Self-proclaimed state of Turkish Kosovo fails to become UNESCO member

November 9, 2015 By administrator

REUTERS/Hazir Reka (KOSOVO) – RTR1ZA2L

The self-proclaimed republic of Kosovo has failed to gain the two-thirds majority needed for admission to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.

Ninety-two members supported Kosovo’s bid, with 50 voting against and another 29 members abstaining. The vote was taken at the 38th session of the UNESCO General Conference in Paris.

On October 21, the UNESCO Executive Committee recommended considering Kosovo’s membership of the organization.

“The fact that the membership of Kosovo and Metohija is being discussed today in Paris is proof of a deep crisis in international law, a crisis of the today’s world,” Serbian Ambassador to Russia Slavenko Terzic said.

Serbia had warned that Kosovo’s UNESCO membership could escalate tensions and hamper dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

The Serbian authorities also said that Kosovo doesn’t meet the requirements for UNESCO membership due to it being a UN-administered territory that can’t be considered a state under international law.

Last week, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said UNESCO should not be politicized or abused, urging all members to vote against Kosovo to avoid a violation of international law, which is “universal and applies to all.”

Belgrade has also been accusing Pristina of failing to protect Serbian cultural and religious heritage, including the four medieval sites in Kosovo on the UNESCO World Heritage List (the Gracanica and Decani monasteries, the patriarchal complex in Pec/Peje, and the Church of the Virgin of Ljevisa).

According to Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vucic, “141 Serbian Orthodox buildings were destroyed or damaged” in the majority Albanian Kosovo since 1999 when NATO bombed the former Yugoslavia.
Meanwhile, Kosovo said that it would protect Serbian churches if it became a UNESCO member.

Previously, Kosovo has achieved membership of such influential global organizations as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Since breaking away from Serbia back in 2008, Kosovo has been so far recognized by 111 countries.

However, Serbian authorities still view it as its own Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.

Russia also considers Kosovo’s secession from Serbia a violation of international law, blocking the self-proclaimed republic from becoming a full UN member.

EU mission judges jail 11 ex-Kosovo Turkish Albanian guerrillas for war crimes

May 27, 2015 By administrator

EU judges in Kosovo sentenced 11 former Kosovo Albanian guerrillas to prison terms on Wednesday for war crimes committed during Kosovo’s 1998-99 uprising. Judges from the EU police and justice mission said atrocities were committed against Kosovar civilians held in a camp run by the then-Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which fought against Serbian forces. The charges in the two trials also related to the killing in 1998 of a Serbian police officer and a Kosovo Albanian civilian. Two of those convicted were close to ex-Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, Reuters said.

Serbia, Russia’s position on Kosovo “firm and reliable”

December 3, 2014 By administrator

Source: Beta, Tanjug

BELGRADE — Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Chepurin has said that his country’s position not to recognize Kosovo as independent was “firm and reliable.”

“It’s a firm and reliable position and we have proved that many times,” he said during a panel dubbed, “From Kosovo to Crimea: Unilateralism and Manipulations of the Right to Self-Determination.”

Chepurin added that “here Russia supports the Serbs,” and would continue to do so.

“Russia’s stance is clear and firm and that is a tradition that does not change,” he said, when asked “under which circumstances” his country would recognize Kosovo.

“There is UN Security Council Resolution 1244, legally binding for everyone in the world, and its essence is that Kosovo is under the sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia,” he added.

“In line with all valid international documents, Kosovo is a part of Serbia,” the Russian diplomat said, and added that “the relationship between Belgrade and Priština represents a completely different issue.”

He argued that, conversely, no such resolution regulates the status of Crimea – a peninsula gifted to Ukraine by Nikita Khrushchev, when both Russia and Ukraine were part of the Soviet Union. Chepurin added that the move was not line with the Soviet Constitution.

“Kosovo never before the Second World War had the territory that it has today. Crimea has a statehood tradition going back to the 15th century,” he said.

Chepurin also stated that a coup took place in Kiev and that the new authorities did not receive the backing from all regions of Ukraine.

“The new authorities undertook unilateral steps that diminished Crimea’s autonomy. Later 96 percent of the population of Crimea voted in favor of independence,” he said.

Speaking about the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center in the southern Serbian town of Nis, Chepurin stressed that it was “neither a military base nor an espionage center of any kind.”

“The agreement on the center was signed a long time ago and this is not about signing something new, but about signing annexes,” he explained, and added that Russia will earmark USD 102 million by 2017 for humanitarian assistance to Serbia.

He asked “why the personnel at the center would not be offered some kind of paper, a document,” but rejected that it would mean giving the Russian experts stationed there diplomatic status.

“Why is the Russian humanitarian center being shown in a negative light,” he wondered, and noted that Russia previously helped Serbia clear its territory of bombs left over from NATO’s attacks in 1999, and also provided assistance during natural disasters.

The ambassador announced that a report on the work of the center will be presented on December 13, and that the equipment that has been acquired for it will be shown then.

“Everything is transparent at the center, I have invited many ambassadors to come and see for themselves,” Chepurin concluded.

Another house belonging to Serb returnees set on fire

October 25, 2014 By administrator

Source: Beta

ISTOK — The coordinator in the Office for Communities in the municipality of Istok in Kosovo has said that a house belonging to a Serb returnee had been set on fire.

Dragan Repanović said that the house, belonging to late Radosav Pantić, was empty at the time the incident occurred, and that two rooms burned down.

This is the second Serb returnee home in the region of Istok and Klina in Kosovo that has come under attack in this way in the past several days.

“A neighbor of the Pantić family, an Albanian, told the police that somebody broke into the house of late Pantić last night (Tuesday) around 21:00 hours, in the settlement of Ljug in Istok, and that the house was then set on fire. Firefighters arrived and put out the fire,” said Repanović.

Turkey’s TİKA funding radical Islamists?

September 25, 2014 By administrator

By EMRE USLU

e.uslu@todayszaman.com

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) likes to take special pride in the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA). This agency is implementing various projects in different places around the world. It restores historic monuments and lends support to civil society organizations (CSOs). TİKA projects even make Turkey the third-largest assistance-providing country after the US and UK. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently spoke of this fact as a source of pride during his visit to the US.

The TİKA projects were generally advertised as efforts to revive historic monuments that were legacies of the Ottoman Empire. For instance, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mosque, Kosovo’s largest mosque, in Pristina, was renovated thanks to a TİKA project. In Kosovo, there are dozens of mosques that have been repaired by TİKA. They are financing these projects with our taxes, but this expenditure is sufficiently justified.

Whom does TİKA really help? The answer to this question can be found in the recent crackdown on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the al-Nusra Front in Kosovo. A few days ago, the Kosovo police launched an operation against radical Islamic groups in the country. Thirty imams were taken into custody on charges of sending jihadists to Syria and Iraq. Many of them were arrested. Sixteen foundations and associations were shut down on charges of aiding and abetting members of ISIL, the al-Nusra Front and other al-Qaeda-linked organizations.

The key figure arrested on charges of aiding these organizations is Şefçet Kraniçi, the imam of Pristina’s Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mosque, which was renovated by TİKA. This amounts to repairing the mosque with funds from Turkish taxpayers and then delivering the mosque to radical Islamic groups.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Others taken into custody included other people working at TİKA-funded mosques.

Some might suggest that TİKA’s duty is to renovate mosques, and it cannot meddle in the process of assigning imams or officials to those mosques. But it is not so simple. We are talking about Kosovo, and one of the most dominant rivalries is between Hanafism/Maturidism and Salafism. In Kosovo, Hanafi clerics are being purged and replaced with Salafi clerics. Moreover, this plan is supported by Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) as well as TİKA and the Yunus Emre Foundation.

There is more to the crackdown by the Kosovo police on ISIL and the al-Nusra Front. Many of the CSOs backed by TİKA and the Yunus Emre Foundation in Kosovo were closed down during this operation.

The largest of them is the Association for Culture, Education and School (AKEA), which was frequently visited by Ahmet Davutoğlu in the past.

AKEA was established in 2004 by Husamedin Abazi, who was trained in Riyadh. The leading figures linked with this association are Behar Avdiu, Nhari Toska, Bashkim Mehani, Ilir Xhoxhaj and Ilir Gashi. All of them are connected in some way or other to Turkey’s AKP or affiliated organizations. Many observers have defined AKEA as the Kosovo branch of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). But the significant majority of imams who were arrested on charges of aiding and abetting ISIL are “volunteer members” of AKEA.

AKEA’s founder, Abazi, was frequently hosted by organizations that are close to the AKP in İstanbul, such as the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH) and Fatih Sultan Mehmet University (not to be confused with Fatih University).

There may be a link between CSOs close to the AKP and radical Islamic groups. That is a matter of choice. But when it comes to how our taxes are spent, we, as citizens, are entitled to question it.

AKEA is an organization that is financed by TİKA, and with the support of Kürşat Mamat as TİKA’s Kosovo representative, it has recently become Kosovo’s most effective CSO.

Gashi, the head of AKEA’s Prizren branch, openly acknowledges TİKA’s support for AKEA. “We conduct our joint activities generally with TİKA and the İHH. We cooperated with TİKA in cultural matters and with the İHH in humanitarian aid operations, and our cooperation continues. Moreover, we have hosted many intellectuals, columnists and writers from Turkey. We were honored to host Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who paid a visit to our association during his official talks in Kosovo, as well as other dignitaries such as Mustafa Özel, Mustafa İslamoğlu and Abdullah Yıldız, and other academics, journalists and municipal managers” (Aug. 16, 2012).

The state-owned Yunus Emre Foundation admits its relations with AKEA on its official website. For instance, the “Islamic Arts Exhibition” was a joint project between the Yunus Emre Foundation and AKEA. At the opening of the Sixth Islamic Art Photography Exhibition, which included 14 photographers, the values of Islam were presented to Prizren. Fifty-one works by 14 photographers were put on display at the Prizren Yunus Emre Turkish Culture Center through cooperation between AKEA and the Yunus Emre Turkish Culture Center. Many other activities were jointly organized between Turkey’s public institutions and radical Islamic organizations such as AKEA. And these activities were funded by our taxes.

The ruling AKP is doing everything to ensure the closure of Turkish schools — which are run by Turkish entrepreneurs inspired by the ideas of well-respected Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen — but if AKEA, frequented by Davutoğlu, has been closed down on charges of ties with ISIL and al-Qaeda, then we, as citizens, have the right to ask: Are you financing radical Islamists with our taxes?

Kosovo Figures Face Prosecution For War Crimes

August 9, 2014 By administrator

Senior officials of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) face indictment by a special EU court for alleged killings, abductions, and sexual violence.

The threat of indictments comes in a report published on July 29 in Brussels by Clint Williamson, a prosecutor appointed by the European Union to investigate ethnic cleansing committed in Kosovo during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

Williamson said the suspects bear responsibility for a campaign of persecution directed at minority populations and Kosovo Albanians believed to be political opponents of the UCK leadership.

Many former UCK commanders went on to leadership positions after Kosovo declared independence in 2008.

Williamson also said there were “compelling indications” that up to 10 captives were killed to have their organs harvested for illegal trafficking during the war.

However, he said the level of evidence is not yet sufficient to prosecute the alleged crimes.

Based on reporting by “The Guardian” and AP

‘Compelling evidence’ for Kosovo Liberation Army crimes

July 29, 2014 By administrator

The EU’s Special Investigative Task Force said it has evidence to file an indictment against former senior officials of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army. They are accused of violating international humanitarian law.

In a statement made on Tuesday (29.07.2014), the European Union Special Investigative Task Force (SITF) announced its findings on the alleged crimes committed by members of ethnic-Albanian rebel organization Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which sought Kosovo’s separation from Serb territories in the 1990s. According to the SITF’s chief prosecutor, Clint Williamson (pictured), some of the KLA’s senior officials committed crimes against humanity and war crimes following the end of the Kosovo War in 1999.

The SITF says it found evidence “that certain elements of the KLA intentionally targeted the minority populations with acts of persecution that included unlawful killings, abductions, enforced disappearances, illegal detentions in camps in Kosovo and Albania, sexual violence, other forms of inhumane treatment, forced displacements of individuals from their homes and communities, and desecration and destruction of churches and other religious sites.”

Williamson underlined that the victims of these crimes were mainly Serbs, Roma and other minorities, but also Kosovo Albanians who were labeled as either collaborators with the Serbs or political opponents of the KLA leadership.

‘Intense’ investigation

The SITF was set up by the European Union in September 2011 to conduct a full-scale criminal investigation into the allegations contained in the report of Council of Europe Rapporteur Dick Marty, who claimed he had information about former KLA officials harvesting and trafficking human organs.

“Over the past two and a half years, the SITF has conducted an intense, detailed investigation into the allegations in the Marty Report,” wrote Williamson the statement. “This investigation has involved interviews of hundreds of witnesses in countries throughout Europe and elsewhere. It has involved the review of thousands of pages of documents compiled by numerous organizations and individuals that were engaged in Kosovo during and after the period of our investigative focus.”

He added that the investigation has been a “challenging exercise” but was nevertheless convinced that it has been “the most comprehensive investigation ever done of crimes perpetrated in the period after the war ended in Kosovo in June 1999.”

Planned indictments

In its press release, the SITF claims it can file an indictment against KLA individuals once “an appropriate judicial mechanism is established to host a fully independent, impartial and transparent trial that ensures the highest standards of security for witnesses and for criminal proceedings.”

No names of the alleged perpetrators have been released at this stage. According to the SITF spokesman, the organization is not yet in a position to file an indictment and no individuals will be named before then.

The SITF is optimistic about the outcome of the planned judicial proceedings as it believes it holds strong evidence, the spokesman told DW. Also, based on the level of cooperation displayed by Kosovo so far, the organization is confident that anyone who is indicted will surrender voluntarily and submit to the judicial process.

Williamson thanked the European Union, its member states and international partners for their ongoing efforts in setting up a court for the proceedings.

Security forces break up violent protest over Serb bridge barrier in northern Kosovo

June 22, 2014 By administrator

Police have broken up a protest by ethnic Albanians against the blockade by ethnic Serbs of the main bridge in Mitrovica in northern Kosovo. The town has often seen tension between the two ethnic groups.

There were conflicting reports of just how the trouble in Mitrovica started on Sunday. The DPA news agency reports that several hundred ethnic-Albanians had tried to physically take down the barrier created by Serbs who live on the other side of the Ibar River.

Reuters said several hundred Abanians were simply protesting against the Serbs’ closure of the bridge for the past three years, when some of them began lobbing rocks at Kosovo police officers. The news agency also cited one of its local reporters who said Polish special police units, who are part of a European Union mission, opened fire with rubber bullets to break up the demonstration. These were backed up by US soldiers from NATO’s KFOR peacekeeping force in Kosovo.

The AFP news agency reported that local police had used tear gas to prevent the protesters from crossing over to the Serb side of town. Some of the demonstrators responded by setting on fire several vehicles, including two Kosovo police cars and two from the European Union rule of law mission, EULEX.

Barrier removed, then replaced

Sunday’s clashes were the latest incident in a strange turn of events in the city in which ethnic Albanians live on the southern side of the Ibar River, while the Serbs live on the northern side.

On Wednesday, a barrier made of earth and concrete block, which was erected by Serbs to keep out Albanians in 2011, was bulldozed away. Just hours later ethnic Serbs installed a new barrier made up of a line of planted pots with small fir trees, something which the local Serb mayor described as a “peace park.”

Many of the 40,000 ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo opposed a European Union-brokered deal reached last year meant to normalize ties between Serbia and its former southern province. The EU rewarded Serbia, which still doesn’t recognize Kosovo’s independence, by opening accession talks.

Kosovo, which unilaterally declared its independence in 2008, has been recognized by more than 100 countries, including most EU member states.

pfd/jm (Reuters, dpa, AFP)

Thermal power plant explosion in Kosovo

June 6, 2014 By administrator

06/06/2014

Near Kosovo’s capital Pristina, Kosovo A thermal power plant explosion occurred.

Severe explosion was heard in many parts of Pristina. Kosovo Electricity Corporation (KEK) spokesman My brawl with the explosion of CuK a short description came. Cukor, Kosovo A thermal power plant boiler explosion occurred in one of the at least three people were killed and injured dozens of people, he said. Patal Standards kesinleşmezk yet what caused the first aid teams and police at the scene said the work took.

American Professor: Nagorno-Karabakh is a case of remedial secession

April 19, 2014 By administrator

Interview by Nvard Chalikyan

Panorama.am interview with Dr. William Slomanson, Professor of Law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and visiting Professor at Pristina University. Dr. Slomanson argues that Nagorno-Karabakh qualifies as a case of remedial secession under the International Law.

– Dr. Slomanson, in one of your articles you argue that the cases of Ossetia, Abkhazia and Kosovo do not qualify as remedial secession, while in your article “Nagorno-Karabakh: An Alternative Legal Approach To Its Quest For Legitimacy” you argue that Nagorno-Karabakh presents such a case. How exactly does Nagorno-Karabakh qualify as a case of remedial secession and according to you what are the strongest points in NK’s argument of remedial secession?

– The internationally accepted sources of International Law include – treaties, state practice and judicial decisions (as embedded in ICJ Statute, Article 38d). There is no treaty on secession, and there never will be, as that would be a political suicide for states. As for state practice, it has characterized three of the last four unilateral secessions as being unique (Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Kosovo—with no word yet on Crimea). There have otherwise been numerous conflicting state approaches to the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. The remaining recognized source on secession in the International Law is thus judicial decisions – those issued by national/international courts.

In this regard the undisputed lead case is the Canadian Supreme Court Quebec Secession case, with its three prongs. According to the first prong there must be a “People,” for which Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians within Azerbaijan no doubt qualify. Second, there must be “gross human rights violations” against this people – these violations were in place starting in 1915, when NK emptied out most of its Armenian population because of Turkish regional policies. These policies continued through and including 1989 (the Armenian population declined considerably as a result of gross human rights violations over many decades). In 1989 the US Senate-House passed Resolution 178 that expressed a concern on the ongoing violence in Nagorno-Karabakh – “seeking (2) Soviet re-establishment of economic and supply routes”; (4) “urge[s] … investigation of the violence against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh;” and (5) “express[es] the serious concern of the American people about the ongoing violence … interfer[ing] with international relief efforts.”

The Quebec decision’s third prong is “no alternative but secession”. Given the fact that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh was altered for a number of times – in 1919 (when the United Kingdom forced NK authorities to conclude an interim agreement with Azerbaijan), in 1921 (when Moscow annexed NK to the Azerbaijan SSR), in 1988 (by war) and in 1991 (by the declaration of independence) as well as taking into account the 2004 Minsk Group statement that NK independence is not possible under the USSR statute of 03 April 1990 (all of which are addressed in my 2012 article) I do not see how one could logically suggest that there is an alternative to secession.

– If Nagorno-Karabakh presents a strong case for remedial secession what implications can this have, given that the right to remedial secession is not a hard law?

– Given the non-existence of a secession treaty, multiple changes in sovereign status of Nagorno-Karabakh as well as national/international concerns (such as those expressed in the above US Congressional position), the above-mentioned recognized sources of International Law leave only one logical source for supporting Nagorno-Karabakh’s bid for legitimacy – a national (Canadian) Supreme Court decision on a matter of International Law. While not a primary source, such as State practice, it is a recognized source of International Law. If by “soft” law you mean enforceability, the arguable lack thereof is a discrete political point, while the Quebec elements are widely acclaimed and thus are more akin to hard law than soft law.

– Azerbaijan has officially adopted a stance that unless the conflict is resolved by peaceful means Azerbaijan has the “right” to take back Nagorno-Karabakh by force, appealing to the right of self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter and referring to alleged “occupation” of its territory. Is this stance of Azerbaijan compatible with international law or not (considering its international obligations and the 1994 ceasefire agreement)?

– Citing the UN Charter Article 51 self-defense by Azerbaijan is illogical, given the comparative size of both the Azeri land mass and military strength. NK, for example, does not have the Israeli drones that the Azeris use for patrolling the border. As 2006 Russian-American Dartmouth Conference report indicates, no single document (i.e., the 1994 ceasefire agreement) will supplant the need for all necessary parties to come to the table to hammer out a peace accord. One result of that not happening is the Azeri threat to use its military force to shoot down any plane/helicopter attempting to make the trip between the Yerevan and NK airports. So it would be NK, not Azerbaijan, that would end up with a decent Art 51 defense argument in this context.

Interview by Nvard Chalikyan

Source: Panorama.am