Culture Minister Ertugrul Gunay says Turkey plans to re-open the Greek Orthodox Seminary on the island of Heybeliada -- Halki in Greek -- off Istanbul, nearly four decades after it was shut down. He said on Sunday (June 28th) "The seminary does not currently fit into our university system, but another formula will be worked out. […] There is no political problem." The seminary, the only facility the Eastern Orthodox Church had to train clergy in Turkey, was closed in 1971 after legislation was adopted that brought higher education institutions under state control. Greece and the EU have long demanded Halki reopen, for Turkey to demonstrate it respects the rights of its Christian minority.
On Tuesday, EU and Turkish envoys restart talks in a process that sometimes seems hollow and adrift. The dry give-and-take in conference halls in Brussels masks bigger issues about Europe and diversity, Islam and democracy, and ties between modern and developing nations. Turkey's enthusiasm for European Union membership has eroded under internal tension, European skepticism and a dispute over divided Cyprus, an EU member. Key European leaders, in turn, fear an influx of migrants, worry about human rights and wonder about admitting a huge Muslim nation into a 27-nation bloc that has struggled to integrate its own Muslim minorities. Turkey still fumes over the EU's 2004 decision to bring Greek Cypriots into the EU, leaving Turkish Cypriots outside even though they — unlike the ethnic Greek side — voted for reunification. In all, the accession talks cover 35 different areas, or "chapters." Of these, only 10 have been opened in the last four years. Of the 25 that have yet to be opened, eight face a veto from EU member Greece because of the Turkish troops in north Cyprus.
Greeks may soon be able to travel to the United States without the inconvenience of applying for a visa. The country is now a step closer to joining the US Visa Waiver Programme (VWP), which currently includes most other EU countries. On Sunday (June 28th), Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis and US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg signed two accords that pave the way for inclusion. The agreements -- a Memorandum of Understanding and a co-operation agreement on tackling serious crime -- were signed on the sidelines of the OSCE ministerial conference in Corfu. The Greek Foreign Ministry and the US State Department drafted the two texts that envision the reciprocal protection of personal data and adherence to legal procedures. The agreements also serve as an essential step towards strengthening bilateral relations, Bakoyannis said. She added that Greece's VWP membership will have a positive effect on economic co-operation between the two countries. Currently all but five EU-member countries participate in the VWP. In addition to Greece, the other exceptions are Poland, Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria.
Russian forces have begun their biggest military exercise in the Caucasus since a war with Georgia last year. More than 8000 troops are taking part in manoeuvres near the Georgian border, which Georgia has called "a pure provocation from Russia". Last month NATO angered Russia by staging exercises in Georgia itself. Analysts say the latest exercises are a clear warning from Moscow to the West. The BBC reports military experts in Moscow say the message is that the Caucasus is still part of Russia's sphere of influence. The exercises involve 8,500 military personnel, 200 tanks, 450 armoured vehicles and 250 pieces of artillery. They are due to end on the day US President Barack Obama arrives in Moscow for a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Russia maintains heavy military presences in Georgia's two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and has recognised them as independent. Meanwhile, 130 UN observers who have been monitoring the administrative boundary between Abkhazia and Georgia will leave in the next three months. The International Crisis Group last week warned that the pullout by the UN and OSCE would fuel tensions.
A Bosnian court Monday cleared a former Muslim soldier of charges that he was responsible for detaining and beating Serbs during the country's 1992-1995 war. The Court of Bosnia-Hercegovina said it wasn't presented with evidence that Ferid Hodzic ordered the unlawful detention and maltreatment of Serb civilians and prisoners of war near the eastern town of Vlasenica in 1992 and 1993. Hodzic had been accused of ordering the detention and beatings of six Serb PoWs and civilians, including a woman and a child, in an improvised prison set up in a stable at Rovasi village. The prisoners had frequently been beaten and insulted by Bosnian Muslim soldiers, but it was impossible to link the crimes with Hodzic, the court said in a statement. "The evidence about who, or what authority, was responsible for the detention of the prisoners was mixed and contradictory," it said. Bosnian authorities can try low-profile war crimes cases, while the U.N.'s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is tasked with hearing cases involving top wartime officials. The Balkan country's war triggered by the breakup of the former Yugoslavia claimed at least 100,000 lives and left homeless some 2.2 million people, more than a half of its population.
Alcohol consumption is linked to one in every 25 deaths worldwide, according to a study that concludes the effects of drinking are as harmful as smoking. In a series of articles published in The Lancet, alcohol is linked to behavioral deaths, like violent injuries, as well as medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, cancer and liver disorders like cirrhosis. The study found that 3.8 percent of deaths around the world in 2004 (the most recent year for data) were related to drinking - 6.3 percent for men, 1.8 percent for women. Globally, average weekly consumption was around a dozen 10-ml units of pure ethanol - each unit being the equivalent of a bottle of beer, medium glass of wine or shot of liquor. But consumption fluctuated regionally - Europeans imbibed 22 units a week; North Americans, 18. Figures were lowest in eastern Mediterranean countries, where consumption was just 1.3 units a week. Alcohol-related death rates were highest in Europe - 10 percent. Within Europe, Russia tallied the highest proportion - 15 percent of deaths were linked to alcohol. Risks are also increasing in developing economies, particularly Asian countries like China and Thailand, the report notes. Researchers said alerting the world to the real dangers of regular alcohol use is difficult because of its entrenchment in many cultures, it poses health risks comparable to smoking a decade ago. "The big message is treat alcohol like tobacco," not as a substance that is relatively benign except for "those bad alcoholics," Rehm said. "That is not true." "So we need to rethink alcohol completely as a risk factor. Of course, we will not prohibit alcohol, but we should make it more expensive so it's consumed in smaller quantities and in quantities which are actually not as detrimental for health."
The pope met June 27 with Orthodox Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, Bishop Athenagoras of Sinope, who serves as the assistant metropolitan of Belgium, and Deacon Ioakim Billis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The three Greek Orthodox represented Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at the evening prayer service closing the year of St. Paul June 28 and at the pope's Mass for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29. Meeting the delegation privately before the festivities began, the pope said the year of St. Paul was a year "of prayer, of reflection and of exchanging gestures of communion between Rome and Constantinople." The pope said the joint activities were the best way to honor St. Paul, who urged Christians "'to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace,' teaching us that there is 'only one body and one spirit.'" The participation of the Orthodox delegation in the late-June liturgies "reminds us of our common commitment to the search for full communion," Pope Benedict said.