“Letters from Yugoslavia” consists of translation of previous articles published in Turkish language in different portals which are piled in "Yugoslavya Mektupları" and current articles that are published in İleri Portal, the press agency of TİP (Workers' Party of Turkey).

Why "Letters from Yugoslavia"? Click here.

Saturday 25 March 2017

WILL THERE BE A NEW WAR IN BOSNIA?

(Original text: Published in May 16, 2016)
Recent developments in Balkans, like admission of Kosovo first to UEFA and to FIFA, re-opening of Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka, the capital city of the Serbian entity, which was demolished during the Bosnian War and lastly the demonstrations in Banja Luka by March 14, 2016 were all enough to warm up Bosnian politics. Some talk about an armed conflict or even a new war likely to happen in Bosnia? How realistic is this?

The rise of the ultra-right politics was the focus of the previous article. One of the points that we took attention was the fact that, those political parties who were responsible from the breakup of Yugoslavia are again currently holding the power in ex-Yugoslav republics. The main actors of the nationalist monsters are again in the power. Even Seselj, from whom even Milosevic was discontent of his extreme “practices” is again in the Serbian parliament

Like a nightmare! Those who transformed Yugoslavia into a blood lake are governing the countries again.

Moreover, the recent developments in May 2016 made Bosnia to be more in political tension.

If it winds in Kosovo, Bosnia catches cold. It was in Kosovo where the first crisis in Yugoslavia occurred, and followed by devastation of Bosnia. Since some time Bosnian Serb Republic (Republika Srpska – RS) claims independency referring to the independency of Kosovo. In May 2016, despite 24 votes against, with 28 votes Kosovo became member of UEFA and followed by membership to FIFA after a meeting in Mexico in May 13 where membership of Gibraltar was also confirmed.
This was like a cold shower for Serbia who still defines Kosovo as part of Serbia. However, having no other political vision than EU membership, Serbia has not other choice than accepting the bitter reality. Yet, last week (May 2016) the deputy director of European Parliament and Kosovo Reporter Ulrike Lunacek warned once Serbia again that Serbia cannot be member of EU without recognition of Kosovo as a sovereign state.

Serbia is politically locked in that sense, but the naughty brother, RS was not late to use this opportunity and claimed that if UEFA and FIFA recognizes Kosovo, than they have to accept membership of RS as well. Indeed, this is not so easy, since Dayton Peace Accord does not allow such a thing.

Two weeks ago (May 2016) Bosnia probably faced with one of the biggest political crisis since the end of the war.

Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka (capital city of RS), built in Ottoman Era and being demolished with 16 more mosques at May 6-7, 1993 despite being under protection of UNESCO, was restored and re-opened in May 7, 2016. When the reconstruction of the mosque have started in 2001, the start-up ceremony was attacked by about a thousand Cetniks (Serbian nationalists) firing the vehicles around and besieged the building of Bosnian Islamic Union where 250 Bosnian Muslims as well as Jacques Klein, the representative of UN in Bosnia and ambassadors of England, Sweden and Pakistan were also inside. One Bosnian Muslim was killed and 30 people were injured.

Nothing feared happened in May 7, 2016 in the opening ceremony of Ferhadija Mosque where highest security measures were taken and EUFOR battalions were ready to involve in a possible conflict.

This is partly due to the fact that Serbian nationalists have a bit of trouble nowadays. Since the bully tempered RS president Milorad Dodik's SNSD lost 2014 elections, RS is in a serious political crisis. There were two demonstrations last Sunday in Banja Luka organized by Dodik's supporters and opponents. Until the elections in October 2016, it is expected that the political tension will be tightened and may have serious implications in a country stuck into corruption and poverty.
Since the founder of RS; Radovan Karadzic is subjected as committing genocide in Bosnia, the legitimacy of RS as a state founded on genocide, is more under question. No doubt that this issue is well exploited by Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat politicians who cannot offer anything to their people than a corrupted state and poor citizens. That is what they do the best for 20 years.

All those events and facts that are mentioned above brings one question: Can there be a war in Bosnia as a result of all of those political crises? The Western political analysts are very likely to speak about war in any part of the world. However, the dynamics of contemporary Bosnia is not the same as it was 20 years ago. Those nationalist leaders who took advantage of the war, know very well that in case of a war, they can easily lose their positions. Moreover, Bosnia with a disfunctional state very far away of being a threat to imperialism. Thus, a change in status quo in Bosnia is not favoured by imperialism. In addition to that, neither Croatia, who is just accepted in EU would risk to arm Bosnian Croats, nor Serbia who is just domesticated on the path to EU would prefer to risk the journey to EU by falling into the adventure of “Greater Serbia“. Bosnian Muslim politicians on the other side are very much busy with exploiting the limited resources of the country.


If a war in Bosnia will happen, this might be a war against all of those blood sucking current politicians!

Saturday 11 March 2017

8th of MARCH: MOTHERS' DAY!

(Original text: Published in March 7, 2015)

It is not a joke! Similar to the international mothers’ day, which is celebrated by the second Sunday of May every year, 8th of March is celebrated in a similar way in ex-Yugoslav countries. 8 of March is still defined as “Women’s Day” not as “mothers’ day, but it is normatively accepted as the day for mothers. Kids buy presents to their mothers, and it is very common that women arrange entertaining activities.

For those who have experienced any Mayday in any ex-Yugoslav country, this is not an interesting situation. In fact, where 8th of March is Women’s Day, Mayday is “spring festival”. Usually the days prior or after Mayday become free day and a holiday of a couple of days is arranged. If you see smoke over Beograd, Zagreb or Sarajevo, be sure it is not the tear gas thrown by police to Mayday demonstrators, but it is the smoke coming from barbecue parties. It does not matter if the unemployment rate is breaking new records or it does not matter if the real salaries continue to drop; Mayday is spring festival.

Yugoslav Hedonism

I do not think that the readers of this article favour an ascetic political struggle, avoiding profane joys. At least I am not. At least neither I nor my comrades would not like to have a political vision ignoring the joy of spending time together, having a dinner or a coffee or a drink together or playing football together etc. … Consequently we are all struggling to enjoy life altogether and in those “great days” we will be dancing in the city centres until the dawn.

However, we also cannot think something which is more absurd than transformation of 8th of March into a day where consumerism is boosted, where we in fact commemorate 159 women textile workers at March 8, 1857 in New York. Moreover, it is not only absurdity, nor a disrespect, but it also has to be perceived as an aggression towards the struggle of women.

What means lockouting a strike for workers means the same to celebrate “8 of March” within the conceptualization of it as a day boosting consumerism.

It is very common that especially white electronic companies make special sales in 8th of March. What a paradox! Strengthening the domestic division of labour, defining women in her natural place as “kitchen” in 8th of March, in the day symbolizing the equality and freedom struggle of women!
It becomes even weirder in Yugoslavia where Maydays are transformed into “spring festival” and “8th of March” is considered as “mothers’ day”. At the end, Yugoslavia was a socialist country having an experience of socialist values for 45 years! It is quite difficult to understand how those dates of struggle became the ritualistic carnivals of capitalism.

Considering the theoretical background and practices of “self-management” in Yugoslavia, it is a fact that this absurdity is just a visible scene of a chain of nonsense which is not only limited to 8th of March or Mayday, but an expected consequence of politics of self-management. Briefly, with an anti-Soviet claim, Yugoslav “market socialism” widely enjoyed an artificial welfare society thanks to the financial credits donated by West who were content about that anti-Soviet stance. The most essential part of this hallucination was the culture of hedonism especially at the end of 1960’s that was connected with the hallucination that the “working class was holding the means of production” where in fact the system was exploiting not only the financial credits of Western imperialism, but also socialist values dissolving the pillars of a socialist country like class consciousness and class struggle.
Transformation of Mayday into spring festival and 8th of March into “mothers’ day” is part of this systematic hallucination.

Politicising 8th of March!

Leftist political struggle is not a hobby.

It is a rebellion against pressure which takes place in everyday life, against a very political repression! The system which does not allow women’s political existence, is a political system and the reply should be political as well!

Not only within its historical context, but also regarding the current political situation, women’s day is a political fact. It is not like that only in countries like Turkey where fundamentalist religious politics restrain women in every single sphere in public life, but also in countries like Yugoslavia with a serious experience of socialism where women enjoyed progressive rights and social representation in every sphere of the society.


In this context, no one can claim that 8th March shall be “celebrated” free of its political meaning! In ex-Yugoslav countries, 8th of March shall even be commemorated in a more political concept where the heritage of self-management shall be questioned as well.

No wonder that, in this land, in Yugoslavia, 8th of March will again be the date symbolizing the struggle of women for freedom and equality, following the path of Marija Bursac and her martyr comrades in the struggle against fascism under the banner of Communist Party of Yugoslavia.