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Islamic leader's statement causes furore in Macedonia

Analysts and activists caution religious leaders to be careful about their statements on social networks and elsewhere.

IVZ head Sulejman Rexhepi’s post about the Prilep mosque is being criticised. [Facebook/Sulejman Rexhipi]

Writer Auguste Corteau revealed on Friday that he is taking legal action against journalist Dimos Verikios over a homophobic rant made by the latter during his daily radio show on Alpha.

A 23-year-old man was arrested on Friday after a police operation revealed that he had coerced an 11-year-old girl into sending him nude photographs of herself on Facebook.

Abdullah Gul, the President of Turkey, declared himself against a possible ban on social media.

On Friday, he announced a blockade of Facebook and YouTube that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had suggested earlier is "out of question", as he was quoted as saying by German magazine Der Spiegel.

Rallies in support of Russia will be held in two Bulgarian cities on Friday evening. 

Both are organised via the social network Facebook.

Turkey could block access to social media such as YouTube and Facebook, its Prime Minister announced on Thursday.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan added the measure could be approved and enacted after local elections, which will be held on March 30, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News reported, citing a live interview aired on TV channel ATV.

Turkish PM promises to ban Facebook and YouTube

ANKARA -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he would ban the use of Facebook and YouTube in Turkey after the March 30 elections in that country.

"There are new measures that will be taken after March 30, including a ban on Facebook and YouTube," Erdogan told private Turkish television ATV.

The amendment initiated by the ministry of justice follows reports that a growing number of Albanian citizens have joined radical Islamist groups fighting in the Syrian civil war.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Arjan Dyrmishi, a security expert with the Albanian Institute of Democracy and Mediation told Balkan Insight.  

The Euronews TV channel removed from its Facebook page the cover photo of the Soviet soldier painted in the colors of Ukraine at the Soviet army monument in Sofia.

The photo stirred outrage among the Russian viewers who posted hateful comments and Russia's foreign ministry, which said that the use of the photo of the “desecrated monument” has “crossed all borders”.

Croatia and Serbia to pursue war reparations

Experts said reparations are important to reconciliation in the region.

Davor Stier (centre), European Parliament member from the Croatian Democratic Union, rasied the issue of war reparations with EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule. [Facebook/Davor Stier]