All the news

Islam in Bulgaria, competing generations

05/01/2011 -  Tanya Mangalakova Sofia

For the last 13 years, Bulgaria's Islamic community has been split by competing leaderships. However, the fight for control of the General Council of the Muftis – the representative body of Islam in Bulgaria – is not only a clash between factions but also between old and new generations

Mussa Khan. Dead end

30/12/2010 -  Paolo Martino Izmir

The Silk Road of the Third Millennium carries human flesh. Its terminal on Turkish soil is Izmir: here, muhajirins arrive. Muhajirins, like Mussa Khan, who try the Aegean route to end up, too often, at the bottom of the sea. To look for him, I need to enter Basmane, Europe’s door of the last

IWPR: Calls for War Memorials Divide Bosnia

29/12/2010 -  Rachel IrwinVelma Saric

All over Bosnia, the sites of atrocities often lack any kind of formal memorial to commemorate them. Observers say that this reflects an ongoing reluctance by the ethnic group whose members committed the crimes to acknowledge that they occurred at all. From IWPR

Bosnia-Herzegovina: the Krivaja life

27/12/2010 -  Andrea Rossini Zavidovići, Sarajevo

From socialism to war, from war to market economy. The transition of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the history of a giant industrial kombinat, Zavidovići's Krivaja. The winners and the losers of privatisations, 15 years later

Azerbaijan: Italian newspaper provokes rage in Baku

24/12/2010 -  EurasiaNet

Azerbaijan is grappling to come to terms with a fresh Internet news scandal. This one doesn’t concern pesky domestic bloggers who tweak government sensitivities. And it is not about media rights. Rather, it covers a topic generally given a wide berth in Baku, even by Azerbaijan’s political opposition -- First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva

Mussa Khan. The Jirga of Gaziantep

23/12/2010 -  Paolo Martino Gaziantep

The distance, journey and precariousness are not enough to deprive the Afghan refugees of their roots. The “Jirga” meets also in Gaziantep. The assembly of elders sits to face the painful topic of exile, but also day-to-day problems of those who hover between a bitter present and an uncertain future

Kruja, the Bazaar saved by the regime

23/12/2010 -  Marjola Rukaj Kruja, Albania

Having survived for thousands of years, nearly disappeared at the beginning of the 20th Century and been brought back to life during the regime, the Bazaar of Derexhik in Kruja, Albania, is today a boutique for tourists. Despite the loss of traditions, unregulated urban growth and rampant globalisation, it continues to survive in its true spirit

High level political changes in Yerevan as New Year approaches

23/12/2010 -  Onnik Krikorian Yerevan

Gagik Beglaryan, the first elected Mayor of Yerevan, has resigned after reportedly assaulting a member of the presidential administration’s protocol department. At the same time, a number of other high level officials have been changed in a rare cabinet reshuffle

Kosovo Serbs, divisions getting deeper after the elections

22/12/2010 -  Tatjana Lazarević Mitrovica

While Serbs living north of Mitrovica boycotted Kosovo elections, Serbs in the rest of Kosovo had significant participation; heavy accusations among Serbian parties marred the election results

Mussa Khan: A meeting with the devil

17/12/2010 -  Paolo Martino Van

The kaçakçılar, human traffickers, have neither business cards nor sales offices. They mingle with the people in the alleys, in the cafés, in the square in front of the mosque. Shifty, invisible, always on the migrants’ route, they could be the only way to find Mussa Khan’s tracks again

Kosovo, PDK and AAK joined to govern?

16/12/2010 -  Francesco Martino Pristina

After the polls and despite many fraud allegations, Kosovo is already looking for a new government. According to analyst Genc Krasniqi, the most likely coalition will involve long-time foes Hashim Thaci and Ramush Haradinaj getting together. Our interview

Organic Montenegro: a lost chance?

16/12/2010 -  Matteo Vittuari

Despite strong efforts, educational campaigns, and the commitment of some NGOs, the organic sector is struggling to expand in Montenegro. Low skills and lack of public support hamper its progress. Here is the fifth part of OBC's analysis of organic agriculture in South East Europe

Bloggers in Azerbaijan back to freedom

15/12/2010 -  Arzu Geybullayeva Baku

Emin and Adnan were arrested in July 2009. Their detention and later arrest was harshly criticized by local and international organizations. Documents published by Wikileaks suggest that US leadership asked that the two bloggers be “quietly released”

Mussa Khan: The Turkish trap

09/12/2010 -  Paolo Martino Van

Still in Van and of Mussa Khan, no news. The journey amongst the Afghan muhajirins continues: trapped in the Turkish city, in the limbo of temporary asylum waiting to continue their journey, even illegally, through Greece and Italy

Mashuk 2010, a youth camp in the Caucasus

09/12/2010 -  Giorgio Comai Pjatigorsk

Last August, the youth forum “Mashuk 2010”, the first summer camp promoted by Moscow's government and solely devoted to young people from the Russian Caucasus, was held in Pyatigorsk, an old spa town in Russia’s North Caucasian Federal District. The event focused on training for cultural interaction and support to youth entrepreneurship

Pârvulescu: Romanian President Băsescu is a ‘turbulence factor’ in times of crisis

07/12/2010 -  Nikolai Yotov Bucharest

According to the well known analyst Christian Pârvulescu, the political scene in Romania is increasingly controlled by the President Traian Băsescu. A problematic situation that seems to reinforce the symptoms of the economic and social crisis tormenting Romania today. Our interview

Greece: end inhumane detention conditions for migrants

06/12/2010 -  Human Rights Watch

The number of migrants arriving in northern Greece from Turkey has risen dramatically in 2010. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), Greek officials should immediately transfer migrants from overcrowded and inhumane detention sites and protect the unaccompanied migrant children

Mussa Khan, the valley of migrations

03/12/2010 -  Paolo Martino Van

“At night, in Yuksekova, the army has permission to shoot at sight. If you go up there, be very, very careful”. On OBC, the journey in search of Mussa Khan continues. An Afghan refugee on the path to a dream called “Europe”. A dream that is all too often paid with one’s own life

Kadyrov requested to testify in Vienna

02/12/2010 -  Majnat Kurbanova Vienna

Umar Israilov, ex Chechen guerrilla fighter, denounced the Chechen leadership for torture at the European court of human rights. He was subsequently murdered, in January 2009 in Vienna, where he had been granted the status of political refugee. Right now in the Austrian capital the trial regarding his assassination is being held. The Chechen President Kadyrov has been called to testify

Armenian genocide: "I remember them"

01/12/2010 -  Laura Delsere

The Armenian genocide – a look from inside a family. Two 15-year-old survivors meet in an orphanage. Sharing the pain is impossible, even with descendants. Therefore, a young university student tells the real story of her grandparents on 24 April, Memorial Day