I am Woman, Hear Me Pray

ISTANBUL — There’s not a lot of female energy in the Directorate of the Istanbul Mufti. This large, blocky Ottoman-era building houses the state bureaucratic entity in charge of every aspect of Islam here, from hiring imams and writing their weekly sermons to paying their salaries and approving designs for new mosques.Much of what female energy there is comes from the small, tidy office of Kadriye Avci Erdemli, who three years ago became the first female deputy mufti of Istanbul and one of Turkey’s highest-ranking female religious officials.

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Black Metal Bassist Elected to Greek Parliament

The election to parliament of a bass player from the Greek Black Metal band Naer Mataron has the Greek media scrambling to find connections between facism and heavy metal.

Chaos, as Greeks like to say, is a Greek word. And Greeks might agree that the election of a Black Metal musician to a country’s legislature does not bode well for political stability. Continue reading “Black Metal Bassist Elected to Greek Parliament” →

Killings Heighten Ethnic Tensions in Macedonia

By MATTHEW BRUNWASSER

SOFIA, BULGARIA — On Orthodox Easter, one of the most sacred holidays for Christians here, Macedonians mourned the deaths of five Macedonian men amid speculation that their killers were ethnic Albanians, arousing fears of a new bout of intercommunal violence.

The men were fishermen, four were in their late teens or 20s and one was 40; they were found dead Thursday night on the shore of an artificial lake near the village of Smiljkovci outside the capital, Skopje. They were buried on Saturday. Continue reading “Killings Heighten Ethnic Tensions in Macedonia” →

Determined to Bring Out the Truth in Kosovo

By MATTHEW BRUNWASSER

PRISTINA, KOSOVO — She cut her journalistic teeth with the BBC as a 22-year-old fixer, helping television crews film in and around Kosovo during the 1999 NATO bombing war against Serbia.

Now 33, Jeta Xharra has continued the punchy public interest journalism she says she learned from the likes of Jeremy Paxman, the British broadcaster known as host of the television news program “Newsnight.”

In 1999, exposing wrongdoing seemed like an ideal common to most if not all Kosovo Albanians, united as they were by their fight against the authoritarian rule of Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia. Continue reading “Determined to Bring Out the Truth in Kosovo” →

Concerns Grow About Authoritarianism in Macedonia

By MATTHEW BRUNWASSER

SKOPJE, MACEDONIA — The ambitious retooling of this small nation’s identity — a Balkan brand of hyper-patriotism accompanied by the trumpeting of Macedonia’s ancient roots — is raising concerns internationally about growing authoritarianism, the silencing of dissent and accusations of abuse of power by the governing party here.

The European Commission released its annual report this week on the country’s progress toward E.U. membership, and found that the country was backtracking on protecting media freedoms and that it was making insufficient progress on protecting the rule of law. Continue reading “Concerns Grow About Authoritarianism in Macedonia” →

Kosovo’s Serbs Pressed to End Autonomy Push

By MATTHEW BRUNWASSER

MITROVICA, Kosovo — After years of impasse between the national government of Kosovo and ethnic Serbs demanding autonomy within their northern enclave in the new country, international pressure has intensified on the Serbs. And while the immediate result has been minor clashes, there is new hope for some movement toward a resolution for the last geopolitically unsettled chunk of the former Yugoslavia.

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Turkey Silences Syrian Refugees’ Stories

In the refugee camps along Turkey’s border with Syria, at least five babies born to Syrian women have been named Recep Tayyip, in honor of the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan. They are grateful to Turkey for opening its border to more than 15,000 refugees fleeing the violence next door. But at the same time, many refugees feel like prisoners in the refugee camps. While Turkey positions itself as a leading democracy in the Middle East, the refugees are not allowed to leave the camps — or talk to journalists. From the Yayladagi tent city, on the Turkish – Syrian border, Matthew Brunwasser reports. Continue reading “Turkey Silences Syrian Refugees’ Stories” →

Syrian Opposition Leads the Revolution DIY-style

In Syria, the opposition to rule by President Bashir Al-Assad comes from a wide variety of groups, economically and socially. There are long time Syrian dissidents in exile, protestors inside Syria and refugees who have fled the current crackdown. Many of the groups met in Turkey last month and found it difficult to come together. One opposition group, made up of refugees who fled northern Syria, are working from a house in Antakya in southern Turkey. Matthew Brunwasser went to visit. Continue reading “Syrian Opposition Leads the Revolution DIY-style” →

The Pyramid of Enver Hoxha in Tirana, Albania

The landmark was built as a museum for the late Enver Hoxha. The Albanian leader kept Stalinism alive in Europe for decades after the Soviet dictator died in 1953. The pyramid is still standing but it’s starting to crumble. In fact, during bloody anti-government demonstrations in Tirana back in February protestors broke off pieces of the pyramid to throw at other government buildings. Albanians have been trying to figure out what to do with the pyramid for years. Just last month, the parliament passed a law to tear it down. Even so, opponents of the demolition are gathering petitions to save the building. And the current president is deciding whether to sign the bill or side with the protesters. From Tirana, Matthew Brunwasser gives us a tour of the controversial pyramid. Continue reading “The Pyramid of Enver Hoxha in Tirana, Albania” →

Bosniaks and Croats, Divided in Class and at Play

By MATTHEW BRUNWASSER

VITEZ, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA — Every morning at the local grade school formerly known as Brotherhood and Unity, the Catholic Croat children head to the right, and the Bosnian Muslims head to the left.

The Croats study in the school’s cheerful looking main building, which was recently renovated. The Muslims attend class in the crumbling, dingy annex next door.

The school ended up behind the Croat line during the 1992-95 war that killed some 100,000 people. It has remained there ever since. Continue reading “Bosniaks and Croats, Divided in Class and at Play” →