The Balkan Chronicle

‘All blacks out!’: Human Rights Watch condemns ‘racist’ Greek police

Human Rights Watch has accused Greek police of racial profiling, arbitrary detention and physical and verbal abuse of immigrants in a scathing new report. All are in violation European Union regulations, and disobey international human rights conventions.

The report by the international advocacy group, titled ‘Unwelcome Guests’, focuses on Operation Xenios Zeus, a radical police initiative commenced in August last year under which 85,000 suspected illegal immigrants have been detained and taken to police stations to have their visas checked.

It says the operation is not only illegal, but also ineffective, with only 6 per cent of those detained found to be in breach of immigration law.

Pakistan: Will Nawaz Sharif Be The Hero The Country Needs?

Back in May, Pakistan went to the polls and elected members of the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies. Nawaz Sharif’s party, the PML-N, secured a comprehensive victory in the elections.

Thus, the 63-year old steel magnate, Sharif, was recently sworn in Pakistan’s Prime Minister for the third time in his political career that spans over three decades. In his address, among other things, Sharif talked about drone bombings and terrorism. Obviously, in a country that has seen numerous casualties and a good deal of collateral damage owing to Washington’s involvement in , it only makes sense for the Prime Minister to oppose drone bombings. But the challenge that lies for Nawaz Sharif is much greater than mere words.

Turkish bloggers pose marathon run as mass protests. 15 foreign agents arrested

25 bloggers were detained in the Turkish city of Izmir for the distribution of false reports on mass protests in the country over social media sites and provoking clashes.

Officials from the local Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Police Department accused 38 people in total in deliberate lies and disinformation by posting false data and misleading pictures, with a clear intention to stir up unrest and riots inside the Turkish society.

13 bloggers, spreading deliberate misinformation about events in Turkey, are still on the run, report Turkish news agencies.

Pictures depicting hundreds of thousands of people passing through the Bosporus Bridge have been posted online. This is actually a picture from a marathon of 2012. As for the protests, then about 500 people actually cross...

Turkish PM shelves mall plan on Gezi Park, wants end to protests

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dismissed plans to build a shopping mall at the controversial Gezi Park while calling for an end to more than 10-day protests during his speech at the Ministry of European Affairs Istanbul conference on June 7.

Erdoğan repeated willingness to discuss "democratic rights," saying, "The shopping mall is not possible in the Artillery Barracks anyway, given the measures. We told them that we may build a city museum instead, and a green area that would be far better than the current park. We also wanted to turn the Atatürk Culture Center to an opera building."

The prime minister, who bids to rebuild the historic barracks there, called for an end to ongoing Gezi Park protests on his return from a four-day trip to North Africa in the early ho...