Officials in Albania have told Council of Europe's Dick Marty that "there can be no organ trade probe based on accusations of Carla Del Ponte or Belgrade". The prosecution believes that in 1999, hundreds of Kosovo Serb civilians were kidnapped in the province by the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and taken to northern Albania where their organs were removed before they were killed. "Only the Albanian prosecution has a right to carry out an investigation in the territory of Albania," Albanian Minister of Justice Enkeled Alibeaj told Marty, according to an RTV 21 report. The same source says that the Albanian minister then said that he refuses to answer the request from the Serbian Ministry of Justice. Meanwhile in Priština, the Kosovo Council for Protection of Human Rights has asked the Kosovo Albanian government in that town to file a lawsuit against Del Ponte. The council says that the former chief Hague Tribunal prosecutor "launched lies" in her book "The Hunt", published last year, "in which KLA was accused of kidnapping Serbs and trading in their organs in Kosovo and northern Albania." Labor Minister Rasim Ljajić, who heads Serbia's National Council for Cooperation with the Hague, said on Friday that he is not surprised at the fact that the Albanian authorities have declined to cooperate with Council of Europe (CoE) rapporteur Dick Marty. "The international community is not reacting, nor is anyone from the Albanian side expressing readiness to take part in the investigation on that issue," Ljajić concluded. "I can only imagine how the international community would have reacted if such a reaction had come from the Serbian side," Ljajić said.
Will Turkey ever join the EU? Writing in the Guardian, Tariq Ramadan argues that the EU must let the former Ottoman power back into Europe and that they’ve only barred Turkish membership out of fear, xenophobia and, of course, Islamophobia. there is no other perspective on European history other than the Judeo-Christian one. Europe is Christendom (with the exceptions of Albania and Bosnia). Aside from the Indo-European language group and the predominance of certain types of DNA, there is nothing that unites Europe except its religion and its shared history – Greece, Rome, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. The Turks are lovely people, and we in the west must do everything to encourage them to face towards us and away from the darkness of Islamism, because if that ever happened we would be in for a hell of a century. But better to be honest about Europe’s identity and Turkey’s relationship with it, rather than offering them false hope and false history. That’s the best way to achieve the dream of the great man: “Peace at Home, Peace in the World.”
The Russian point of view that has been announced by the Russian Prime Minister in Ankara about the Cyprus and Karabakh issue is under the attention of the “Sabah” newspaper. The Turkish daily has explained the position of Kremlin concerning the issues as follows “Urgent solution for Cyprus and compromise for Karabakh”. “The Russian Prime Minister informed that they are standing for the urgent solution of the Cyprus issue and for developing the economic relations with the Turkish and Greek regions of Cyprus”, - informed the “Sabah”. According to Putin in the case of NKR issue, Medvedev will continue his intention of bringing the sides to a compromise. Turkish “Anadolu” agency also made a reference to that issue. According to the “Anadolu” Putin has informed about the intentions of the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s to continue his active role in solving the issue and meeting with the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Putin has also mentioned that Russia wishes the conflict to be solved. Russia is against conflicts in the Caucasian region. “The conflicts in this region have a negative influence on our relation with the countries of that region. The position of Russia has always been the following; we will not act instead the opposing sides but we can help them to come to a better solution through compromise."
Azerbaijan was preparing a war against Armenia along with Georgia, yet Russia’s actions frustrated its plans. “Armenia would be in a state of war should Georgia’s plan not have failed in 2008.” Last year’s August events in Georgia showed the true position of interested parties, politologist Sergey Shakaryants told a news conference in Yerevan. According to him, the Georgian-Russian conflict played a crucial role for Armenia. “I thought that the NKR [Nagorn Karabakh Republic] conflict settlement will serve a as precedent to other unacknowledged states of Transcaucasia, but the opposite happened,” the Armenian politologist said, stressing that even unacknowledged states like Abkhazia and South Ossetia were acknowledged, still the NKR was not. According to Sergey Shakaryants, Azerbaijan was preparing a war against Armenia along with Georgia, yet Russia’s actions frustrated its plans. “Armenia would be in a state of war should Georgia’s plan not have failed in 2008,” he said, adding that last year Azerbaijan thrice attempted attacks on the NKR, yet the attempts were frustrated thanks to NKR forces. On August 8, during the night and early morning, Georgia launched a military offensive to surround and capture the capital of [the] Republic of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, thus breaking the terms of the 1992 ceasefire and crossing into the security zone established therein. The heavy shelling, which included Georgian rockets being fired into South Ossetia, left parts of the capital city in ruins, causing a humanitarian crisis. Russia sent troops across the Georgian border into South Ossetia. In five days of fighting, the Russian forces captured the regional capital Tskhinvali, pushed back Georgian troops, and largely destroyed Georgia’s military infrastructure using airstrikes deep inside the smaller country's territory. On August 12, Russian President Medvedev said that he had ordered an end to military operations in Georgia. Later on the same day, Russian President Medvedev approved a six-point peace plan brokered by President-in-Office of the European Union, Nicolas Sarkozy, in Moscow; both sides were to sign it by the 17th.
On August 27, President Medvedev of the Russian Federation signed two Presidential decrees recognizing the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia as sovereign independent states to authorize the drafting of treaties of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with the new states.
During a press conference with Russian journalists on the eve of Georgia's attack on South Ossetia on August 8, Russian envoy Vladimir Chizhov said that dialogue between the EU and the leaders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as Georgia and Russia are taking place as part of the Geneva talks, where the EU is the co-chair. Russia and Georgia fought a brief war after Tbilisi attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to restore control of the territory. Russia, which had peacekeepers in the region, repelled the attack and later recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway republic, as independent states. "Regardless of whether or not they recognize their independence, the European Union continues working in 'unrecognized' territories," Chizhov said, pointing to Kosovo, Cyprus and Taiwan as examples. With regard to EU relations with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's regime, Chizhov said that it was "somewhat sober." Chizhov said several months ago "it became clear to all serious people in the EU" why Russia reacted as it did during the conflict, adding that there are no questions anymore regarding Georgia's aggression. "The disproportionate use of force [against the Georgian military] isn't even discussed any more. What is discussed is why did [Russia] recognize the republics."
Laskarina Bouboulina is a Greek heroine who joined the underground resistance, fought alongside men and spent all her money fighting for Greece's independence at the start of the 19th century. After her death she was posthumously awarded the rank of general in honour of her achievements. Born in a prison in Constantinople in May 1771, Bouboulina was immediately part of a revolutionary family. Her father had been incarcerated because of his role in a failed coup against the Ottaman empire and she was born during one of his wife's visits to the jail. After her father died, Bouboulina and her mother moved to the Greek island of Hydra and then on to Spetses. Bouboulina used her money to build four ships, including the Agamemnon, one of the largest vessels on the seas. She joined the Filiki Etaireia, an underground movement preparing for revolution. She was the only woman. On March 13 1821, 12 days before the official start of the War of Independence, she was the first to raise a revolutionary flag. She fought alongside the revolutionaries, using her fleet of eight ships to join in a blockade of Nafplion. She also organised her own armed troops and used much of her fortune to provide food and ammunition for the sailors and soldiers under her command. Bouboulina witnessed the fall of Tripolis and the creation of a new Greek state in 1821. She was arrested twice during the civil war of 1824 and expelled back to Spetses, where she lived for the rest of her life, bereft of her fortune. Bouboulina died in May 1825 when she was shot by a single bullet to the head during a dispute with a local family.
Unhappy lovers in Cyprus have been taking so much stone from the tomb of Saint Agapitikos to use in love potions that soon there won't be anything left. Dust from the grave in the courtyard of the church in the village of Arodes in Paphos district has been used for centuries by the lovelorn. But in recent years so many have been filching shards of stone that a quarter of the tomb has disappeared. "A lot of people have said it works," he said. "In the last few years I don't know what's come over people, but they are flocking to the tomb for the stuff. Just the other day locals saw some people visiting the tomb, and they were there for a very long time, in the end they walked off with a huge chunk of stone, maybe even half a kilo of it!" The island's antiquities department has been called in to help. "The only thing we can do is examine the damage and try to prevent any further damage," said Maria Hadjicosti, the acting director. Saint Agapitikos -- whose name means "lover" -- is believed to have served in the German army of the Crusaders before settling as a hermit in the area. "You're very welcome to come and see the tomb, but please don't go taking any of it with you now," Stefanou said.