The International Fund of the and the : Synergy on the Bosphorus

No. 4, 2012 Physiognomies of the capitalism Heading in for civil society Eurasian idea: and present SCO and the challenges of the “three forces”

Istanbul’s bronze and gold

MODERN RHYTHMS OF THE OLD BULGARIA

A Century of Turkish Painting Macheta_Anuar_A4.pdf 1 4/5/2012 12:16:47 PM

EVENTSAND PEOPLE photo: The author ’s bronze and gold Vyacheslav SAMOSHKIN, “Dialogue of the Seas” Editor in Chief Project: reeting the guests of the eration and Partnership of the Black Sea 15th Eurasian Economic and the Caspian Sea (BSCSIF Bucha- Summit in Istanbul rest), which developed a close coopera- (11-12 April, 2012), tion with Marmara Group Foundation, organized yearly by the with its President Dr. Akkan Suver, who prestigious Marmara Group Strategic is also BSCSIF Vice-President. Progress Gand Social Research Foundation, its The Forum received special mes- president, Dr. Akkan Suver (at the right) sages from the President of talked about “the bronze anniver- Ilham Aliyev and UNESCO’s Director C sary” of the Summit (by analogy with General, Irina Bokova.

M “bronze” wedding). However, the high As for the topics discussed, these level of representation, the direct com- were the most pressing issues of our Y munication between politicians, diplo- times: energy security, a strategy for CM in Education mats, scholars, clergymen, businessmen idents, speakers and deputy speakers of sustainable economic and social devel- MY from 50 countries that shared the most parliaments (including from Azerbaijan, opment, elaboration of management valuable ideas for a wide range of is- China, ), ministers and former systems and models that would ensure CY sues regarding and the global presidents (Bulgaria, Mongolia, Roma- this kind of development, implementa- CMY development, make us talk about a truly nia, Nigeria, Turkey, Estonia), as well as tion of “green energy” as well as inter-

K “golden” dignity of the forum. representatives of such regional “think cultural dialogue, the role of women, Indeed, the Tuyap Fair Convention tanks” as the Bled Strategic Forum (Slo- particularly of women’s leadership in a 15 million students and teachers in 24.000 & Congress Center under the motto venia), the Balkan Political Club (Sofia), globalized world, poverty and unem- schools from 12 countries in , Middle “Three continents - one sea”, brought the Vienna Economic Forum, China ployment issues... together the presidents of Albania, Foundation for Human Rights Develop- Naturally, the audience’s attention East and North of Africa use our Macedonia and Montenegro, vice-pres- ment, the International Fund for Coop- was focused on the economic suc- AeL eLearning solutions on a daily basis.

Our AeL eContent digital library contains 39.000 reusable learning objects in English, French, Russian and Arabic.

In the photo, on the outer left: former presidents of Bulgaria and , respectively, Petar Stoyanov and Emil Constantinescu, among other participants at the Summit

3 contents EVENTSAND PEOPLE

eventsand people cess of Turkey, which is, by the rate Istanbul’s bronze and gold / 3 of growth (8.5% last year), second to ” We cannot wait another 20 years...” / 6 China. The secret of its success lies in Regional anti-Disasters Model / 9 the fact that the country has created a favorable climate for investment, a regionalnews / 8 No. 4, 2012 significant role is played by the private ______sector, small and medium enterprises thecountries of the region Editorial Board (SMEs) and it gained experience on In this section we will present to our readers another Mahir N.Quarayev, Azerbaijan enterprise protection and support, as country, member of the Black Sea Caspian Sea Tamaz Beradze, Prof., Deputy Editor, Georgia well as modernization. The relations International Fund Murat Auezov, Kazakhstan with the European Union become Bulgaria - both old and young / Bayan Sarigulov, Kyrgyzstan increasingly stronger. For example, 10 Ion Hadârcă, Republic of Moldova in the second important after the en- SOUTHERNCORRIDOR Mikhail Sinelnikov, Russia gineering industry - textile industry Regional cooperation: Corneliu Vlad, Deputy Editor, Romania and ready-made clothing - Turkish between competition and solidarity / 14 Çağrı Erhan, Prof. Dr., Turkey exports to EU countries amount to 85%, this being an indicator of its instedof interview Editor-in-Chief: Vyacheslav Samoshkin high competitiveness. In short, Turkey The future of the Black Sea / 15 English version: Olga Condratiuc is strongly integrated into the global Art Director: Dan Mihalache economy and now it puts significant headingfor civil society ______efforts into integration together with A filter of citizens’ demands The Magazine is being published the Eurasian countries. The very host- within the political system / 18 by the International Fund For Cooperation ing of Eurasian economic summits in and Partnership of the Black Sea Istanbul is a clear confirmation of it. participation of Turkey in the EU may tion into the Eurasian regional integra- BSCSIFchronicle and the Caspian Sea An additional proof is represented by turn EU into a global structure”. tion, into the establishment of peace and Synergy on the Bosphorus / 27 the dynamics of economic coopera- Many speeches had one particular prosperity here. President: Viktor Khmarin tion between Turkey and Russia, an- leitmotif - the idea of restoring the his- Elena Kircheva of Vienna Economic EXlibris Secretary General and Vice-President: other major player in the region. Over toric Silk Road in its modern sense. The Forum has also put on emphasis on the SCO meets the challenges of the “three forces” / 33 Eldar Hasanov the past 10 years, the annual bilateral final communiqué of the summit calls road to sustainable development in the ideasand people Adviser to the Secretary General: trade turnover grew by 10 times and upon the same thing, too. However, as region. In her opinion, this consists in Felicia Scoarta “ Raiding” in the modern Russia exceeded 53 billion dollars. noted by participants in the discussions, the regional market liberalization - the / 34 Adviser: Luiza Popa “If we will not be together -”, said it is impossible to do it without cance- labor market and services market. ATthe crossroads of cultures Economic and Financial Affairs Cemil Çiçek, the Turkish Parliament ling customs and visa restrictions. As for the political agenda, an “ Light your fire!” / 36 Counsellor: Marcela Curmei Speaker, “- we will continue to be con- “The countries of Eurasia should important idea was expressed by the Project Team Coordinator: Mihai Sandu sumers, but not producers. Eurasia be together as they were in the past and former president of Bulgaria, currently projects,projects Project Manager: Yulia Akhunova should be the center of the world. Our should be in the future”, said one of the the President of the Balkan Political The progress is measured in projects / 37 ______joint responsibility is that this geogra- guests. In this regard, major transport, Club, Zhelyu Zhelev: “Arab politicians Searching for innovations, searching for partners / 38 ISSN 2069 – 766X phy will not become a war scene. “Fro- energy and infrastructure projects were and revolutionaries at the forefront of ISSN-L = 2069 – 766X zen conflicts” must cease and refugees named, among which - the ring road the struggle for democracy or those of sciencehorizons Printed at Tipografia Everest, - return home ...” around the Black Sea (BSEC Project), them seeking for a peaceful transition We must stay ahead of events / 40 Turkish representatives expressed “Blue Stream” and “Nabucco” gas from authoritarianism and dictator- the idea of creating a network of related pipelines, the railway from Istanbul to ship to democracy can learn from the Oh,sport, you are peace! ... SMEs in the region. The programs on Islamabad, the project on the develop- experience during and after the “Velvet Silvia Miteva: heading for a major victory / 43 ______development the Chambers of Com- ment of container traffic from India to Revolutions” held in Eastern Europe”. The opinions expressed by the authors merce and Industry in Turkey repre- London... Istanbul’s regional leadership will be pagesof history do not necessarily reflect the views of the sented a considerable interest, too. One And Lamberto Dini, Italian former also undoubtedly strengthened by the The Eurasian idea is 90 years old «Dialogue of the Seas» editors. / 44 of them - in Izmir - hosted the second Prime-Minister, stressed that the in- 2nd World Political Summit, to be held When using the material, the reference part of the summit that continued in terests of ensuring the energy security here during May 17-18, as well as by the gallery to the magazine is obligatory. A century of turkish painting / 46 ______this Mediterranean city. requires a consolidation of regional high level meetings to mark the 20th Editorial address: Many voices were heard stating and international cooperation between anniversary since the founding of the BSCSIFchronicle / 48 Bucharest, 13-19 Alecu Russo street, . that Turkey - “the most European energy producers and consumers, and Organization of the Black Sea Economic Tel: +40 21 211 1151, +40 21 211 1152; in Asia, and most Asian country in even “merging their interests”. He also Cooperation, the headquarters of which ThN e” ew Silk Road” poetic anthology fax: +40 21 211 4094; Europe” - should be shortly admitted noted that the deep structural and eco- is, as it is known, in Istanbul. In the warm days of the grape harvest / 49 e-mail: [email protected] to the European Union. According to nomic reforms carried out successfully Maxim Rylsky / 50 [email protected] one of the Turkish ministers, “only the in Turkey, increase its role and contribu- Istanbul – Bucharest

4 5 EVENTSAND PEOPLE EVENTSAND PEOPLE теxт: Julia Akhunova photo: archives

as well as the institutional framework for sustainable development. Thus, the Rio +20 Summit will ” We cannot wait take the baton from previous major environmental forums (Rio Sum- mit in 1992, Kyoto Protocol in 1997, Johannesburg Summit in 2002), held another 20 years...” ever since the need to urgently ad- dress the ecological balance of the Gabala Declaration of Young Environmentalists from 35 countries planet came forth at the high-level in Stockholm, 1972, at the UN Confer- addressed to the participants of Rio +20 Summit ence on the Human Environment. The guests of the conference picked up a lot of valuable information from the global practice in environment protection Undoubtedly, Rio +20 Summit is a he environmental pol- were gathered together by Interna- such concentrations since the start of unique opportunity to build a model lution of water, soil and tional Dialogue for Environmental the industrial era”, - she added. communities and to encourage their right on a harmonious and secure of economic development aimed at air causes the death of Action (IDEA), founded by Leyla Ali- During the conference, young will of becoming ambassadors of envi- future in a healthy environment. The improving the lives of people, ensur- up to 40% of people in yeva, in cooperation with representa- representatives of civil society ronmental education. document will be presented by Azer- ing social justice, reducing the risk of the world. This terrify- tives of UN Development Programme discussed such problems as I think each of the participants baijani officials at Rio +20 Summit. threats of an eventual ecological crisis. ing figure was enunciated during the (UNDP) and OSCE in Baku. The “Environmental Education for received answers to important As a matter of fact, this youth But let us not forget that the solu- TInternational Camp of Young Envi- opening ceremony of the forum was Sustainable Development”, “Green personal questions. Roxana Raceu, an camp in Gabala was one of the pre- tion to global problems begins with t ronmentalists, held in late November, attended by officials from the Ministry economy and youth entrepreneurship”, environmental specialist, considers paratory activities carried out around resolving the smallest problems that in the picturesque Azerbaijani town of Ecology and Natural Resources, the “Impact of climate change on young that: “I am doing research in global the world on the eve of the UN concern us. of Gabala. Ministry of Youth and Sports, as well people”, “Efficient use of energy warming, so this event gave me Conference on Sustainable Develop- “We can not wait another 20 years Together with my Romanian col- as the presidential administration and resources”, “Research and development the opportunity to share my ideas ment to be held in Rio de Janeiro in to achieve this goal”, said once the UN league, Roxana Raceu, we were able the state oil company SOCAR. of innovative technologies”... about the future of our planet. A June of the current year. The decision Under-Secretary-General Sha Zukang, to participate as representatives of the In her speech, Leyla Aliyeva men- The main purpose of the camp special interest to me represented to carry it out was taken by the UN mentioning the previous meeting in International Fund for Cooperation tioned that in the last 50-60 years, was to establish and develop coopera- the “Environmental Education General Assembly in December 2009. Rio de Janeiro in 1992, known as the and Partnership of the Black Sea and the expansion of human activities has tion between various environmental for Sustainable Development” The forum will host discussions with “Earth Summit”. These words of the the Caspian Sea (BSCSIF) at the fo- devastated the ecological balance of groups in the region and around the panel, where Prof. Thomas Fischer respect to the stage of implementation future Secretary-General of Rio +20 rum having the following motto: “The flora and fauna around the world, the world, to ensure an active participa- (University of Liverpool, Great of previous commitments to sustain- Conference are today as relevant role of young people in environmental concentration of carbon dioxide in tion of young environmentalists in Britain), Assoc. Prof. Waqar Ahmed able development, issues of “green” as ever. governance”. More than 80 young the atmosphere has reached 389 parts the public life of these regions, to (University of Karachi, Pakistan) economy in the context of sustainable Julia Akhunova environmentalists from 35 countries per million only in 2010, “the highest consolidate their own role in their and Prof. Charles Chase (University development and poverty eradication, BSCSIF Project Manager of Colorado, USA) presented their own ideas and researches on how to achieve sustainable development. In my opinion, for an accurate understanding and application of the given concept, we must fight for environmental improvement, first, at the level of the small community in which each of us lives; in this way we can accomplish goals of sustainable development on a global scale. Step by step we can create a whole”. The presence and contribution of BSCSIF into the International Camp did not go unnoticed: we were directly involved into the elaboration of Ga- bala Declaration of Young Environ- mentalists adopted at the end of the conference. The Declaration contains five messages from youth addressed An impressive programme on protection of nature launched in Azerbaijan in 2010 was presented during the forum of to the population and the heads of The participants of the camp, along with its main coordinator - Leyla Aliyeva (in the center). environmentalists in Gabala: from planting millions of trees to protecting gazelles all countries in the world about their On the left, you can see BSCSIF representatives: Yulia Akhunova and Roxana Raceu.

6 7 regionalnews EVENTSAND PEOPLE

Three times a Honorary Doctor Regional anti-Disasters

yperion University in Bucharest awarded the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotenti- Model ary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bucharest was the host HProf., Dr. Eldar Hasanov (in the photo, on the left) with the title of Doctor honoris causa. We are even more pleased of the international of this event, for Mr. Hasanov is one of the founders and conference entitled masterminds of the International Fund for Cooperation and Partnership of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea (BSCSIF), “Early Recovery who’s Vice-President and Secretary General he is... and Consequence During the traditional ceremony, the Rector of Hyperion University, Prof., Dr. Ion Spinulescu (in the photo, on the Management in right) and Assoc. Prof., Dr. Ion Marin, Dean of the Faculty the Aftermath of of Journalism, presented the key milestones in the biography the foundation of a partnership between Hyperion University and work of His Excellency, Eldar Hasanov, as well as the and similar educational institutions from Azerbaijan. Natural and Man- reasons justifying the decision of the University Senate. Expressing his gratitude towards Hyperion’s University Sen- Made Disasters in Working his way up from a Police Officer to Minister of ate, Eldar Hasanov spoke about the fruitful, dating back to the Director of Center for East European and Asian Studies in Bucharest, Prof. and Dr. Mihail Ionescu Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan and then as Chief of Interpol past centuries Azerbaijani-Romanian relations that culminated the Greater Black Sea (second from the left). Other participants: Adviser to the and BSCSIF Vice-President, Iulian Fota (third from the left) and Deputy Secretary General of BSEC, National Central Bureau and Prosecutor General of the Re- in the recent years with the establishment of strategic partner- Area” (CRISHOPE). Traian Chebeleu (outside right) public (1995-2001), E. Hasanov was appointed in 2001 as ship between the two countries. These relations have thickened ambassador to Romania. All these years he did not stop work- by means of dozens of cooperation agreements in various fields. The progress of work and the re- component of regional cooperation to is free to choose from it the feature that ing on his scientific researches and teaching. For his merits in In addition to economy, this meant an increase in student sults of the conference were com- them. It also helped us examine how would improve a certain matter. It was research, being the author of 26 books and monographs and exchange, in bilateral translation of books, in the activities of mented by Simona Soare, project much this is a regional cooperation (the the purpose of our conference. of over 160 articles on various aspects of combatting drug friendship associations, youth organizations and foundations. manager for CRISHOPE from the exchange of good practice, information In addition to the countries from trafficking and organized crime and on international law in Earlier, Eldar Hasanov, was named as Honorary Doctor Center for East European and Asian and knowledge) and, moreover, how the the region, the forum was attended by this sense, he is highly appreciated at home and abroad. E. of the Romanian universities “Andrew Shagun” and “Ovidius” Studies in Bucharest (CEEAS), the existence of a regional reference model representatives of regional institutions, Hasanov made a remarkable contribution into broadening the from Constanta, and Honorary Professor of “Babes-Bolyai” main organizer of this forum: can help the nine states in the region to United Nations Development Pro- cooperation between Romania and Azerbaijan and into laying University in Cluj-Napoca (Romania). boost their own achievements in disas- gramme, USA security agencies. The he conference is the final ter management. That was our goal. We participants made important proposals stage of the research pro- have developed a regional model for the aimed at strengthening institutional AGRI may ject CRISHOPE, financed conference, practically its first version, principles of regional cooperation, regional newsregional Turkey made way by the German Marshall and suggested that the participants dis- coordinating efforts of public institu- become AGRI-M Found through its Black cuss it and make concrete proposals re- tions, decentralization, information Sea Trust branch, project that helped garding its improvement. It is very likely policy, involving local authorities, civil The Republic of Moldova intends to join the AGRI for “South Stream” urkey granted the construction of “South Stream”, which will transport Russian Tus examine the ways we can improve that our projects didn’t touch upon society and individuals into this work. project (Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector- Hungary) on transportation of liquefied natural gas gas to European countries. Once with the signing of respective agreement national systems of combating the ef- certain aspects. The idea is to improve The Turkish representatives offered to to Europe. The Moldavian Prime Minister, Vlad Filat, Tall the obstacles to this have been eliminated. The Russian side expressed its fects of earthquakes, floods, landslides our model. The content is not to be open a regional center of excellence for said that this issue has been already discussed with gratitude to Ankara and the European Commission for supporting the project. We and technological disasters, adding the necessarily followed integrally. Everyone CRISHOPE in Istanbul. the participating countries and the technical solution ought to remind that the shareholders of the gas pipeline are not only the Russian “Gazprom”, but also the Italian Eni, the French EdF and the German BASF. Altogether, to this project is currently under development. AGRI, the project involves seven countries. Due to this agreement, Europe’s energy supply which name may also include the “M” letter, provides will become more stable. for the transportation of 8 to 20 billion cubic meters of The head of the “Gazprom” Trust, Alexey Miller, said that in this way “the project will Azeri gas across the Black Sea (through its liquefaction be implemented strictly as scheduled and the first commercial deliveries of gas in the Georgian port of Kulevi and regasification in the from Russia to Europe through the “South Stream” will begin in late 2015”. Romanian town of Constanta) to EU countries. The “South Stream” pipeline is an analogue of “Nord Stream”, laid under the Baltic Another possible participant in the project is Sea. Its underwater length, which will connect the compressor station in Dzhubga Ukraine, which intends to build a LNG terminal in (Russia) with the Bulgarian Varna, is about 900 kilometers. From Bulgaria, the the region of Odessa with a capacity of 10 billion gas will go to Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria and Northern Italy. Besides that, cubic meters, counting on the Azerbaijani gas. branches of the “South Stream” will be built towards Croatia, Macedonia, Greece Moldova takes into consideration the possibility to and Turkey. The pipeline capacity should reach 63 billion cubic meters a year. The Jess Bratton, an expert in national security George Niculescu, program coordinator of The participants at the Forum (from left to right): Davit participate in the construction of the terminal. estimated cost of construction is about € 15,5 billion. affairs (USA), talked about his experience CEEAS and Funai Go (Japan), a representative Minasyan (Armenia), Nicolae Vascautan (Republic of regarding managing disasters in his country of the UN Development Programme in Kiev Moldova) and Irakli Kobuliya (Georgia)

8 9 thecountries of the region: bulgaria photo: archives Bulgaria - both old and young

Sofia University Library is considered to be Dimitar KOSTOV, BSCSIF Vice-President one of the most beautiful in the world On the Central Square of Sofia stands the House of Parliament - the National Assembly. An equestrian statue of Alexander II, “The bulgaria he Republic of Bulgaria Liberator” is placed in front of it. is situated in the eastern part of the Balkan Pen- , Volganian”. Scholars suppose that Proto-Bulgarian brothers Cyril and Methodius and its spread to other Slav- insula and occupies 22% people emerged in the southern steppes of Altai Moun- ic states. Their bibliographic and educational work became of its territory. At north tains, next to the Irtysh River, on the territory of today’s an important contribution to the European civilization. it shares borders with Romania, at Eastern Kazakhstan, and they had a nomadic lifestyle. Further, the fate of the Bulgarian kingdom was Twest - with Serbia and Macedonia, Later they moved to the Volga lands. capricious: periods of prosperity were followed by in the south - with Turkey. The Black In 1912, around the village Mala Pereshchepina near periods of decline. In XIV century the state split Sea washes the coastline for the rest of Poltava, in Ukraine, archaeologists discovered a rich bur- into separate parts, which favored its conquest and the country’s eastern border. The total ial of a nomad leader. The royal treasure consisted of gold domination for five centuries by the Ottoman Empire. length of the border is 2,245 km, out and silver items: dishes, weapons, coins, etc. The most In 1878, as a result of the Russian-Turkish war, the of which 686 km are rivers along the interesting findings were two seal rings with the inscrip- Bulgarian statehood was restored. Danube and 378 km are the sea. tion - “Kubrat the Patrician” - and a Christian paten of C ontemporary guidelines europe About 30% of the country’s land Dimitar KOSTOV, silver. Unequivocally, scientists correlate these pieces with is flat and 41% is mountainous and BSCSIF Vice-President the ruler of the Great Bulgaria, Khan Kubrat, who had five After World War II, Bulgaria, while in the Soviet area of hilly. Bulgaria ranks by its area 15th sons. Managing to control all the Bulgarian tribes by 634, influence, became a member of the Eastern bloc until its in Europe. Kubrat gave rise to a powerful state, called by the Byzan- collapse in 1990. The peaceful transition to a parliamen- According to the latest census of February 1, 2011, tine chroniclers “The Old Great Bulgaria”. According to tary republic is made within a country with a democratic the population of Bulgaria amounts to 7,4 million people them, Kubrat was sent as a teenager by his uncle to Con- form of government and a market economy. and is 96th in the world by this figure. If comparing to the stantinople, where he was baptized and became friends The most important achievement during transition 2001 census, the population decreased by 564 thousand with his peer and the future basileus - Heraclius. Kubrat was to maintain peace and avoid conflicts between dif- people (7.1%). Two-thirds of this amount resulted from ruled for a long time and at the end of his life bequeathed a natural negative growth of population, and one third to his sons not to split up, but to rule together, “to be mas- is due to emigration. About 73% of the population lives ters everywhere and no slaves to any other nation”. But in urban areas (17% of them - in the capital of Sofia), fate decided differently. Under pressure from the Khazars, Formation 681 and 23% - in villages. Because of the unemployment, the the Old Great Bulgaria disintegrated and the sons went on Independence Day  22 September 1908 (from Ottoman inflow into town of rural population looking for a job separate ways with their hordes. Empire but in fact, since 1878, after the continues, which led to the cancellation of about 180 One of them, Asparukh, in battles with the Byzantines, Russian-Turkish War in 1877-1878) rural settlements. passed through the Danube and together with the Slavs, Capital Sofia As for the ethnic composition, 85% consider them- who have already occupied this territory, has created Dan- Population 7,364,570 people selves Bulgarians, 8.8% - Turks, 4.9% - Roma or gypsies. ube Bulgaria. After the victory over Byzantines in 681, a Form of government Parliamentary Republic On the territory of the country live 6,552 Armenians, peace treaty was signed, thing that indicated to the recog- President Rosen Plevneliev 2,556 Karakatchans, 1,654 Macedonians and 1,162 Jews. nition of the new state. Vice President Margarita Popova In this way, the Slavs, who were numerically Prime Minister Boyko Borisov Europe’s old-timer state prevailing, and the Bulgars, who were well organized Official language Bulgarian Bulgaria is one of the oldest states in Europe. We, the and trained in military affairs, gradually merged into one Territory 110, 993.6 km ² (104th in the world) modern Bulgarians belong to the large family of Slavic nation. The adoption of Orthodox Christianity in 865 AD GDP per capita $ 11,760 peoples. On the other hand, we borrowed our name from has finally united the two ethnic groups in one single state, Currency lev the non-Slavic people - the ancient Bulgars called in his- with a Slavic appearance, and it became one of the most Internet TLD .bg torical science Proto-Bulgarians, which means the first powerful in Europe. Calling code +359 Bulgarians. Ivan Shishmanov, a Bulgarian linguist, argues An outstanding achievement of this period represents Time Zone gMT +2 that the word “Bulgarian” literally means “people from the the creation of Slavic written language by the Bulgar The capital city of Sofia has around 1.3 million people

10 11 Up on the hill, the thecountries of the region Ancient Fortress thecountries of the region of Tsarevets watches Veliko Tarnovo, the ancient capital of the Bulgarian ferent ethnic groups. In this respect the Bulgarians re- Empire Eastern Imperial Eagle (Native) mained faithful to the will of Vasil Levski, stating that in The Ancient Theatre ... Where else can so many a liberated country the Bulgarians, Turks, Jews and other ages meet, if not in Plovdiv? nationalities will be equal in all respects. Following this Wind power - will, even under the circumstances of fascist dictatorship a guest from the future during prewar and war period, with the efforts of honest Golden Sands - politicians and leftist civil organizations 50,000 Jews have a brand of Bulgarian tourism been saved from an imminent death. Another incontestable success was to achieve consen- sus in the community regarding the fact that Bulgaria will be able to defend its interests only within the North Atlan- tic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union The city of Nessebar is in the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Thracian gold, and should do whatever is necessary to join these organi- a voice from the past zations. This would ensure national security in the instable Balkan region and would allow creating in the country conditions for sustainable economic and social develop- To be an energy bridge between East and West Partition of land has played ment. The purpose was achieved due to the endeavors of is another vocation of the country a cruel joke on agriculture the whole society. The participation of Bulgaria in NATO and the EU should in no way weaken its relations with Russia and other countries from the post-Soviet space. On the contra- ry, the development of large-scale economic and cultural Bulgaria, a synonym for beauty ties with these countries serves the interests of not only Bulgaria, but also of the whole Europe. For us, Bulgarians, it is not just a matter of public policy. The recollections of heroic deeds and self-sacrifice of our brothers who fought and died for our freedom will never fade away from the Rakia, slivovitza... collective national memory. No one will be able to delete it The tradition Bulgarian world champions: from the national history and the memory of the people. Port of Varna - the largest in the country The treasures of folklore - a synthesis of cultures is sacred they have no equal in ribbon routine

Risks and difficulties of transition poorest countries in the European Union. The gross transportation of oil and natural gas from Russia, the The transition from state-planned economy to free domestic product per capita is 40% out of the average for Caucasus and from other regions to European countries. market-based enterprise was far from easy. Difficulties EU countries. It is involved in such projects as “South Stream”, “Nabuc- have deepened because of the lack of experience of co” and others. Bulgaria is not only the largest producer individuals that managed this process, of multi-oriented H eading for development and integration in the region of electric energy (including Kozloduy group interests, as well as abuses, all this yielding Despite all these difficulties Bulgaria walks confidently NPP) per capita, but also an exporter of it to the neigh- into many mistakes when solving basic economic and on the path chosen along with the family of European boring countries. Negotiations regarding the construc- social issues. For example, as a result of restoration nations. In the context of the global economic crisis, it tion of a new NPP in Belene are already in the process. of land ownership within “real borders”, that is, as it maintains a financial stability and has self-assigned the Bulgaria is very much interested in developing co- The Bulgarian brothers Cyril and Methodius existed before the collectivization, modern cooperative objective of catching up till 2020 with the mid-developed operation with the countries of the Black Sea and Cas- have been declared saints for creating the households were literally ruined and plundered, vast EU countries. pian Sea regions. It is a member of the Organization of Slavic alphabet and writing in the IX century. areas of farmland have been fragmented into small A particular success represents the development of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) and all “Monument of Freedom” in Shipka plots, which caused irreparable damage to this sector the traditional tourism industry. Every year the num- subsequent initiatives, such as the European Neighbor- Pass was raised in honor of the heroes that died for the liberation of economy. That is why Bulgaria, a former leader in ber of tourists grows, and in 2011 it reached 8.5 mil- hood Policy, Eastern Partnership, the Black Sea Synergy, of Bulgaria during the Russian- agriculture, imports now fruits and vegetables from lion. Along with the famous Black Sea summer resorts, Danube Cooperation Process and others. Bulgaria also Turkish war in 1877-1878. neighboring countries. the international tourism is increasingly attracted to participates within a very promising International Fund The same thing happened in industry, where large our winter resorts and stations: Bansko, Pamporovo, for Cooperation and Partnership of the Black Sea and the enterprises have been privatized, not with the purpose Borovets and others. Bansko is the place where impor- Caspian Sea (BSCSIF). In short, there are enough initia- of their development and modernization, but to get tant international ski competitions happen. New impres- tives. Most importantly is to fill them with actual content maximum profit from their exploitation. All this, along sive archaeological findings, a large number of mineral oriented at development of democracy and human with increasing organized crime and corruption has springs, natural and historical sites from different ages rights, enhancement of security, development of eco- led to a handful of people growing tremendously rich create conditions for further development of this impor- nomic cooperation and trade, innovative and educational at the expense of the vast majority of the population. tant industry. exchanges and, above all, perhaps, the development of Rila Monastery (founded in the Xth century) is the oldest cultural and As a result of these and other factors, Bulgaria, despite The strategic location of the country promises the human relations, emphasizing particularly on the young spiritual center in the south of the country the high economic growth, continues to be one of the opportunity of becoming an important transit region for of all countries, as the future belongs to them.

12 13 SOUTHERNCORRIDOR INSTEADOF INTERVIEW photo: archives photo: Аrchives

elaboration of the European Neighborhood Policy. The area acquires a new, heightened importance Regional cooperation: due to its economic potential and its transit role in commerce between EU countries and neighboring Eastern European countries, as well as for being an between competition important link that provides connection with energy resources and emerging markets of Caucasus and Central Asia. This aspect is particularly important at a time when, according to forecasts, by 2030 the and solidarity global energy demand is expected to grow by 50% compared to the present days, thus determining the f the end of 2011 was marked that led to a redistribution of centers of dependence of developed countries on the countries by gloomy predictions about power and interests in the region. rich in resources. the future of euro zone and the Often perceived as a boundary The Caspian Sea region is considered to be one of real chances of economic and between Christianity and Islam, the most important in terms of gas and oil resources, financial recovery of Europe, between Europe and Asia, the Black mostly unexploited, but comparable to the Persian then 2012 started with a prevalence Sea region has important geo- Gulf reserves. Iof more likely cautious assessments of strategic trump cards: Bosporus and After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a jump opportunities to find sustainable mid- Dardanelles straits, mouth of Danube, from two to five littoral states (Russian Federation, The future term and long-term solutions. Officials, Crimean Peninsula and access to the Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Iran) as well as politicians in Europe and Caspian Sea. In addition, the routes for resulted in the multiplication of interests and legal overseas, apparently avoid pronouncing oil and gas transport, as well as trade claims with respect to the sea and its resources, above the verdict and their hypotheses are very routes contribute significantly to the all being oil and gas, and has created the particular of the diverse and do not exclude the collapse prestige and importance of this region. problem of Caspian Sea legal status. However, the of European economic system leading Here, coexisting ethnic groups and agreements signed between littoral states confirm to a global recession, circumstance in Luiza POPA, nations with everlasting traditions the ongoing concern of the leaders in the region to which - economic and political elites will BSCSIF Adviser and a deep bond between generations find a solution, stepping over everyone’s political and Black Sea lose the trust of future generations... helped preserving over thousands economic interests. This year’s motto of the International Economic of years the identity of these peoples. On the other Over the last decade, along with changing Caspian Forum held in Davos was to elaborate new models hand, the heterogeneous religious structure (Orthodox Sea’s status and global economic development, other Academic, mathematician, diplomat, of economic growth and raised even the problem of Christians, Muslims, Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics), international players have begun to show a growing writer, professor, the first president and modern capitalism survival. different cultures and civilizations that interrelate and interest to the Caspian region, especially USA and In this international context, there are regions blend generated numerous conflicts, some of which China. The most visible consequence of that are the founder of the Black Sea University becoming increasingly more attractive, which also haven’t ceased till today, a time when the principles of efforts of Western states to help South Caucasus Foundation, Mircea MALIŢA (born inspire hope to those who make decisions around multiculturalism and peaceful coexistence stumble upon and Central Asia countries in the consolidation of the world because of the huge reserves of natural entanglements (invisible) of barbed wire. important energy transport routes and restoration of in 1927) is an outstanding intellectual and human potential that they possess, this being an Multiple formats of regional cooperation, promoted the traditional Silk Road. essential prerequisite for restructuring foundations of in the Black Sea region – the Organization of the Black Major changes that have occurred on and public figure of Romania. He was international relations. Sea Economic Cooperation, the Commission on the international level in the recent years in the political, the Chairman of the National Union of Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions are today among Black Sea, tripartite formulae, the Eastern Partnership economic, social spheres or demographics had a the most important in the world, from the economic, and other initiatives of the EU or regional players – are significant impact on the life in the region leading to Students, Director of the Library of the geopolitical and geostrategic point of view, and the a proof of complex needs that exist in this space, along the gradual formation of a regional consciousness, Academy, Deputy Minister of Foreign dynamics of political and socio-economic phenomena with the necessity to develop ongoing dialogue on a which implies a growth of involvement and in this zone has a significant impact on international governmental level, as well as at the level of civil society. responsibility taken by each state for geo-economic Affairs, Minister of Education (1970- relations in general. This vast area incorporates such The point where different approaches to the Pontic and geo-political reintegration of the region to politico-geographical territories as the Balkans, the space converge represents recognition of the need for a which they belong, as well as the existence of 1972), Ambassador to Switzerland Caucasus or Central Asia, where live nations featured by common vision and common strategy for the future, at solidarity, which should prevail over the elements (1980-1982), and then to USA (until claiming their rights and identity crisis. the development of which would participate all regional of divergence. It is necessary to emphasize, in this In all its history the Black Sea region was known to players, offering levers to prevent geopolitical instability context, the importance of Russian Federation 1984). He wrote dozens of studies, be an extremely complex geopolitical space, difficult and reduce the conflicting potential and contributing to in the coagulation of genuine regional solidarity, essays, books on mathematics, political to be defined, and domination over the Black Sea has the socio-economic development. beneficial for all countries in the region, meaning always been a reason for rivalry. The interest of European Union leaders for the the advantages of this country - its huge energy science and diplomacy, including the The last decade of the past century has brought Black Sea was growing together with the advance resources and its leadership in dialogue with other “Pages of the history of Romanian new challenges due to the growing number of coastal of Union’s outer border towards the Black Sea, and centers of power in the modern world and foremost countries that came together with USSR’s collapse, thing the Western countries have increasingly engaged in with USA, EU and China. diplomacy” (1966), “Chronicle of the

14 15 INSTEADOF INTERVIEW INSTEADOF INTERVIEW

year 2000” (1969), “Diplomacy. There were many dramatic moments in recent his- That’s a reassuring background for drawing a good tory, too. What kind of lesson are we taught by this close script. This is a good sign for the historic vocation of the Schools and Institutions” (1970), friendship between Titulescu and Aras at the conference Black Sea – to be situated between two continents, and to “Theory and practice of negotiation” in Montreux in 1936 and by the cooperation between these connect them together. It becomes a fairly good corridor two foreign ministers of Romania and Turkey when making for transportation of energy and it masters its own mineral (1972), “Games on the world stage” decisions on it? Titulescu, who maintained good relations resources. And considering seriously the project of build- with the Soviet Minister Litvinov, was the star of the confer- ing a channel between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea (2007), “Sights from the Cold War” ence. These three strategists of diplomacy have defended would be the crowning of this vocation. Through the Black (2007), “Between War and Peace” and even imposed the decision regarding the international Sea passed the ancient Silk Road, which came down from status of the Black Sea as the “sea of littoral states” and not here to the Byzantine Empire (see Chinese documents of (2007) ... In a recent book of his - the “open sea”. This formula provided Turkey with neutrality the IX century). Later, galleys of Venice and Genoa came “Wisdom of the Earth” - the author, during World War II, but brought to Titulescu, who wanted to the Black Sea, laded with European goods and carrying the same status for his country, the loss of his political sta- Asian goods to West. The sea becomes a bridge - pontus a member of the Club of Rome and tus and a willing exile. What he wanted to avoid happened: and pons, in Latin. In the book - “Wisdom of the Earth. Romania’s disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany, punished Strategies for survival in the history of the Romanian globalization theorist, states clearly with the status of a Moscow’s satellite, which lasted for four people” - I noted that the formation of a cautious mind, and interprets vividly the realities of decades. At this time, Turkey has defended its independence inclined to diplomacy and able to go round or soften the and stood on guard with the keys to Bosphorus in hands, so effects of unequal relations, was happening at us, Romani- national identity. From the very beginning I was amazed by the strength that the Black Sea does not become a field of struggle be- ans, due to the strong influence of Eastern environment, in The editors of “Dialogue of the Seas” and appeal of its name. Famous contemporaries agreed tween the great powers. In matters of history, us, the people which we lived. with no hesitation to participate at the Scientific Council of of the Black Sea, kept our heads high. If the Mediterranean The language has preserved for us a sober sympathy for addressed the academician a series the Foundation. I will name a few, who are no longer with Sea had its historian Fernand Braudel, then the Black Sea the neo-Latin West. But religion and the first alphabet were of questions about geopolitical us: Commander Cousteau, an ace at marine research, Lord had George Bratianu . Today, the Institute of History of the Byzantine and Slavic. Yet, this is a great advantage - to be Yehudi Menuhin, Elisabeth Mann Borgese, daughter of the Romanian Academy implements a very valuable program of able to weave together the east and west in two parallel succession and the dynamics of great writer Thomas Mann, the founder of the Internation- studies on the Black Sea. If diving into the past reveals for- heritages, possessing such a life force. And I think that to- al Ocean Institute in Malta, Saburo Okita, father of the re- gotten or unknown pages, then exploring the future rewards day we are somewhere in between, in a place to which we regional and international factors vival of Japanese economy and former Minister of Foreign with no less. The present is only a brief and transitory halt have historically prepared. The collaboration between the in the Black Sea-Caspian Sea space, Affairs, Paul-Marc Henry, Ambassador of France, Jacques between these vast periods of time in course of which hu- two continents, which will play a major role in the civiliza- Freymond, rector of the Graduate Institute of International man life flows. tion of the century, is a factor related to the art of diplo- about the road to stability and Studies in Geneva and others. We are not going to look into the distant future, but only matic reconciliation, in which Romanians succeeded. cooperation in this unstable region, When we launched “Millennium III” magazine, two in the near future, in the medium term. The Black Sea will I cannot ignore the fact that since 1980 till present, Nobel Prize winners joined us: Ilya Prigogine and Law- still be there, perhaps with a smaller number of beaches and the balance in the West between “public” and “private”, rich in oil and gas, and about the rence Klein. We received a feedback from the scientific perhaps more polluted. And the littoral states will be the between “state” and “market” has been perturbed and led world at the moment when the World Academy of Art same, too. A one and only great power, Russia, and a one to a genuine mutation of collective behavior. Certain bad future of the Black Sea - Caspian and Science convened to discuss the future activity of and only regional power, Turkey. Both from an economic and decadent tendencies became typical, along with su- Sea region in general. The patriarch their academy in here, the Black Sea coast, and we hosted point of view are included in the category of developing and perficiality, a cult for eearnings, a cult for the short term, this assembly. Similarly, the World Bank Institute held its sufficiently flourishing economies. The Western Europe will wastefulness, extremism of any kind, a true “fever” as of Romanian diplomacy and courses here and professional associations came to carry on still go through crisis and anxiety. But somewhere nearby, Caragiale would name it. Today, the American literature mathematics preferred to answer their forums. Famous guests attracted audience like magnet there are old, unhealed conflicts, as well as new and more expresses regret over this slip. Americans reaffirm liberal- for our international postgraduate summer courses that serious threats - they all come from the Middle East. ism and dismiss neoliberal excesses, like this being a bad these questions by writing an essay, amounted to a record of 20 per season. Along with the hot The first question is, as usual, concerning war and peace. dream. They do not mock anymore the respect of Asians which we present here to our readers. topics on modern scientific research, the courses featured If taking a look at the future constellation of great powers, for the state and do not equate “authority” with the lack of themes of history, culture and religions of the Black Sea then no alarming signs are to be found. On the contrary, the democracy. Changes have been happened and I keep track space, up to myths and legends of the ancient Greece. global economic crisis has made them more cautious, more of them. They also confirm my prospects about, say, the y calendar suggests that in 2012, the It resulted in a huge potential for cooperation, which aware of the price that they can no longer afford unleashing 2030s, which I see as being favorable to the intercontinen- Black Sea University Foundation will we found in the rich resources of the Black Sea region, in wars like - during Bush, for example. They have a more civi- tal project of the Black Sea. celebrate two decades since its existence. interest for dialogue, making friends and partners. lized vocabulary; none of them mentions “hegemony” and I am sure that for the Black Sea University Founda- It emerged at a time when in Istanbul was We have organized, as a rule, courses on international all agree to be equal right leaders, who can play, according tion, whose reins of government are now in competent and established BSEC, the organization of co- relations and diplomacy. We were evaluating how impor- to their competence, a constructive role on a global scale. capable hands of its President, Ambassador Liviu Bota, operation between Black Sea states. So, there was still room tant was the embassy of Stephen the Great to the Venetians, Science is moving forward in large steps, and the mutual the only Romanian diplomat who served until the level of Mfor other range of initiatives, involving the intellectual side, what was the meaning of the attempt to create an anti- effort is its law. Technologies make wonders, but also cre- Deputy of UN Secretary General, will be a great honor to cooperation in all areas, and universities have always been Ottoman alliance, what an amazing character was Tatar ate problems when used poorly. Finally, saving natural and cooperate with the International Fund for Cooperation providers of knowledge that has, as well as the civilization, Khan and the passion with which this outstanding leader nonrenewable resources is a matter of cooperation and even and Partnership of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and a universalistic value. Within the activity of the Foundation fought on the threshold of 1500 for his fortresses on the consolidation of solidarity of the human species that doesn’t with everyone else promoting ideas relevant for Romania I tried to learn more about the miracle called the Black Sea. Black Sea... want to expose itself to the threat of extinction. of the coming years. *  Bratianu Gheorghe (1898-1953) - Romanian historian and political figure, author of the book - “The Black Sea. From the origins to the Ottoman conquest” 16 17 HEADINGFOR CIVIL SOCIETY HEADINGFOR CIVIL SOCIETY photo: archives

This winter, Russia riveted a great deal of attention because of its civil society high activity, stimulated The most important indicator of forward legislative proposals on by the parliamentary and maturity of civil society institutions democratization of the electoral presidential elections. is represented by the civil or public system and simplification of political On the central photo: bird’s eye view at the control over the actions of the parties’ registry. opposition’s protests authorities. In this sense, the key in Bolotnaya role in Russia is played by public Non-profit organizations Square in Moscow (December 2011) chambers and community councils According to the Ministry of at all levels, by public supervising Justice, on October 1, 2011 in committees. The most advanced Russia there were 219,770 registered non-governmental and non-profit Mikhail GORNYI, Executive Director of Saint-Petersburg Center for Humanities organizations (NGOs), including and Political Studies “Strategy” * 110,276 public associations and 24,371 religious associations. Even though not fast, but still evolving However, the share of actually operating NGOs is not more than Main parameters are the institutions of civic watch 38% of the officially registered ones. he civil society in Russia from Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Many social organizations is, maybe not as fast and Perm, Petrozavodsk, Samara, Tomsk, created at the initiative of authorities efficient as we want it, but Krasnoyarsk. and institutions closely related to Tstill evolving. The period of 2010-2011 is the government have emerged in Studies show that up to two marked by growing protest activeness recent years in Russia. It is difficult A filter of citizens’ thirds of are members of of civil society: let’s remember the to connect their work to the civil informal volunteering, up to 50% events in Manezhnaya Square in activeness of the population. make cash donations, about a third Moscow in December 2010, or in the of respondents were involved in all town of Khimki, Moscow Region , Continuing at page. 26 demands within kinds of events organized by the organized against deforestation in citizens in their communities. 75% of July 2011. the citizens participate at least once a Mass “incorporation” of citizens month in public events together with in protests is observed when the political system other people. restrictions or infringements of The recent years have registered rights are directly related to their a numeric decline of officially lives or interests (e.g. “Raspadskaya” registered non-governmental coal miners’ protests; protests organizations: people join informal against the growth of vehicle tax in associations, the internet community. Kaliningrad Region or against fraud In various fields of activity, in construction industry). new forms of self-organization One of the key factors for the emerge: landscaping, leisure emergence of protest activity in Rus- The term of “civil society” has many definitions, but uncivil society to a civil one is the longstanding associations, various public sia is the inefficiency of institutions Dialogue with political scientist Leyla ALIYEVA, all of them obviously point out that in a democratic tradition of economic and political dependence assistance organizations, forms of of representative democracy. President of the Center for National and International Studies of Azerbaijan society, the complex of public relations from different of the society on the state, peculiar for post- territorial self-government, anti-infill The spirit of protests has sharply spheres evolves autonomously, with no dependence on communist countries. construction movements, parenting hopped on because of the elections the state. Citizens that have certain common interests The key elements of a civil society are diversity councils, environmental groups. of State Duma deputies. Rallies in Authoritarianism gather in voluntary unions and organizations designed and equality of ownership, freedom of labor An important factor in Moscow in last year’s December, to protect their interests, which may be ignored by and entrepreneurship, ideological diversity nonformalized civil activity in early 2012 that gathered tens of or democracy? both the state and the economic institutions. and freedom of information, inviolability of development in Russia, as in the rest thousands of participants, became Civil society is characterized by a high degree human rights and freedoms, developed self- of the world, becomes the Internet the largest in Russia since the early of self-organization. On the other hand, the civil administration, civilized judiciary. According to D. and the social networks. According 90s. These protests revealed the low- t’s been already 20 years society should control the state, for the state is its Easton’s classical scheme, civil society operates as a to the Fund “Obschestvennoe efficiency of the existing forms of since USSR fell apart and T the republics gained their “hired servant”, primarily because it exists due to the filter of citizens’ demands and of support attached Mneniye” (“Public Opinion”) at the interaction between the society and means collected from taxation of citizens. This society to the political system. end of 2010 the share of Internet the government, along with the need Iindependence back. How do you regulates not only its political, cultural, but also the Our partners in this conversation - the users among the adult population for a comprehensive modernization evaluate this period in terms of economic and social life. representatives of the Black Sea-Caspian Sea region - of Russia amounted to 43%, or 50 of the political system. The protests implementation of the proclaimed Certainly not all societies are civil. The reflect upon the problems of civil society formation in million people. The total number of have influenced the government transition from totalitarianism main reason for difficulties of transition from their countries. active audience reached 36 million. policy: the Russian President put to democracy? * The data is taken from the report of the Public Chamber of Russia and from the researches of the “Strategy” Center 18 19 HEADINGFOR CIVIL SOCIETY

For many post-Soviet countries the transition period has come to end, but, unfortunately, it ended with a consolidation of authoritarianism. In some countries, the Soviet Union (not as a country, but as a political system) was never halted, because for many functionaries their career EU projects in various fields with kept evolving with almost no gaps. Kyrgyzstan’s civil society There are no free and fair elections in these countries, nor any separation of powers, neither basic freedoms. One of the leaders of philanthropy and In fact, the transition in CIS turned volunteerism in Romania, Princess Margaret, the daughter of the former king Mihai I and creator of a out to be a substantial argument Foundation that bears her name. against the supporters of “coherence” Moscow. Mass-protests of the opposition during NGOs in the Republic of Moldova register the past winter have also aroused the activeness of significant success. In the photo: The Alliance of in building democracy, claiming the supporters of Vladimir Putin, who won at the Orthodox Associations fighting for the purity of that first of all a strong state should presidential elections on March 4 a landslide victory the Christian moral values be build, even if authoritarian, and after that a transit to democracy is to be made (according to Huntington, Snyder etc.). Authoritarian leaders, as such, didn’t prove any yearning for democratization, and, on the contrary, once with the consolidation Sometimes, the protests take insidious of the state they have progressively forms and bright colors Dramatic events in Zhanaozen, monopolized the power. from last year’s December, have disrupted the steady The symbols of the Ukrainian “Orange “Rose Revolution” in Georgia, flow of life in the so far stable Kazakhstan Revolution 2004”, along with its main leaders, in November 2003 becomes history Why do you think many post-Sovi- et countries didn’t manage to ac- democratic countries. While the tality and oil revenues, in the absence post-Soviet leaders are by no means nation will tolerate forever despotism How promises to be 2012 for the complish a democratic transition political elites that came afterwards of institutions of “checks and bal- the enlightened monarchs of XVIII- or unjust system, thus confirming world, the region and Azerbaijan, and stuck for a long time in the - the carriers of Soviet mentality - ances”. It allowed these elites invest- XIX centuries, as those had at least Fukuyama’s approach, and this means in the context of democracy stage of authoritarianism? were no longer interested in building ing billions in the consolidation of traditional legitimacy and a certain that all authoritarian regimes come promotion? During transition, determining fac- democratic institutions, the reform- their power, which ensured stability culture of state thinking. Although to an end, and sometimes – a very Major changes in the world and the tors proved to be the interests and minded civil society in these coun- and relative continuity and stagna- there is still a probability that au- unsightly one. region, as well as at the national level values ​​of the governing elites, the tries received only a scarce financial tion of political processes, in contrast thoritarian leaders will make reforms On a psychological level, it deprived are important indicators of the fact degree of destruction and dam- or political support from outside. A to other countries without resources under the pressure of revolutionary of confidence the post-Soviet that the processes of political stag- age brought to society and culture, more substantial support for civil (such as Kyrgyzstan, for example). threat, especially if these leaders have space autocrats with respect to the nation in the former Soviet space caused by the Soviet regime, and the society came in during the period of a self-preservation instinct and pro- continuity of their rule. As well as started to draw back. What it will rate, coherence in building demo- consolidated authoritarianism but Isn’t the best strategy for a fessional advisers. of the belief that external support lead to - depends on the proceed- cratic institutions. The collapse of the was still by far inferior to the multi- democratic condition - making a can help them avoiding the same ings of the governing elites. If they Soviet Union happened sharply and billion income of authorities. saltatory breakthrough, by means How do you assess the results of fate. The second most important turn to be flexible enough, intelligent, was not preceded by building new In addition, almost all countries that of fair elections? 2011 for the world, the region and are, I think, the events in Russia. and will learn the right lessons from institutions: there were no conceived didn’t manage to make a transition to Fair elections are the foundation of Azerbaijan, in terms of democratic What happens in Russia will have a “Arab Spring”, “Russian Winter” and elements of market economy, nor any democracy are countries rich in oil all democratic reforms in the coun- processes development? direct impact on the events in the will begin to change their approach, prototypes for independent judiciary and gas. In turn, this confirms an en- try, since they establish the most im- It was a great year for the world, CIS, as the present regime in Russia especially in the direction of the sub- system. That is why new elites had tire trend in political economy, stat- portant connection between people of demolishing the foundations of is based on similar regimes of other stantial, non-imitational political and no institutional support and their ing that if the country’s large-scale and the authorities, and create the “cultural determinists” approach republics, and supports them using economic reforms (reforms, not just survival was strongly dependent on development of oil and gas resources legitimacy of all political activities in political science, which claims Soviet institutional legacy. It also anti-corruption campaigns!) than external factors. In Azerbaijan, for begins before strong and democratic in the country. If the authorities do that there are nations that want and points out that even in the oil and the processes will develop peacefully, example, the first democratic gov- institutions of government are built, not have restrictions represented by aspire for democracy, and there are gas rich countries such as Russia progressively, even if quickly. In any ernment was unable to survive the there is a high probability that the electorate nor mechanisms of car- (for example, in the Muslim world) and Kazakhstan (which is confirmed case, this series of events will continue political consequences of failures on state will be authoritarian (Terry rying out these restrictions, expect- those, whose culture predisposes by the events in Zhanaozen, on in 2012, perhaps on a larger scale and the Karabakh front and challenges of Lynn Karl, Michael Ross) . In many ing reforms on account of personal them to a perpetual authoritarianism December 17, 2011) or Azerbaijan, more widespread than in late 2011. the complex regional security, along CIS countries takes place a combina- motives and short-term interests of and despotism. “Arab Spring” has the political stagnation cannot (“REGNUM” News Agency - with the economic sanctions set by tion between elites with Soviet men- elites is, at least, a naive thing. The shown that, in the first place, no be forever. “Dialogue of the Seas”)

20 21 HEADINGFOR CIVIL SOCIETY HEADINGFOR CIVIL SOCIETY

order to encourage business it is nec- salaries and pensions of judges have Building civil society is a process its audience and the bigger its symbol- of a large advertiser. No less signifi- essary to liberate it from bureaucratic been raised. that never ends. In Georgia there is ic capital, which can easily be convert- cant are the agreements on informa- obstacles, to reduce and simplify the Tax and customs system have a constant search for new ways of ed into a financial one. Fighting for tion supply with the authorities. Being taxes and to increase considerably also been radically reformed and broadening the rights of its citizens. audiences, the media outlet becomes afraid of losing these contracts, as well the pensions. simplified. The government abolished This is why important changes to the a brand, in case it has a clear editorial as the access to official data, the media The anti-corruption reform was restrictions on exports and imports. Constitution have been done and policy and a position statement of its tries not to criticize the government successfully implemented in the The license to open a business is they come into force in late 2013. own. The classic or the ideal model or at least refrains from harsh com- country. Now Georgia is one of the issued in one day. The main thing in these changes of interaction between the media, the ments or revealing some denigrating least corrupt countries in the world. The public sector went through is - Georgia will go from a presiden- civil society and the government is facts. According to the International Fi- transformations; the salary of public tial to a parliamentary-presidential implemented in countries with a “de- Thirdly, it is the self-censorship: Tamaz BERADZE, PhD, Professor, BSCSIF nance Corporation, in recent years, officers increased by 15 times, the republic. The role of parliament will veloped democracy”. the journalists, with no visible exter- Vice-President, talks about democratic reforms in Georgia over the last decade only 2% of the population of Georgia number of ministries and public offi- be substantially consolidated and it The only ultimate and practical nal pressure, let go of their independ- have given a bribe or heard from cers has been dramatically reduced. will form the government, headed condition for the efficient operation ent position. someone about giving or receiving The education system has un- by the Prime Minister. The President of the media is the economic and po- And fourthly, it is the non-com- A foundation bribes. These progresses have enabled dergone a radical reform: central- will not have the right for legislative litical independence. In this case, the petitive advantages of a certain media a tremendous increase in the state ized examinations were introduced initiative. The main functions of gov- topic priorities and the emphasis are that shouldn’t be earning money on for civil society budget, gave the possibility to raise (single state exam) for applicants to ernance will be in the hands of the determined inside the editorial board printing and paper. They compete on the pension by ten times. universities and school certification Prime Minister. and the quality of the material de- the market with publications that are fter adopting a new Consti- The criminal law also went exams. Schools and universities were pends only on the professionalism of completely self-reliant. tution in August 1995, Geor- through changes. A special law on endowed with legal status under the journalists and their understand- As the vertical power structure gia became a presidential organized crime and racketeering public law, now they are autonomous ing of journalistic ethics. The inde- requires only one communication Arepublic and E. Shevardnadze was undermined the institution of so- entities and their financial activity is pendence of the media is an everlast- channel - from top to bottom and reelected again as the head of state called “thieves by law” (mafia bosses carried out independently. Schools ing debate subject. The “ideal” media from bottom to top - the media must and his party “Union of Citizens of – editor’s note). Moreover, the con- are managed by boards of trustees should have only one principle deter- serve as a link between the govern- Georgia” had majority in the parlia- trol of Prosecutor General Apparatus that elect principals. mining the dependence - the depend- ment and all the rest (which are ment. Even though the elections’ over preliminary investigations has Large reforms have caused pro- ence on the audience. If the reader citizens taken individually, nongov- results reflected the overall mood of been consolidated in order to reduce tests among the population that lost catches a newspaper in a lie, the news- ernmental organizations and busi- the electorate, they were carried on human rights violations. The time its privileges. In November 2007, this paper will lose readers, advertisers nesses). The leaders of Journalism with large irregularities. Corruption for preliminary investigation was led to opposition’s massive protests in and, therefore, its resources. And no from the post-Soviet space consider and nepotism flourished in the coun- reduced from nine to four months, the center of . To obtain a new owner would want that. Media’s eco- that media is the only most accessible try. Criminal clans started to feel while the period under custody - mandate from the people, President nomic weakness leads to weakness at and efficient communication channel confident. The scanty salaries and from 24 to 12 months. Saakashvili has appointed a new elec- Mehman MEHDIYEV, large: the newspapers do not have an between people and the government. Lecturer at the Faculty of Journalism of the Baku pensions were not paid in months. The law enforcement bodies were tion, and voluntarily resigned. At the State University, PhD in History accurate image, reputation, position, Accordingly, the authorities perceive The citizens lived in cold in their subjected to radical changes, State early presidential elections on Janu- and accordingly - influence. the media as a conductor for public apartments because of the deficiency traffic police (GAI) was abolished; ary 5, 2008 he won again and reforms Political (seldom) and economic policy. We have to take into con- of electricity and natural gas. instead, was introduced a system of were continued. Mass media: (always) dependence creates directly sideration that this situation is very Shevardnadze’s authority started police patrols of the American type, Despite the opposition’s activity, or indirectly a series of obstacles for specific: in any event, here, any socio- to go down fast. The next parliamen- delegated with the functions of the Saakashvili and his team didn’t apply economic the normal operation of the press. political and socio-economic activity tary elections in Georgia in 1999 regional police. The criminal police limitations to democracy. Media were First of all, these are the goes through authorities; any problem and 2003 came as no surprise with was reformed and a detectives’ and not subjected to censorship. Opposi- independence restrictions imposed by the owner. is being solved with the participation outrageous violations. People’s indig- inspectors’ office was attached to it, tion’s newspapers and TV stations They are typical for publications of the authorities. nation related to the unfair elections the Emergency Service was modern- operate without any restrictions. The above all established by the government and According to many editors, the led to the peaceful “Rose Revolu- ized, including the fire department. freedom of speech is observed with subsidized by the state budget; the media’s activity is able to strengthen tion” in November 2003. Headed by These changes were accompanied by rigourosity. An important role in the n the classic sense, the media play media receive money for printing the civil society. Newspapers and news M. Saakashvili, a new generation of a sharp raise of salaries for law en- political life of the country is played the role of an intermediary, a link and paper, are not very dependent agencies are trying to cover compe- politicians came to power and they forcement officers. by non-governmental organizations. between a series of factors within on advertising and sales, but should tently at least those topics that do not were very well aware of the fact that The young reformers carried Saakashvili’s reformation activ- Ithe civil society and the state, all these deliver accurately the owner’s affect the interests of the founders and the country would be saved only if out a radical reform of the judiciary ity has completely changed Georgia’s reflected in the English translation of position, which is not always the commercial interests of the edito- radical reform-making and that it’s system and, above all, the practice of aspect. New highways and new tour- the word: media. Media collect, pro- conducive to a successful promotion rial board. The editors believe that it is pointless speaking about democracy lifetime judicial appointments was ist complexes were built. For the cess and spread information to help on the market. important and necessary to have and when an ordinary person is not pro- introduced. The overall legal system last years, the number of tourists citizens becoming familiar with the Second, it is the economic weak- maintain a feedback from readers - tected from the criminal world and has been liberalized. There have been increased by 4 times. Georgia, which subject matter and make the right de- ness. In this case, advertising is pretty nearly everybody has a “questions and corruption, when law enforcement established the Supreme Law School, for many years has been importing cision in this complex and constantly important for the budget of printed answers” column, everyone communi- bodies violate the law. M. Saakashvili the independent Supreme Council almost all energy resources, became changing world. The more successful and online media, reason why it con- cates with the audience via phone calls and his team were convinced that in of Justice. And last but not least, the an exporter of electricity. the press performs this task, the wider ceals the facts being in the detriment and letters. Also, the assistance offered

22 23 HEADINGFOR CIVIL SOCIETY HEADINGFOR CIVIL SOCIETY

to people in solving their individual fore, youth should be given every gressivity in young people. Juvenile goals and a broader scope, the civil tion in their own interests. problems is considered a contribution opportunity for self-realization. delinquency, for example, grows due society is now present everywhere, The “color revolutions” were and to civil society development. This is especially true for the to the fact that young people don’t it seemed to have “dissolved in the are sponsored by American funds If talking about how the media can post-Soviet republics, where young have an occupation. spirit of the times”. such as the National Endowment of provide for the civil society develop- people often don’t know what do to Another reason for the increas- I think that in the civil society of Democracy, International Republi- ment, for the civic stand of individuals, with their lives, become disappoint- ing crime in former USSR coun- the post-communist world (includ- can Institute and Freedom House. then it is necessary to emphasize that ed in it and have no moral compass. tries can be the glaring economic ing the former West and the former The slogan “Enough!”, on which dif- the media play rather an informational Today, every second student is not inequality, which in the absence of third world) circulate a broad-range ferent movements operate, was in- role than a propagandistic one. Its task sure whether he will be in demand an opportunity for self-realization of ideas: from uncompromising op- vented by CANVAS Centre (Centre is not the one of calling upon people in his country. Meanwhile, social of young people provokes them to ponents of communism in the coun- for Applied Non Violent Action and to make a rally, but to inform the citi- guarantees for the young genera- unlawful acts. Corneliu VLAD, tries liberated from this regime to Strategies), established in 1993 in political scientist and journalist (Romania) zens so they know their rights and the tion represent the foundation for The situation largely depends on those who still preach the ideology Serbia against Milosevic and for “ed- methods to protect these rights. When a successful implementation of its the young people themselves. Azer- of Karl Marx. It is therefore essential ucation” of the Serbian opposition. appealing to the media with a certain intellectual, creative and career po- baijani society undergoes a period The honest for civil society not to be percieved “The business of promoting revolu- problem, there is no need to rush and tential that ensures the development of transformations, looks for ideas, - by the elites and the collective tions” made the slogan “Enough!” defame the dormant authorities, you and prosperity of the country. If no institutions, social organizations, protester and mentality - not as right or left as to be featured on rallies in Serbia, can first ask: “Well, what exactly have such guarantees, the youth cannot which would ensure establishing orientation, but simply as a sign of Georgia, Ukraine, Egypt, Syria or you done yourself to solve your prob- find an opportunity to participate integrity and stability for public the NGOs democracy and democratization. In USA. There is nothing spontaneous lem?” For, nothing seek, nothing find. in the resolution of social problems relations. One such method is the fact, this isn’t always the case. If the in planning a “revolutionary mo- The only wish of media experts of the society, to develop a sense of activity of youth political parties he American “Time” maga- post-communist civil society in the ment”, claims Ivo Marovic, a CAN- from the former Soviet countries is responsibility and involvement in and youth movements. The emer- zine named as the Man of West includes both environmental- VAS leader. “Let’s be honest, the CIA to achieve economic self-sufficiency the lives of their communities and gence and spread of such, expresses the year 2011 the collective ists, antiglobalists and altermondial- was involved in all the places where regarding their publications. The gov- thus accomplishing their personal the dissatisfaction of a considerable Timage of the world “protester”: ists, that is, the currents considered it decides to be involved”, says Jack ernment could facilitate this process by growth. As a result, the society suf- share of youth with its financial, so- from “Arab Spring” to “Occupy Wall as predominantly left-wing, then the Rich, a former CIA agent. applying competitive and equal terms fers from the passivity of its poten- cial and political status. At the same Street”. Recent impressive demon- non-profit organizations, anti-com- Yuri Chaika, Prosecutor General to all media when assigning state con- tially most active members. time, in order to raise the prestige strations in Moscow and Bucharest munist and anti-nationalist orienta- of Russia, claimed in one of his in- tracts, by offering infrastructure and One of the tools to overcome a of youth organizations it is neces- can be added to these. “Protesters tion that emerged expressly in the terviews that the Russian opposition thematic grants for journalists. situation like this is a coalition of sary to disseminate the knowledge became again the prime makers of former communist countries, pro- receives foreign funds to organize various youth structures in order to of the best of them, to promote the history”, as argued its choice the claim or suggest with their peculiar their protests against the authorities. represent their interests in the pub- idea of p​​ ersonal involvement of each “ T i m e”. intolerance that they are the only He also mentions that the online so- lic and political life of the society, Azerbaijani in the public life of the What is there in common be- ones to have an exclusive and legal cial networks, which played an im- participation in nation-building and country, to carry out social advertis- tween such diverse movements in right to represent the civil society. portant role in organizing demon- innovative activities, advocacy in ing campaigns that promote true both democratic and less demo- One can ascertain a more obvi- strations in Russia, were particularly addressing youth issues and protec- values in​​ life: work, family, friend- cratic countries? Perhaps - as some ous phenomenon: NGOs are not used by those who adopt extremist tion of youth’s constitutional rights. ship, mercy, tolerance, service to the Western researchers think - the need always quite so independent and positions. In this regard, the legal self- motherland, civic engagement and for a real democracy? For neither dissociated from the state or from Also, when talking to reporters, determination of youth is another responsibility. yesterday’s “socialist” democracy, some influential circles in the coun- Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary important issue for the post-Soviet At present, Azerbaijan’s youth nor the liberal democracy does not try and abroad, as they claim. of the Security Council of Russia, states. Now, most people are not teamed up in 200 non-governmen- fully meet the criteria for a real de- The American Professor Michel spoke of “foreign attempts” to influ- aware of their rights, overlook in- tal, as well as in over 30 interna- mocracy. Chossudovsky pointed out recently ence the attitudes of Russian citizens Orhan MAMMADOV, fringements on them and infringe tional organizations. Young men The complex composition of that the problem of infiltration of in the period before the presidential BSCSIF Project Manager, Vice-President with ease the rights of other citizens. and women of the republic are today this diversified civic phenomenon, trade unions, political parties, eco- election on March 4, the front-run- of Azerbaijan-Romania Youth and Culture Therefore, one of the main represented in public institutions, in which took a global scale, can be nomic interests, security services ner of which is Vladimir Putin. It Association objectives should become - the hu- the parliament. Thus, during 2008- considered one of the historical into social movements, as well as is being done “by means of various manistic and legal education. 2011, 60% of those recruited in pub- events of the early XXI century. All NGOs financed by such forces, nonprofit organizations and founda- Guarantees for When it comes to contemporary lic institutions were representatives these protest movements have one manipulation of their leaders or tions and sometimes even directly”. youth, the most debated things are: of the youth. 28% of the members of similar feature: overall, the non- their bribery is no news and behind So far, there are hundreds of self-realization its lack of spirituality and social apa- municipalities are also young peo- profit organizations (NGOs) appear all is a long-time practiced tradi- thousands of NGOs registered in thy, poor health and unemployment, ple. All of this shows a steady for- and operate openly or stealth. The tion. Local authorities and elites on the world, having the most generous of the young rising crime and drug addiction. mation of a developed civil society civil society has become a binding one hand and foreign forces on the programs aiming at the wholesome The steady growth of crime is of in Azerbaijan, and represents a sym- constitutive part of any democracy. other, dispose of such levers to ei- development of mankind. They o build a state with a devel- particular concern. Active promo- bol of strengthening the democratic But it is still marked by uncertainty. ther create and maintain the protest are extremely useful in conquering oped civil society and to live tion of violence on television, on structure of the government, a guar- With a long tradition, dating back movement and “fabricate a dissi- new heights of democracy, but only in it - lies ahead of primarily internet, game consoles - all this antee for respecting human rights to antiquity and revived in the XIX dence”, or to crack the movement, to under condition of not betraying the Tthose who are young now. There- contributes only to cultivating ag- and for decent standards of living. century, with even more challenging compromise or change its orienta- mission assumed.

24 25 HEADINGFOR CIVIL SOCIETY BSCSIFCHRONICLE теxт and photo: VYACHESLAV SAMOSHKIN

Following from page19 The lack of publicity and transparency Besides, there have been created for tender procedures, organizers’ lack mechanisms that report the opinions According to a nationwide of interest in the results and efficiency of citizens and their associations at survey, 1.13% of economically active of the projects are flagged as being the different levels of decision-making: population in Russia is part-time or main deficiencies. public chambers of the subjects full-time employed in NGOs. In 2011 was for the first time im- of the Federation, municipalities, One of the main reasons for plemented a program on financing public and advisory councils in most underdevelopment of this sector socially-oriented non-profit organiza- ministries and agencies (52 councils), consists in the fact that many tions. The total financing of its activi- councils of trustees, councils of Russians do not trust NGOs. ties amounted to 880 million rubles. supervisors or experts under regional Those who declare their trust in and local authorities; think tanks as these organizations, most often Legislation independent NGOs that examine mention agencies of consumer In 2007-2011, 26 federal laws regu- the situation and develop socio- protection, labor unions and veteran lating the activities of NGOs were economic policies. associations, gardening and cottage adopted. But there has emerged a However, the implementation associations, associations of persons need to develop a fundamentally of a significant number of the stated with disabilities. new federal law “on non-commercial above is either formal or deficient. organizations” that establishes the list The problems of financing of forms of non-profit organizations, Recommendations for civil Synergy on NGOs regulates the procedure of establish- society strengthening According to sociological data, most ment, registration, reorganization In order to form and defend efficient- Russian NGOs are economically and liquidation of NGOs, sets up a ly its interests, contributing to the

very weak. Only up to one-fifth unified and comprehensive list of progressive and dynamic develop- the Bosphorus Istanbul welcomed us with a rainy, cold weather. Two days later, of them have enough means for requirements for their incorpora- ment of the country, the civil society the sky cleared up. implementing their agendas, tion documents. From a legal point needs to meet a series of criteria. while nearly the same percentage of view, a unified legal status for First, favorable conditions stanbul is more and more persis- Mediterranean Sea-Black Sea-Caspian Being a fermentation of organizations are right on non-profit organizations must be must be created for the activities of tent in bringing back its title of Sea space as one single region. Which factor the verge of survival, making consolidated, irrespective of their NGOs, and citizens must participate world axis, which once belonged is why, on this session, also not ran- their achievements solely due organizational and legal forms. The actively in their work. An important to its Byzantine predecessor, domly, two more countries from Medi- to enthusiasm, and most NGOs second should be a federal law “on indicator of civic engagement in the Constantinople. That is why, the terranean basin joined the Fund: Mon- experience lack of funds. non-profit activities” that regulates country and of the level of social meeting of the Board of Directors of tenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina Foreign grants are being cut uniformly the activities of non-profit solidarity represents the development Ithe International Fund for Cooperation (Serbia joined it a year ago). A member down. When making decisions on organizations, NGOs’ property is- of various forms of philanthropy and and Partnership of the Black Sea and the of the Fund also became Belarus, funding NGOs, business commu- sues, their accountability and control volunteerism. Caspian Sea (BSCSIF) was particularly which belongs, in terms of political ge- nities are guided, as a rule, by the over their activities. Second, independent media reasonable to be held in the city on ography, to the Black Sea basin, for the opinion of the authorities and prefer Over the last decade a serve as a tool for monitoring the Bosporus, as the Fund is not only mighty Dnieper River that flows into supporting only “authorized” pro- formalization of relations between the civic activity, informing the building bridges between countries and the Black Sea crosses also the entire jects. Therefore, under these condi- NGOs and federal government authorities and the public about the peoples of the Black Sea - Caspian Sea Belarusian land. And if to consider that tions, there is only one alternative for has occurred. A series of civil multidirectional public desires. region; it has openings onto all four Belarus is, along with Russia and Ka- The main aspects of the Fund’s ac- NGOs: either government support or forums were held, in 2004 was Thirdly, the civil society is, as parts of the world. It is no coincidence zakhstan, a part of the Customs Union tivity at this stage were described donations and volunteer help from formed the State Council of the usual, most active at the level of local that the sessions of the meeting were and now also of the emerging Eurasian in an interview to “DS” by Viktor KH- the community. Russian Federation for civil society authorities. Namely at the local level held afield the 15th Eurasian Economic Economic Union then its accession to MARIN, BSCSIF President. State funding that comes to development and human rights, the citizens solve vital problems Summit, the guest of which was BSCSIF. the Fund is more than natural. First of all we are filling our ranks. Our replace foreign grants, supports and since 2006 operates the Public concerning the arrangement of their Geopolitical scientists define the Details – in our article. Fund is opened to those who accept mainly social projects and is loyal Chamber of Russia. living space. to NGOs, while human rights and In these years, there have been And one more thing. The modern environmental NGOs, along with adopted federal laws and programs state must ensure the existence of think tanks are poorly funded. that support the development of non- a unified legal framework for the Most known are the tenders profit organizations through estab- whole country, equality of each for getting “Presidential Grants”. In lishing target capital (2006), develop- individual before the law. Without 2011 “Presidential Grants” for NGOs ing philanthropy and volunteerism judicial independence, the existence amounted to 1 billion rubles. At the (July 2009), procedures that facilitate of civil society is under threat. same time, NGOs and experts criticize NGOs’ registration and accountabil- Informational transparency of roughly the procedures and mecha- ity (2010), also that support social the authorities is a prerequisite for nisms for the distribution of grants. oriented NGOs (April 2010). dialogue with civil society. At the Conference Hall of the Alkoclar Keban Hotel

26 27 BSCSIFCHRONICLE BSCSIFCHRONICLE

and respect the charter and contribute interested entity, be it governmental he representative of Montenegro, Ilija KAZIC (B & C MONTENEGRO), accepted as a member of the Board of to the achievement of the goals and or a public one will extract out of T Directors and elected as a Vice-President to the Fund shared his objectives stated in this charter. And there the necessary information, will plans with us: the most important task is – rap- find potential partners able to offer – I have been in this business for a long time. The main area of my prochement of the countries and their resources for achieving some activity refers to trade, consulting and investments. I also represent peoples of the region by means of dia- particularly important national and the interests of certain companies on the Montenegrin and Ser- logue and cooperation. regional objectives. bian markets. For most of my life I lived in Russia, Serbia and Mon- Second, at this point we want to To summarize, I would say that tenegro, which is enough argument for becoming a member of build our strategy, or, as they say, the the Fund should serve as a kind of the Black Sea - Caspian Sea Fund. Montenegro is the place where East and West meet. The region is interesting because it connects of our organization, which fermentation factor for a dynamic the Adriatic Sea to the continental part of the Central and South- would contain clearly enunciated pur- development of the countries in the Eastern Europe. This is a venue of great prospects for economic poses, objectives and prospects. This region. We believe that joining the development: in tourism, energy, infrastructure... A very important entails: the character of our activity efforts will generate the so-called syn- branch of my work is culture and I hope that I will be most helpful on a short and long run, the principles ergistic effect, and if we gather around in this area, because we have experience in organizing exhibi- tions. At the Moscow House of Artists we organized an exhibition and tools necessary for it. And we’re us a lot of prominent people, profes- SCSIF Vice-President and Secretary General, of Montenegrin painters and Russian artists that reflected my not disconnected from the current sionally accomplished that profess the Eldar HASANOV has always plenty of ideas B country in their works. Now, with the assistance of the ministries events in Europe; we are informed same ideas that we do at the Fund, and contaminates others with his energy. One of of culture of Turkey and Montenegro, we are going to make a film his initiatives is to establish young project-team about the activity of European Union, it will be a great thing, because each about a fascinating page of history - the friendship between our groups in all Fund member-countries, following public organizations, intergovernmen- member of our Fund has a certain King Nikola and Osman Pasha during the war with the Turks... tal associations and, of course, take all amount of young workforce, meaning, Bucharest’s experience, which has been already adopted by Turkey this into account for our activity. young people and experts that take on Third, we are currently looking different tasks. In turn, our problem- to solve technical problems related atic gives them real experience and to the ongoing activities of the Fund, sharpens their skills, in order to cre- including – to ensure a good commu- ate, ultimately, a certain reputation for nication. Today, for instance, we have their career growth. And this is also a listened to a report about communica- fundamental objective of the Fund - tion platform. What is it good for? It to try, as they say, cultivating reason, he activities gives us the opportunity to solve kindness and eternal values. The use- Tregarding the quickly our problems online, getting ful things that we want to promote zenita OZGUNER was appointed formulation of the connected to whomever we need or in the countries of the region will be Dby the Board of Directors as BSCSIF Fund’s Strategy-2020 organizing teleconferences for any promoted by particular people. The Vice-President, representing Bosnia and will be coordinated number of our members and invited more supporters orbiting the Fund we Herzegovina. by its Vice-President experts. Besides that, we will naturally have, the more effectively it will work “I graduated from the Faculty of International Lydia ROMANCIUC put together a project database, cover- and the more successful the civil soci- Relations at the Middle East Technical Uni- (the Republic of versity in Ankara”, she said during our discus- ing economic, cultural and environ- ety will form. Moldova), which sion. “After that, I worked as Economic Advisor keeps track vigilantly mental fields. And this database will The more public organizations to the Ambassador of Montenegro to Ankara, on the programs be accessible to all interested. We will that set similar goals for themselves, looking for broadening the economic rela- and plans of the elarus will be represented in the design it, develop it, refine it and post the better. So, let us unite and work tions between Turkey and Montenegro. Now, European Union Board of Directors by the businessman it for general use. This means that any on it! B in Bosnia and Herzegovina I deal with the Vitali BUZDUGAN cooperation between my country and Azer- baijan. Bosnia and Herzegovina is preparing he representation of Serbia has changed: as a that works at the Council of Europe. And it is to join the EU and NATO, and I think that in the Tmember of the Board of Directors and BSCSIF very important for our placement in Brussels, coming period we will have plenty to do in the Vice-President of this country, in place of Prof. Strasbourg and, of course, in the whole region cultural, social and economic fields, and since D.Tanaskovic was elected Mirjana PRLJEVIC, as well as in other regions... Why did we join my field of activity is economic relations be- he work of the BSCSIF Commission on special adviser on business strategy, holder the Fund? For starters, I was convinced by such tween the countries, especially between Mon- TInnovation and Investment was highly of a consulting company called “Menora” with a respectable and influential person as Mr. tenegro and Turkey, and now also between appreciated at the meeting. According to its headquarters in Belgrade and a branch in Paris. Ambassador, E. Hasanov is. I think that this is a Bosnia and Azerbaijan, as I am the head of the President, Mikhail ZERNOV, the electronic Here is what she said: favorable opportunity for us, because the joint Friendship Fund between Bosnia and Herze- portfolio of the Commission has already – I am also the co-founder and International efforts of the civil society and economic entities govina and Azerbaijan in Sarajevo, I think I can 90 projects, including very large ones. The Secretary General of the Association of South- of our region are very empathic when united. In make a really good contribution to the Black Commission has established relations Eastern European NGOs, named “CIVIS”; its this case, I agree one hundred percent with this Sea - Caspian Sea Fund in economic and cul- with many regions of Russia, the Russian object of activity is the civil society in South- integration approach and will participate in tural terms. I will do my best to broaden these military-industrial complex, it works on Eastern Europe and especially in Belgrade. We the long-term cooperation between the Fund’s relations, not only between the countries of environmental projects, including within are very proud to be the only non-governmental member-countries. I hope this collaboration will be the region, but also between countries of the UN Development Programme, with organization in the South-Eastern Europe successful and new countries will join it. Europe and Asia as a whole. Azerbaijan, Turkey and Ukraine

28 29 BSCSIFCHRONICLE BSCSIFCHRONICLE

Dialogues in Istanbul lexander RETUEV, Project Director at Russian Technologies State А Corporation, presented to the audience the most interest­ing in­ formation about a communication portal that can help the Fund in the promotion of investment projects and implementation ld friends Eldar interactive online communication between all the units and Hasanov and departments and ultimately – in strengthening BSCSIF’s role in the O Ismail SAFI work establishment of economic cooperation in the region. hard to strengthen the Bucharest- Istanbul axis

nother important event: on May A17-18 will be held the 2nd Istanbul n recent years, we have met Zhildyz OSKON- World Political Forum, also known as the IBAEVA, BSCSIF Vice-President from Kyrgyzstan “small Davos”. It will be hosted under the fewer times. Old friends and colleagues greeted patronage of Turkey’s Prime-Minister, her warmly in Istanbul. Zhildyz talked about the Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The details about reasons for her absence: the event were communicated to the – I have been working very tight with the Ameri- participants of the session by the President can University “VirginiaTech” on a project aimed of the Forum and the Chief Inspector to the at supporting law enforcement agencies in the Prime-Minister, Ahmet Eyüp OZGUC countries of Central Asia and South-Eastern Eu- rope and at the creation of conditions for mutual cooperation between these bodies. United States and Turkey have participated at this project. The main attention was paid to central-asian coun- tries, particularly to Kyrgyzstan, because of drug trafficking coming fromA fghanistan to Europe. I am also a member of the Administrative Coun- cil of the Research Institute of European and American Studies (RIEAS) in Athens, where I deal s individual members were also accepted: the with processes that occur in Central Asia, in Kyr- diplomat and scholar Vasile SOARE (Romania), A gyzstan and analyze in particular the problem of BSCSIF Project Team Manager Orhan MAMMADOV Russia’s and USA’s military presence in the coun- n impressive report on the activity of the BSCSIF Istanbul branch was presented (Azerbaijan), Dmytro KULIBABA and Hikmet JAVADOV tries of this region and the prospects of it. In one by its Secretary General, Togrul VELI (in the photo –on the left) and Director (Ukraine), Vitaly BUZDUGAN, Valentina ALBU and Mihaela MITU (Romania). A of my other studies, I drew parallels between the of the branch, member of the Turkish Parliament, Dr. Ismail SAFI spoke about the We have managed to talk with some of them: Soviet Union and the European Union and wrote major events to be held this year in Istanbul with the participation of the Fund. about Soviet Union’s mistakes that mustn’t be Among them, the BSEC Summit to be held on the occasion of the 20th anniversary Dmytro KULIBABA, Chief Editor of “The implementing in Ukraine the projects repeated by the EU. of the organization (24 June) and the Black Sea NGO Forum. I.Safi also presented Word of Azerbaijan” (Kiev): related to youth and to the develop- Together with my American counterparts in the regional Turkish magazine “Eco Avrasiya” issued by the Association of Eurasian – Our newspaper is published in Kiev ment of journalism. USA, I own a company dealing with the rela- Economic Relations, a brother of “Dialogue of the Seas” and is distributed for the Azerbaijani tions between America and Eurasia (American- Diaspora. We are also developing Mihaela MITU, Eurasian Exchange Company). We provide for interactive television and radio for a student at the support for the national programs of Eurasian SCSIF’s ranks were filled with new and Caspian seas are experiencing now a a better integration of Azerbaijani University of countries and federal grants for them. I keep a Bmembers - legal persons. Among fantastic economic growth. According to Diaspora into the Ukrainian society. I Bucharest, Faculty of permanent and close contact with the Kyrgyz them, the Romanian companies some studies, the resources in the Black am also the Vice-President of the NGO Foreign Languages ​​ academic environment. UPETROM and ROMINFOLINE and Russian Sea are much richer than in the North “Pulse of Democracy”. We have several (Romania). The As for the cooperation in the Black Sea-Caspian companies “Stroykonstruktsiya” and Sea. And taken with the Caspian reserves projects that entail courses about the work at the Sea basin, I would have suggested a business “Teplotsentrstroy”. we can talk about one of the major energy basics of journalism for young people Romania-Azerbaijan exhibition, where all these countries would We talked with President of UPETROM basins of the world. Immediately after and legal practice that provides help Bilateral Chamber equally participate at the same time. For exam- Group, Gabriel COMANESCU: energy, this entails politics. These two for minorities and Ukrainians. We have of Commerce and ple, why would Kyrgyzstan need to purchase “I am a marine engineer” - he said. things are mutually connected. To have also educational projects on teaching Industry brought certain products from China or Iran, when it “UPETROM Group provides for services control over the energy means to have both Azeri and Ukrainians Ukrain- her to BSCSIF: can purchase better and cheaper goods from in oil industry, or rather, does offshore political power. Therefore, I consider ian and Azerbaijani language. Our – I want to con- Azerbaijan or Kazakhstan?... And due to such an drilling in the Black, Caspian and Azov our entry into the Black Sea - Caspian cooperation with the Fund has begun centrate my youthful energy on exhibition the producers and consumers from seas, participates at the construction of Sea International Cooperation Fund a since the fall of 2011. Once the heads good deeds within the Fund, to gain our countries would get acquainted well with South Stream” pipeline. We are particularly good sign and I think that we can bring a of our organization were admitted experience on projects, to learn each other’s offers. And to organize such an honored to be a part of the Fund. Black substantial contribution to its activity. to the Fund we are ready to begin many things... exhibition is fully in virtue of our Fund...

30 31 BSCSIFCHRONICLE EXlibris photo: archives

Society column flashes: n the restaurant of Ritz Carlton Hotel, Dr. Akkan SUVER, the SCO meets the challenges IPresident of Marmara Group Foundation, the main organizer of the 15th Eurasian Economic Summit welcomes the guests. Dr. Akkan Suver is also BSCSIF Vice-President; that is why this Summit’s of the “three forces” “bronze” anniversary became a holiday for the members of the Black Sea-Caspian Sea Fund, too. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which entered into the second decade of its existence, draws the special attention of political scientists and researchers. Books and studies on it are being published. And this is no coincidence, as the central part of the Eurasian continent is a place where many lines of action of the global geopolitics converge. The Shanghai Organization is primarily an instrument for ensuring stability and security in this most significant region.

After this ceremony, was held a fashion show hosted by the famous Turkish designer Mehtap Elaidi. At the same place, Ell & Nikki duo he total area of ​​the SCO member states – of Kazakh- The book - “SCO’s Development Strategy and Russia’s from Azerbaijan, the winners of Eurovision 2011, charmed the audience with their performance (photo on top). stan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbeki- policy in this organization” (Moscow, 2012) - includes stan – represents three fifths out of the Eurasian area, the following studies: “The problems of development strate- the population is 1.5 billion people, or more than one gy of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization” (A.Bolyatko), Farewell dinner at the residence of the government fifth out of the total population of the globe, the total “Multifactorial1 analysis of SCO’s integration potential” GDP of SCO countries exceeds $18 trillions. SCO’s potential and its (N.Serebryakova); “Is it possible to create a new “Shang- Tresources are owing to, primarily, Russia and China being part of hai Initiative”: on the matter of establishing Eurasian Union” this organization, which are also UN Security Council permanent (V.Zimonin and S.Onischuk), etc. members, countries with huge complementary potential. India, Mongolia, Iran and Pakistan are also among SCO’s observers. V.Serebryakova’s study on “Shanghai Cooperation Organ- The authors of the book “The Shanghai Cooperation Organiza- ization: the multilateral tradeoff inC entral Asia” (2011) fo- tion: the emergence of a new reality” (I.Komissina and A. Kurtov, cuses on the problem of self-identification of the Central-Asian Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, Moscow, 2005) emphasize region, which has become once again the scene of competition that SCO was established as a response to the sharp intensification of between2 the world’s leading powers. It reveals the secrets and destabilizing forces in the region: (the “three forces”, according to the some of the nuances of Chinese policy in Central Asia, ana- Chinese terminology) international terrorism, religious extremism lyzes the incentives that contribute to the consolidation of SCO’s and separatism. Another motive was to settle the border issues with integration potential. China, and that has already been done. The authors of this book have genuinely topical considerations The study of A.Bykov - “Economic cooperation within SCO: regarding the USA’s attempts to use for their own purposes the fight main directions and prospects of development” (Moscow, against terrorism, to encourage the overthrow of national political Flinta Publishing, 2011) - introduces the readers to the stag- regimes in Central Asia by means of “color revolutions”, points of es of SCO’s development and the prospects for its transforma- view stated by particular American experts. tion into a multi-purpose regional structure. The book exam- Some works on SCO express a concern of its members’ repre- ines3 the specifics of the cooperation between Russia and Chi- sentatives regarding the fact that it’s not the Great Silk Road that passes na within SCO. t is impossible to visit Istanbul today through these countries, but the Great heroin road. Over the last Iand not to bow before Hagia decade, the volume of narcotics exported from Afghanistan, where The study of Y.Nikitina “CSTO and SCO: models of regional- Sofia, once the stronghold of U.S. and NATO troops are present, has increased by ten times straight. ism in the field of security” (Moscow, NavonaP ublishing, Orthodoxy. That is why the heads USA calls the Central Asia a vital region for it. As stated in 2009) analyzes the strategies of the Collective Security Treaty of the “Dialogue of the Seas” a recent report of the U.S. State Department, the region must be Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in magazine in the face of BSCSIF taken under control of the United States. The international media the field of regional security on the post-Soviet space. A partic- Vice-President, Prof. Tamaz and the literature on SCO, in general, notes that Washington is ular4 emphasis is put on theories of regional integration. BERADZE and Vyacheslav SAMOSHKIN hastened to he BSCSIF “East Wing” at full strength: working tirelessly to prevent the strengthening of the Chinese, Sultanahmet Square when had a TBSCSIF Vice-President Zhildyz OSKONBAYEVA Russian and Iranian influence in Central Asia. And this is another On its 10th anniversary, SCO is timed to release the book free moment... (Kyrgyzstan) and BSCSIF Vice-President argument for the SCO to strengthen the cooperation in economy, “SCO in focus: interviews and speeches” (Beijing, 2011). Its Acad. Dossym SULEEV (Kazakhstan) finance and defense policy, in order to prevent the occurrence of author, Zhang Deguang, the first Secretary General of the SCO, force majeure situations, not to mention – of a great war. former Deputy Foreign Minister of People’s Republic of China, The participants of the BSCSIF “Summit” sent greetings to the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev on the Further, we shall introduce the readers to some recently pub- former ambassador of People’s Republic of China to Russia, the occasion of their election as heads of states. lished books on SCO. President5 of the China Foundation for International Studies. Istanbul - Bucharest

32 33 ideasand People ideasand People photo: archives

a certain angle and, therefore, recommend the correspond- The consequences of “raiding” ent applicable way to protect these rights, but tomorrow the It just seems that these attacks are directed at a certain “ Raiding” economic practicality changes for some reason and so does property owner. In fact, “raiding” as a phenomenon leads to the applicability. Moreover, the initial position of the higher increased unemployment, and, as a consequence, to crime, judiciary institutions can be dictated by the position of the tax evasion, increase of corruption within public sector em- parties’ potential lobbying in a particular case (or a category ployees and representatives of judiciary institutions, to the in the modern Russia of cases with homogenous parties) on various verticals of monopolization of certain segments of the market, to dam- power, and the subsequent change of the legal position may aging and decline of the remaining production industry in be based on the fact that the sources of lobbying have run out the country. Being USSR’s legal successor, or the lobby itself has fallen into disgrace, etc. Through the Eventually all this leads to the decline of Russia’s com- issuance of judicial bulletins and journals, decisions of ple- petitiveness on the domestic market and in international Russia has maintained, in the nums or newsletters higher courts notify the lower courts to economic relations in areas where products manufactured mind of its ruling elite and even change their position and, later on, the members of civil rela- in the country are still in demand. tions in business, already subjected to or just about to start A direct consequence of the seemingly legal, but factu- the population as a whole, title of a lawsuit, find out too that not everything from the previous ally criminal seizure of property is the discrediting of rep- “superpower” . This inner feeling is judicial practice is entirely true, and maybe not true at all. resentatives of federal and regional authorities, law enforce- Thus, the inconsistencies of judicial practice, as well ment bodies and courts, which leads to even a larger legal reinforced by its raw material wealth. as the gaps in law, create weak, vulnerable subjects of civil nihilism throughout the society layers. relations – entrepreneurs who are actually vulnerable to The judicial system offers to “raiding” an effective sup- But the presence of that wealth raider attacks coming from bold, unscrupulous, cunning, port, therefore the forced confiscation of another’s property played a cruel joke with the country. well-trained “lawyers” and “economists”... in the field of enterprise is secured with the highest-quality judicial decisions. P sychological reasons “Taking away” property through lawsuit is the basis of Elena MIKHNO, lawyer, Candidate of Legal Sciences It is particularly difficult for those enterprises that on top raider seizure of business, during which the sale of property of all produce something. There is no doubt that assets is technically made at low prices, unfavorable commitments here is only one prospering sector in the Gaps in legislation exist there. How did they get there is already a question of are deliberately imposed to the legal entity, as in, the com- economic sphere – the trade with raw mate- In lawmaking, the basis of “raiding” was the ability of run- another study, for, in the times of collapse of empire with pany, consequently bringing it to insolvency and liquida- rial. The state budget and even the entire ning through the State Duma any laws or amendments its state-owned property, forcibly nationalized earlier from tion. social system are built on it. Nevertheless, thereto, which distorts sometimes so much the content of the primary rightful owners, it’s not likely to expect a fair The rest of the operations: the actual takeover of a the adverse effects of raw material wealth are the already existing legislation, that it becomes impossible privatization for everybody. For the legal nihilism pierced building, of the facility or of another object is just the vis- visible even at the present moment. One of the severest - to apply the law directly, or provides such a large scope for the society from bottom to top and was formed just by ible consequence of the adopted and entered into legal force Thijacking businesses or “raiding” - is mainly caused by the legal interpretation that both the letter and the spirit of the fact that the majority of Russia’s population was not judicial act, which doesn’t have any retroactive perspective. deepening contradiction between the right and the law the law originally grounded by the legislator, get lost. allowed to participate at the process of partition and redis- within Russia’s current legal structure. The “raiding business” started to chalk out after 2003. tribution of property in the 90s. And this holds the key to Takeover techniques Many lawyers offer a legal definition to this phenom- Large, reputable companies have been created, proudly re- the psychological reasons for “raiding”. and the powerlessness of courts enon. Yet, the verbal casuistry is only making it harder to ferred to as consulting or law firms. They are concentrated Those who haven’t been admitted to the redistribution The juridical practice has the following popular cases of fight against it. Since “raiding” is theft, then we must fight mainly in Moscow, but they deal with the assets from every- of property goods, consider it unfair and, therefore, try to illegal activities associated with the takeover of corporate it using appropriate methods. But, in order to make these where in Russia. Experienced lawyers, economists, auditors resolve this injustice as they can. governance: deliberately inserting into the minutes of the methods efficient, it is necessary to determine precisely able to properly manipulate with the gaps and contradictions Who has the talent, skills, desire and ability to acquire general meeting or extracting from it, as well as from other the causes of this phenomenon and to identify efficient in the legislation, work there. And they see nothing wrong new knowledge and is also not burdened by the inner documents that reflect the progress and results of voting, preventative measures to defeating it. with the weaning another’s property. Indeed, weaning from a sense of behavior’s “sinfulness”, climb quickly the career false information about the number of voters, the quorum At present, Russia has no development ideology, and weaker, less skilled and tenacious owner a valuable asset that ladder in the business of the legal – as they formally in- or voting results; knowingly writing a false list of persons the economic system built is unable to design and organ- fell to his lot due to, in their opinion, random luck, is kind terpret it – weaning of people’s property and become vir- entitled to participate in a general meeting; deliberately ize, first of all, the industry on a large-scale. The altogeth- of in the spirit of the time, especially as the gaps in the law tuosos of raider takeovers, from which even the really big false counting votes or false recording ballots; deliberately er used fixed assets, facilities and factories, power and allow achieving the goals, with impunity. But such a point of companies that function, practically, since the times of So- and unlawfully refuse the party, a member of the board in nuclear plants were built back in the Soviet Union times. view expresses the legal nihilism that has recently become viet Union could not escape. Consulting and legal services registering for participation in the meeting of the Board, The lack of a progressive development focused on the peculiar to many people, starting with those involved in the impeccably furnished, in the sense of being able to avoid blocking or restricting actual access of the member of the establishment of new industries has led to the need for a process of law-making to the ordinary citizens who sincerely criminal prosecution, are no different from breaking into company, a member of the Board to vote by countering forced redistribution of property and businesses based on consider themselves law-abiding. For many people, including a house and stealing someone else’s property. The asset his right to access the premise where the Board meeting redundant and inconsistent legislation. This background for most lawyers, the concept of legality can be substituted of the enterprise is the property of the owner. If the state takes place and so on. In order to prove these facts during stimulated the emergence of “raiding”, being in fact the with the concept of economic practicality. Hence, the situ- doesn’t reveal any violation of the property rights acquisi- arbitration case hearings, the court has no right to extract ultimate manifestation of disrespect for the law in busi- ation where judicial practice is unpredictable: now all the tion and there is no court decision in this regard nor any documents, to perform searches, to bring a witness against ness, a dangerous phenomenon, which, if continued to be court decisions are made so and not otherwise due to the fact sentence for the owner, the State should by all means pro- his will, as well as other rights required for the prompt and indirectly sustained by public authorities, could lead to that the Supreme Arbitration Court or the Supreme Court of tect the possessor of this right. Otherwise, sooner or later, proper scrutiny. In many cases, the arbitrator will see that the collapse of the state. the Russian Federation see the essence of legal disputes from the state will collapse under the pressure of raider attacks. illegal acts related to the seizure of an enterprise are com-

34 35 ideasand PEOPLE ATTHE CROSSROADS OF CULTURES projects,projects теxт: Mihai Sandu photo: archives

mitted, but in reality the arbitrary court is unable to react to it effectively. In such a situation it is necessary to develop a procedural legislation also. An important role in the raider attack system play The progress the law enforcement bodies. Their activity has become an integral part of the explicit theft of people’s property through raider takeovers. Practically, every attempt of is measured in projects such a takeover enjoys a clear visible or well-disguised assistance from prosecutors, police. They have a large ar- project is more than an in- interest and in the end cruising on the Black senal of influence upon the “undisciplined” businessmen vestment in a particular field. Sea together with prominent representatives and senior managers: searches, detentions and arrests, By definition alone, project of the coastal countries. “Do we all want the whereas in the current legislation it is very difficult to “Light management involves constant Black Sea to become a truly important point find explicit violations that would result in an immediate evolution, dynamism, and on the world map? “Black Sea – A Fortune”, and unconditional release of the businessmen, investor, investing in progress. This is primarily valid meaning - the treasure, which hasn’t been head of the firm. your fire!” Afor organizations aiming at dynamism, in- mastered yet in terms of tourism and invest- Baku is preparing surprises novation and investment, especially in such ment and which is to be mastered”- sais Ralu- The need for a change an unstable region like the Black Sea and the ca Clotaru, one of the initiators of the project. If referring to Russian circumstances, “raiding” has a neg- hile its first performance at Eurovision was Caspian Sea. The project is under development and will be ative impact on investment attractiveness of the domestic in 2008, Azerbaijan managed to take the During the past year, the International Mihai Sandu, submitted for funding within the Black Sea economy – it is one of the additional risks for investing, as first place already at its fourth participa- Fund for Cooperation and Partnership of the BSCSIF Project Coordinator Joint Operational Programme, implemented well a reason for “flight” of capital from Russia. As long as tion with its golden duo of Eli and Nikki, Black Sea and the Caspian Sea (BSCSIF), due by the European Commission. the “raiding” exists in such proportions, there will be no Win the last year. And now Azerbaijan, or rather its capital of to a young project team that has proven its ambition and pro- Going on with the series of projects that aim at improv- normal development for business in Russia. This uncom- Baku, is ready to surprise the world again - this time as the fessionalism, was able to successfully implement three youth ing the quality of life in the region, Fund’s next initiative is forting finding should serve as an impetus for the elabora- organizer of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. Indeed, all projects, receiving European funds worth about €75,000. What pointed at the situation in which children drop out of school. tion of appropriate public policy against “raiding”. There interested to see this grandiose spectacle or to take part at it are the next steps and vectors of activity that would allow BSC- The project entitled “Do not leave school!” provides for an in- have been many attempts to develop such policies, but the must prepare themselves for a lot of surprises. SIF strengthening and multiplying the results of 2011? depth statistical analysis of the clearly marked region, along situation remains unchanged. Built particularly for this event, Baku Crystal Hall, The first major project on which the work is already in full with the organization of a broad campaign on information, Altogether, this phenomenon is growing: each new where from 22 to 26 May will be held a contest of singers, swing, is comprised of monitoring and analysis of the “frozen” by means of which, as stressed by one of the main authors raider seizure stimulates the processes of criminal bank- amazes with its size: it can accommodate over 23 thousand conflicts in the Black Sea- Caspian Sea area and provides for of the project, Roxana Raceu, “First of all, we want to draw ruptcies and hostile takeovers. If there will be no effec- people. The palace is located on the National Flag Square, planning a comprehensive study on the evolution of conflicts the attention of the public and authorities to this unwanted tive countermeasures, then this type of banditry begins which has a view to the Caspian Sea and promises to the in Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria, Abkhazia and South Os- phenomenon and to find together constructive solutions for to spread rapidly from the center to the periphery. audience an unforgettable experience. Also, quite unique is setia, which will include objectives, such as: evaluation and taking down the barriers that stand in children’s way to the If the contradiction between the right and the law the logo chosen for the competition: a fiery flower, which search for possible solutions for improving the current situa- future”. Subsequently, the project will focus on active mo- will not be eliminated, and if the State with all its power contains Azerbaijan’s specific symbols - fire, sun, stars and tion. Moreover, thanks to the cooperation with distinguished bilization fieldwork and will be concluded with a summer of coercion will not become a guarantor of rights aimed moon - under the slogan “Light your fire!”. The President of figures and institutions in the region, the project will benefit school designed for the main target group. The project will be at the protection of property, there is a risk of citizens’ Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is monitoring in person the prepa- in terms of professionalism and correctness, which may even- implemented in Romania, implying its further circulation in disappointment in democracy and law, because they rations for this international event and has already signed tually lead to invigorating the dialogue and cooperation in all Black Sea - Caspian Sea states. At present, it is at the initial evaluate the values ​​by results. the decree “on simplification of visa procedures”, which al- conflict zones. “Taking into consideration that the problem stage of development, and its managers will seek for funds It is also necessary to rethink the national financial lows foreigners who arrive to the Republic of Azerbaijan for of “frozen conflicts” has not only a regional, but also inter- through a special program of the European Social Fund. policies and use the proceeds of the federal and regional Eurovision 2012 obtaining visas at the airport. national importance, it must be treated most seriously and Last but not least, one of the most important projects budgets for the revival of industry as the foundation of Analyzing the songs of the 42 participating countries, represents to our organization a paramount concern”, - says of the organization is “World Youth Democracy Forum” in the economy. Combining it with a full-scale reform pro- the largest bookmaker agencies forecast the leadership of Andrada Dinu, one of the specialized developers. The project Romania, which provides for the organization of various cess in the fields of lawmaking and law enforcement will Sweden’s representative, the singer of Moroccan-Berber ori- is implemented on private funding, at the initiative of BSCSIF forms of youth debates on topics regarding democracy. These allow fighting efficiently against “raiding” and even com- gins named Loreen, followed by “Buranovskiye babushki” Secretary General, His Excellency, Ambassador Eldar Hasa- debates can take place, for example, on the occasion of organ- pletely eliminating it. In the meantime, no Russian or from Russia. Furthermore, a stage “veteran” is sent to the nov, and receives also support from the authorities of Azer- izing a summer school in Romania, to further advance this foreign businessman will feel completely secure, as there competition by the UK: it will be represented by the popu- baijan and Romania. experience to the Republic of Moldova, where the project is always a possibility to get into the interest of persons lar, back in the last century’s 60s, Engelbert Humperdinck. Two other projects, on which the attention of the project takes the form of Caravan for democracy. This idea has been a claiming the rights of the previous. Close to the ending of the contest, a popular singer - Sa- team is focused, are based on European funding. The first is tradition for our organization and owes its conception to the In such a situation the only thing to rely on is the per- bina Babayeva - with a striking voice will perform for Azer- called “Black Sea – A Fortune” and involves the organization cooperation with Prof. Eliot Sorel from “George Washington” sonal high sense of prudence when administrating the af- baijan with the song “When the Music Dies”, embodying of several activities regarding the Black Sea coast. It covers all University. The project is submitted for funding within the fairs, on a favorable corporate environment within the busi- the latest European trends and Azeri musical tradition. the coastal countries and is set on attracting investments in Foundation National Endowment for Democracy, USA. ness, on the right and thought-out selection of partners and There is no doubt that Azerbaijan will offer the already the region. The aim is to develop all the elements of the Black I think that 2012 can become particularly important due on a high-quality legal assistance from trusted professionals arriving guests and the multimillion audience vivid memo- Sea coast: society, infrastructure, economy, tourism ... To ac- to a clearer definition of BSCSIF’s goals and objectives in who can anticipate the course of events in a situation with a ries of its colorful traditions, rich culture and nature. complish this objective, the project provides for organizing such a region with enormous potential that the Black Sea - great potential of conflict emergence. Olga Condratiuc conferences in all Black Sea countries on topics of general Caspian Sea is.

36 37 projects,projects projects,projects text: mikhail Zernov photo: archives

Below, we introduce our readers to several Chitosan and projects on vibrotechnology. It is based on the universal method of managing successful business processes through contact and non- contact Searching for innovations, exposure to modulated electromagnetic here are more than 100 implementing two investment fields with specified parameters. 2 areas of use of the natural projects based on chitosan. A significant advantage of this technology biopolymer of chitosan, The first is oriented at organizing is the ability to process an unlimited T amount of matter and surface in a short in such industry sectors as the process of production searching for partners medicine, pharmaceutics, food, of chitin, chitosan and their amount of time, consuming a minimal dairy, textile, pulp and paper, derivatives, and 150 items of amount of energy. This is exactly why nuclear. Chitosan is also used to finished products based on them. vibroechnologies are highly economically address environmental issues in The second project involves efficient. The exposure to electromagnetic The Commission on Innovations and agriculture. the production of “integrated field is harmless to human health. JSC “BioTekhnologyi” produces synergistic probiotic Investments of the International Fund of the more than 60 kinds of products supplements based on chitosan the lactic acid bacteria; it also on the basis of this biopolymer: oligosaccharides”. This additive allows broadening the variety When walls cure Black and Caspian Seas (BSCSIF) carries on from biocorrectors of metabolism is mainly used in production of products with strong curative A group of scientists has developed a and functional food to textiles of cultured milk foods. Its effects. technology that allows building houses with the activities on selection of promising projects with chitosan fiber in their application allows increasing the JSC “BioTecknologyi” is 5 therapeutic effect for the inhabitants. The walls composition. shelf life of products by several interested in establishing of such houses are made of solid wood, dried on innovations and investments, which are Currently, the company times without the need to add joint ventures in all BSCSIF up to 8-10% moisture, according to a special “BioTekhnologyi” starts preservatives and keeps active participating countries. technique. After the set of wall components is described in details on www.bscsif.ru, manufactured, it is being treated with bischofit solution, which is curative. Due to this kind of in sections “Projects” and “Portfolio”. processing the wood becomes fire resistant, doesn’t deteriorate, doesn’t absorb moisture, President of the Committee and Director of Interactive Atlas of Innovations doesn’t shrink or dry out, in other words - BSCSIF’s Moscow branch works on a project for conference video calls with the option doesn’t change its geometrical parameters for the BSCSIF Moscow branch, Mikhail ZERNOV Mikhail Zernov, 3 about creating an interactive atlas of of creating video archives. This resource the entire period of use. President of BSCSIF Commission for Innovations innovative technologies and equipment, on allows creating a database of best available presents some of the most interesting projects. and Investments a unified data platform, equipped with its technologies, keeping and updating the lists own automated data-management system. and catalogs of products recommended for The secret of preserving The platform operates in Internet and allows practical application, using an interactive This cost-effective, integrated technology Layout of the site under a structured, touch-sensitive search and directory-guide, and most importantly, provides makes, in a remarkable way the shelf life of construction: the third presentation of the advertised innovative and for direct online communication between 6 agricultural products a few times longer. It is runway of the complex. investment projects. developers and users of innovations. already in use and provides the opportunity of Exhibitions and events providing information Similar technology is to be introduced on the reducing losses when storing root crops, fruits, are to be held within the ongoing exhibition of territory of all BSCSIF member countries, having vegetables, meat, fish, milk, by no less than best available technology. One of this project’s the Russian experience as a reference point. 80%. Moreover, the increased shelf life doesn’t platform functions is video-broadcasting We invite companies and developers interested reduce the quality of the product, because on internet, providing for a simultaneous in innovative products to participate in during its storage and transportation no transmission from multiple web-cameras and this project. chemicals are applied. The secret of this technology is that the desired effect is achieved by an integrated remote exposure of the micro-organisms that cause Juices and smoothies decomposition and spoilage of the products to a low frequency electromagnetic field. in a scientific way he company “NANTEKO” meantime, with oxygen. One slimming, fitness, etc.) presents self-produced can also prepare functional The purpose of this equipment Smart drying T retail equipment, soft drinks including in their is sale of drinks in bars, The conventional drying of fruits and vegetables developed according to the composition different balms restaurants, cafes, hotels, entails a 50-60% loss of nutrients, as, when modern technologies. It allows (for cleanse, energy, relaxation, office centers and onsite trade 7 heated, the cell loses its humor together with producing environmental- organizations. It is also possible the nutrients. Even the best sublimation dryings friendly products on the to install the equipment render a 25-30% loss of nutrients. basis of one hundred percent in kindergartens, schools This method of drying is based on low- natural berry and fruit juices and hospitals. frequency bioresonance that breaks down The largest complex in Sheremetyevo and herbs preserving all the All the feedstock used for this the water inside the cell into oxygen and hydrogen. In this case, the gas and not the he “Sheremetyevo” project is being from Sheremetyevo International Airport. The have an A-class business center (with offices, useful properties of the utilized equipment (fruit and berry 1 liquid is being extracted from the cells and the implemented under the auspices of our total area of the​​ five-cluster complex is about 840 bank branches, ATMs, currency exchanges), an components. The equipment syrups, juice concentrates, nutrient losses amount to only 2-3%. When Fund. This is the largest distributional thousand square meters. Another approximately exhibition center, warehouses with full services pours and cools juices, blends conditioners, etc.) is packed T exposed to bioresonance, fruits and vegetables and logistics complex in Russia, which allows 150 thousand square meters will be used for for cargo handling, shipping and clearance of juices, prepares fruit desserts, in a special packaging with get rid of nitrates, toxins and other chemical increasing significantly the trade between Russia a truck fleet, technical areas, parking lots, goods from around the world with assembly as well as oxygen smoothies on a built-BIB type valve which contaminants. The drying rate increases and Turkey. It will be built in the nearest time in driveways. In addition to a distribution center service on warehouses in Asia, Europe, America the basis of mixing technology makes the packing hermetic by 30-40%. Moscow Region, at a distance of one kilometer for first-class wholesale trade, the complex will and Russia. (up to ten kinds of flavoring and increases the shelf life of it 4 syrups) saturating them, in the up to one year.

38 39 sciencehorizons sciencehorizons photo: archives

and need for regional research devel- hood Policy refers actually to the and, most importantly, in the new opment. Likewise, I also work with former Soviet space and thus meets international context marked by im- We must stay programs of this foundation and have the sphere of interests of the Russian portant changes that we talked about. coordinated the Centre for conflict Federation. On the other hand, we If we look, for example, at Aus- analysis. It was Acad. Malita who have two important players on a re- trians, Russian, or Turkish, then we initiated utterly wide programs for gional level, respectively, Turkey and will notice that their mentality is ahead of events the region, based on the scope pro- Russian Federation. different – it has a particular Univer- posed by BSEC, but also relying on The existence of a certain competi- salist vocation, rooted mostly in the an intuitive understanding of the fact tion is inevitable and it cannot be over- imperial past. Our youth, however, Interview with Professor, PhD Mihail IONESCU, Director of the Center that Asia will become a global power, come otherwise than by cooperation. tends to think more regionally. I’m for East European and Asian Studies in Bucharest (CEEAS) thing that is nowadays confirmed. As for the Center for East Euro- trying to educate in them a global It would be enough only to look on pean and Asian Studies, we aimed at vision of problems, so they would r. Ionescu, please tive, because the world today is not China’s case, the economic growth of developing cooperation in specific understand that what happens affects tell us when what it was 20, 30, 50 or 100 years which is impressive. areas, trying to find partners among all of us, we cannot limit ourselves was your Center ago. This is a globalized world in On the other hand, Turkey has the NGOs in the region. Here’s an to one region only, in case we really opened and on which interdependence is a key word risen remarkably, especially since example: the project CRISHOPE, on want to make progress. In addition what was based and we can succeed only if together. 2000, when it was experiencing a which we have recently organized in to that, I am trying to instill the idea the decision to establish it? And a very important role belongs to rapid economic growth of 10% an- Bucharest an international confer- of being active in life. In my judg- MThe Center for East European and the young. nually. Turkey seeks to join the EU, ence, entitled “Early Recovery and ment - and I think I’m not mistaken Asian Studies was established in Therefore, we have conceived this and Romania supports its efforts on Consequence Management in the - we, people of the East, according to 2007. As we know, in that year, from Centre as a place where students can European integration. Aftermath of Natural and Man-Made Romanian historian Iorga, wait for January 1, Romania has become a find resources for self-expression and Thus, we can say that major geo- Disasters in the Greater Black Sea developments to unfold. But we must part of the European Union after it learning. Each individual deals with political changes, the new distribu- Area”. The main objective was shar- stay ahead of events, think about the joined NATO in 2004. Altogether, a certain region, depending on their tion of power in international rela- ing mutually the knowledge on how forecasts, scenarios, even if today it is this meant a significant change in its specialization: as future graduates tions and the advancement of Asia to to act in case of natural disasters or very difficult to elaborate forecasts in international status. Once with join- they must publish their work and the forefront in the XXI century are those caused by human activity, for the medium and long run. ing EU one of the primary concerns research. The activity within the Cen- all factors that favored the develop- disasters do not have borders and in of Romania became the Eastern tre helps them writing their doctoral ment of Eurasian Studies. such cases cooperation is not to be What are the priorities Neighborhood. First, if referring to dissertations. To this we can also add the ener- ignored. At this conference, Turkey of the Centre for 2012? the relations with Europe, it was the gy issues. The Black Sea has become has expressed its will to establish an The Center will continue releasing its duty of the Romanian state located What is the role of Eurasian stud- an extremely important corridor for excellence center for the prevention own publications, notable from the now on the eastern border of the ies within the Romanian academic the transportation of energy and will and management of disaster conse- academic point of view and recog- West and having a double impor- have our own special voice, which environment and is there any in- remain so for a long time, since the quences – an initiative we want to nized at the regional level, as well as tance – a member of both NATO and would be heard. In this sense, I think terest for developing it? EU depends on energy supplies com- support. If this proposal will be real- elaborating training programs on Eur- EU. Second, it was a national duty, the expertise regarding the East is There are several institutions being ing from the East and especially from ized, we will assume that the project asian Studies in Romania and at the because what happens in Eastern fundamental. foremost non-governmental organi- the Russian Federation, Central Asia CRISHOPE succeeded, especially regional level. One of our goals is to Europe and Asia is significant for Ultimately, the decision to es- zations (NGOs), such as those that and Caucasus. if taking into consideration the re- make also partnership agreements be- Romania mainly from security point tablish CEEAS was dictated by the operate in Constanta: they deal most- sources at our disposal. tween universities and research cent- of view. Thus, the eastern vector has course of events in terms of interna- ly with Black Sea matters - ecology How do you see the cooperation in ers in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian become a priority of Romania’s secu- tional relations since 1990. This was and environment protection. Also in the field of Eurasian studies at the We have noticed that the CEEAS spaces, to create a network of regional rity policy. also facilitated by the fact that I am a Cluj, at “Babes-Bolyai” University, regional and international levels? team is young. How do the young experts in the fields of foreign policy These are the reasons that made professor and a scientific coordinator. operates the Institute of Turkish and Currently, the main initiatives for perceive the Eurasian space, what and researches on security issues us focus our efforts on studying and From this perspective, I thought that Central-Asian Studies, founded by cooperation in the Black Sea region encouraged them to choose par- recognized internationally, as well as understanding of what is happen- young people should come to science Prof. Dr. Tasin Gemil. belong to NATO and EU. We put a ticularly this area of r​​ esearch? to organize international conferences ing to the east of our country. Of with new, fresh thinking; the youth There are also NGOs specialized particular emphasis on cooperation I must tell you that the young are and workshops with the attendance course, this doesn’t mean that such must understand the meaning and in security issues, such as, EURISC because of many considerations. The most likely attracted to the West. of well-known Western experts and activities haven’t existed before. But the new realities of the eastern vector – the Public Policy Center, which Black Sea was often a field for major Most speak English, French, Ger- their counterparts from the Eurasian starting with 1991 till 2004 and 2007 that I spoke about. conducts very deep analysis on Ro- players to express their contradic- man, and the West continues to be space. We also intend to launch sev- our attention was primarily focused My generation is bound by his- mania’s foreign policy and also deals tions. It also happened in the recent for them a kind of dream, as it is, eral projects within Danube Strategy, on West: integration into European torical memories and being burdened with the Eurasian region. years during the Russo-Georgian war broadly speaking, for the whole East- promoted by the European Union. and North Atlantic structures was a with this history it has inherited a A similar tradition can be found in 2008 that reduced the potential for ern Europe. national project. Once these aspira- series of stereotypes and finds itself at the Black Sea University Founda- cooperation in the Black Sea region, As a professor, I am trying to R ecorded by Luiza Popa, tions came true we should think often in the thrall of particular com- tion, established by Acad. Mircea as well as due to the expansion of awaken their interest for the Eurasian International Fund for Cooperation about consolidating Romania’s status monplace misconceptions. In our era Malita, which since the early 90s has EU and neighborhood policy carried region, to guide them towards under- and Partnership of the Black Sea and the within NATO and EU in order to these stereotypes are counterproduc- been emphasizing on the potential on by the Union. The Neighbor- standing the importance of this space Caspian Sea

40 41 sciencehorizons Oh,sport, you are peace! ... photo: Vencislav Dimitrov

other elements of international rela- A rguments for the Eurasian space tions that define Chisinau’s politics. Moldova has neighbors, interesting Silvia Miteva: e asked two young ties. At the same time, these relations partners. This state has been acting researchers that work in both directions and prompt, indecisively; for over 20 years of in- work actively including the EU, to formulate an dependence it has been determining heading for within CEEAS to tell appropriate and coordinated re- fallaciously its priorities regarding Wus few things about themselves, sponse towards this region. national interests. This is a state- about what determines them to In CEEAS, together with my player that oscillates between past a major victory do scientific work on Eurasia and colleague Silviu Petre, I am respon- and present, between East and West, what kind of perspectives do they sible for the publication of “Journal between different forms of regional he Bulgarian grace repre- She loves very much her “little Vi- see for this vast region of East European and Asian Stud- integration. sented on the cover of our enna” - this is the way the little town of ies”, and I participate in the research The object of my scientific anal- magazine, Silvia Miteva, is Ruse on the Danube is called - where Mihaela Padureanu: program “Eastern European and ysis within CEEAS is foreign policy not only a national sport she was born in 1986. Sylvia started I am a graduate Asian Security”, where the events of the Eastern European countries, pride. She is very likely practicing rhythmic gymnastics in 1993 of the Faculty of that occur in this space are being with emphasis on the politics of the the only one able to impose a real com- under the guidance of her mother, who Political Sciences commented from the perspective of Russian Federation, Ukraine, Moldo- Tpetition to Russians that dominate the has been training her ever since. Since at the National regional security. Another important va, the states of South Caucasus and world in rythm gymnastics. And it is 2006, she has been a part of the national School of Political dimension that we keep track of in a part of Central Asia, meaning, the obvious not only judging by the results team of Bulgaria. For a while she was Studies and Public our analysis is related to the onset former Soviet space. The problematic of the last World Championships in the “shadowed” by her famous compatriot Administration and consolidation of democratiza- that we tried to cover together with French city of Montpellier (two bronze Simona Peycheva, winner of gold and (SNSPA), where I tion in this region. my colleagues is complex by nature medals: clubs and ribbon), but right silver medals in world competitions. also went on postgraduate courses. - from foreign policy to regional from the performances of the athlete. Simona left sports in 2008. Then, Sylvia After graduating, I decided to Angela Gramada: security, from economics to social The artistry combined with unique picked up the torch from her and has deepen my knowledge in the field of After graduating sciences, conflict analysis, analysis and complex elements made Sylvia been carrying it worthy ever since. international relations and submitted from the Faculty of speeches and documents, integra- winning the audience from around the She loves to travel. Loves the for a master program on “Conflict of International tion processes. world. If it were not for her completely mountains, but especially the sea, and Analysis and Resolution”, and here I Economic Re- Should I therefore recognize that inexplicable fault, where she just did especially at home, in Bulgaria. But met Professor, PhD Mihail Ionescu, lations, at the if we keep in mind the research area not catch the hoop in a seemingly even more she loves her occupation. who was my scientific coordinator University “Per- that I deal with, then “all roads lead simple situation, the Bulgarian could Sometimes, after long, exhausting at dissertation. At the same time, spectiva - Int” in to Moscow”. At least, this is the way well become a bronze medalist in competitions, instead of resting she I started to collaborate with the Chisinau, I took the authorities of the former Soviet multisport. After that, she successfully prefers a new set of training; because Center for East-European and Asian on master courses in International space act, which is in my opinion, in performed in the Grand Prix Tourna- she understands that in gymnastics, Studies and became a doctoral stu- Relations and European Integra- most cases, faulty. The needs of the ment in Moscow. This summer, at the beauty and skill should be merged. dent at SNSPA. The theme for my tion at National School of Political states can be satisfied only if apply- Olympics in London, the fans of the There is no doubt that the ma- research is related to the conception Studies and Public Administration ing alternatives and diverse econom- charming gymnast’s talent are to see jor victories of Silvia Miteva are yet and emergence of foreign policy in Bucharest. Now I am a doctorate ic, social, political and energy op- even more from her. to come... and common security policy of the student at SNSPA at the Faculty of portunities. Russia is still regarded as European Union, with an emphasis International Relations. a superpower, able to condition the on such an instrument as Eastern Yes, I was attracted by the Eura- development of internal processes. Partnership. sian space, by the regions that we But Kremlin, in turn, has its weak- I think that the primary argu- seek to analyze in the Center for East- nesses; it faces a series of uncertain- ment that turned my attention to the European and Asian Studies. But, ties that affect the territorial security, Eurasian space was the tremendous in my particular case, it is about my too. If we talk about the prospects of changes that have occurred in this specialization that is directly related the Eurasian region, we must note region compared to the period that to the places where I come from - the first of all that this space is continu- preceded the end of the Cold War, as Republic of Moldova. When we speak ally subjected to changes. The reason well as the opportunities that opened of the Republic of Moldova, then we for these constant transformations up after that period for both Eurasia should also mention the Russian Fed- is to be found in the desire of some and the community called EU. From eration and how this country is, by of the great powers to take it under this perspective, comes around the decisions made in Moscow, influenc- their wing. This is a space where Medals, trophies and lots of gifts ... A special possibility for a different approach to ing the processes and political vectors. cross interests and purposes, trade special value for Sylvia has the beautiful costume this region and to its relations with Republic of Moldova for me and transport routes, cultures and for stage performance that she received as a gift in Montpellier from the Russian national team the European space - an alternative is the motivation and the object mentalities, a space extremely inter- coach, Irina Viner. It turned out to be lucky, as it able to bring benefits to both par- of research. We cannot ignore the esting for studying... brought two medals to Sylvia

42 43 pagesof history pagesof history photo: archives

ity lives its own history within different planted the idea of political and national for Russia were always coming from the cultures and historical configurations. unification of the peoples of Eurasia un- West - from Poland (1605-1612), from The Eurasian idea In this respect, the main feature of Rus- der the auspices of Russian people. Napoleon (1812), from Germany and sian culture is not its “Slavicism”, but- its The Eastern Orthodox Christianity Austro-Hungary (World War I) and again “Eurasianism”, an outcome of a symbiosis with values of its own, in which many from Germany (World War II). This is the of different cultural influences from East, elements of East and West are synthe- reason for Eurasians’ justified belief that is 90 years old South and West. sized, was much more suitable for Slavic a more positive role in Russia’s statehood A special position in the ideological statehood, which interacted with cultures was played by the East and not West. ew know that the terms “Eur- continue to develop “Eurasian ideas” in system of Eurasians is taken up by the of the steppe peoples and “worked” much Global science and world history asia”, “Eurasian” that circulate their brilliant works. concept of the role of “place of develop- more efficient for the collectivist spirit would have been poorer and would have so freely in the current sci- His way to these ideas will also find ment” that implies rivers, mountains, and unity of ethnic groups living on Eur- reflected the historical events, destinies entific and political life, were Lev Gumilev, the son of the poets Anna steppes, deserts, seas, climate, meaning asia’s vast territories, than the rationality and cultures of the steppe peoples of Eur- first proposed to the scientific Akhmatova and Nikolay Gumilev, the natural factors, and the ethnogenesis is and individualism of the West Europeans. asia more biased, if not these researches of community in 1921 and it happened on latter executed by shooting by the Bolshe- observed once with the evolution of the One way or the other, the Eastern Ortho- Eurasians, that bear love for the cultures of Fthe territory of Bulgaria. That is when viks in 1921. Despite the 14 years spent in biosphere. dox faith of Russian ethnicity became the these peoples and deep knowledge of their a group of Russian noble officers that Stalin’s camps, Lev Gumilev broadened One way or another the “Eurasian” spiritual power that gave a forceful im- languages. Under other circumstances emigrated from Soviet Russia, founded his conception in the post-50s in a series destiny is followed by the historical and petus to the cultural-civilizational “Eur- these nations would have remained for the in Sofia the “Union of Eurasia”, which of brilliant works: “Ethnogenesis and the cultural development of all peoples in- asian” development of Russia. This power “civilized Europeans” simple “barbarians”. marked the beginning of an important Biosphere of the Earth”, “Ancient Rus and habiting the geopolitical space of Eurasia. has justified the energy for domination Eurasians were the ones to supplement the ideological movement in the spiritual the Great Steppe”, “Rhythms of Eurasia” And this development goes hand in hand of the vast territories of Eurasia: from the history and culturology with “researches culture of the world. and many others that will put Eurasians’ with success only when the peoples are Carpathians to the Pacific Ocean and on nomads” of Eurasia. In the summer of 1921 these Russian ideas on a universal level in philosophy, Prof. Petko GANCHEV, loyal to their cultural and national identi- Bering Strait, as well as to Alaska and the This history would be incomplete if patriots and highly-educated intellectuals history, geopolitics, culturology. Today, PhDs in Philosophy and Political Science, ties. Therefore, discussions, whether past east coast of America. it lacked a theory on “passionarism” of organized a workshop to express their Lev Gumilev (he passed away in 1992) Diplomat and Chairman of the “Eurasia” or present, about a universal culture are According to the Eurasians, the re- ethnic groups and peoples, elaborated Geopolitical Center (Sofia) ideas about another vision onto the phi- has dozens of followers and supporters in a façade hiding the principles and values ​ form of Patriarch Nikon and the reforms by Lev Gumilev, that is, about the heroic losophy of history and also to declare the Russia and other countries... states in Europe. This is the place from of those forces that dominate at a certain of Peter I, who opened for Russia the spirit of the ascent that mobilized over conception of a new science - geopolitics. Since there are many published books where descended the peoples that put historical stage in political, economic, gates to the West and subjected it to West- certain periods of history particular On September 21 of the same year, the and studies on Eurasianism in Russian in motion the whole history. Failing to military, financial, and information terms. ern influence, have been disastrous for ethnic groups, under the influence of group published its own manifesto for and world literature, I will bring up only dominate these Eastern territories, West Such a “global” culture does not only level Russia and its original cultural identity. many factors of the biosphere (Vladimir establishing a “Union of Eurasia” and some points that outline the conceptual Europeans went across the ocean to the specific national and regional cultures, For Eurasians, the theme of Mongol- Vernadsky) and solar activity (Alexander a few days after, released their first col- framework of this system. west, and in this way, the “New World” but also leads to assimilation and death of Tatar yoke is fictional, because the po- Chizhevsky) and in the course of their lection of works - “Exodus from the First, about the concept of “Eurasia”. was discovered, a new cycle of life was small and dependent nations. litical domination of Mongol khans was expansion, threw them against the many East. Premonition and fulfillment”. In Using an integrated, interdisciplinary ap- brought to the colossi sunken in medi- According to Eurasians, in the “estab- not that fatal for Russian people, as the times stronger opponents, directing them the following year, the second collec- proach, the Eurasians have shown that if eval lethargy - India and China. lishment” of Russian Eurasianism and the constant wars and strife between inde- ultimately to victory. tion entitled “On the Road. Assertion of judging by , landscape, climate, The primary and original Eurasian formation of its statehood and peculiar pendent Russian principalities from the The ideas of Eurasians are, undoubt- the Eurasians” was published. In these culture and history, Europe is only the idea refers to the special place and role cultural identity a decisive role was played previous period. A more significant threat edly, a great treasure created by talented books they declared their ideological so-called Western Europe. The territory of Russia in the world, enunciated by the by the Eastern Orthodoxy, adopted from to Russia-Eurasia, according to the Eur- representatives of Russian science, start- orientation - “Eurasianism”. The core of steppes, forests, tundra and taiga (“The Russian monk Philotheus in the XVth Byzantium in the late X century and the asians, has always been represented by the ing with the 20s of the XXth century. of this group was represented by such Great Steppe”), stretching from the Car- century (“Moscow is the Third Rome”), Mongol dominion from the middle of the Western Europe, persistently following the These ideas “work” in our days too, in the prominent figures as the philologist and pathians and the western border of the at exactly the time when Russia became XIIIth to the XVth century. The largest principle of “Drang nach Osten!” (“Yearn- spiritual culture of the resurgent Russia, philosopher Prince Nikolai Trubetzkoy Russian Empire (except Poland) to the stronger as a nation, two centuries since contiguous empire of Mongol Hordes has ing for the East”). The biggest threats Kazakhstan and other states within this (1890-1938), the political geographer, east, till the Great Wall of China and the Genghis-Khan’s empire domination. space, and participate in the implementa- economist and philosopher, Count Pyotr Pacific, represents Eurasia. Another great thesis, about a​​ tion of modern geopolitics. Savitsky (1895-1968), theologian Georges And Halford Mackinder’s (1904) polycentric historical development of the According to the author, the Eurasian Florovsky (1893-1979) and musicologist belief , stating that nothing historical world, was stated by Nikolay Danilevsky. Economic Union built in conformity Pyotr Suvchinsky (1892-1985). Later, happened on these territories and all In his book “Russia and Europe”, Dani- with the EU model, about the formation their companions would become the the events occurred only in the Western levsky praised the “other” non-European of which announced Belarus, Russia and historians George Vernadsky and Lev Europe, was absolutely wrong. Refusing development of Russia and the role of Kazakhstan, is necessary not only to the Karsavin, legal scholar V.P. Alekseev, phi- to accept this Eurocentric approach, Turkic and Mongolian ethnic groups in countries that were part of USSR, but also losopher Ivan Ilyin. After Sofia, it would Eurasians studied the dynamics of the this development. to the European Union and other global be Prague, Berlin, Paris, where since 1926 waves of the so-called “Barbarian peo- But unlike Slavophiles that spoke players of the modern world, because it to 1930 they would publish their “Eura- ples” onto these territories, people that about a unified Slavic culture as the opens up opportunities for global integra- sian Chronicle” and “Eurasia” newspaper. devastated the Roman Empire and on foundation for Slavic unity, Eurasians tion of humankind along with addressing During the 30s, the group splits in an its ruins, in symbiosis with local ethnic recognize that there is in fact no unified the issue of global security in this enor- organized manner, but its main figures groups, formed new ethnic groups and Slavic culture, because the Slavic ethnic- Eurasianism Coryphaei: N.Trubetskoy, G. Vernadsky, L.Gumilev mous space of E​​ urasia.

44 45 gallery gallery photo: archives

Cemal Tollu. Breastfeeding A century of turkish painting mother

Refik Bedri Rahmi. lthough the Turkish tradition of fine art, Epikman. Portrait of a with miniatures for books above all, dates Composition musician back to the distant past, the secular paint- ing was conceived only in the XIX century. But in the early decades of the twentieth century it raised to the European level. It was to Europe - AFrance, Germany, Italy - that the future Turkish painters went schooling often with government support. The edu- cation system for painters in Turkey was consolidating, too - the Academy of Art in Istanbul and the School of Fine Arts for girls, established in 1882. At its early attestation, in 10s-20s, the Turkish paint- ing held in many respects the signature of French Impres- sionism. But in the subsequent decades it already gained Nuri Iyem. Dancers (1975) a tint of independence and peculiar national traits. In Abidin Dino. Happiness (1933) 1936 in Ankara, was created a “Group D”, headed by Ibra- him Chaly, gathering the future coryphaeus of Turkish painting: Zeki Faik Izer, Nurullah Berk, Elif Nachi, Kemal Tollu and Abidin Dino. Ignoring impressionism, the “re- gionalists” sought to achieve a synthesis between certain elements of traditional Turkish art and ideas of new ar- tistic movements in Europe. They were confronted by the Agor Arad. “Europeans” from the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul. Landscape The real alignment of forces in the newest art in Turkey was determined not by the existence of Sabri Berkel. “europeanists” and “regionalists”, but rather by the Street scene (1970s) confrontation between realism and modernism. Realist artists see their task in making a truthful representation of their peoples’ living. In the recent works of art Hale Asaf. Self-Portrait (1920) social motifs can be found, conflicts and sometimes even tragic elements of day-to-day reality are revealed. This mood imbues the works of the famous painter Ibrahim Balaban that founded in 1961 in Istanbul the “New Branch” community. Zeki Faik Izer. Composition A special chapter in the history of Turkish painting is represented by female-painters. The first celebrities were Mihri Khanum (1886-1954) and her students Fahrelnissa Zeid and Aliya Berger. Their creative activity strikes with courage and breadth. For example, Fahrelnissa Zeid, which is considered to be one of the most significant artists of the past century, in her works wonderfully combines Byzantine motifs, Sufi worldview and even features of African art. In this sense, an indicative would be her semi-abstract composition “Untitled” (1954), recently sold at Sotheby’s auction for more than one Ibrahim Balaban. million dollars. Harvest Later, many artists have managed to achieve a certain synthesis between the competing tendencies. In the meantime, such experiments were sustained by the Ahmet Fazil Aksoy. Fahrelnissa Zeid. Untitled (1954) annual “New Trends Exhibition” in Istanbul. Landscape

46 47 BSCSIFCHRONICLE ThN e” ew Silk Road” poetic anthology text: liliana coman photo: archives text: MiKhail Sinelnikov photo: archives

For special merits to the Fund According to the Resolution of the Board of Direc- In the warm days of the tors of the International Fund for Cooperation and Partnership of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea (BSCSIF) a series of politicians and public figures from different countries were awarded with honor- grape harvest ary diplomas for special merits to the Fund. The awarding ceremony took place at a reception uring my boyhood, with understandable irritation and organized by the International Fund at the hotel Maxim Faddeyevich declared to the dismissed Maxim Athenee Palace Hilton Bucharest, on the occasion Rylsky was the most Faddeyevich at parting: “Although, of Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2012. Honorary di- famous Ukrainian Rylsky, you are the enemy of our plomas were handed over by BSCSIF Vice-President poet. It was quite class, you can still be useful to us”. and Secretary General Eldar Hasanov (on the right) entertaining to read his “Roses and The prison didn’t break Rylsky, and BSCSIF Vice-President Iulian Fota. DGrapes” and “Distant Horizon” col- but haven’t gone out of memory ei- For the support to the initiative on creating a fund of the two seas and for a special contribution to its lections, luxuriously issued and re- ther. He was very sensitive to human activity have been awarded the President of the cently topped with the highest So- misfortune, supported the persecut- Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, President of viet award – the Lenin Prize (1960). ed friends regardless the risks, stood Romania, Traian Basescu, President of the Republic It happened during Khrushchev, up for the arrested. For instance, he of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, BSCSIF who certainly wasn’t indifferent to strove for the release from the dun- President,Viktor Khmarin, Vice-Presidents of the the fate of Ukrainian Soviet litera- geon of the famous Ukrainian writer Fund, Iulian Fota and Akkan Suver. For a special ture, to the main figures that, in a and satirist Ostap Vyshnia, impris- contribution to the development of cooperation History, Mihail Ionescu, founder of the Institute of of companies that are members and partners of Mikhail Sinelnikov, between the countries and peoples of the Black Turkic and Central-Asian Studies, Tasin Gemil. the Fund: UTI GRUP, UPETROM, SIVECO ROMANIA, manner of speaking, he knew per- poet, academician at the Russian Academy oned in a much worse period. Yet, of Natural Sciences and at Petrovskaya Academy Sea-Caspian Sea region honorary diplomas were Honorary diplomas were also awarded to BSCSIF OZTASAR, AZVIRT . sonally by virtue of his work as First this fate! It was Ostap Vyshnia who awarded to the President of the European Commis- expert group, the Editor In Chief of “Dialogue of The reception was attended by representatives Secretary of the Communist Party supported in every possible way the sion, Jose Manuel Barroso, the Minister of Foreign the Seas” magazine, Vyacheslav Samoshkin, the of public and political life of Romania, diplomats, of Ukraine. But Rylsky was famous cloudless to the uninitiated ones. released in 1931, but still marked by chronicle Affairs of Romania, Teodor Baconschi, Director of the lawyer Adrian Ibraim, President of the Academy of academicians, professors, businessmen and repre- even before this triumph. In the Meanwhile, back in the early 30s, prison, Maxim Rylsky... Institute for Political Studies of Defence and Military Sciences of Moldova, Gheorghe Duca and a series sentatives of civil society. grim year of 1943 he was awarded Maksim Rylsky was arrested on Rylsky wasn’t just one of the for four books of poetry - “Weapon trumped up PGU’s accusations of most talented Ukrainian poets of the of Light”, “Light Dawn”, “A word heading the “military department” past century, but also very likely, the One of the best at about my dear mother”, “Journey to of a mythical nationalist most educated and highly cultured “Side by side for the Black Sea” – Volunteers Gala 2011 the youth” - with the Stalin Prize. In organization and spent several of them. Even so, his language is designated as a master project 1950 he was awarded for the second hard months in Kiev’s Lukyanivska anything but dry; the poet’s word A nother victory scored by the Black Sea- time with the Stalin Prize for the Prison. Still, the misery during that lives throughout the history is The environmental project “Side by side for the Black Sea” (water protection Caspian Sea Fund with its project “Side by translation of Adam Mickiewicz’s the time of Yagoda was not yet against pollution), implemented last year by the Black Sea-Caspian Sea Fund fresh and multilayered. The nation- side for the Black Sea” was at Romanian poem, “Pan Tadeusz”. It is worth like Yezhov’s and Beria’s terrible alism, the passionate love for his Volunteers Gala 2011, where the project (BSCSIF) turned out to be among the eight projects selected by the United mentioning here that the Ukrainian time of tortures, and in prison native Ukrainian history merged in was placed among the five finalists in the Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as examples worthy to be followed, on youth and children’s involvement in the field of Environment and Health. The category of the Best Project of the Year. The poet knew perfectly the language of were held even literary evenings, his soul with a genuine and active ceremony took place in Bucharest Howard project will be presented to the European Health and Environment Ministerial Mickiewicz and Slowacki, Tuwim debates, correspondence was internationalism. His close friends Board and Task Force at their meetings in 2012, it will be published on Johnson Hotel, summing up volunteer and Lesmian (however, there could allowed and family members visits were: the great Russian poet Nikolai activities undertaken in 2011, the year that UNEP website and on the websites of this program’s international partner- organizations. be found some Polish roots in the were permitted. But the fact itself Ushakov living in Kiev, the Russian has been declared the European Year of For more information about the “Side by side for the Black Sea” project go on: genealogy of Rylsky). Nevertheless, of being imprisoned along with the novelist Constantin Paustovsky, the Volunteering, as well as on the occasion of www.sbs-project.info the International Volunteer Day, celebrated he also knew perfectly the Russian prospect of a further and seemingly talented philologist, specialist in on December 5. language, grew up in a hereditary inevitable transfer to Solovki, * was Germanic studies and expert in Rus- The project on protection of the Black Sea family of intellectuals, was the more than burdensome. Several sian, Ukrainian and world literature, against pollution was presented at the Gala Easter Caravan son of an eminent Ukrainian edu- investigators changed during the Alexander Deutsch. by its entire team that you see in the picture cational and cultural worker and months of imprisonment, but Many of Rylsky’s poems are (from right to the left): Diana Ioana Calin On the occasion of Easter holidays As part of this charity project, on (Project Manager), Alice Farcas (Mediator), BSCSIF started a social project called April 18 was held a ceremony during ethnographer, F.M. Rylsky and still, the very method of interrogation excellent, the very early ones along Natalia Ciobanu (Trainer) and Liliana Coman “Easter caravan”. It was designed which children received gifts from the not without reason, went to classical didn’t and it implied “psychological with the very late ones written, (Assistant Manager). for 200 children from poor families company Apshanu Group - packets with school. He also had a perfect knowl- development” based on intimidation in a manner of speaking, at his registered in specialized centers of the sweets, juices and toys. edge of Russian verse and wrote, and various provocations. But venerable age. Of course, particular 2nd and 3rd sectors of Bucharest. “Ion On the same day at “Ion Creanga” when necessary, humorous poems in petitions from powerful people poems were a tribute to the époque, Creanga” Theatre (children’s theatre Theatre, the children were delighted to Russian, made up epigrams... in Bucharest), Hollywood Multiplex see the play “Culinary war”. The young helped the poet-prisoner and his last a tribute to the topic of the day. Cinema and Apshanu Group Ltd became viewers were also invited to watch Altogether, the entire life of investigator, to whom the famous But some – divinely good and the partners for implementation of 3D cartoons at Hollywood Multiplex the famous poet, public figure and writer’s release was indicated by his timeless. this project. Cinema. academician seemed completely superiors, was executing this order * One of the main Gulag camps situated on Solovetsky Islands in the .

48 49 ThN e” ew Silk Road” poetic anthology

Maxim Rylsky (1895-1964) The beginning of the legend Each cloud and blade of grass reflected in your sight It was evening. The stars quietly came alive Are given to you only once, the second time they’ll * * * Like roses in a pale-blue glass, be different! Like Odysseus, wearied by wandering And unnoticeably to my eyes, We’ll not retrieve the sounds, lines and colors for all time, Over the deep blue sea. I - wearied by life - The caressing, warm lines of the earth disappeared. And never think that you’ll come across many of them! Lay down beneath the shadow of an old black poplar, Great and small sails began to flutter I feel for everything that drifts near and around me, I buried myself in its leaves and forgot everything. In the sea. Birds flew past For everyone who loved me and whom I loved. In a semi-transparent and soft haze, Know that the hardest thing in the world - is to carry Certain thoughts - or their shadows - scurry When life can’t be seen but dreamt - an icy heart! In quiet drowsiness. A leaf gleams, Better that it be frenetic, wrapped in tenderness The white reflection of the sun fell on a trunk. And everything disappeared. All the borders and and anger! And a tiny bug crawls along it. boundaries Melted away. And then a lad said I glanced back - I could barely see the footpath in And I will fall asleep to the carefree rustling To his girl: the sea no longer conceals its secrets - the fog, With the hope that playing with a ball, With it we’re one. Now neither fear And I listen – somebody’s voices barely screaming... Tender Nausicaa* will awaken me, Dear son! When I abandon this evanescent earth, The slender daughter of the Phaeacian king. Nor hunger will stop us. We’ll float onward Take my unfinished tune, and carry it off like a song! This way as long as the oars August 11, 1944, Irpin * The beautiful Phaeacian princess who discovers Odysseus at Scheria while she is washing clothes on the shore. Serve us. We don’t need A goal or signs. Just for the wave to carry us... A beam of light It happens this way: the night’s still dark outside, * * * While the sun rocks the earth like a baby, In the warm days of the grape harvest Meditation The sky grows mute and the earth silent, He met her. On slow moving mules The evening sneaks up slowly into my poor heart, The stars can’t be seen in the opaque silence - She returned from her bright garden, It’s quiet there, and I feel for the world, as well as for Bright as a garden, and as joyful as laughter. the day, And suddenly you awaken. Bold thoughts It’s as if I passed through in futility, singing, over moun- Come in a swarm from God-knows-where, And he asked: “And how can I entice you tains and valleys, Hands thirst for work, and from the distance To turn you back to my arms?” Across cheerful meadows, along abysses dark as clouds. The rustle of branches flows over the black poplar... She said to him: “Light a lamp To good Cythereia every day.” She lifted the whip. My friend, I still don’t know your face or name, What happened? Who roused the heart? Young wayfarer who’s just now begun his path! Why do you believe that a triumphal wave She shouted crisply and cheerfully at the mules, Know - that I came to understand this late! - that every Of unexpected marvels at any moment will draw near? And the right mule laid back its ear comically, moment is a seed And the dust flew up like pink smoke. From which flowers and lethal herbs grow. It’s the first ray of light glancing into the window, The sparkling sorrow of the dawn catching fire And he stretched like a child, and happily Give love and attention to the good sprouts, Like the wine of vivifying youth... Said: “It.s good to be young Pitilessly root out the evil and poisonous weeds, November 16, 1963 Love the pure water that satisfies parching thirst, Translated from the Ukrainian into English In the warm days of the gathering of the grapes”. by Michael NAYDAN. (Maxim Rylsky. Autumn Stars. 1922 And hearts that avoid the road of affrontery and deceit. Bilingual edition: Litopys Publishing House, 2008)

The Editorial Board thanks Dr., Prof. Michael M.Naydan (The Pennsilvania State University) for his contribution in editing this article 50