so would imply acknowledging the existence of a common cultural and historical heritage. Some, in the capital's artistic milieu, have suggested privatization
In Macedonia, the process of dealing with the communist past of the country is becoming more and more to resemble a reality show. Lists of former secret service agents are published on the internet, civil servants are removed from office, new categories of citizens end under screening. But some warn that privacy and civil rights are at stake
The two crossings at Jarinje and Brnjak, heavily guarded by international military and police forces, today de facto separate central Serbia from North Kosovo. The distance between Pristina and Mitrovica, however, has not diminished
The long story of Azerbaijani cinema, from a documentary on oil gushes filmed in 1898 to Soviet-time musicals, and its bleak situation today. The government tries to help the local industry by banning foreign TV series and shows on local TVs, but hope comes from young directors
1915: in the countryside around Diyarbakyr, Armenians and Kurds have been living together for centuries. The Ottoman empire, on the verge of collapse, is about to launch its witch-hunt. Ethnic cleansing in Anatolia is systematic. But some men, helped by luck or their neighbors, manage to save themselves. The ninth episode of our report, “From the Caucasus to Beirut”
Over the years, almost all historical leaders of the Chechen separatist rebels have been killed. In the movement there are no more figures known to the general public, but attacks continue. For the Chechen leadership, however, it is important that enemies have a name. Today, the enemy's name is Gakayev
