During a parade in Baku in December 2020 marking Azerbaijan’s victory in the Second Karabakh War, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recited an Azerbaijani poem that caught the attention of Iran. The poem, titled “Gulustan,” speaks of sadness resulting from the fact that the Aras River divides the ethnically Azerbaijani …
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German Experts Study Impact Of Economic Sanctions Against Iran And Russia
Researchers at the Institute for World Economy IfW Kiel and DIW Berlinhave analysed the economic impact of jointly implementing punitive measures in the context of the 2012 Iran and 2014 Russia sanctions. They find that coalitions serve two crucial purposes—they not only magnify the economic cost imposed on the target …
Read More »Week in Review: Games and Gambles
From energy pipelines and pipedreams to election posturing and all the way to media freedom and the fight for justice, we take a look at the struggles, games and gambles which have marked this week’s selection of Premium stories. Pipedreams? The clock seems to be counting down time on Serbia’s …
Read More »War Games: Replaying Yugoslavia’s Military Conflicts as Entertainment
Battlefield scenarios from the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 20th Century are used in various board games and video games, but while some of them offer the opportunity to play with history, others distort the facts completely. In Serbia, World War II-era Yugoslav Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito …
Read More »Mostar’s Unpunished Massacres, Part 3: The Long Wait for a Memorial
Since the Uborak and Sutina massacres, the most serious war crimes in the Herzegovina region during the 1990s conflict, the victims’ families have been calling for a dignified memorial, but have faced indifference from ethno-nationalist political leaders. “Ihave an idea regarding Liska Park.” This brief statement made at the end …
Read More »Mostar’s Unpunished Massacres, Part 2: The Campaign for Justice
In the second in a three-part series, survivors of the 1992 Uborak and Sutina massacres speak about their long campaign for justice and the potential role of the Hague Tribunal’s archives in identifying suspects is examined. Adnin Hasic speaks very calmly. When asked about the work of the Association of …
Read More »Mostar’s Unpunished Massacres, Part 1: Eyewitnesses Tell the Story
The Uborak and Sutina massacres near Mostar were the first and the largest war crimes in the Herzegovina region during the 1990s conflict. In the first in a three-part series, eyewitnesses recall the executions that left 114 people dead. On Tuesday February 2, 2010, at precisely 9.10am, a protected witness …
Read More »Israel Reveals Damages Caused to Iran’s Smuggling Routes in Syria
Israeli Army revealed on Sunday it destroyed 90% of Iran’s military infrastructure in Syria and aborted the Lebanese Hezbollah entrenchment in Syria. “Israel has in recent years succeeded in almost completely curbing Iran’s ability to transfer weapons to Syria,” The Jerusalem Post cited officials in the Israeli Army as saying. …
Read More »Muslim Brotherhood Elections in Syria: Is There Fundamental Change?
A source familiar with the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria said the group is preparing for an election round likely to occur in December amid a rivalry between the old leadership of the elderly and the younger generation. The source added in a statement to Syria TV that the main problem …
Read More »U.S. Budgetary Allocation to Increase “Free Syrian Army” Headcount to 2,000
Farid al-Qasim, the new commander of the Maghawir al-Thawra faction, has made several changes since he took over this position under the auspices of the “international coalition” forces. These modifications included renaming the faction as the Free Syrian Army, which raised question marks — especially as it coincides with the …
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