southeastern europe

Η προκλητική επίθεση των ακροδεξιών με τη συμμετοχή βουλευτών του γνωστού χώρου κατά της Θάλειας Δραγώνα, χρειάζεται την έντονη καταδίκη μας. Όσοι θέλετε να υπογράψετε το παρακάτω κείμενο, που διακινεί ο καθηγητής Ν. Αλιβιζάτος, μπορείτε να το κάνετε ηλεκτρονικά (μέχρι αύριο) στην διεύθυνση: val12law@otenet.gr Όχι στο νέο κυνήγι μαγισσών Τις τελευταίες βδομάδες, η συνάδελφος Θάλεια Δραγώνα, καθηγήτρια του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών και πρώην βουλευτής, αποτελεί στόχο επαναλαμβανόμενων οξύτατων επιθέσεων εκ μέρους της άκρας δεξιάς, με αφορμή τον διορισμό της ως Ειδικής Γραμματέως του Υπουργείου Παιδείας. Το περασμένο Σάββατο μάλιστα (19.12.2009), έξω από το γραφείο της στη λεωφόρο Συγγρού, τέσσερις βουλευτές του ως άνω χώρου, σε ένα εθνικιστικό παραλήρημα, αξίωσαν την άμεση απομάκρυνσή της, για δήθεν έλλειψη πατριωτισμού. Οι επιθέσεις κατά της Θάλειας Δραγώνα ξεχωρίζουν από άλλες ανάλογες, που εξαπολύονται όλο και πιο συχνά  κατά πανεπιστημιακών, γιατί είναι η πρώτη φορά που στοχοποι

Visiting the centre of Athens in the run-up to Christmas can be a harrowing experience and my visit to my favourite bookshops confirmed this. At this time of the year browsing through their bookshelves is a very crowded affair but sometimes can reward you with the unexpected discovery of fascinating finds. This is exactly what happened to me when I came across the review Κωπηλάτες (περιοδικό συζήτησης και προβληματισμού). The 3d issue of the review boasts seven articles examining the relationship between the Greek society and its neighbours. As the introductory note by its editor, Petros Markaris, indicates, this issue is intended to challenge the ignorance and oblivion that provides nationalist entrepreneurs of all hues with the opportunity to cultivate chauvinism and a state of fear and xenophobia. Articles on Greece and its relationship with its neighbours by Alexis Iraklidis, two decades of disastrous Greek policy on the Macedonian issue by Sifis Fitsanakis and on the Balkans and

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

Following a lawsuit filed by Chief Public Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya on November 16, 2007, the Turkish Constitutional Court has decided yesterday to shut down the Demokratik Toplum Partisi (Democratic Society Party) due to the party’s alleged links with the  PKK. Following 9-hour deliberations on the fourth day of the case, Constitutional Court President Haşim Kılıç said that its members voted unanimously to close down the DTP as it became a focal point of acts against the indivisible integrity of the state . The result of this controversial decision is that, yet again, voices advocating human rights protection for Turkish Kurds are stifled, and the largest pro-Kurdish political force that had made considerable inroads in the Turkish political system by wining in nine provinces in the 2009 local elections is now seriously impaired. Thirty seven DTP members, including DTP Chairman Ahmet Türk and MP Aysel Tuğluk were banned from politics for five years. The rump parlia

In the long shadow of Europe: Greeks and Turks in the era of Postnationalism Edited by Othon Anastasakis, Kalypso Aude Nicolaidis, Kerem Oktem, St Antony's College, University of Oxford Can the European Union transform Greek-Turkish relations? The contributors to In the Long shadow of Europe examine the ambiguities of Europe’s historical role in its Southeastern corner to shed light on the possible paths lying ahead. From their various an-gles, they highlight the paradoxes of a relationship between intimate adversaries, marred by tormented histories, nationalist narratives and bilateral disputes but strengthened by historical familiarity, geographic vicinity, and the imperative for cooperation. And beyond this face à face, the authors show how, as Greece and Turkey developed into independent nation-states in the shadow of Europe, their intertwined trajectories also contributed to defining this same Europe “at the edges.” Beyond the Greek - Turkish relationship, th

«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

ANOTHER EUROPEAN DEFICIT: IS THERE RESPONSIBLE SCHOLARSHIP? by Biljana Vankovska A spectre has been haunting the intellectual circles in the region of former Yugoslavia for years. It’s probably more appropriate to talk about a haunting fear of being seen as a follower of any of the nationalistic policies that ended in a Balkan tragedy. Even the new generations of scholars and intellectuals bear the scars of the “original sin” of their older colleagues, i.e. their passive stand or even active support of nationalistic leaders from the end of 20 century. The (un)conscious feeling of responsibility and guilt for the bloody Yugoslav turmoil is being constantly mixed with the fear of possible stigmatization as a “nationalist”. Milosevic’s or Tudjman’s ghosts are hanging as a Damocles’ sword over anybody who dares speak about “national issues”, or, even worse, if s/he dares to pronounce a critical opinion on NATO/EU/USA (especially having in mind that these international actors have

Interview with Aleksandar Bozinovski, "Nova Makedonija ; Appeared (in edited form) on 26 October 2009. AB: Can you tell us something about yourself. From which part of Greece You origins are? SS: My father’s family comes from Athens although my grandfather, who travelled throughout the then European part of the Ottoman Empire following his father who was a marble artisan, grew up in the old city of Saloniki (as he called it) before his family relocated to Athens. His wife’s family came from the town of Ayval ı k in Asia Minor and found themselves refugees in Athens after the Greek defeat in 1922. My mother’s family comes from the Peloponnese, and her father fought in the Asia Minor campaign. AB: Are you a historian? SS: I have studied politics, international studies and sociology but a strong component of my work is historical. I had several excellent history teachers in my university years in Athens and they had always encouraged us to stop being introspective a

My interview was mentioned in the Facebook fan group of Antonis Samaras – the architect of Greece ’s Macedonian quagmire and aspiring leader of Nea Dimokratia. The author of the comment, Mr Evangelos Papathanassiou has not bothered to check which book has excited Macedonian opinion and therefore provides a surreal narrative about the "Greek" academic at King's College (sic) who wrote a book about the persecution of the Macedonians by Greece that culminates in accusing my opinions as left-nihilist and moves on to associate them with the views of the Greek prime minister George Papandreou just because our book was featured in the book pages of his website. Mr Papathanassiou seems to be of the impression that whenever a book is presented in a website, it is endorsed. The idea of a book being a starting point of an intellectual search and adventure seems to be alien to him. I found his use of adjective s personally offensive and his logic simplistic and dangerously populi

Over the past month, the book I co-authored with my colleague and friend Umut Özkırımlı, Tormented by History: Nationalism in Greece and Turkey was discovered by journalists in the Republic of Macedonia . The reason for this interest is our discussion of the territorial expansion of the Greek state and the way nationalism informed the relevant process as well as our discussion of the minorities issue. To date, our work has been featured in countless media that support the government and the opposition, and in the past two weeks I have given four interviews and received a lot of ‘fan’ mail from Macedonia. Many Macedonian readers are just satisfied that a Greek academic has explicitly acknowledged the process of Hellenization of the Ottoman province of Macedonia during the first part of the 20ieth century but are unaware of the fact that Hellenization was one of the many opposing projects imposed on the inhabitants of Macedonia by the Bulgarian, Serbian and later the Yugoslav F

This new book published by Palgrave contains a chapter co-authored by me and & U.Özkırımlı entitled 'Colonizing' the Past: History and Memory in Greece and Turkey Nations and their Histories Constructions and Representations Edited by Susana Carvalho and François Gemenne Palgrave Macmillan Nations and their Histories highlights the importance of the past and its uses in the formation of modern nations and national identities. It looks at the construction of different national historiographies as well as present representations of the past in the politic