History Excerpts About Which I'm Gung Ho...!: July 2008

Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Bosnian Genocide..Don't forget !!

The Genocide occurred between 1992 a

nd 1995 in the independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (a small country that emerged from the break up of former Yugoslavia). The attacks were largely carried out by the Yugoslavian army, Bosnian Serbs & partly by chetnicks from Serbia and Montenegro (neighbouring BiH)

The genocide against Bosnian Muslims was, effectively, an ethnic-cleansing of the bloodiest & most brutal kind. It resulted in more than 200,000 deaths (average of around 198 deaths per day). Civilians - men, women and children - were killed by Serb armies, as well as Serb snipers, who continually shot down helpless innocents in Sarajevo (including 3,500 children). In addition, there was a systematic rounding up and shooting of Bosnian M

uslims, either for immediate mass-murder or detention of men and boys in make-shift concentration camps. In order to force Muslim villagers to flee their homes, a large number of women and girls were raped.

Although the UN imposed economic sanctions on Serbia, it fell short of interefering militarily. Indeed, the International Community at large failed to take instant military action to stop the oppression. Consequently, throughout 1993, genocide against Bosnian Muslims was freely committed.

Many areas, which were labelled as 'safe-havens' (controlled by UN peacekeeping forces), were also attacked. At this point, some of the worst genocidal activities of the four year old conflict occurred.

In Srebrenica, an internationally-recognized S

afe Haven for Muslims, Dutch U.N. peacekeepers stood by as the Serbs under the command of General Ratko Mladic systematically selected and then slaughtered nearly 8,000 men and boys between the ages of twelve and sixty. The events at Srebrencia in July 1995 constitute the worst mass murder in Europe since World War II. In addition, the Serbs continued to engage in mass rapes of Muslim females, and a stream of refugees sought safety in Potocari which fell shortly thereafter without any resistance.

On August 30, 1995, effective military intervention finally began as the U.S. led a massive NATO bombing campaign in response to the killings at Srebrenica, targeting Serbian artillery positions throughout Bosnia. The bombardment continued into October

. Serb forces also lost ground to Bosnian Muslims, who had received arms shipments & Muslim troops from the Islamic world. As a result, half of Bosnia was eventually retaken by Muslim-Croat troops.

Faced with the heavy NATO bombardment and a string of ground losses to the Muslim-Croat alliance, Serb leader Milosevic was now ready to talk peace.

After three weeks of negotiations, a peace accord was declared. By then, over 250,000 Muslim civilians had been systematically murdered. More than 20,000 were missing and feared dead, while 2,000,000 had become refugees. It was, according to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, "the greatest failure of the West since the 1930s."
A number of people have been tried for actively committing or assisting war crimes and genocide. Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was being tried on charges of war crimes and genocide, he died before the end of his trial.

Six suspects indicted by The Hague tribunal are still at large. Of those, the most prominent are the Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, indicted for atrocities during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Both Karadzic and Mladic are in hiding (possibly in Serb-controlled Bosnia or Serbia itself) and are said to be constantly surrounded by teams of heavily armed bodyguards. Karadzic has evaded capture at least six times and is sheltered by supporters in Bosnia and Montenegro.

Mladic is thought to be protected in Serbia by old comrades from the former Yugoslav Army. He is accused of murdering about 8,000 Muslims in the supposed UN safe haven of Srebrenica in 1995.

There is currently an outstanding international arrest warrant ag

ainst Karadžić following the Rule 61 of ICTY, which concluded that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused has committed the crimes in question including genocide.

The United States government has since offered a $5 million award for his and Ratko Mladić's arrests.

Efforts to find & arrest these criminals, however, have been far from adequate.

SOURCE: Remember The Bosnian Genocide.

Watch the BBC documentary on the genocide:

Saladin The Legendary Warrior

Malaysia's Multimedia Development Corporation unveiled its Saladin 3D cartoon project, the latest development in MSC Malaysia's Creative Multimedia Content Initiative .

Saladin 3D, an animated television series, is meant to cater to the Middle East region, which is looking for content that fits its culture and history.

Al Jazeera Children's Channel and Multimedia Development Corporation recently formalized their partnership in content development and distribution. The collaboration consists of the co-production and global marketing of the 26 episodes of Saladin 3D Animated Television Series, which is planned for broadcast on Al Jazeera Children's Channel in the last quarter of 2008.

The Saladin series is based on the epic story of the 12th century Kurdish warrior who united the Muslims during a turbulent era and reclaimed Jerusalem..

Mehmed II's Firman on the Freedom of the Bosnian Franciscans

Sultan Mehmet II was the seventh ottoman sultan. He was reigned 2 times; for a short time between 1444 and 1446, and then between 1451 and 1481. When he was 21 he could conquer Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). On Tuesday, May 29, 1453 he could record his name as the only man who could capture a strong city like Constantinople after many trials of beseiging it by muslims. After this conquest he acquired the name (Al-Fatih) or (The Conqueror).

Alot of time is actually needed to fulfil the talk about Fatih Sultan Mehmet. However, let's stress on a historic ferman (oath) declared by him as regard the Bosnian Franciscans when he conquered Bosnia giving them freedom..

"I, the Sultan Khan the Conqueror, hereby declare the whole world
that, The Bosnian Franciscans granted with this sultanate
firman are under my protection. And I command that:
No one
shall disturb or give harm to these people and their churches! They shall live
in peace in my state. These people who have become emigrants, shall have
security and liberty. They may return to their monasteries which are located in
the borders of my state. No one from my empire
notable, viziers, clerks or my maids will break their honour or give any harm to
them! No one shall insult, put in danger or attack these
lives, properties, and churches of these people! Also, what
and those these people have brought from their own countries have the same
rights... By declaring this firman, I swear on my sword by the
holy name of Allah who has created the ground and sky, Allah's prophet Mohammed,
and 124.000 former prophets that; no one from my citizens will react or behave
the opposite of this firman!"

This oath firman, which has provided independence and tolerance to the ones who are from another religion, belief, and race was declared by Mehmed II the Conqueror and granted to Angjeo Zvizdovic of the Franciscan Catholic Monastery in Fojnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina after the conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina on May 28th of 1463. The firman has been recently raised and published by the Ministry of Culture of Turkey for the 700th anniversary of the foundation of the Ottoman State. The edict was issued by the Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror to protect the basic rights of the Bosnian Christians when he conquered that territory in 1463. The original edict is still kept in the Franciscan Catholic Monastery in Fojnica.
It is one of the oldest documents on religious freedom. Mehmed II's oath was entered into force in the Ottoman Empire on May 28, 1463. In 1971, the United Nations published a translation of the document in all the official U.N. languages.

Roxelana: the magnificent of the Magnificent..

Introduction:

Roxelana is the legal wife of the famous Ottoman Sultan "Süleyman The Magnificent". She was born to a father who was a Ukrainian Orthodox priest. She was born in the town of Rohatyn, 68 km southeast of Lviv, a major city of Galicia which was then part of the Kingdom of Poland, today in western Ukraine. She was captured by Crimean Tatars during one of their frequent raids into this region and taken as a slave, probably first to the Crimean city of Kaffa, a major centre of the slave trade, then to Istanbul, and was selected for Süleyman's harem.

With The Sultan:
She quickly came to the attention of her master, and attracted the jealousy of her rivals. One day Süleyman's favorite, the concubine Mahidevran (also called "Gul Bahar", the Flower of Spring), got into a fight with Hürrem and beat her badly. Upset by this, Süleyman banished Mahidevran to the provincial capital of Manisa, together with her son, the heir apparent, Prince Mustafa. Thereafter, Hürrem became Süleyman's unrivalled favorite or (haseki).

Hürrem's influence over the Sultan soon became legendary; she was to bear Süleyman five children and, in an astonishing break with tradition, eventually was freed and became his legal wife. This strengthened her position in the palace and eventually led to one of her sons, Selim, inheriting the empire. Hürrem also may have acted as Süleyman's adviser on matters of state, and seems to have had an influence upon foreign affairs and international politics. Two of her letters to the Polish King Sigismund II Augustus have been preserved, and during her lifetime, the Ottoman Empire generally had peaceful relations with the Polish state. Some historians also believe that she may have intervened with her husband to control Crimean Tatar slave-raiding in her native land.

Charitable Works:
Aside from her political concerns, Hürrem engaged in several major works of public buildings, from Mecca to Jerusalem, perhaps modeling her charitable foundations in part after the caliph Harun al-Rashid's consort Zubaida. Among her first foundations were a mosque, two Koranic schools (Madrassa), a fountain, and a women's hospital near the women's slave market (Avret Pazary) in Istanbul. She also commissioned a bath, the Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamamı, to serve the community of worshipers in the nearby Hagia Sophia. As well, some of her embroidery, or at least that done under her supervision, has survived, examples being given in 1547 to Tahmasp I, the Shah of Iran, and in 1549 to King Sigismund Augustus of Poland.

Death:
Hürrem died on April 18, 1558. She is buried in a domed mausoleum (türbe) decorated in exquisite Iznik tiles depicting the garden of paradise, perhaps in homage to her smiling and joyful nature. Her mausoleum is adjacent to Süleyman's, a separate and more somber domed structure, at the Süleymaniye Mosque.

The Husband Said About The Wife:
The famous Ottoman Sultan "Suleyman The Magnificent" was a wonderful poet. He wrote alot of poems. One of them was the "Muhibbi" or the "lovers " in which he describes his wife Roxelana (Hurrem), He wrote:

"Throne of my lonely niche, my wealth, my love, my moonlight.
My most sincere friend, my confidant, my very existence, my Sultan, my one and only love.
The most beautiful among the beautiful…
My springtime, my merry faced love, my daytime, my sweetheart, laughing leaf…
My plants, my sweet, my rose, the one only who does not distress me in this world…
My Istanbul, my Caraman, the earth of my Anatolia
My Badakhshan, my Baghdad and Khorasan
My woman of the beautiful hair, my love of the slanted brow, my love of eyes full of mischief…
I'll sing your praises always
I, lover of the tormented heart, Muhibbi of the eyes full of tears, I am happy."

Suleyman The Magnificent

The only son of Selim I, Suleyman I was born on November 6th 1494 at Trabzon (Black Sea coast of Turkey). At the age of 26 he became the 10th sultan of the Empire in 1520 and is known as "Kanuni", the Lawgiver, in his homeland, but for Europeans he has

always been "Suleyman the Magnificent". During the course of his substantial extension of the Ottoman Empire he captured Belgrade in 1521 and Rhodes 1522, forcing the Knights of St. John to leave for Malta, defeated and killed King Lewis of Hungary at Mohacs in 1526, taking Buda (Budin) in 1529 and unsuccessfully besieging Vienna in September and October of that year, and Transylvania came into his possession in 1562. His domain extended far to the eastward and into Egypt and Persia, while his fleet was master of the Red Sea (including Yemen and Aden) and virtually the whole of the Mediterranean, waging war on the coasts of North Africa, Italy and Dalmatia under the command of its fearsome admiral Barbarossa.

Within the Empire Süleyman was responsible for transforming the army and the judicial system. Süleyman himself was a poet and accomplished goldsmith. Suleyman died on September 6th 1566 during the war with Austria outside Szigetvar in Hungary led by his Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, which two days later fell to the Ottomans. During the siege, Austrian army didn't come to help the Hungarians so they had to defend their castle heroically but desperately. After Suleyman's death, he was taken back to Istanbul and was buried in the largest of Sinan's mausoleum situated within the complex of the Suleymaniye Mosque.

Suleyman the Magnificent ruled the Ottoman Empire for 46 years between 1520 - 1566 and doubled his territory. This was a rising period for Istanbul, as it was for the whole Empire. Many valuable buildings were constructed during this period which survived until our days with no or little damage thanks to the great architect Sinan. The city was restored with a better plan including new dams, aqueducts and fountains, theological schools (medrese), caravanserai, Turkish baths, botanical gardens and bridges. The port of Golden Horn, of which the surveillance was made from Galata Tower, became one of the busiest ports. Some of the important monuments and mosques built during this period are: Suleymaniye Mosque and annexes, Sehzadebasi Mosque and establishments, Sultan Selim Mosque and establishments, Cihangir Mosque and Haseki establishments and baths built on behalf of the Hurrem Sultan or Roxelana (the only loved wife of the Sultan).

Istanbul had a detailed city plan for reconstruction during this time. Migration was prohibited. Building houses around the city wall was prohibited. Coffee houses were introduced to Istanbul during this period.

He was succeeded by his son Selim II.

A Beautiful Picture..!

I picked this photo up while browsing the internet for some Turkish flags. I think it's worth while. Look at the beautiful mix of flag colors depicted from the charming colors of the stones. The red background of the Turkish flag is formed of a huge number of red stones arranged so tightly that you even can't imagine anything but that it's just a flag..

The white crescent and star are formed of whites stones centered to the field to complete the figure of the Turkish flag.. A wonderful green yard is also seen surrounding the magnificent 'flag'...

The Former Yugoslavia..

Yugoslavia was a country in Europe. It existed from 1918 to 1992. From 1918 until 1928 it was called the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. From 1928 until World War II it was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In the war Croatia was a Nazi puppet state. After the war was born the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia with six republics: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, and two autonomous provinces in Serbia: Vojvodina in the north, and Kosovo, next to Albania. In 1991 came the independence of Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and in 1992 of Bosnia-Herzegovina, causing the end of the country. Serbia and Montenegro, were the last two republics in the Socialist Yugoslavia. In 1992, they formed a new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). In 2003, the FRY became the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. In 2006, the state union ended when Montenegro decided to be their country. Kosovo has recently acquired its independence in Feb 2008

Now, Yugoslavia has been split up and made into these countries:

* Slovenia
* Croatia
* Macedonia
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Montenegro
* Serbia
* Kosovo

How Yugoslavia vanished from maps

1- Created out of the ashes of Austria-Hungary's defeat in
WWI, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes - changed
to Yugoslavia in 1929 - was in theory a single autonomous state,
but ethnic tensions were not far from the surface.

============================

2-After invasion and a series of overlapping civil wars in
WWII, a lid was kept on national aspirations by the creation
of a federation of six nominally equal republics. In Serbia,
Kosovo and Vojvodina were given autonomous status. But from
1991 Yugoslavia fell apart.
============================

3-A series of splits saw the bloodiest fighting in Croatia and
Bosnia. A peace deal created the self-governing Bosnian Serb
Republic (Republika Srpska) and Muslim Croat Federation.
Kosovo become a UN protectorate after inter-ethnic fighting
and Nato bombardment in 1999.
============================

4-In 2003 Yugoslavia disappeared from the map of Europe.
Replaced for a short time by the looser union of Serbia and
Montenegro, the latter broke away in 2006. Two years later,
Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians declared independence from
Serbia.

source: BBC

Listen to the AZAN from Istanbul..

Listen & watch here to the Azan (muslim prayers announcement) form Sultan Ahmad I mosque (the Blue Mosque or Sultanahmet Camii) which has been built between 1609 and1616 in Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire (Now Istanbul, Turkey).

Listen also to Azan from:

Bosnia
Mecca (The Holy Haram)
Madinah (The Prophetic Mosque)
Cairo
Istanbul

History Excerpts About Which I'm Gung Ho...!