Поселищна мрежа и население в Сакар планина и прилежащия й район през XV-XVI век

Author(s): Stefan Dimitrov / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

This study, based on the ground of unpublished Ottoman tax registers (tapu tahrir defterleri), analyses the "population-area" relationship in the Sakar Mountain and the adjacent area in the 15th-16th century. After detailed selection and translation of the Ottoman tax registers and analysis of the information in terms of settlements, as identified in the registers, the borders of the kaza of Edirne have been established as well as the changes which occurred in that territory; the extent and methods of occupying this administrative area and the ethno-religious structure of the population, within the studies region, have been specified. It has been found that the East, West and North borders of the region of Edirne did not undergo significant changes in time. Only the South border was changed over the years, including towns and villages, adjacent to the kaza of Dimetoka. A typical feature of the settlement network, withing that region, was its instability at the end of 15th and the first half of the 16th century. The small weak settlements prevailed in it - probably still newly populated areas, founded when liberated slaves or colonized population settled the area or they were just old settlements in decline. Int the second half of the 16th century the settlement network became stable and strong and increased its density. Within the period 1485-1570 most densely populated was the area with and altitude of up to 250 m. Together with the process of settling the lowlands another process was taking place - settling of the foothill and the mountain areas of the region. The towns and villages, located in the investigated region, were occupied by Muslims and non-Muslims, as the total number of the households of both religious communities gradually increased in the years.

Общи наблюдения за географското разпределение и числения състав на войнушкото население в българските и съседните им земи в края на XV - първата половина на XVI век

Author(s): Krastyo Yordanov / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

The paper presents new data on the total number of the voynuk population in Eastern Rumelia in the first half of the 16th century, based on an unpublished voynuk register from 1528/29, and two concise registers of the population in Rumelia from 1530. The registry data also allow to calculate the approximate percentage of voynuks, the population, exempted from avariz,and the ordinary reaya who were registered in the Bulgarian lands in 1528-11530. The paper also examines the changes from the early years of the region of Suleiman the Magnificent when service of voyunks in the sncaks of Valchitran, Kyustendil and the region of Epirus was abolished. The voyunks in the sancak of Valchitran were transformed into ordinary reaya, but those of the sancak of Kyustendil and the region of Epirus were recorded as taxpayers in the hases of Sultan and their organization was preserved.

Съдебни протоколи от XVI век за процедурата по определяне на границите на селското землище и екологичната среда в селища от старозагорската каза

Author(s): Milena Petkova-Encheva / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

Sixteenth century is the time of dramatic expansion and demographic changes for the Ottoman Empire. A certain impact on people's everyday life has the environment and more specifically environment consequences in the means of increasing population, changing patterns of production, transitions from nomadic to settled agriculture communities. The village territory and the peasants' agrarian activities are of great importance for the economic history researchers, ethnologists and scholars interested in the Ottoman Empire and more specifically in the reclamation of the agrarian space. The present paper examines the procedure on fixing the boundaries of the village territory as it was recorded in the judicial records - huccets, included in the detailed (mufassal) defter of 1570 containing information on the vakifs of Pasa sanack. The judicial records refer to the village territories of four settlements - Kul Ibrahim, Sruca Reis, Boazkesen and Hizir bey on the territory of the kaza of Stara Zagora during the 16th century. The examined copies of huccets give detailed information about the two main elements of the village territory - arable lands and pastures, but also provide data on the environment of parts of the territory of the kaza of Stara Zagora.

За съдбата на софийската църква "Св. Георги" - ротонда под османска власт

Author(s): Rositsa Grozdanova / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

The article traces the history of the oldest building still functioning in Sofia, the Rotunda in the centre of the ancient city, with a focus on its Ottoman period. Special attention is paid to the date of its conversion into a mosque around 1500, and to its fate in the late 17th century when, due to destruction, it was abandoned as a house of worship. A third focus of the article is the transformations of the neighbourhood around it through the centuries. The study is based on a variety of sources, some of which newly-discovered, in the collection of BOA-Istanbul and of the Oriental Department at the National Library in Sofia, and unpublished - single Ottoman documents, excerpts from kadi sicills, atik sikayet defters, tapu tahrir defters, others - well known and widely used, such as the travel accounts of Stephan Gerlach, Evliya Celebi, Viktor Grigorovich, K. Jirecek, as well as texts produced bu the Bulgarian community.

Търновският епископат и Русия XV-XVII век

Author(s): Ivan Tyutyundzhiev / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

The image of Ottoman invasion of the Bulgarian lands, the Tarnovo Patriarchate, in its capacity as the "Mother of All Bulgarian Churches", maintained international contacts throughout the Greek Orthodox world. The Patriarchate enjoyed high prestige among Orthodox Slav on account of its consistent anti-Unite stance, adopted after the Church Union of the Council of Lyons (1247). This stance differed drastically from the contradictory policy of Byzantium and the Church of Constantinople which were inclined to make compromises with the West and the Papal institution in Rome as part of an attempt to forge an alliance and oppose the invading Ottoman forces. The Tarnovo Patriarchate strongly adhered the Orthodoxy and resisted Roman Catholic attempts at penetration in the territories under its pastoral care. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church by all probability had a major role in spreading Christianity among Cumans and some Tatars in Wallachia and Moldova in the 13 th and 14 th centuries . The high status of the Head of the Tarnovo Patriarchate was borne out by the participation of Patritach Simeon in the coronation of the Serbian monarch Stephen Dusan (1331-1335) and his Bulgarian wife Elena as Tsar and Tsarina and the transformation of the Serbian Archbishopric into a Patriarchate in 1346. Around the middle of the 14th c. the Tarnovo Patriarchate was established contacts with Russia. In 1352 Patriarch Theodosius II of Tarnovo took part in the ordination of Theodorit, Metropolitan of the Principality of Galicia-Lithuania, as Metropolitan of Russia. For Russia Tarnovo was obviously an important spiritual centre holding authority over all Orthodox Slavs. At more or less the same time we encounter the appellation "Tsarigrad-Turnov" which reflected the idea of the Bulgarian capital as a "Third Rome" and "Second Constantinople". Further proof of the high status of Bulgarian clerics among Orthodox Slavs is provided by the enthronement, in the year 1375, of three patriarchs originating from Tarnovo: Euthymius (Evtimii) of Tarnovo (1375-1393), Ephraem of Pec, Patriarch of Serbia (1375-1380; 1389-1392), and Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kiev and all of Russia (1375-1406). The survey of Bulgarian-Russian spiritual ties presented above aims at correcting a view still current in historiography according to which, between the 16th and 18th centuries, church influence followed a North-South (rather than a South-North) axis. While we may assume that such a view reflects the state of affairs in the 18th century, the earlier times of Ottoman domination (15th-17th cc.) were marked by attempts on the part of Tarnovo clerical elite to take part in the most important initiative aiming to increase Russia's prestige as the only independent and most powerful Orthodox Slavonic state. Higher clerics made a point of mentioning the names of Russians monarchs in church services intended for Bulgarian Christian congregations and thus seered Bulgarian expectations of political liberation in the direction of Russia.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - RUSSIAN INFORMATION CAMPAIGN AGAINST UKRAINIAN STATE AND DEFENCE FORCE

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The report was executed for the NATO StratCom COE by the Centre for Applied Research under the Estonian National Defence College. The objective of this research is to identify how the Russian media portrays the Ukrainian military and security structures, including the policies of the Kiev government and their ‘collaboration’ with the West. The research group looks at how messages disseminated in the media attempt to construct attitudes and advocate behaviours in parallel to political and military events on the ground in Ukraine. The research covers the period from 1 April until 31 December 2014 and analyses the following Russian media: Regnum, Komsomolskaya Pravda and TV Zvezda. These media are important because they target not only Russian internal audience but also the Russian-speaking communities in the former territory of the USSR. The researchers used standardised content analysis in accordance to a specially developed Coding Manual and enriched the findings with data from 25 structured interviews with Ukrainian representatives (media, political and military experts, as well as soldiers and officers involved in the military conflict). From December 2014 the Russian military has adopted a new doctrine that explicitly states that information superiority is essential to achieving victory on the physical battleground in the modern war. It is crucial for NATO to draw appropriate conclusions from the on-going conflict in Europe in order to further strengthen the unity of the alliance and avoid such conflict scenarios between Russia and NATO in the future. Russia’s information activities have played a significant role in the overall military operations carried out in the territory of East Ukraine since 2014. Information operations were used at all levels starting with the political level (against the state of Ukraine, state structures, politicians) up to the tactical level for justifying military actions initiated by pro-Russian forces. Information confrontation and a variety of psychological operations continue to play a substantial role in the current crisis in Ukraine. Russia uses various media channels to conduct its operations against Ukraine, including governmental and private TV channels (e.g. Pervyi Kanal, Rossija 1, NTV, Russia Today, LifeNews), radio (e.g. Radio Mayak), mobile phone operators (e.g. KyivStar), Internet sources (including online publications, e.g. Regnum, TV Zvezda, Кomsomolskaya Pravda, Itar Tass, RIA Novosti ) and social media networks (e.g. YouTube, Facebook, Vk.com, odnoklassniki.ru). Some Ukrainian sources hold pro-Russian attitudes and can also be used to spread disinformation (e.g. Vesti). The separatist People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk have their own channels producing anti-Ukrainian propaganda (e.g. dnrnews.com, novorus.info). The current study has focused on the media channels that represent the Russian mainstream—Komsomolskaya Pravda, TV Zvezda, Regnum. These mass media channels are generally critical against the Ukrainian government and armed forces, but do not offer a critical view of the Russian government; they justify Russian policy in Ukraine and see the Ukrainian crisis as a battlefield between Russia and West, referring to the clash of civilisations with the West (primarily the US and NATO, but also the European Union) allegedly intending to advance its sphere of influence towards Russian borders.

WRITTEN COMMENTS BY THE EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS CENTRE (ERRC submission to the European Commission on the enlargement component of the EU Roma Framework May 2017)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The report commissioned by DG NEAR The Thematic Evaluation on IPA Support to Roma Communities, clearly identified why EU funding did not have a discernible impact on Roma inclusion in the first round of IPA assistance. The findings from the first round of IPA funding raised a number of concerns: - Credible assessment of project effectiveness proved to be difficult “because of poor design of indicators and means of verification, together with scarce project level evaluation”; - Even in the sphere of education where most progress has been made the report concluded that “Evidence for improved educational attainment is piecemeal and anecdotal – but points strongly in the right direction”; - Displacement projects were not designed specifically for Roma, but for all displaced persons so there were no Roma-specific activities, objectives or indicators. Specifically for the Roma population, sustainability is highly questionable and there are concerns that housing projects creating (or re-creating) segregated communities. - Housing projects are expensive and relatively insignificant interventions compared to the scale of the needs. - Employment projects have not achieved any notable successes; - Monitoring at country, programme and project level remains very poor. At country level, there are some efforts to provide indicators and data on the situation of Roma communities, but there is an almost complete lack of comparable information over time to show changes. The recommendations concerning political will, financial allocations, robust monitoring, gender equity, and the “need for a strong, independent and sustainable civil society”, mirror the challenges facing the EU Framework. What is clear from ERRC’s various submissions, advocacy, research and litigation in the enlargement countries of the western Balkans over the past years is that for Roma inclusion to be effective, national and local authorities must prioritise combating all forms of discrimination; ending residential and school segregation; challenging ethnic profiling and police brutality; addressing statelessness and ending forced evictions; and ensuring access to justice. The need to step up the fight against all forms of discrimination against Roma including institutional racism, which is evident in the enlargement countries, is something that is common to all of the Member States of the European Union. The Commission in its 2016 Communication on the EU Roma Framework, explicitly called on Member States to demonstrate greater political will to combat discrimination, described rising anti-Gypsyism as “a specific form of racism”, and urged public authorities to distance themselves from racist and xenophobic discourse that targets Roma. When it comes to anti-Roma hate speech and hate crime, the Commission bluntly stated that authorities’ failure to take action effectively amounts to complicity: “it is important to realise that a reluctance to act also contributes to the acceptance of intolerance in societies.” The ERRC fully agrees with the Commission’s observations, and it is clear from this ERRC submission and the previous one, that Roma in enlargement countries face similar or even more serious problems than in many EU Member States. As mentioned earlier, the ERRC welcomes the Commission’s statement that enlargement policy remains focused on the “fundamentals first” principle, which includes the rule of law and fundamental rights, with specific mention of the “need to better protect minorities, in particular Roma.” Therefore, the ERRC recommends that the Commission work with the governments of enlargement countries to put in place “robust monitoring mechanisms” on Roma inclusion that align with the EU Framework, and to establish an annual reporting schedule that coincides with that of the Member States. This would allow for greater transparency and meaningful comparability between Member States and aspirant countries. It is important from the outset to send a signal to these countries that combating discrimination and racism is a priority for the Commission in its “fundamentals first” policy approach to further enlargement. Based on our common experience of the EU Framework, ERRC fully endorses the Commission’s assertion that “stepping up the fight against racism and discrimination” remains essential to making any advances in “reducing the socio-economic gap between the Roma and non-Roma population in the Western Balkans and Turkey” up to 2020 and beyond.

References

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Gestionarea afluxului de refugiați în contextul crizei din Ucraina și impactul asupra Ordinii și Siguranței Publice

Author(s): Iulian Andon / Language(s): Romanian,French Publication Year: 0

Cet article vise à présenter les enjeux de la gestion de l'afflux de réfugiés dans le contexte de la crise en Ukraine et l'impact sur l'ordre et la sécurité publics. L'essence de la gestion du phénomène dans de telles situations réside dans la réaction rapide et appropriée aux événements qui menacent. Par conséquent, on peut dire que la gestion des situations de crise comprend l'ensemble des mesures adoptées à tous les niveaux du gouvernement, y compris les ministères, les conseils départementaux et locaux, afin d'assurer et de renforcer l'ordre et la sécurité publics. De ce fait, nous examinerons les causes de l'augmentation des valeurs de trafic aux points de passage frontaliers de l'État, les mesures adoptées dans le plan opérationnel afin de gérer l'afflux de réfugiés et l'impact sur l'ordre et la sécurité publics.

Geografia omuciderilor în spațiul rural românesc (2011-2020)

Author(s): Octavian Groza,Vicenţiu-Robert Gabor / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

Consisting of extremely violent and seemingly random events, the phenomenon of homicides is often considered a sign of social pathology and thus the spatial dimension that it can acquire through the various processes that lead to its territorial rooting is lost sight of. Our research is focused on discovering the geographical dimensions of this phenomenon within the Romanian rural spaces. The choice of the rural area is not accidental: between 2011 and 2020 more than 62.5% of homicides were recorded in this environment, which, according to the official statistics of the 2021 census, amounts to only 47.8% of the total population. Noticing the spatial differentiation of the phenomenon allows, on the one hand, to support the construction of public prevention policies, and on the other hand, it allows the initiation of a reflection on the efficiency of the geographical distribution of the means available to the institutions charged with the administration of various operational aspects related to homicides.

METODICI EXPERIMENTALE DE SPECTROMETRIE ÎN CERCETĂRI DE MEDIU

Author(s): Irinel Alexandru Precup,Liviu Valentin Bălănescu / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

Spectrometry and measurements of radioactive background are used to detect and quantify levels of ionizing radiation in various environments, including air, water, and soil. These techniques allow the determination of the type and quantity of radionuclides present in a sample and can be used to evaluate the impact of radiation on human health and the environment. Spectrometry involves detecting and analyzing the radiation emitted by radioactive materials, while measurements of radioactive background refer to measuring the level of background radiation in a particular environment or location. Measurements of radioactive background are important in assessing the risks associated with exposure to radiation in a given environment. These measurements are carried out using measuring instruments such as dosimeters, radiation detectors, or spectrometers and allow the monitoring of radiation levels in various environments, including areas where there are natural or artificial sources of radiation. Overall, spectrometry and measurements of radioactive background are essential for evaluating the risks associated with exposure to radiation and for protecting human health and the environment.

PROTECȚIA INVESTIGATORULUI LA INCENDII PE TIMPUL CERCETĂRII LA FAȚA LOCULUI

Author(s): George Sorescu / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

In conducting the investigation of the causes of the fire, through on-site investigation, the investigator/investigators are subject to risks to health and bodily integrity. After any fire, apparently, the main risk has passed, but after it several dangers remain active, some of which are visible, immediately perceptible, and others with hidden effects, with consequences over time. The article seeks to shed light on these risks and tries to induce a necessary conduct in those who investigate fires.