Balkan Studies

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Recently, the issue of human rights and fundamental rights and freedoms has gained
importance on an international scale. This situation is directly proportional to the fact that
the issue of human rights has grown out of the scope of pure domestic law and has gained a
universal look. International independent civil society organizations on human rights and
developed countries, as well as institutions such as UN and the European Union have
published country reports on the subject regularly. Human rights violations taking place in
any country in the world today arouse interest and provoke reaction not only in that country
but all over the world, and can be questioned. In particular, the rights of minorities living in
a country and their benefiting from the rights of citizenship have become a universal value.
Significant changes have occurred in Bulgaria in the structural sense, which entered
into a democratization process following the downfall of the Zhivkov regime in 1989. The
mentioned amendments have brought about various developments related to human rights
in the country. While various arrangements were being made on the issue in this regard, the
human rights violations taking place in the country, in particular those of minorities were
intended to be prevented in the new period. It is seen that adherence to the arrangements on
human rights, defined in the country's constitution by various parties and totalitarian
regimes in power, had remained on a symbolic level since Bulgaria became an independent
country splitting from the Ottoman Empire. On the other hand, the human rights
conventions of the international organisations such as the United Nations and the OSCE,
which Bulgaria was a party to especially during the communist regime, were not much
binding for the government in Sofia.
As a democratic regime was facilitated with the constitution of 1991 in the country,
the issue of human rights also emerged as an important topic. Since the goal of being a
member of Euro-Atlantic organisations became a foreign policy priority for the Sofia
government in 1990's, this situation ensured Bulgaria to move in a more sensitive way to
human rights. Additionally; Bulgaria, a member of the Council of Europe, became a party
to the framework Convention on the protection of national minorities in 1999. In the
context of EU accession talks particularly in the 2000‟s, it put signature to various reforms
in the country on human rights and fundamental freedoms.
In the light of the issues mentioned, this report approaches the issue of fundamental
rights and freedoms in 2014. In the report; an objective assessment is aimed with the titles
of Overview of the country, Political Rights and Freedoms, Economic Rights and
Freedoms, Organization Rights and Freedoms, Cultural Rights and Freedoms, Educational
Rights and Freedoms, Religious Rights and Freedoms, as well as has tried to make an
objective assessment scanning, and by scanning the media in the country.
As known, Bulgaria is demographically diverse. We aimed to determine the
progrees made by Bulgaria, having problems regarding humans rights, in particular, the
Muslim Turkish minority in the international arena Prior to 1989, on the 25th anniversary
of the over throw of the Zhivkov regime. The current status of the issue has been
investigated in Bulgaria, who became a member of the leading organisations on human
rights such as the EU, the EC, the UN and the OSCE during the intervening 25 years.

The Republic of Ragusa had three importat consulate entrusted to the Sephardic Jews in tree different states of the mediterranean in Early modern Era: Valona, Algiers and Genoa. The apulian family of Coduto had the office of consul of Dubrovnik in Valona, albanian  harbour of the Ottoman Empire for one hundred years, between the 16th and 17th century. David Magistre (or Maestro) was consul of Dubrovnik in the Republic Geonoa from 1756 to 1772 and had significative corrwspondence with the Rectors of Dubrovnik, an important testimoniance of the less knowed new phase of expansion of the economic role of Dubrovnik in 18th century and at the same time of the pragmatism and laical perspective of the both sea republics. Dubrovnik had also a Jewish consul in Algeri, in the Berberian Coast, where the Busara family covered the office of consul for the late quarter of the 18th century. The consuls had an important role of trade connections between states but despite the common belief the economic activity was only a part of the real role of the consuls. The consuls of Dubrovnik had other main tasks: guarantee the safety in travel and protect the interest of citizens of the Republic, build official and unofficial connections with the civil authorities of region in which the consulate was based. Usually they communicate periodically the prices of the wheat and the seaworthiness thus contributing to planified food supplies and the preventing famines. Sometimes they were involved in the operation of rescue of citizens and release of enslaved or abducted people. Their status of people with an honest and respectable reputation, not necessarily rich, makes the jewish consouls the perfect candidates to the role of bridge between cultures and states. The Dubrovnik consuls practically supplied with their political, social and economic networks to the slowness of the official diplomatic burocracy and contribute to follow the common good of the States of their net.

Helen Fessas-Emmanouil

Cultural interaction, modernity and identity.
Τhe friendship and cooperation between a German and a Greek architect (1899-1914)

This presentation is based on my book* about the architectural friendship and collaboration between a German and a Greek architect2 which was the product of lengthy research. It approaches the architecture of the late 1890s and the fourteen turbulent years preceding World War I, a highly significant, but inadequately studied period of European architecture, which coincides with the decline of historicism and eclecticism and the dawn of anti-academic modernism. The period is approached through the relationship and correspondence between pioneer architect Aristotelis Zachos (Kastoria 1871 - Athens 1939) and his philhellene professor and first employer Josef Durm (Karlsruhe 1837-1919). The content of the two men’s letters and documentary material refers to major architectural, town planning, cultural and political developments in this period. In addition, the work of these two architects and the dialogue between them provides insight into recurring issues, such as cultural interaction, identity, the spirit of place (genius loci), the relations between modernity and tradition, the protection of historical monuments, architectural evaluation and architectural competitions.
The presentation is thus structured into three parts. The first part provides the information required for today’s readers to understand the friendship between the two architects. It begins with general information about the era in which they collaborated and corresponded. Then it sketches the historical context in Germany and Greece at that time, emphasizing the intellectual climate in each, the particularities of Karlsruhe and the duchy of Baden, architectural trends, the protection of historical monuments, archaeology and urban development. An attempt is likewise made to approach the architects’ personalities, careers and the relationship between them, so as to associate their course with major historical events. The second part of the presentation includes evidence of Zachos’ architectural collaboration with Durm in Karlsruhe between 1901 and 1905. The correpondence between the two architects and their activities from 1905 to 1914, is the topic of the third part.
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*Helen Fessas-Emmanouil, Αριστοτέλης Ζάχος & Josef Durm, Η αλληλογραφία ενός πρωτοπόρου αρχιτέκτονα με τον μέντορά του (Aristotelis Zachos & Josef Durm. The correspondence between a pioneer architect and his mentor),  Potamos Editions, Athens 2013.

This paper has been inspired by Roberto Dapit's study of 2021. My aim is to show the sense of using what can be called "perceptual etymology" (analogically to "perceptual dialectology") along with and in contrast to the "scholarly etymology".

By taking an example of the region of the Balkans, the article concentrates on the Europeanization as a process of individual and collective change that creates difference in the European community. It discusses the conflicting nature of the concept of Europeanization and how it has become a word with meaning to 'civilize' slowly developing nations. This makes their modernization a complex process. The article also explains Europeanization as a psychosocial phenomenon that brings differences in transformation of the countries in the Balkans at an inner level, but it also creates outer challenges for the region. In the nations which still go through building their own identity, the differences in transformation can become a possible internal conflict with external outcome.

D.J.: "Knjiga Bakarić: politička biografi ja važno je i vrlo lijepo napisano
djelo koje nas nije ostavilo bez odgovora na pitanja što
je i kakva je bila Hrvatska u socijalističkoj Jugoslaviji. Autor zaslužuje
pohvalu za odvažnost u odabiru teme, kao i za intelektualnu
i profesionalnu hrabrost kojom se vrlo uspješno odupro
zamkama raznih mitskih interpretacija, i to jednako socijalistič-
kih i nacionalističkih. Autor je napisao trezvenu knjigu, poštenu
prema osobi koja joj je u središtu interesa, kao i prema razdoblju u kojemu je djelovala. "

This paper is explores some of the problems encountered with using various texts from contemporary and historical sources in the researching the region of Macedonia. Written in 1999, the paper explores the changing terminology and viewpoints of authors from historical and political viewpoints.

In 2019, the Serbian government approved a bill according to which the feast of St. St. Cyril and Methodius – May 24 would be celebrated at state level as the Day of Slavic Literacy and Culture. The historical memory of the creators of the Slavic alphabet and the question of the political function of the Cyrillic alphabet introduced an important symbolic load in the Serbian state’s relations with Croatia, Montenegro and (North) Macedonia in the second decade of the 21st century.

The Balkans is an area which was under Ottoman Empire rule lasting from the 15th century up until the early 20th. This period is also an area that needs further research on the history of education. As doing research on the history of education in the Balkans, curricula are one of the main materials that can be used by researchers. One of these curriculum was prepared in Dobruja territory which comprises two areas: the north part belongs to Romania and the south part belongs to Bulgaria now. The mentioned curriculum, which was printed in Constanza, 1937, consisted of 15 pages. It was published by Association of Mecidiye Madrasah Graduates in Emel Print House. In the objectives of this curriculum and syllabus it is remarkable that there are references to some educators and philosophers like Montaigne, Locke, Pestalozzi, and Comenius. The overall objective of this curriculum is to integrate the Turkish schools within the same sub-objectives in Dobruja area. There are classes in the curriculum such as religion: Quran Recitation, religion classes, history of religion, religious hymns; mother language: read and write (alphabet), reading, grammar, composition, memorization; music; painting classes. The curriculum, which has just an overall list of classes, gives great importance to religion and Turkish language education. Therefore, it seems like a framework program. It is also seen that the Turkish classes part of the curriculum has similarities with the 1924, 1926 and 1930 Turkish curricula.


Osmanlı Devleti’nin 15. yüzyıldan 20. yüzyılın başına kadar yaklaşık beş yüz yıl hüküm sürdüğü Balkanlar, eğitim tarihi açısından incelenmesi gereken bir alandır. Bu tarihi incelerken kullanılacak araçlardan biri, programlardır. Bu programlardan birisi de bugünkü Romanya’nın güney ve doğusu ile Bulgaristan’ın kuzeyindeki toprakların bir kısmını içine alan bir bölge olan Dobruca’da hazırlanmıştır. 15 sayfa uzunluğundaki program, Mecidiye Medresesi Mezunları Birliği tarafından hazırlanıp 1937 yılında Köstence’de Emel Matbaası’nda basılmıştır. Program ve ders amaçlarında Montaigne, Locke, Pestalozzi, Comenius gibi eğitimci ve filozoflara atıfta bulunulması dikkat çekicidir. Programın genel amacı Dobruca bölgesindeki Türk okullarını aynı alt amaçlar çerçevesinde birleştirmektir. Programda din: Kuran, tecvit, din dersleri, din tarihi, dinî yırlar; ana dili: okumak yazmak (alfabe), kıraat, gramer, tahrir, ezber; musiki; resim dersleri yer almaktadır. Din ve Türkçe derslerine büyük yer ayıran program hacim bakımından büyük olmadığı için ve genel olarak sadece ders konularının sırasını verdiği için bir çerçeve program görünümündedir. Programın Türkçe dersi kısmının 1924, 1926 ve 1930 Türkçe programlarıyla benzerlikler taşıdığı görülmektedir.

Још у основној школи професорка историје ми је — као ђаку кога је желела да пошаље на такмичење — пружила књигу која је за тему имала Први светски рат. Приручник је пак био — по мом тадашњем, дечјем мишљењу — преплављен непотребним информацијама, сувопарним и досадним изношењем година, битака и бројева умрлих од којег је чак и један заљубљеник у историју губио жељу за даљим учењем. Слагала бих када бих рекла да је моје лично истраживачко интересовање за Први светски рат још тада пробуђено, али питала сам се зашто се у већини историјских монографија наводи број људских жртава али тако да су људи углавном сведени на пуке бројеве. Свим тим статистикама недостајала је компонента која би жртве учинила поново рањивим људским бићима, особама од крви и меса, појединцима који пред читаоцима имају лице, имена и емоције. Другим речима, тешко да постоји кућа у Србији која не крије неку личну породичну причу из тог времена, док је с друге стране традиционална српска историографија уложила недовољно труда да истражи аспекте свакодневног живота бораца, проучи обичног и „малог“ човека у Великом рату и на тај начин историји рата пружи толико потребну субјективност.
Као резултат мог седмогодишњег истраживања, пред читаоцима је студија која представља скромни покушај једног другачијег историјског приступа теми српских, али и савезничких војника на Солунском фронту. Испитивањем социолошких, културолошких и друштвених чинилаца, као и самих разлика међу Савезницима, студија има за циљ да савременом читаоцу приближи слику српског војника из периода 1914—1918. године. Сведочанства из рова, а нарочито из позадине фронта, пружају сазнања о војничкој перцепцији околине, док се кроз тај субјективни одраз схватања стварности може докучити и сам ментални склоп српског војника, онаквог какав је он заправо и био.
Ова књига је тематски подељена на две целине. У првом делу, приказан је пут српске војске од Албаније до Крфа, а потом, након опоравка и реорганизације, и до Солуна. Тежиште је на описима Крфа — „острва спаса“, затим Солуна и фронта, из пера српских војника. Ти описи најчешће садрже и приказ карактерних особина и обичаја локалног становништва. У последња два поглавља, као другој целини књиге, настојала сам да укажем на српски угао посматрања када је реч о Грцима и другим Савезницима, и да — у мањој мери — представим слику коју су о српским војницима и избеглицама стекли Грци и други Савезници.

Tanja Zimmermann Der Balkan zwischen Ost unD west Mediale Bilder und kulturpolitische prägungen (OsTeurOpa medial, Band 6) 2014. X, 504 s. 120 s/W-aBB. GB. 155 X 230 mm. € 59,90 [d] | € 61,60 [a] | isBn 978-3-412-22163-8
Der Balkan ist nicht nur ein Produkt der kulturellen und politischen Imaginationen des Westens, sondern entstand viel-mehr im Fadenkreuz der Blicke aus Ost und West. Als Zwischenraum bot er sich für die Übertragung unterschiedlicher kultur politischer Entwürfe eines »dritten Raumes« an-vom Niemandsland bis zum jugoslawischen »dritten Weg«. Die medialen Gestalten des Balkans zeigen den Übergang fester Stereotype in entfesselte, imaginäre Phantasmen. Die Autorin untersucht Balkan-Narrative in unterschiedlichen Medien seit dem Niedergang der philhellenischen Begeiste-rung 1830 bis zur post-jugoslawischen Periode. Tanja Zimmermann hat sich mit der vorliegenden Studie an der Universität Konstanz habilitiert und lehrt dort als Privatdozentin. Weitere inForMationen und doWnloads Finden sie unter WWW.Boehlau-Verlag.coM. böhlau verlag gmbh & cie, ursulaplatz 1, 50668 köln, deutschland, t: + 49 221 913 90-0, f: + 49 221 913 90-11 info@boehlau-verlag.com, www.boehlau-verlag.com | wien köln weimar NAME: ADRESSE: PLZ/ORT: TEL/FAX/E-MAIL: zzgl. versandkosten 0der geben sie diesen abschnitt ihrem buchhändler! Tanja Zimmermann | Der Balkan zwischen Ost unD west | aus dem inHalT OrT, daTum, unTersCHriFT: hierMit Bestelle ich nachFOlGenDen titel eXemplar(e) Tanja Zimmermann der Balkan zWischen ost und West mediale Bilder und kulTurpOliTisCHe präGunGen (OsTeurOpa medial, Band 6) 2014. X, 504 s. 120 s/W-aBB. GB. 155 X 230 mm. € 59,90 [d] | € 61,60 [a] | isBn 978-3-412-22163-8 i. einleitung

The Bulgarian policy towards the Yugoslav crisis during the years 1989-1995 can now be presented thanks to the fact that documentary sources from Bulgarian foreign ministry archives are accessible and they can be compared to the accessible sources from the Dutch foreign ministry as well as to valuable data from UN archives.
The first element which is part of Bulgaria's policy towards the Yugoslav crisis is the so called "Macedonian question". According to the author this question which had been frozen during the Cold War came out foreground again. After years of silence Bulgaria officially declared that it had no claims against its neighbors but refused to accept the creation of the Macedonian nation on anti-Bulgarian basis. At the same time Bulgaria supported the establishment of an independent Macedonian state; Bulgaria was first to recognize the Republic of Macedonia and defended it's recognition by the UN.
The second ingredient was the Bulgarian reaction towards the military conflict which took place on Yugoslav territory. According to Bulgarian position the Yugoslav republics had the right to claim independence but on the other hand Bulgaria followed the European policy towards Milosevic's Yugoslavia. Bulgaria struggled to avoid the intervention in Bosnia from any other Balkan nation outside ex-Yugoslavia and searched for a balanced attitude towards Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia. Bulgaria accepted the embargo against Milosevic's Yugoslavia. The country suffered financial losses and the smuggling across the border led to an expansion of the organized crime. Bulgaria looked for compensations from UN and even tried to lead a Balkan collective action in order to overcome the consequences resulted in by the sanctions.
The last important element of Bulgaria's policy was the question regarding the Bulgarian minority in Serbia. Initially Bulgaria looked for decisions on bilateral basis instead of "internalization" and Bulgaria turned to the latter pleading at the UN only after Yugoslavia had put forward a report claiming that the rights of Bulgarians were fully guaranteed.
The author's thesis tries to revise some of the political myths regarding the Bulgarian foreign policy in 1989-1995 - the myth that there was no continuity in country's foreign policy and the myth that the political and economical relations with Serbia and Montenegro diminished dramatically during the period under study. Despite Bulgaria's internal difficulties, the state managed to keep broad opportunities for manoeuvring.

The Bihać case of 1993 is unique in the sad statistics of several thousand recorded violations of sanctions against Yugoslavia, along all its borders. It is the only case in which two countries - Bulgaria and Romania - were subjected to total pressure to use force. The two governments succeeded in convincing the international community of the risk to the region posed by such an approach. The international community accepts that the mechanisms for implementing the embargo need improvement. In the following two and a half years, no such request was made to any of Yugoslavia's neighbours.

" Albanian Golgotha " – the exodus of Serbs to the Corfu island during World War I in the public discourse of interwar Yugoslavia Both the Balkan Wars and World War I, and particularly the great migration of the Serbian army during the retreat to the Corfu island, which imprinted in the collective memory as the Albanian Golgotha, were among the most important reference points in the public discourse of interwar Yugoslavia. Official government circles tried to present them as the cornerstones for the building of a unified state of the Southern Slavs. The authorities supported all the initiatives which were commemorating those events. King Alexander Karađorđević was one of the most active in this field, he repeatedly personally graced the celebration of all events and battles or honoured their heroes. However, it should be noted that the Albanian Golgotha was such an important point of reference in the public discourse of interwar Yugoslavia not only because it became a kind of an instrument in the hands of politicians, especially the king, but also – and perhaps primarily – because it grew it roots in the broader social discourse, not only in politics but also in the media and culture – literature or the arts. It is also worth mentioning that the memory of these events was not a homogeneous one. For obvious reasons, it were the Serbs, who excelled in the worship of the Serbian soldiers, who sacrificed their blood for building a common Yugoslav state. While the attitude of Croats and Slovenes was not so clear. Therefore the cult of the Serbian army required an appropriate action from the state. One of the actions was a way of presenting these events in the daily press. The main aim of the author is to show how the cult of the sacrifice of the Serbian soldiers and civilians during World War I, and especially the mythologized Albanian Golgotha, was created and became one of the pillars on which authorities tried to build a Yugoslav identity and the prestige of the Karađorđević dynasty in the interwar period. A special attention is paid to the way of describing those events in the " Politika " daily, the most read and influential journal of interwar Yugoslavia.

Beginning with the concept of "nesting orientalism" introduced by Milica Bakić-Hayden in the sense of patterns of representation used to describe the Other by all ethnic groups in former Yugoslavia, this paper examines four views of "nesting balkanism" in post-Yugoslav literature. First, there is a chronotopic view from the post-Yugoslav exile back to the past, in which the Balkans function as a contextual synonym for the "former homeland," always used in a context of "war," "violence," "primitivism," "disorder" and "cruelty". The second view refers to several Slovenian authors, starting with Slavoj Žižek, Aleš Debeljak and the young novelist Goran Vojnović, who show specific balkanistic representation connected with sevdah and turbofolk music. The third view is connected with traveling and trains, as a frequent topic of orientalistic representation inherited from the Orient Express novels. Finally, the fourth view draws on examples from Dubravka Ugrešić’s descriptions of her "fellow-countrymen." Almost all analyzed examples show that using the name Balkan in post-Yugoslav literature is connected with the "logic of displaced racism," a practice
regarded by Žižek as a kind of inverted racism which is allowed when comparing "tolerant" Europe to Balkan Otherness.

Abstract: The memory of the battle of Kosovo in 1389 was and still is one of the essential feature of the Serbian identity, influential from the 19th century both on Serbian and South-Slavic cultural memory (presented also in literary works), as well as on political practice. The thesis of this article is as follows: all texts concerning the topic of the Kosovo field, with the analyzed here crucial ones from the 19th century, are variants of the same myth, not only because they are based on mythical folk tales (epic songs etc.), but rather due to the fact that they re-construct mytho-logic, included in themselves (with reference to formalistic-structuralistic theorizing of V. Propp, C. Lévi-Strauss, E. Leach, but also to social constructivist approach). What is more – and Petar II Njegoš’s The Mountain Wreath is the best example – those texts construct this mytho-logic. That means that they project it back on past events, history, literature etc., and on their interpretations, forcing particular, coherent, mytho-logical frame of reference, which reversibly affect the presence and the future.

Streszczenie: Pamięć o bitwie na Kosowym Polu z 1389 roku była i jest jedną z konstytutywnych cech serbskiej tożsamości, oddziałującą od XIX wieku zarówno na serbską i południowosłowiańską pamięć kulturową (w tym wyrażaną przez dzieła literackie), jak i na praktykę polityczną. Teza tego artykułu jest następująca: wszystkie teksty dotyczące Kosowego Pola, z kluczowymi pochodzącymi z XIX wieku, które poddano tu analizie, są wariantami tego samego mitu, nie tylko dlatego, że opierają się na mitycznych opowieściach ludowych (pieśniach epickich itd.), lecz raczej dlatego, iż re-konstruują zawartą w nich mito-logikę (nawiązując do formalistyczno-strukturalistycznych teoretyzacji W. Proppa, C. Lévi-Straussa, E. Leacha, lecz również do ustaleń społecznego konstruktywizmu). Co więcej – czego dowodzi przykład Górskiego wieńca Petara II Njegoša – wspomniane teksty konstruują ową mito-logikę. To znaczy projektują ją wstecz na minione wydarzenia, historię, literaturę itd., i na ich interpretacje, narzucając określoną, spójną, mito-logiczną ramę odniesienia, która zwrotnie oddziałuje na teraźniejszość i przyszłość.