Conflicts

The small Armenian-populated town Kessab in north-western Syria found itself in the middle of a battle since the end of March. 99 Years after the Genocide the Plight of Syria’s Armenians Stirs Memories of 1915

A century ago, the Great War swept Europe taking 10 million men and leaving 25 million wounded. Historian Jay M. Winter looks back on our century of violence

Protests are continuing after Friday's uprising, but media hype and national issues are looming upon the demonstrators. The European maze

Seven years after Hrant Dink’s tragic death in Istanbul, his dream of an Armenian-Turkish reconciliation seems as distant as ever

Thirty years ago, from February 8^th to 19^th, the fourteenth edition of the Olympic Winter Games was held in Sarajevo. A few years after the Olympic facilities, a symbol of common history and life, were targeted by the bombings

On the Zlatište hills above Sarajevo, from where citizens were bombed on a daily basis by the Bosnian Serb Army during the war of the nineties, a 26-meter high cross should rise to remember Serbian victims

Many Circassians are calling for a boycott of the Sochi Olympics, saying the Games will take place on the same grounds where their people was ethnically cleansed by Russian troops in the XIX century. Interview with Fatima Tlisova, journalist

Bosnian journalist Dženana Karup Druško is one among many human rights activists who sent a letter to UN Secretary General asking that an investigation be opened after the recent ICTY controversial judgments

Ankara's foreign policy after Syria: the new challenges. Interview with Mete Çubukçu, reporter for the Turkish National TV

Over 600 thousand Syrians, fleeing the war, arrived in Turkey. Most of them are in the Hatay province. Our report from Reyhanlı

Two towns in a mirror image, one in Turkey and the other in Greece. Birgi and Dimitsana are “The other town” - the prize-winning documentary by the Turkish film director Nefin Dinc

On November 9^th, twenty years ago, the artillery of the Bosnian Croat army destroyed the Mostar Bridge, a treasure of Ottoman architecture and one of the symbols of Bosnia and Herzegovina. People reacted on instinct to the news

Kosovo is preparing for the local elections of November 3 after the shocking murder of EULEX officer Audrius Šenavičius. A test on the recent Belgrade-Pristina agreements

The girl that runs. It is the title of a famous photo by Mario Boccia, Italian photojournalist, snapped on September 30^th, 1993. A day like any other in Sarajevo, under siege for 17 months, between bombings and snipers. Twenty years later, Mario tells the story

Truck drivers sealed off the border after a rapid escalation in trade restrictions between Macedonia and Kosovo. The situation quickly came back to normal, but not without consequences

Hundreds of Syrian refugees have crossed the Bulgarian border fleeing the war. About 500 have been placed in the transit center of Pastrogor, near the border with Greece and Turkey. Our report

Marching to Sarajevo to contribute to peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and promote popular diplomacy and non-violent interposition. This was the goal of over two thousand Italian and foreign pacifists who took part in "Mir Sada - Peace Now" in August 1993. One of our journalists participated

Kosovo's declaration of independence in February 2008 marked a change in Russia's approach towards Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the months preceding the war in Georgia in August 2008. Five years later, a short journey through this change in Moscow's official rhetoric

The story of a girl from Sarajevo who became a national table tennis champion playing for the “Grbavica” club in 1960s Yugoslavia

A statement on Karabakh by the presidents of the mediator-countries hardly contained anything unexpected. But a 1 bln dollars arms deal between Russia and Azerbaijan was cause for concern in Yerevan

Epic songs of the Balkans have often been key in the construction of controversial nationalist ideas. In fact, they sing a common history

Elva is a platform developed in Georgia that allows to easily receive feedback from local communities via SMS. Successfully used to map local needs along the ABL with South Ossetia, it could soon be used elsewhere

In his contribution for the dossier “Abkhazia, twenty years after the war”, Francisco Martínez shares with Osservatorio's readers the materials he gathered in late 2010 while visiting the region, including video interviews in Gali, Sukhumi and Tbilisi

The Kosovo-Serbia deal is a victory for the civic notion of statehood and citizenship, avoiding further risks of ethnic partitions. Also, it is a remarkable success for the EU, and a reason to be optimistic about its future

ICG's latest report on Abkhazia is timely and its recommendations show the way forward. As usual, it provides a wealth of information and details. Yet, it is not without imprecisions

In recent months, a number of incidents have taken tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan to very high levels. On the Azeri side, the rhetoric is more and more explicitly anti-Armenian and warlike, as clearly exemplified by the Safarov case and the story of writer Akram Aylisli. Yet, things have not always been such.

Zelenkovac is an eco-tourist village in the Bosnian mountains, not far from Banja Luka, hosting artists and travellers from all over the world. According to his founder, Boro Janković, its beauty has a mission

The law introducing double signs in Latin and Cyrillic on the streets of Vukovar has triggered strong protests. But how much is the city really divided?

Negotiations between Belgrade and Priština are swiftly proceeding, while Serbs in Northern Kosovo fear being abandoned by the new socialist government

Armenia and Azerbaijan are in a bitter conflict. Dialogue between the sides is difficult, but some visits across the border are still happening. The story of an Azerbaijani journalist in Armenia