June 1997 Monitoring.

(This summary is based on the June reports only from Bulgaria Greece, the FRY and Turkey. ).

Mariana Lenkova

ALBANIA is pictured again as a place where they are shooting, killing, kidnapping and robbing. Therefore the image of Albania as it emerges from the pages of the Bulgarian press can be characterized with three words: chaos, lawlessness and violence. "Availing themselves of the anarchy, the Shqiptars destroy and take away everything they can lay a hand on to sell it as scraps to their neighbors" (24 Ch, 2); "The night air resounds with the rattling of Kalashnikovs, the whistling of bullets fired from pistols and even the ramble of heavy guns"; "Some are shooting to keep criminals at a safe distance, others are doing it out of boredom" (De, 3); "Shoot-outs Intensify before Elections in Albania" (Du, 18);"Albanians Go to Polls Armed to Teeth" (T, 29)

In June the image of GREECE and the Greeks in the Bulgarian mainstream press is shaped by a kaleidoscopic review of current Bulgarian-Greek relations, the political and social life in Greece and the everyday life of the Greek. The continuing debate on Paissii’s "Slav-Bulgarian History" is presented in its two aspects and the related pros and cons: should the book be taken back to the Zographou Monastery in Mount Athos or it should remain in Bulgaria? An example of the sharp-worded, negative statements about Greece which at times sound even vulgar is the one made by Karakachanov, MP of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO): "Well, the Greeks have been pursuing a barbaric policy in regard to Bulgaria for centuries on end, now why should we return the ‘History’ to them"? I don’t see any reason for it... They have destroyed so many tombstones and are still doing it. And what about their crimes in Macedonia? I would understand it if the Greek have asked for it, I would understand it if the ‘History’ is exchanged for two or three Greek manuscripts, but I cannot accept such a reckless act. For years on end Bulgaria’s politicians have been standing before the Greek with their pants down, that’s why the latter got used to have all their whims satisfied. For this reason I disagree" (168 Ch, 20-26). Paradoxically, what this statement implies is that the "History" should remain in Bulgaria not because it is a valuable, sacred relic but because Bulgaria should spite Greece and stop going by its policy.

There are other publications adding to the negative, nationalistic image of Greece and its anti-Bulgarian dimensions Bulgarians are so sensitive of. "The children of Greek Pomaks study Turkish at school, the mayor of Komotini, Georgios Papadrielis, said during his visit to Kurdzhali. As it is well known from history, by origin the Greek Pomaks are Bulgarian, their language is Bulgarian too and they are related to the Pomaks living in the Bulgarian Rhodopes by ties of blood" (Du, 9); "There are phantoms in Greece, citizens that are deprived of identity documents and denied social care... ‘The ghosts’ are thousands of Muslims and members of the Slav minority - i.e. Bulgarians whom Athens refuses to recognize... They are discriminated against by a law passed at the time of the dictatorship which provides for the suppression of the national identity of ‘non-ethnic’ Greeks in an administrative way" (24 Ch, 6).

The meeting of Balkan foreign ministers in Thessaloniki also prompted remarks that express attitudes towards Greece and the Greeks. Using an ironic though well-meaning tone, most publications emphasize that the Greek can appreciate a beautiful woman when they see one: "With her feminine grace, charm, elegance and ease, the first lady of Bulgarian diplomacy conquered the warm-blooded men in our southern neighbor, arousing envy in the women there" (T, 1). And yet the recognition that Bulgaria’s southern neighbors have good taste cannot drown interpretations of the Thessaloniki meeting in the "Byzantine trickery" style. "Greek Foreign Minister Pangalos was looking at his charming Bulgarian counterpart open-mouthed but in the end it was Bulgaria that was left to stand gaping... Then [at the time of the meeting of Balkan foreign ministers in Sofia which Macedonia refused to attend] Athens played a dirty trick on us making much ado about Macedonia’s name. However, now the Greek hosts ‘generously’ agreed that there would be no plates showing the participating countries’ names... Thus they succeeded in gathering everybody around the table and declared the Sofia meeting a trial one, claiming that the real conference was held in Thessaloniki and that it was the first of its kind." In conclusion, the article says that if things go on like that, "we will be left with a mere friendship in the perfidious style" (24 Ch, 12).

MACEDONIA is once again in the focus of Bulgarian press, receiving the most comprehensive, many-sided coverage. The language problem is again in the center of attention, underlying the so-called inter-media communication. "Nova Makedonija reprimanded Peter Stoyanov for the language dispute again, this time for the statement he made after conferring with Kiro Gligorov in the Hague: ‘Don’t ask me whether we talked about the language, we both used that language’," (24 Ch, 1) Karakachanov says curtly: "We speak one and the same language, the only difference is that we call it Bulgarian while some people in Macedonia call it Macedonian. But it is our common language no matter how we call it. It is the language used by the activists of our national revival," (S, 17); "Only Kostov used Bulgarian there [in Crans Montana], while the Macedonian Prime Minister listened to the English translation because English appears to be closer to the Macedonian language and easier to understand," (Du, 30), (also T, 29); "The language dispute has been exacerbated by Skopje’s state-controlled media to such an extent that it became a matter of life and death, so important as to freeze relations with Bulgaria for 100 years," [Ljupco Georgievski, leader of IMRO-DPMNU [Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity], the largest opposition party in Macedonia, is quoted as saying (168 Ch, 27.6-3.7)]; "the problem between Bulgaria and Macedonia is not language". "The major problem of the two countries’ relations is the lack of economic interests. The Bulgarian economy has been in ruins for five or six years now, and Macedonia is at deadlock. ... But Macedonia faces other problems too - if Bulgaria recognizes the Macedonian language and the Macedonian nation, this will inevitably bring up the question of a free exchange of books and newspapers. That is, the question arises if the Macedonians will use Bulgaria’s literature and its press. Because at the moment Macedonia has only two newspapers and not at a very high level at that" [interpretation made by the well-known BBC commentator Stephen Ashley (T, 17)]."The behavior of the powers that be in the Republic of Macedonia leaves the impression that by their unbending attitude towards Bulgaria they seek to create a situation analogical to the ‘Greek-Macedonian’ one. However, this time they want to dictate the terms. It seems that they want to compensate for their resignation to implacable Greece by upholding their thesis in the language dispute with Bulgaria uncompromisingly" (Compare with "Greece to Christen Macedonia", "Skopje’s ambassador to the United Nations proposed to his Greek counterpart that Athens choose the name it would use in referring to Macedonia. ... Foreign Minister Handziski has recently made a statement in a similar vein" - T, 19). It is in the same anecdotal vein (and with glee most immediately felt) that the Bulgarian press renders an account of what happened with Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov during his official visit to China. The "Macedonian language" is at the core of the story: "Macedonia’s President Kiro Gligorov embarrassed the Chinese who couldn’t find anybody speaking Macedonian. ... The hosts’ excuse was that though China has a population of 1,000 million, they could not find anybody who has command of the Macedonian language," (K, 11), (also T, 24 Ch, S);"In Beijing Gligorov was left without an official language and without formal dress" (Du, 11); "It seems that Macedonia has given up the idea to become the Switzerland of the Balkans and now works hard on the idea of joining the USA as yet another state. Otherwise why should President Kiro Gligorov want ten thousand American rangers deployed in the country? Maybe this is a hint that Macedonia feels threatened and that it cannot cope alone with a possible threat - either internal or external" (K, 19).

The 125th anniversary of the birth of Yane Sandanski provides an occasion to look for the historical truth again: "Those who are trying to present him as a fighter for the freedom of ‘the Macedonian people’ falsify history. ... To give up Yane, to renounce him would mean to renounce part of the Bulgaria’s history. Obviously there are too many people willing to usurp its history" (Du, 7). It is clear who are the most often blamed for making such claims - "Nadezhda Mihailova: Macedonia Must Not Encroach Upon Bulgarian History" (S, 21), (also K, 21-22) Another fact which is worth noting - a 1948 report from the British consul in Skopje to the Foreign Office quoted by the BBC: "The Macedonian Nation - Primary Goal of Skopje’s Propaganda". [It is not by chance that the report is published under the heading "Memorabilia" - despite the year it was made in, the report has a direct bearing on the present: "The national issue is an essential one. ... That is why the publicists in Skopje claim that Cyril and Methodius translated the Holy Scriptures into Macedonian. They suggest that Samouil’s kingdom which had Ohrid as its capital was actually Macedonian and not Bulgarian as history books say. However, it should be admitted that few of the efforts to present these speculations about early history in a convincing way seem to be serious," (S, 17). One would think it was said only yesterday.

"Macedonia Full of Young Bulgarian Women Forced to Prostitute". The article tells the story of some girls who have been offered work as waitresses in Macedonia: "We had to give the customs officers (the Macedonian ones) 100 German marks each to let us enter the country. What they thought of us is another question - the Bulgarian women are whores. ... the restaurant keepers forced us to go out and prostitute in the streets... We were arrested by the police... We’ve been through a lot for those 48 hours - beating, rapes and what not. And they were policemen, you understand? But for them that’s a matter of course - if you come from Bulgaria, you’re a whore. And you get no end of a beating" (NT, 19-20). The feelings this story arouses can hardly be called friendly.

Despite the political icy wind blowing from official Skopje, "The people living on the two sides of the border are good neighbors, I would even say cousins, Mr. Stoyanov said. All the people the President talked to in the population centers along the Strouma valley told him that there was no Macedonian problem - the people living on the two sides of the border are one whole" (De, 13); "The attitude to the Bulgarians in Macedonia is strange - it is something like cautious love."(T, 24), (also De, 29).

"Curiosity" and "fun" are key notions in shaping ROMANIA’s image throughout the month: "all Romanians living in Bucharest have been mobilized and made to look at the West every Sunday at sunset until the meeting in Madrid in order to suggest to the members of NATO that they should admit Romania to their organization as an ally" (Du, 19) (also 24 Ch, T, St, 19). Typical of the approach to the information about the NATO hysteria in Bulgaria’s northern neighbor are headlined such as "Romanians Beg in Tears to Be Admitted to NATO" (Du, 24).

The tendency to present Romania’s image by making a comparison with Bulgaria has persisted. Though less frequent, there are comparisons of the type "who is worse": "Because of the BSP, Bulgaria was placed even after Romania" (S, 9). The statement was made by Foreign Minister Mihailova; the idea implied is that Romania is lagging far behind Bulgarian in all areas which actually is not true. "Romania knows how to snatch things under one’s nose. Our MPs have already turned their eyes to the seaside beaches although they promised to adopt the foreign investment bill in August. The Romanian law-makers, however, do not think about their summer holidays. They have adopted an attractive foreign investments act and while the Bulgarian MPs are getting a tan on the beach, the Romanians will get the dollars" (K, 28-29). And also "Bucharest Steals from Bulgaria MIG Aircraft Deal" (K, 27).

SERBIA remained "formally" present on the pages of Bulgarian papers, receiving a comparatively limited coverage. The operation launched by the Serbian police against Bulgarian shuttle traders in a number of population centers in Serbia prompts even such rude headlines as "Serbs Searching Bulgarian Women’s Genitals for German Marks" (24 Ch, 2); "The mission of our fellow countrymen who helped the Serbs survive has come to an end. Now they are subjected to persecutions," 24 Chassa concludes realistically analyzing the situation (24 Ch, 29); "It appears that the Balkan syndrome is ineradicable. The moment Belgrade saw some signs of economic recovery, it forgot that at the time of the embargo the shuttle traders saved its population in the border areas from starvation and supplied petrol in Coca Cola bottles to it," (T, 12).

There were some negative articles provoked by problems faced by Bulgarian diplomats in Yugoslavia ["Serbs refuse to provide security guards for the Bulgarian Embassy" (24 Ch, 5). "‘I have good reason to state with all my authority that the lives of the Bulgarian diplomats in Yugoslavia are exposed to danger,’ Valery Gyurov, Bulgarian consul in Belgrade, says commenting on the case" (S, 5); (also K, 5; T, 6).] and by the Bulgarian minority in the Western Outlands in Serbia ["a Pirot-based newspaper called our fellow countrymen living in Bulgaria’s western neighbor ‘the scum of society’" ( T, 2); "Serbs Drive Bulgarians Away from Tsaribrod" (a headline); "Mira Markovic’s Left has launched a hysterical election campaign in the Western Outlands." "Serbs told leaders of the Bulgarian minority to go back to Bulgaria because they were thwarting the existing good relations" (24 Ch, 10). "‘Free Europe: Belgrade Launches Anti-Bulgarian Campaign", "The Yugoslav Left advises the members of the Bulgarian minority to emigrate to Bulgaria" (a headline and subtitle) (S, 17).]

TURKEY again is depicted through a set of topics, covered daily by purely informative and analytical materials. The main impressions are in the track of those from previous months: Turkey is depicted as an unstable state, "phony" democracy through the ongoing Islamist-secularist contradictions. Allusions of Turkey as being a threat to Bulgaria are presented again. "Military coups are a tradition in the Turkish political life but the West will not regard such a step with favor" (De, 16); "Ankara Wants Peter Stoyanov to Renounce PKK" (a headline); "In this way Turkey is trying to receive international support for its aggression against Eastern Anatolia and Northern Iraq, analysts say. Bulgaria cannot commit itself to Turkey’s internal problems in this way, international observers say" (Du, 7). The Kurdish context implies that Turkey is dangerous: "‘If Turkey’s operation in Southern Kurdistan is completed successfully, no wonder if Bulgaria happens to be the next country which it will attack,’ Roumen Vodenicharov said at the Cultural Club for Friendship with Kurdistan" (T, 5).

Another source of concern is found in the Turkish minority in Bulgaria: "The Bulgarian Turks will soon come to live in peace in the lands that belonged to their ancestors 600 or 700 years ago (!). ... in the next years the Turks living in the neighboring countries will win their independence and will establish their own states under the Turkish flag. These are obvious territorial designs threatening Bulgaria’s security and its national and territorial integrity. They are rooted in the age-old idea of Pan-Turkism, according to which the Danube should be the natural border of Turkey, which has seen a revival of late. ... The Turkish policy pursued in regard to the Islamized population in Bulgaria has always been subordinated to the goals of Pan-Turkism" (Du, 9 presenting the five-minute speech which the Turkish consul in Plovdiv made at a rally of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) in Dzhebel); "The invasion of Turkish businessmen in Deliorman is assuming alarming proportions" (24 Ch, 22). Still, "Turkey is actually a neighbor Bulgaria has had the fewest problems with in the last seven years" (K, 20).

Guide to newspaper initials: 24 Ch "24Chassa", C "Continent", De "Demokratsiya", Do "Douma", SN "Standart News", T "Dneven Troud", NT "Noshten Troud", Sega "Sega" magazine, 168 Ch "168 Chassa".

GREECE

Descriptions presenting a chaotic state in ALBANIA. "Chaos is a lenient characterization. Even chaos has certain limits. Here nothing is sustainable. The Albanian officials don’t hide their wish to stop this misfortune, and that another (…) country attends to their country. They should divide the responsibility between Italy and Greece so that they feel a little bit like a state!" (El. 1/6). Pessimism about the normal conduct of the elections. "Whatever the outcome of the Albanian elections would be, one thing is certain, namely that the influence of the Greek minority in Albania will continue to deteriorate. Against the background of the Turkophile Berisha supporters, the traditionally bad relations which the Albanian Socialists have with Greece and the hatred against the minority fostered by the lawless of the North, the optimistic prospects are rather meagre" (E.T. 27) With respect to the incidents of violence in areas along the Greek-Albanian border an anti-Berisha climate and an intensified Albanophobia developed. "The tourists who saw their hotel becoming a target of the Albanians’ machine guns (those Albanians have been possibly solicited by Turks and Italians), and whom our ‘strong’ and ‘effective’ state proves to be unable to protect, will never come back to Corfu. We have become a ‘fenceless grapevine’ so that every bastard comes into and goes out of the country unhindered through ‘the well guarded borders’" (Ap. 14). In spite of the fact that the elections took place relatively calmly, the groundless scare-mongering and Albanophobia continued. "The polls were painted with blood" (A.T. 29). "Epirotes from the North: from oppression to terrorism" (Ap. 29). Nevertheless, there were also some comments full of sympathy and solidarity towards the Albanians. "No, Albanians are not only characterized by despair, wretchedness, violence, opportunism and corruption. They are also characterized, like all other people in the world, by patience, trust, innocence, goodness. The mere recognition of the fact that the belonging to a particular race does not provide a social identity could attack and disarm our xenophobia" (K. 6).

In an interview BULGARIAN President Stoyanov expressed his support for the bilateral relations and the common European position of the two countries, while also describing the tragic situation created by the presence of criminality in his country. "[Bulgarians and Greeks are] condemned to live together, not only as neighbors, but also as friends. (…) Bulgaria like Greece belongs geographically, culturally and politically to Europe." (B, 29) An article about the historical origins of the Bulgarians appeared in the Greek press. "They are of Asian origin, originating from the lake of Baikal in Mongolia, fellow countrymen of the Huns, the Hungarians, the Turks etc. With the invasion of the Slavini (Slavs), the Bulgarians became Slavs and later on through their contact with Byzantium, they were Christianized. Today’s Bulgarians are exactly the progeny of this admixture. Besides, the word BULGA means mixture in Turkish. Byzantium recognized their state, but they remained a barbaric, uncivilized and dangerous people for the Empire’s borders." (Ap. 22)

A presentation of the internal problems of MACEDONIA with reference to the alleged role of the Turks. "Turkish flags in Skopje" (Eth. 5) There was also an extensive interview by President Gligorov, in which he proposed a conciliatory solution to the name issue, challenged whichever "irredentist" interpretations of his politics and spoke moderately about minority issues: "it is in Greece’s interest that Macedonia exists as an independent state. (…) The Macedonian people which is one of the oldest ones in the Balkans must obtain its own state." ; "[If the name is changed] there will be interference on the part of the Bulgarian and the Serbian propaganda (…) there will be a Balkan conflict as to what will become of Macedonia." Finally he suggested that Greece calls his country as she wishes but she should not prevent the international use of its name "Republic of Macedonia", a "respectable" solution for both parties to the conflict (B. 29). However, this did not discourage reactions inspired by an intense nationalism. "Mr. Gligorov - a dangerous nationalist. Kiro Gligorov’s interview is characterized as astute and low key. It deifies hypocrisy and deceit. (…) An explosive mixture of covert nationalism, savage simplifications, provocative hypocrisy and a ridiculous interpretation of history. The fact that the leader of the neighboring country is perspicacious and well composed - therefore he knows how to lie and to distort history shamelessly - makes him the worst one from the purest VMRO supporters. At least they are not pretending" (El. 30).

There were very few articles about ROMANIA relating to the country’s economy.

As for SERBIA, there were various anti-Milosevic comments and comparisons between Serbia and Croatia. "It appears that these two countries will constitute two pockets of authoritarianism in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, which will be preserved due to peripheral and international geopolitical expedience. In that way the two countries and their leaders who have played major roles in the Yugoslav crisis rest on the margin of developments and in disharmony with the political changes which took place not only in Central Europe, but also in the neighboring Balkan countries. It appears that Serbia and Croatia will constitute discordant regimes in the post Cold-War Europe (…) The authoritarian regimes of Tudjman and Milosevic can at any moment choose to go ahead, in other words, to light up new nationalist antagonisms as an ultimate solution to a new extenuation of their regimes’ life (…) hence constituting a serious threat to the fragile state of things as it has developed in the region after November 1995." (El. 24) References and criticisms about the lack of liberty and the violation of human rights. "Tortures and arbitrary police action are still practiced, the main victims being the Albanians of Kosovo. In six months nine Serbs have been killed, five of them policemen, and the authorities responded with massive arbitrary arrests." (A.T. 19)

Several anti-TURKISH comments came just as a confirmation of the well-known tendencies. "Who are these barbarians who still dare threaten us, insult us, while we here dance tsiftetelia and karsilamades [Oriental dances]? As you can guess, we are speaking about our bad neighbors - the Turks. (…) No matter how much the Turks are attacked today and what an inferiority complex they have because of their Mongol origin, there is nothing they can do to change things. (…) The Turks anthropologically and linguistically are completely foreign to the European models, that is, to the Greek or the Latin in the Southern and Eastern part of Europe and the Celtic one in the Central and Western part of Europe. (…) The uncivilized barbaric Turks can not become friends; once again our Western European partners will recur to the defenders of the borderlands (akrites) in order to take out the snake from the hole" (Ap. 1) Emphasis was placed on the problems of democratization, on the internal problems of the neighbor, and on the presentation of a "barbarian" Turkey in contrast to a "highly civilized" Greece. "In Turkey the political regime can be characterized as democratic only in name since it employs extreme forms of oppression against the freedom of speech. Therefore, to think or to express oneself freely there is a daily exploit of survival" (El. 1); "the existence of fertile soil for dialogue is impossible in a country, which only recently refused to renounce the threat of using violence as means for negotiation in a text of the European Union. (…) The Greek government tries to come to an understanding with an international agitator who, resting on her geopolitical position, considers that she will ensure forever international tolerance and support of her violations. And all this only because she appears to be on the one hand the guardian of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf and on the other, warrantor for the transportation of petroleum from the ex-Socialist democracies of the Soviet Union to the Mediterranean." (Ap, 5) Implications about "Turkish incitement" wherever that is possible. "We observe, unfortunately, that Turkey considers that she is undermined by almost all of the countries which have the misfortune of sharing borders with her. This fact alone proves her destabilizing role in the area" (Ap. 7). All this saw its synthesis in the following article: "How come the Turks, all the Turks, are the same, without the slightest difference existing between the rulers and the ruled, the religious and the non-religious; all of them are uncivilized, stupid, fanatical Mohamaddans, fundamentalists, slayers of Greeks (ellinofagoi), blood-thirsty Orientals who have just come out of their caves and who have been incapable of developing any art, after so many centuries of history (…) Yes - the barbarians. Yes - the fundamentalists. They consider their cultural heritage, in other words, a constitutive element of their life and an aspect of their history, a building constructed by the hands of ‘faithless’, the hands of ‘time immemorial’ enemies.. (…) Oh, yes, it is evident that their sudden internationalism copies and imitates completely our vigorous internationalism, our cultural religious tolerance, our openness of the spirit. The ones which led us to demonstrate massively and protest strongly against the height of the minaret of Komotini. This taking place at the same time when some wealthy people from Yanena presented pertinently the civilized proposition that the mosque of their city be covered with immense paintings with a ‘national content’ and at a time when the Jewish cemetery of Salonica was despoiled by some super-Greeks, at a time when…" (K. 27.)

Skepticism and suspicion about the TURKISH minority ["The situation in Thrace is beyond control. All the interest of government officials wears out in words while the Turks work intensely for direct developments. The spies, the well known MIT (who are not that secret) do whatever they want; they have gone as far as organizing a fund raising for the …Turkish army. What will be their next initiative? The creation of an open Muslim university which will be controlled by Ankara and will serve the objectives of Turkish expansionism." (E.T. 11).] as well as continuous denial of the existence of the MACEDONIAN one ["the diminished possibilities for minorities like the Gypsies, the Turks and the ‘Macedonians’ to express themselves." (Ap. 21)].

The negative reaction of the press towards the unacceptable decrees for the legalization of the illegal immigrants was a welcome surprise: "the hundreds of thousands of economic immigrants coming from the neighboring countries could be an ‘advantage’ at the table of intergovernmental negotiations concerning the Greek government’s policies on the Balkans" (Eth. 28). Nevertheless, on the next day (29/6) E.T. "returned" to the usual scare-mongering and in a leading article agreed with the exception, which it considered "a measure of rudimentary social defense. In fact we argue that the government ought to generalize this measure in order that it deters the dissolution of the problematic labor market from massive illegal immigration. (…) The tolerance or the encouragement to a peaceful invasion by hundreds of wretched foreigners in our country gives rise to social tensions that facilitate the development of racist phenomena."

There was also an extended discussion about the conscientious objectors and about religious liberties. "Nevertheless that the European Court condemned Greece on at least two cases concerning Jehovah’s Witnesses who had refused to serve their military service to the fatherland, it does not mean that Greece will give in to these methods. At no circumstance should our country give in to such pressures and blackmailing. Whoever refuses to serve to the fatherland - against all other young Greeks who wear the uniform - has no place in Greek society. And, instead of imprisoning them, we should rather refuse issuing them passports, identity cards and any other official documents! This is enough!" (A.T. 11/6)

Guide to newspaper initials: Ad.T. Adesmeftos Typos (center-right); Ap. Apogevmatini; E.T. Eleftheros Typos (center-right); El. Eleftherotypia (center-left); Eth. Ethnos (center-left); Ex. Exousia (center-left); K. Kathimerini (center-right); N. Nea (center-left); V. Vima (center-left - Sunday equivalent to Nea)

*This month we have added another newspaper -Exousia - which presents mainly a Center-Left interpretation of the news, with some nationalistic tendencies and a large coverage of the Balkan issues.

YUGOSLAVIA

Despite the wide coverage of ALBANIAN events in the FRY written media, the latter did not have many explicit comments, because most of the news items were taken from the foreign news agencies. However, most newspapers accused all political parties in Albania of behaving irresponsibly while the population suffered. "In the complicated situation in Albania the only certain thing is that the country is still shaken by tragedies which both the world and the local population seem to have accommodated to. [...] The political parties do not care too much about all this because they are preoccupied with themselves and with their desire to take or keep power exactly in the crisis, without worrying too much about how they would stay in power and bring stability and peace to the country..." (V, 21) Politika supported Fatos Nano on one occasion and Vecernje Novosti sharply criticized Sali Berisha for decorating a dead WWII Albanian rebel from Kosovo. The paper commented on this act in the following way: "The President of the country in chaos found time to induce the Kosovo separatists with the decoration of the renowned fascist." (VN, 19) The same newspaper had the first and a very good series of reports from Albania.

After several months of high and unprecedented presence in the FRY media, BULGARIA lost its prominent place in June. Some crime-related stories from the Eastern neighbor were published in the FRY press. However, the latter failed to write enough about an incident in Belgrade when a Bulgarian diplomat’s son was beaten, and also about the content of the deal made between the Yugoslav and the Bulgarian armies.

There were lots of different texts on GREECE. While the regime-controlled media insisted only on issues related to the Yugoslav-Greek cooperation [e.g. the telecom deal] and did not even dare comment on the Greek suggestion of higher involvement of Russia in the Balkans, the independent press wrote about less pleasant topics [the Canadair affair, the continuation of visa requirements for Yugoslavs, etc]. "Neither Europe nor Greece (which is a part of it) are to blame of the fact that we stayed outside. And for how long we are going to stay where we are depends on our recognition of simple and well-known rules. Until then, we will keep asking for visas, paying for them and after that - getting them. Or not." (V, 21)

The general picture of MACEDONIA in the FRY media was again of a country torn apart by growing ethnic conflicts ["With eagle against the state" (VN, 7); "Shiptars united" (VN, 13); "The Constitutional Court of Macedonia officially asked the Government to put away flags in Gostivar // FACING NEW ESCALATION OF INTERETHNIC TENSIONS?" (NB, 6) ], by sharp disputes within the Macedonian political body itself and by a dangerous economic crisis. Dnevnik named Macedonia ironically "Gligorov’s completely stumbled oasis of peace." The media close to the Serbian regime took the Serbian Church’s side in its dispute with the Macedonian Church and again launched the issue of the Serbian minority in Macedonia, which had been put aside for months during which the official FRY-Macedonian relations were improving. "The Head of the Macedonian Church attacks the Serbian Orthodox Church"; "[...] says the first man of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, unrecognized in the Orthodox world." (P, 9)

Most of the newspapers ignored the issues related to ROMANIA. However, Politika went on criticizing the new Romanian government on the consequences of its radical economic program. "The coalition car squeaking"; "[...] they began to carry out their measures hastily. In essence, all those measures are directed to the restoration of the state of affairs of 50 years ago - the monarchy and the bourgeoisie-landowner order." (P, 2) The same newspaper also wrote very favorably about former President Ion Illiescu and his party.

There were plenty of texts on TURKEY, almost all of them on Erbakan’s resignation. The ex-Prime Minister and the Islamists were painted in the worst of colors by Tanjug’s reporter [ "Prime Minister Erbakan has for less than a year brought Turkey to the verge of civil war, because he allowed fundamentalists to raise their heads. With such a policy he divided the nation - up to the red heat." (P, 20).], while the army, the President and some newspapers were praised ["A military coup is going on in Turkey. However, it is carried out in a modern way - without tanks. Wise politicians have foreseen the thinngs which are going on now. The ex-Premier Nedzhmetin Erbakan, who tried to impose himself as the leader of not only Turkey but almost of the whole Muslim world, is actually only an episode, the one painted in dark colors." (P, 18)]. Politika strongly accented the danger coming from Turkey and especially from its Islamists. "Albania is the unavoidable link in the ‘green transversal’ which should, according to plans from here [Turkey], start from Ankara through Bulgaria, Western Thrace, Macedonia, Kosovo and Sandzak, to Bosnia. If one knows that, it is easier to understand why officials from here got excited so much when three months ago this country [Albania] began to fall apart" (P, 16). At the same time independent Nasa Borba kept downplaying the possibility of such a danger.

The ETHNIC ALBANIANS were, as always, very often in the FRY newspapers. "Albanians are now not good for the West"; "[…] members of the Albanian minority have become dangerous for the sophisticated and peaceful Western world. That’s why what preceded the come-back of the Albanians was the campaign on the Albanians as criminals, on the organized Albanian Mafia engaged in the selling of drugs, murders, and organized prostitution." (P, 16) June saw two important events which prompted the press to write even more about the Albanians. In the beginning of the month the first Albanian accused of terrorist activity in Kosovo confessed guilty of killing Serbian policemen, which was the news that marked the front pages of all newspapers. The other big event was the Serbian-Albanian conference organized in Ulcinj (Montenegro) which was covered impartially by the independent media, while the other ones accused the participants from Serbia of national treason for offering such self-determination to the Albanians, which is "even greater than they [the Albanians] had asked for."

During this month, there were many texts on the ROMA, all of them being extremely in favor of the minority as a whole and of some of its representatives which had been discriminated against.

As regards the HUNGARIANS, the coverage was different when it came to the different parties representing the interests of the minority. Thus when discussing issues around the change of leadership in the largest party of the minority - the Union of Vojvodina’s Hungarians - the comments went like this: "Out of one party seven sisters have emerged and each of them would like in its own way to get foreign help as well as part of the money collected from all citizens through taxes, but only to use it for the protection of the endangered - i.e. of themselves." (D, 22). At the same time the attitude towards Pal Sandor (leader of the less radical and less influential Democratic Association of Vojvodina’s Hungarians) was much more positive.

The MUSLIMS-BOSNIAKS from Sandzhak were the most widely discussed minority in all Serbian media, because their leader Sulejman Ugljanin announced the session of the unregistered Muslim National Council of Sandzhak (MNCS) for July when the autonomy of this region should be proclaimed. "Impatient extremists"; "Obviously the more extreme part of the SDA can’t wait any longer, it wants autonomy - immediately and at any cost. Knowing that heated heads from his entourage are taking him to the ‘thin ice’ (maybe on purpose), and ‘storm troopers’ from his own ranks are pushing him into a dangerous adventure, Sulejman Ugljanin, who has become a ‘different man’ after he came back from abroad, shows that he has learnt to think soberly about serious and dangerous things." (VN, 11); "Silence is not the solution"; "Serbia is again hit by those who would like to weaken it and break it to pieces. This time the target is the Raska County - the homeland of Nemanja, Saint Sava, the Serbian state, spirituality, culture... On whose sign is Sulejman Ugljanin, after the mysterious return from abroad, again announcing some proclamation of the autonomy, drawing maps of ‘Sandzhak’, inviting foreign representatives, threatening... The SDA and Ugljanin have been doing it for years and the states, Serbia and Yugoslavia - have kept silent!" (VN, 27)

Guide to newspaper initials: VN Vecernje Novosti ; P Politika; DT Dnevni Telegraf; D Dnevnik; NB Nasa Borba; V Vreme; N Nin; M Monitor.

TURKEY

The general elections in ALBANIA are the main topic around which the Turkish press cover this country in June ["Useless elections in Albania" (R, 29/6)] Uneasy about the developments in Albania, and equally apprehensive of the rising Left, the Turkish papers frequently visit the theme of "Turkey losing her weight in the Balkans to Greece.", while "[T]he Albanians, 70 percent of whom are Muslims, qualify themselves as Turks rather than Muslims. Turkey should not lose this country." (H, 26).

The month does not present any significant articles on BULGARIA, MACEDONIA and ROMANIA.

As for GREECE, the issue which is treated with concern by all the media is the so-called complicity between Athens and the PKK. All papers allot wide space to the news that a Greek army officer was killed during the operations of the Turkish military in the insurgency area. The Islamist press on the other hand reacts against any person or body, be it the Turkish General Staff or the Foreign Ministry, who tries to contribute to initiatives supporting peace between the two countries. Thus the Turkish Chief of General Staff, a leading figure in the secularist crusade against political Islam, is criticized for his appearance at the celebration of the Greek national day. "It was officially confirmed that those who shot down two Turkish helicopters were trained in Athens. Sixty Greek MPs toasted for the victory of the PKK. Hundred-and-seventy-five Greek MPs officially invited Apo [the PKK chief] to Athens. And you, my dear General, committed a mistake in visiting Athens on the Day of Greek Independence" (Ak, 8). The plans for holding of a joint military maneuver between Greece and Armenia prompt the nationalist press to revive the obsession that "the Turks have no friends other than the Turks themselves." "Alliance of the evil forces reinforced; While the alliance of Iran, Iraq and Syria, each officially blamed by the General-Staff for collaborating with the PKK, increasingly gains strength, now Greece and Armenia concludes a pact of military cooperation." (S, 23).

However, there are occasional positive articles, e.g. the remarks made by the film producers N. Kyzylyurek ["To keep the island [Cyprus] divided means to keep the tension continuously high. It means having people’s wounds perpetually open. Such negative energy can transform into warfare at any moment. With her present disposition in which all fields of life are grounded on hostility, Cyprus can bring no one peace."] and P. Hrisantu ["We can only learn to behave each other in a respectful manner in case we acknowledge that both sides have wrongs. A new chick may come out of the broken egg." (M, 13)], co-winners of the Abdi Ypekci Peace Award.

Turkey’s official policy of promoting dialogue with SERBIA incited protests claiming that "[T]he policy of ‘dialogue with the Serbs,’ originally launched with a view to avoiding a total neglect of Serbia and to prevent a perennial Serbo-Greek alliance, increasingly came to mean giving consent to whatever the Serbs claim. (…) You may assuage the Serbs, as you do now, by lending them support in every sense, but despite this, Serbia will keep up with her actions against Turkey, train PKK militants in making use of the SAM missiles [insinuating that missiles that shot down Turkish helicopters in northern Iraq were launched by the PKK guerrillas trained in Serbia], and carry on her close relations with Greece." (Z, 9)

The KURDS retain their privileged place among the internal minorities, as far as press coverage is concerned. Leftist columnists try to compensate their failure to refer to the Kurdish problem over the past several months due to the increasing attention paid to mainstream party politics. "True, there has always been a Kurdish problem, but the military coups of March 12 [1971] and September 12 [1980] contributed more than anything else to the transformation of the issue into the PKK problem. With the arrival of September 12, the mere uttering of the word ‘Kurd’ was taken as an offense. The allegation ‘Kurds are originally Turk,’ a thesis that some people have always elaborated on anyway, was raised to the status of an official tenet. The plight waiting for anyone who would protest against such a tenet was made evident for everybody. As time passed by, saying ‘Kurd’ finally became feasible again thanks to an army general. For, the problem has proved inexhaustible, and the failure could only be explained by calling it with the right name." (R, 17)