Only in Serbia

I wonder what would happen in any other country after such public display of disrespect to the country where you live...

to clarify something - each and every minority in Serbia is allowed to celebrate their national days (and even encouraged in a way through local municipalities` budgets) and display their national flag along with Serbian one, but only if they register so called National Council of respective minority (this is to protect from funny guys asking for funds from municipalities to celebrate "National Penguins day" or whatever they claim they are - because that`s another thing you can do in Serbia - you can actually declare as whatever you want to be :D). While most of the minorities did this, Albanians didn`t, for the sole reason that they expect this part of Serbia (southern central Serbia) to be next to get independence, after Kosovo.

And this is what they did...

 

Preševo Albanians remove Serbian, display Albanian flag

28 November 2006 | 14:19 -> 17:07 | Source: B92, Beta

PREŠEVO, BUJANOVAC -- Albanians in Preševo removed the Serbian flag and instead displayed three Albanian flags.

Serbian flag was taken off the municipal building as part of the Albanian national holiday celebrations in the south of Serbia. Preševo municipal president Ragmi Mustafa told journalists that the display of Albanian flags instead of the Serbian should ”not be viewed as an incident”, adding that ”Albanians in Serbia have the right to their own symbols”.

...

The organizers played the Albanian national anthem, after which the gathering paid tribute to the dead members of the officially disbanded Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac Liberation Army (UCPMB).

Now you tell me if it`s OK that they use local government`s money to pay tribute to the dead members of a terrorist group???

Which country would allow this? Which country would ignore this?

Indeed, only Serbia!

Serbia in PFP again?

NATO may induct Serbia into Partnership for Peace

28 November 2006 | 18:29 | Source: AP

RIGA -- NATO may invite Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia to join the Partnership for Peace at the Riga summit.
"I expect Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro to be given a green light for the Partnership for Peace at this summit," Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said. "For Slovenia it is important for the PFP to be enlarged and for the Adriatic Three to be given a clear signal for membership in the near future," Slovenia's foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel said on Tuesday.

Full story here

hmmm, very interesting... and I honestly don`t know how to see this... on one side, it can mean that they are offering this to show good will and support Serbia`s way to EU... it can also mean that they are changing their ideas regarding Kosovo`s status and that we will actually keep it... but it can also mean that they are giving us cookies and taking Kosovo from our hands...

I guess we`ll know in next couple of weeks... whatever it is, I expect more moves by the west soon...

This is also a big wind in the back for Kostunica and his Government... right before the elections in January...

Kemalist youth want professor sacked

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

A Kemalist youth organization appealed to YÖK demanding that a professor who criticized Atatürk be banned from the academic profession
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
Secretary General of the Turkey Association of Youth (TGB) Osman Yılmaz has filed an appeal to the Higher Education Board (YÖK) for the dismissal of Professor Atilla Yayla, an instructor who criticized Kemalism in recent comments, from public duty and the academic profession.

There you go... However, I`m still waiting to see if there are any other brave groups in this country...

Full story

Forget about pope - this is real news!

I know that to most of you this will sound weird, but for me this is much bigger news then Pope`s visit to Turkey and implications that will bring...

This is simply bigger then it looks like. Living in Turkey for some 9 months I have learned already that here you can do basicly whatever you want except for one thing - do not ever criticize Ataturk!!

For those who don`t know, Ataturk is a father of Turkish nation - a founder of modern Turkey. He was the one to rebel against the Sultan and create a country that we today know as Turkey. He reformed almost everything, from language to the political and education system... Sounds good? Yup, it truly is... Not the way he did it though... At least not in my point of view... Some will say that revolution is revolution and whatever happens during the revolution is serving the cause... And I`m not gonna argue... No matter what`s my opinion on the subject...

Now, I do make jokes about Ataturk all the time with fellow aiesecers, for I know they won`t get me serious... And I even tested water with a couple of colleagues in my office , teasing them about Ataturk`s place of birth and education (he was born in Thessaloniki, Greece - and we all know about constant conflict between these 2 countries) - and the reaction was not that pleasant at all... a bitter smile was a clear message not to mess with this...
And unbelievably, whole country is all about Ataturk... Statues everywhere, photos everywhere, his thoughts are quoted in any occasion, been that politics or TV ads... His Al Pacino-looking face is on all money bills and coins...
Ok, some would say, it`s not the only country that has "The Leader"... Sure, but those countries like Turkmenistan, Cuba, North Korea are "somewhat" different :)
and they have their "leaders" still alive and kickin`...

Turkey is too modern to have this kind of idols, especially when... ok, I said I won`t argue his greatness and I`ll stick to it...

So anyways, this news below is for me much bigger then Pope having balls to visit an islamic country after the whole buzz with his message... Pope will come and leave, but this might be a beginning of something... something that can help this country switch from Big to Great... Or will this be a switch from Big to endlesly miserable...

 

Students defend 'heretic' professor who criticized Atatürk

Monday, November 27, 2006

While prominent Turkish liberal Professor Atilla Yayla is under fire for criticizing Kemalism, young liberals stand up for his right to speak out
MUSTAFA AKYOL
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News

"The problems began when the "heretic" argued that the era of Mustafa Kemal was “a period of regression, not progress.” He also criticized the abundance of photos and statues of Mustafa Kemal all around Turkey and warned that Turkey couldn't continue like this in its EU-driven process of democratization and liberalization. “Europeans will ask us,” said Yayla, “why this man's photos and statues are everywhere.”

Read full story

Pope Turkiye`de

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Some 20,000 Muslims held an anti-pope rally in Istanbul on Sunday in a peaceful protest against Pope Benedict’s visit to Turkey this week.

Benedict, due to begin his first official visit to a Muslim country next Tuesday, angered many Muslims in September with a speech they took as an insult to Islam. He later expressed regret but did not offer an apology.

Youths wearing headbands with Islamic scripts, beating drums and waving Turkish flags chanted “the pope made a mistake, our patience has run out.”

Can`t wait to see what happens when he comes... Stay tuned...

Rest of the story

Microsoft Citizenship Report 2006

From Steve Ballmer`s MS internal intro letter:

Did you know, for example, that we recycle 141 tons of material every month? That employees volunteered more than 76,000 hours last year? That we donated more than $2.5 billion to communities in the past 20 years?

The data and the human stories in the Citizenship Report show how our creativity and our spirit of innovation are making a difference – through our contributions to communities, our responsible business practices and our product innovations. For instance, Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 System include many enhancements that will make positive impacts economically and socially – on children’s online safety, data protection and privacy, accessibility for people with disabilities, energy conservation, interoperability and consumer choice. Our products also build on a strong platform that creates opportunities for innovation around the world, creating new jobs and driving local economic growth.

Last week, we took our citizenship commitment one step further through our endorsement of the United Nations Global Compact, an international public-private initiative to promote responsible corporate citizenship and help realize a more sustainable and inclusive global economy. We’re proud to stand behind the ten principles of this compact, which support universal social issues ranging from human rights to protection of the environment.

Amazing, isn`t it?

Yeah, I know - MS could and should do more... And I agree with that... But let`s forget about that for a moment and just think about how this world would be a much better place if all companies were thinking like this...

Click on a link below and find me on the picture on 5th page (that`s from MS Global CSR Summit 2006) :)

Microsoft (MSFT) Citizenship Report 2006

 

Will write more these days about my job in Microsoft and projects that we do in Middle East and Africa...

Now they use submarines!?

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - U.S. Coast Guards have seized a submarine carrying 3.5 tons of cocaine in the Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica and arrested three Colombians on board, the Costa Rican Coast Guard said Sunday.

Link