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Turkish Influence in the Balkans

1) Turkey’s Islamist Agenda in Kosovo (D.L. Phillips)
2) Erdogan Fulfilling His NeoOttoman Dream Through Bosnia (G. Carter) / MR. IZETBEGOVIC’S MEIN KAMPF
3) FLASHBACK: Il caso Cesur– Ikanovic– Bektasevic (2005-2006)


Vedi anche:

JIHAD DAL KOSOVO? CHE BELLA SCOPERTA... [JUGOINFO 1.12.2015]

IL RUOLO DELLA TURCHIA NELLA CRISI JUGOSLAVA (1999)


=== 1 ===


The World Begins to See (but after the damage was done)

by Grey Carter – December 31, 2015


Our minarets are our bayonets,Our domes are our helmets, Our mosques are our barracks.  We will put a final end to ethnic segregation. No one can ever intimidate us.  If the skies and the ground were to open against us,   If floods and volcanoes were to burst, We will not turn from our mission.  My reference is Islam.”  – Tayyip Regep Erdogan, then Mayor of Istanbul, 1997.

I was surprised by an honest article concerning the ressurection of one of the bloodiest states ever – the Ottoman empire in Balkans. The article/analysis  appeared in Huffington post, and, even though some figures have been reduced (i.e.  number of the newly built mosques throughout Kosovo i Metohija) the author hits the nail and breaks the taboo and grave silence concerning the true nature of the so called state (quasi state)  of Kosovo.
Unfortunately, the author, despite his prominece and experience, at the end has completely missed the  point.
Another twenty years  period and perhaps they will make right conclusions.
I guess.

Turkey’s Islamist Agenda in Kosovo

by David L. Phillips – 12.29.2015.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed an audience in Prizren during an official visit to Kosovo in October 2013: “We all belong to a common history, common culture, common civilization. We are the people who are brethren of that structure. Do not forget, Turkey is Kosovo, Kosovo is Turkey!”
Turkey’s foreign policy in the Balkans promotes a neo-Ottoman agenda, aimed at expanding its influence in former territories of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey exports Islamism under the guise of cultural cooperation. It also seeks economic advantage, using business as leverage to consolidate its national interests.
The Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) is a vehicle through which Turkey advances its ideological agenda. TIKA is the vanguard of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), which supports Muslim Brotherhood chapters around the world. TIKA runs a parallel and complementary foreign policy to official state institutions, coordinating with Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and the Presidency of Religious Affairs to promote the AKP’s Islamist agenda.
TIKA operates like a social welfare agency. In Kosovo, it supports more than 400 projects in the fields of agriculture, health and education. Affordable health care is offered in Kosovo at Turkish-run hospitals and clinics, sponsored by TIKA.
Despite its extensive activities, Zeri reports that the Central Bank of Kosovo has logged only 2.7 million Euros transferred by TIKA to its Kosovo account between 2009 and 2014. TIKA transfers most funds in cash with no official record. It does not want to draw attention to its activities.
Most TIKA funds are used to restore Ottoman monuments and build mosques. For example, TIKA supported restoration of the Sultan Murat Tomb in Kosovo. It rebuilt Ottoman religious sites like the Fatih Mosque and the Sinan Pasha Mosque, which cost 1.2 million Euros. Since 2011, TIKA has restored approximately 30 religious structures from the Ottoman period and 20 new mosques across Kosovo. Erdogan personally pledged funds to build the country’s biggest mosque in Pristina.
In addition, TIKA supports regional Islamic unions and institutions. It subsidizes community based social mobilization projects, which promote Islam. TIKA’s network of Muslim community leaders and imams, which includes imams from Turkey, actively promotes Islam. Its benevolence includes food for the Iftar meal during Ramadan, delivered to impressionable Kosovars (“Kosovars” is a global media invention to mark exclusively Albanians who have flooded Kosovo Metohija after the aggression on Serbia 1999.  – G. Carter) in poor rural areas.
TIKA also sponsors schools in Pristina, Prizren, Gjakova  Djakovica – Albanization of toponymes is a crime, (someone should have warn western journalists – G. Carter) , and Peja ( it’s Pec). Some schools provide Qur’anic instruction, as well as Turkish language instruction. As many as 20,000 Turks reside in Kosovo, where Turkish is an official language. The Turkish Embassy in Pristina awards 100 scholarships for Kosovars (i.e. – Albanians, again); to study in Turkey each year.
But not all schools supported by TIKA are part of the formal education sector. Some function like madrassas, offering Islamic education, thereby contributing to the radicalization of Kosovar  (i.e. Albanian) youth. The Government of Kosovo acknowledges that more than 300 Kosovars have joined the Islamic State in Syria. The figure dates back a couple of years. Today’s number may be much higher.
Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Centers are also vehicles for Turkish influence. According to its charter, Yunus Emre Centers “provide services abroad to people who want to have education in the fields of Turkish language, culture and art, to improve the friendship between Turkey and other countries.”
Support for educational institutions is a propaganda tool to foster a positive impression of Turkey among Kosovars. Turkey’s Minister of Education visited Kosovo and publicly asked Kosovo institutions to change history texts in order to portray Ottomans as liberators, rather than as occupants and aggressors.
Erdogan asked the Government of Kosovo to close schools established by Fetullah Gulen, with whom he had a falling out. Kosovo officials acquiesced, though Gulen schools offered quality education to Kosovars.
Turkish businessmen also benefit from Turkey’s aggressive religious and cultural promotion. A well-respected Turkish scholar asks of the AKP, “Are they Islamists or just thieves with a religious rhetoric?”
Turkey is Kosovo’s largest trading partner, after Serbia. The trade volume between Turkey and Kosovo was 206.5 million Euros in 2012. (Export to Kosovo was 199.5 million Euros; import from Kosovo only 7 million Euro). Trade volume slightly decreased in 2013-14 due to an economic slowdown in the region.
Tenders for some of the biggest public projects in Kosovo have been won by Turkish companies. The Limak Holding Company won the concession to manage the Pristina International Airport. The Çalık-Limak Consortium also acquired the Kosovo Energy Distribution Services. Limak pledged to invest 300 million Euros in the transmission system, but its investment still has not materialized.
The Merdare-Morina highway connecting Kosovo to Albania was built by the Turkish construction company, Enka, in consortium with Bechtel. Çalik-Limak has just started construction of the Pristina-Hani Elezit highway between Kosovo and Macedonia.
The award of tenders may be subject to political influence. Çalik Holding and Limak are politically well-connected. Erdogan’s son-in-law is a major shareholder in Limak.
The Turkish banking system dominates the financial sector in Kosovo. A majority of Kosovo’s major banks are Turkish, including the Turkish Economic Bank (TEB).
More than 900 Turkish companies operate in Kosovo. About 7,000 Kosovars are employed by Turkish companies in, for example, the food processing and textile sectors. It is hard to be accepted or keep a job in a business where the owner is Turkish if you don’t speak Turkish.
Kadri Veseli, a prominent Kosovo politician, was a former critic of Turkish concerns acquiring Kosovo state enterprises. Veseli bemoaned Turkey’s penetration as bad for both Kosovo’s economy and its EU aspirations.
Since becoming Speaker of Kosovo’s Parliament, however, Vaseli has not said a word about Turkey’s economic dominance. He and other prominent Kosovo politicians, including Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci, have close ties to Erdogan, as well as Turkish business and political leaders.
Turkey has cemented its influence through security cooperation. Around 2,000 Turkish soldiers were deployed as part of the KFOR peacekeeping mission in 1999. There are still 350 Turkish soldiers in Pristina and Prizren. Turkey has indicated its willingness to assume control of Bondsteel, the US base in Kosovo, as US forces withdraw.
Turkey has also shown itself a reliable political partner. Ankara was reluctant to endorse Kosovo’s independence, lest a parallel be drawn with its Kurdish minority. However, Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Kosovo when it declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s notion of “strategic depth” views Turkey as a regional power and an alternative to the EU for countries like Kosovo. Muslim solidarity is the centerpiece of Davutoğlu’s strategy to expand Turkey’s influence.
Davutoğlu explicitly linked Turkey’s foreign policy to its Ottoman legacy during a trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2009. “The Ottoman centuries of the Balkans were a success story. Now we have to reinvent this.” He announced, “Turkey is back.”
Faster integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions is the best antidote to Turkey’s influence in Kosovo and the Western Balkans. US interests would also be served through intensified engagement in the region.
Closer cooperation between the US and Kosovo would be a bulwark against Turkey’s export of Islamism. It would also prevent the further radicalization of Kosovo society, staunching the flow of Kosovars (i.e. Albanian invaders in Kosovo Metohija) to join ISIS.
Mr. Phillips is Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. He served as a Senior Adviser and Foreign Affairs Experts to the US Department of State during the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations. Phillips is author of “Liberating Kosovo: Coercive Diplomacy and US Intervention” (Kennedy School at Harvard University and NBC


=== 2 ===


Erdogan Fulfilling His NeoOttoman Dream Through Bosnia 

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Grey Carter

ERDOGAN: Alija left Bosnia to me to take care of –

Bosnia and Herzegovina today marks 12th anniversary of the death of former president Alija Izetbegovic, and on this occasion Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that he “… with great respect recalls the “first and great leader of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
– On the occasion of the 12th anniversary of his death, I remember with great respect and late first and great leader of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegovic – wrote Erdogan on his Fb profile as it was quoted in Bosnia i Hercegovina.
Erdogan, in his earlier statement, said that Izetbegovic “despite all pressures, evil, assimilation attempts, has never gone out of his way.”
– In spite of years of life spent in prison, Alija did not abandon the fight for their country and people. The ability and leadership that he has shown during the last war in Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked as one of the greatest statesmen of the 20th century and history – said Edrogan and reminded that the author of Islamic declaration had left “a legacy to him – to take care of BiH”.

Alija Izetbegovic was born on 8 August 1925 in Bosanski Samac. He was one of the founders of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) in 1990. That same year he was elected member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and later was president of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in its place was from 1992 until 1995. On 19 October 2003, the Muslim Fundamentalist (or Islamist) leader, Alija Izetbegovic, age 78, died of heart failure. During the Bosnian war of the 1990s, European and Muslim governments and the US referred to Izetbegovic as the president of the so-called Bosnian government. 

MR. IZETBEGOVIC’S MEIN KAMPF
After so many Bosnian Muslims continuosly support and join ISIS and other similar organizations, i.e. Muslim brotherhood, Jabhat al Nusra, many (mostly American and Western in general) nations seemed sursprised.
How, on Earth, one so great nation that has been supported, a new nation that enjoyed every possible aid from the West, turned to be so hateful towards those who were ready to kill Christians in the middle of Europe in order to support them?
Only those naive and  kept in dark by mainstream media could be surprised. Neither Bosnian muslims were the victims, nor Bosnian war was a fight for freedom nor against some Serbian aggression as it has been media – portrayed for decades.
President Alija Izetbegovic’s Islamic Declaration, first published in 1970 when it earned him a prison sentence, demanded a fully-fundamentalist Muslim state in Bosnia without scope for non-Muslim institutions or any division between religion, politics, and economics. The book was republished in 1990 in Sarajevo (by Mala Muslimanska Biblioteka). It scathingly attacks Attaturk’s reforms and holds up Pakistan as a model to be followed.
“… Do we want the Muslim nations to cease moving in circles, to stop being dependent, backward and poverty-stricken;
do we want them to once again with a sure step climb the road of dignity and enlightment and to become masters of their own fate;
do we want the springs of courage, genius and virtue to come forth strongly once again;
then we must show the way which leads to that objective:
The implementation of Islam in all fields of individuals’ personal lives, in family and in society, by renewal of the Islamic religious thought and creating a uniform Muslim community from Morocco to Indonesia. …“
… A nation, and an individual, who has accepted Islam is incapable of living and dying for another ideal after that fact. It is unthinkable for a Muslim to sacrifice himself for any tzar or ruler, no matter what his name may be, or for the glory of any nation, party or some such, because acting on the strongest Muslim instinct he recognizes in this a certain type of godlessness and idolatry. A Muslim can die only with the name of Allah on his lips and for the glory of Islam, or he may run away from the battlefield. …“             (page 17)
“… In perspective, there is but one way out in sight: creation and gathering of a new intelligence which thinks and feels along Islamic lines. This intelligence would then raise the flag of the Islamic order and together with the Muslim masses embark into action to implement this order. …” (18)
“… The shortest definition of the Islamic order defines it as a unity of faith and law, upbringing and force, ideals and interests, spiritual community and state, free will andforce. As a synthesis of these components, the Islamic order has two fundamental premises: an Islamic society and Islamic authority. The former is the essence, and the latter the form of an Islamic order. An Islamic society without Islamic power is incomplete and weak; Islamic power without an Islamic society is either a utopia or violence.
A Muslim generally does not exist as an individual. If he wishes to live and survive as a Muslim, he must create an environment, a community, an order. He must change the world or be changed himself. History knows of no true Islamic movement which was not at the same time a political movement as well. This is because Islam is a faith, but also a philosophy, a set of moral codes, an order of things, a style, an atmosphere – in a nutshell, an integral way of life. …”   page 18
Despite the hype in the Western media, Izetbegovic was not fighting to affirm (let alone reaffirm!) some supposed Bosnian nationhood. Rather, he called for:
“…the implementation of Islam in all aspects of individuals’ personal lives, in family and in society, by the renewal of Islamic religious thought, and by creating a uniform Muslim community from Morocco to Indonesia. …”[4]
In other words, the Islamist takeover of Bosnia was intended as a step towards the creation of a unified Muslim world-state.  Quite the opposite of preserving the nonexistent ‘Bosnian nation’! And yet the fiction of a Bosnian nation, threatened by supposed Serb secessionists (the Serbs were in fact the people who didn’t want to secede from Yugoslavia) was sold to ordinary people in the West.
” FOR ALL MUSLIMS THERE IS BUT ONE SOLUTION: TO CONTINUE TO FIGHT, TO STRENGTHEN AND BROADEN IT, FROM DAY TO DAY, FROM YEAR TO YEAR, NO MATTER THE VICTIMS AND NO MATTER THE TIME” ….
pages 53-54
— END —


=== 3 ===

FLASHBACK 2005–2006: 

Il caso Cesur– Ikanovic– Bektasevic

In ordine cronologico inverso:
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TERRORISMO: BOSNIA, RINVIO A GIUDIZIO PER TRE PERSONE

(ANSA) - SARAJEVO, 13 APR - I giudici del tribunale statale bosniaco hanno rinviato a giudizio oggi Mirsad Bektasevic, cittadino svedese originario della Serbia/Montenegro, di 19 anni, il turco Abdulkadir Cesur, 21 anni e il bosniaco Bajro Ikanovic, per reati di terrorismo. Lo ha reso noto un comunicato del Tribunale. I tre sono stati arrestati nell'ottobre dell'anno scorso, secondo la stampa su segnalazione dei servizi di sicurezza svedesi e turchi, perche' progettavano un attentato suicida contro un'ambasciata, non si sa se quella britannica o quella americana, a Sarajevo. Sono seguiti sei arresti in Danimarca, in base alle informazioni delle autorita' bosniache. Sei mesi fa erano stati arrestati altri due bosniaci, Amir Bajric e Hasanovic Senad, oggi rinviati a giudizio per detenzione illegale di armi. Esplosivi di diverso tipo, armi e munizioni e una cintura da adoperare per farsi esplodere, sono stati trovati all'epoca dell'arresto del gruppo nella casa affittata dal Bektasevic. (ANSA). COR-LG
13/04/2006 18:39 

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http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/dr041206.htm

Danish terror case led police to Al-Qa'idah hacker

BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - April 12, 2006, Wednesday
Source: Danmarks Radio website, Copenhagen, in Danish 0532 gmt 12 Apr 06
Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation. Posted for Fair Use only.
Text of report by Danish radio website on 12 April; subheadings as published:

The terrorism case in Bosnia against a Danish-Turkish man and a Swedish citizen has yielded a big result for the American authorities.
The arrests led to the exposure of an infamous computer specialist who called himself the Arabic terrorist James Bond or "Irhabi 007."
Terrorist 007 – "Irhabi", which means terrorist in Arabic, has been causing both the British and American intelligence services problems for a couple of years and acted as an Al-Qa'idah warrior on the Internet, for example by hacking into the Arkansas' traffic ministry's Internet site.
From there "Irhabi 007" published everything from decapitations in Iraq to Al-Qa'idah recruitment films and weapons manuals, Newsweek magazine recently revealed. The magazine bases its information on unnamed sources in the American intelligence services.
The Al-Qa'idah hacker is also suspected of training terrorist sympathizers in fighting on the Internet.
Plans for attacking the White House – Two days after the action in the Balkans the British police went into action against three people who are suspected of planning a terrorist attack on the White House.
One of the three people arrested is 22-year-old Younis Tsouli. According to well-informed American intelligence services he later turned out to be the man behind the alias "Irhabi 007", Newsweek reports. The hacker's identity was revealed by chance.
Central sources in the American anti-terrorism authorities are talking of a major catch. It is said that the Arab "Terrorist 007" is an extremely clever computer specialist who has been linked with many Islamic terrorists online, including the Iraqi insurgent groups which are thought to be led by infamous Al-Qa'idah leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Al-Zarqawi has taken responsibility for several terrorist bombings in Iraq.
Big fish – Site, a private American organization which monitors Islamic extremists on the Internet, is also talking about a big fish. "Irhabi" is described as an infamous hacker who has been peerless in supplying Islamic extremists on the Internet with knowledge and expertise.
"He played an important role for Islamic extremists on the Internet. He enabled them to communicate, recruit and spread their radical ideology over the Internet. For example, Irhabi published horrific images from the war in Iraq and various weapons manuals on the Internet. He is also an expert in hacking and taught others how to spy on their enemies on the Internet without being detected," the head of Site, Rita Katz, tells Ritzaus [Danish news agency].
The British prosecuting authorities are now preparing a case against Younis Tsouli/Irhabi 007. This covers conspiracy to kill and planning terrorist acts.
According to Newsweek the trial will begin next January and if the Arab James Bond is convicted it will be a long time before he is online again.

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http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/dr041106.htm

DANISH TURK CHARGED WITH TERRORISM IN BOSNIA

BBC Monitoring International Reports - April 11, 2006 Tuesday
Source: Danmarks Radio website, Copenhagen, in Danish 1908 gmt 11 Apr 06
Copyright 2006 Financial Times Information
Copyright 2006 BBC Monitoring/BBC Source: Financial Times Information Limited. Posted for Fair Use only.
Text of report by Danish radio website on 11 April; subheadings as published:

The prosecuting authorities in Bosnia have decided to charge a Danish Turk, a Swede and a Bosnian with terrorism offences. Two others who were accused in the case have been charged with illegal possession of weapons and the possession of dangerous materials.
The court has to decide within a week whether the charges are sufficient for a court case. Court time will then be allocated to the case. If the three terror suspects are found guilty they risk between one and 15 years' imprisonment.
Terrorist attacks in Europe – The investigations in Bosnia have been underway for almost half a year since Danish Turk CA and Swede MB were arrested and imprisoned in Sarajevo on 19 October.
They are suspected of planning a terrorist attack at an unspecified location in Europe. The Bosnian police found 20 kilograms of explosive, body belts for suicide attacks and something resembling a farewell video in association with the arrests.
According to a source in the prosecuting authorities in Sarajevo no further terrorism charges are being prepared but investigations are continuing.
Evidence from Denmark – During the trial the prosecuting authorities will probably use evidence from Denmark. Deputy Chief Constable Finn Ravnborg and Detective-Inspector Sten Skovgaard of the Glostrup Police, who are investigating the Danish part of the case, were in Sarajevo in December, where they met the Bosnian prosecuting authorities to exchange information and evidence.
The Swede's defence solicitor, Idris Kamenica, does not believe the prosecuting authorities have sufficient evidence to convict his client. However, he has not yet seen the prosecuting authorities' material.

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TERRORISMO: BOSNIA, INDAGATI UN TURCO E UNO SVEDESE

(ANSA) - SARAJEVO, 4 NOV - La procura bosniaca ha aperto un'inchiesta per reati di terrorismo e detenzione illegale di armi ed esplosivi a carico di due cittadini stranieri, arrestati in Bosnia il 19 ottobre e in stato di fermo. Lo ha reso noto la procura, riferisce l'agenzia di stampa Fena. Si tratta di Mirsad Bektasevic, cittadino svedese originario della Serbia/Montenegro e del turco Abdulkadir Cesur. L'inchiesta, ha reso noto la procura, viene condotta da un appositamente costituito team di magistrati e si sviluppa positivamente, ma per la delicatezza del caso non e' possibile rivelare per ora altri dettagli. Secondo la stampa, i due sono stati arrestati su segnalazione dei servizi di sicurezza svedesi e turchi, perche' progettavano un attentato suicida contro un'ambasciata, britannica o Usa, a Sarajevo. Insieme a loro era stato fermato anche un bosniaco, poi rilasciato perche' avrebbe solo affittato un appartamento a uno dei due arrestati. Nella casa affittata dal giovane svedese, sempre secondo la stampa, sono stati rinvenuti armi, esplosivi di diverso tipo, munizioni e una cintura da adoperare per farsi esplodere. Sono seguiti sei arresti in Danimarca, in base alle informazioni delle autorita' bosniache. (ANSA). COR
04/11/2005 18:18

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TERRORISMO: BOSNIA, ARRESTATI SVEDESE, TURCO E BOSNIACO

(ANSA) - SARAJEVO, 21 OTT - La polizia di Sarajevo ha reso noto di aver arrestato ieri tre persone, un cittadino svedese, uno turco e un bosniaco, sospettati di aver preparato un attacco terroristico in Bosnia. Per il momento, ha detto il portavoce della polizia Robert Cvrtak, non e' possibile rendere noti altri dettagli nell'interesse delle indagini. Sono state perquisite anche due case nell'area di Sarajevo nelle quali sono state trovate armi, esplosivi e altro materiale militare. Secondo la stampa locale, uno dei tre arrestati e' un diciottenne, gia' 'tenuto d'occhio' in diversi paesi europei, Germania, Svezia, Francia, e che si preparava a compiere un attentato suicida contro l'ambasciata di un paese dell'Unione europea a Sarajevo. Proprio a casa sua sarebbero state trovate armi ed esplosivo. (ANSA) COR
21/10/2005 12:31