Class: Urban Study: Intercultural Communication
Professor: Tom Regan
Student: Vlado Vukovic

Task: Research Project
Title: Comparing Yemeni and Serbian Culture





The author of short stories I chose is a gentleman by the name of Mohammed Abdul-Wali and his book named “They Die Strangers” who writes about life in exile that is filled with nostalgia for his father’s land of Yemen. Mr.Walli is of mixed heritage considering that his mother is from Ethiopia and the action is taking place in Yemen during the 1950s.



The land that Mr.Walli feels most attached to is his fathers land Yemen, which his father left in search for better opportunities for Ethiopia at the start of 20th century. The land and particularly the region where his father is from a very poor region that lead Yemen as far as emigration goes but also a region that is riddled with civil war, separated families (since many men went to live and work abroad) where children are raised practically fatherless.



First short story I chose is “Brother, Are You Going To Fight”. In this story one of the major characters is one rather arrogant Yemeni policemen and the first comparison I can make with my homeland Montenegro is that is certainly isn’t a rarity to encounter an arrogant policeman.



This Yemeni policemen is dressed in traditional clothing and he is barefoot and the only comparison I can make with Montenegro is that traditional clothing is sometimes still worn by elderly people in remote mountain villages far from urban civilization but certainly one will never see any policemen dressed in traditional clothing at the present time although if we are to go back say over 100 years in time then such possibility would certainly increase.




The Yemeni policemen is carrying his weapon over his shoulder as to show of that he is armed in a land where weapons are not a rarity and comparison I can made that also in Montenegro weapons are not rarity by any stretch of imagination since practically every house has weapons in it and males are rather fond of their weapons and to them it is as important as jewelry is to a woman and some are outright obsessed with weapons such as guns.



This Yemeni policemen is a member of a tribe from northern part of north Yemen that is deployed in the southern part of North Yemen (where Mr.Walli’s father is from) and these tribesmen were used by Yemens ruler of the time called Hamiid al-Diin as mercenaries to act on his behalf and enforce his laws in villages such as Hujariyyah where his father is from.



The comparisons I can make with these tribesmen who are serving the local ruler are numerous since the region I am from since the ancient days of Illyria are inhabited with tribes. I myself belong to one and Montenegro is among the last regions in Europe that still maintains tribal system together with mountain parts of northern Scotland and northern mountain parts of northern Albania and did I mention that Montenegro is composed mainly of mountains as its even name suggests since Monte in Latin means mountain.



These Illyrian and later Montenegrin tribes have been used in numerous occasions by different rules in various wars, from the days of Roman empire when Illyrian tribesmen composed of the major source for Roman legions and Royal Roman Praetorian Guard that protected Roman Emperors (many of whom came from Illyrian tribesmen and were elevated from General positions in Legions to their Emperor position via mainly Illyrian populated Roman Legions) to more modern time when either Montengrin or Serbian rulers would from time to time appeal to their honor and serbian blood to defend other Serb brothers and free them from Ottoman yoke.



In some example these tribesmen were used to frighten and expel other nationalities such as Turks and their major local cohorts Albanian Muslims militia also called Turkoalbanians at the time from parts of Kosovo after its liberation from Ottoman hand shorty prior to coming of First World War.


Local Turkoalbanians conducted terror in the name of Ottomans against local Christians in order to empty Kosovo from them throughout Kosovo since 17 century when Turks brought them in Kosovo and these Turkoalbanians only feared certain Montenegrin tribesmen (very similar in mentally with Albanians) and thus the reason they were brought in Kosovo at this particular time by Serbian King who has given them land.



Back to the story, as I was talking about the northern Yemeni tribesmen is clear that southern Yemenis practically hated these northern tribesmen who were different in many aspects from southerners such as in religion to some extent and who of course served a ruler that southerners viewed as a tyrant and unfortunately it is not surprising that his own enforcers were brutal as well.



Again comparison in Montenegro can be seen with the already mentioned Montenegrin tribesmen that sometimes used brutal methods in order to scare Turkoalbanian populations into leaving the region, that Serbs view as their holly land where Serb nation emerged, and of course since this is Balkans these same Turkoalbanians in second world war (when Serbs temporarily lost Kosovo to Italian Albania) used the methods against the Serbs this time thus continuing their centuries old practice.



Another comparison is that these two populations also hated each other and also did belong and still belong to two different religious orders, Serbs being Orthodox Christians (Montenegrin tribesmen are Serbs) and vast majority of Kosovo Albanians being Sunni Muslims.



In the story the southerners in northern Yemen were being abused to such an extent that these tribesmen policemen even forced the local they were sent to deal with to sometimes give us their daily wages and this didn’t depend on the fact whether the individual was guilty or not.



Again the comparison can be easily made with the times when Turks rules Balkans (since the conditions were same throughout) when any Christian could never be correct when he would have a conflict with a Turks in the eyes of the Turkish justice system since simply put Christians were infidels, if not almost animals, and how as such can they even be compared much less stacked against a fellow Turks who is a low abiding Muslim.


As far as collections go I gave a much more worse comparison and that is when Turkish soldiers would come from house to house and take away male newborn babies from their mothers in order for them to be raised as loyal Muslim Ottoman soldiers in so called “Yanissary” Legions (elite Turkish troops composed mainly of children taken from the already mentioned practice that was called “payment in blood”) where they would never even know of their Serb origins although many would end up in military positions such as Grand Vezir that only a Ottoman Sultan would be more powerful in comparison.



There was a case where one of the yannisary children was in Bosnia and at one point he recognized his old and blond mother who actually recognized him just by touching his face after so many years later, his name was Grand Vezir Mehmed Pasha (Sokolovic) who later practically embraced his Serb heritage by assisting Serbs in building roads, bridges and churches while remaining a loyal Ottoman Grand Vezir but such stories are rather rarities.



Second story I choose is called “Ya Khabiir” which is similar in some aspects to the first story I have spoken about. The similarity can be found in the fact that among the major characters again is a barefoot soldier but the difference being that this soldier is not of the same personality as the one that was in the previous story. Of course comparison to my country, or any other country for that matter, is that not every soldier will be exactly alike and some will be a bad seed while others might and most likely will be on the opposing side of the spectrum.



This soldier is not of the same brutal nature as the one in the previous story but a rather much more humane version and this example is visible in the fact that the soldier is after a local lawyer who fears the worst based on tribesmen’s reputation but as it turns out a soldier just wanted company. Comparison can be made in Montenegro where many time one can see that people from different nationalities actually get along more frequently then opposed but it is the propaganda of the political establishment that might be creating myths and fears that disables one to be capable of humanizing the “other” side.



As the soldier spends time with the lawyer they open up to each other and show of their human sides and find out that their realities are not that far apart and the soldier also mentions that he himself is also a victim of the tyrant ruler and that he has forced into this line of “work” by tribal elders who have taken away his land.


Comparison again can be easily made with Montenegro or even more so Bosnia or Croatia where during the recent Balkan wars many individual were in deed drafted into one of the armies also against their will and there is even reports from soldiers that some were even drugged by special drugs that make one completely dehumanize the “enemy” and to make the situation even more tragic many individuals were of mixed heritage (just like the authors father) and on the other side he might in fact be shooting at his own cousin who is in the same exact situation.



At the story the tribesman soldier also makes a point that not all soldiers are thiefs and criminals and that in comparison the Governor is the biggest thief by far when it comes to taking a very large portion (referring to ‘taxes’ here).



Comparison with Montenegro or one of the sister former Yugoslav republics such as Serbia, Bosnia or Croatia again stands that not every soldier is a criminal while certainly some were and some were thieves while the second part is even more true since the biggest thieves are the people in power positions who have been stealing since the days of old Yugoslavia and during the last wars only consolidated their positions and one can argue that some of these politicians even made these wars as simply diversions from their criminal activities (goes for all former Yugoslav republics).

Class: Urban Study: Intercultural Communication
Professor: Tom Regan
Student: Vlado Vukovic

Task: Research Project
Title: Short Story by Yemeni Writer Mohammed Abdul-Wali
Focus: Comparing Yemeni and Balkan Culture





The author of short stories I chose is a gentleman by the name of Mohammed Abdul-Wali and his book named “They Die Strangers” who writes about life in exile that is filled with nostalgia for his father’s land of Yemen. Mr.Walli is of mixed heritage considering that his mother is from Ethiopia and the action is taking place in Yemen during the 1950s.



The land that Mr.Walli feels most attached to is his fathers land Yemen, which his father left in search for better opportunities for Ethiopia at the start of 20th century. The land and particularly the region where his father is from a very poor region that lead Yemen as far as emigration goes but also a region that is riddled with civil war, separated families (since many men went to live and work abroad) where children are raised practically fatherless.



First short story I chose is “Brother, Are You Going To Fight”. In this story one of the major characters is one rather arrogant Yemeni policemen and the first comparison I can make with my homeland Montenegro is that is certainly isn’t a rarity to encounter an arrogant policeman.



This Yemeni policemen is dressed in traditional clothing and he is barefoot and the only comparison I can make with Montenegro is that traditional clothing is sometimes still worn by elderly people in remote mountain villages far from urban civilization but certainly one will never see any policemen dressed in traditional clothing at the present time although if we are to go back say over 100 years in time then such possibility would certainly increase.




The Yemeni policemen is carrying his weapon over his shoulder as to show of that he is armed in a land where weapons are not a rarity and comparison I can made that also in Montenegro weapons are not rarity by any stretch of imagination since practically every house has weapons in it and males are rather fond of their weapons and to them it is as important as jewelry is to a woman and some are outright obsessed with weapons such as guns.



This Yemeni policemen is a member of a tribe from northern part of north Yemen that is deployed in the southern part of North Yemen (where Mr.Walli’s father is from) and these tribesmen were used by Yemens ruler of the time called Hamiid al-Diin as mercenaries to act on his behalf and enforce his laws in villages such as Hujariyyah where his father is from.



The comparisons I can make with these tribesmen who are serving the local ruler are numerous since the region I am from since the ancient days of Illyria are inhabited with tribes. I myself belong to one and Montenegro is among the last regions in Europe that still maintains tribal system together with mountain parts of northern Scotland and northern mountain parts of northern Albania and did I mention that Montenegro is composed mainly of mountains as its even name suggests since Monte in Latin means mountain.



These Illyrian and later Montenegrin tribes have been used in numerous occasions by different rules in various wars, from the days of Roman empire when Illyrian tribesmen composed of the major source for Roman legions and Royal Roman Praetorian Guard that protected Roman Emperors (many of whom came from Illyrian tribesmen and were elevated from General positions in Legions to their Emperor position via mainly Illyrian populated Roman Legions) to more modern time when either Montenegrin or Serbian rulers would from time to time appeal to their honor and Serbian blood to defend other Serb brothers and free them from Ottoman yoke.



In some example these tribesmen were used to frighten and expel other nationalities such as Turks and their major local cohorts Albanian Muslims militia also called Turkoalbanians at the time from parts of Kosovo after its liberation from Ottoman hand shortly prior to coming of First World War.



Local Turkoalbanians conducted terror in the name of Ottomans against local Christians in order to empty Kosovo from them throughout Kosovo since 17 century when Turks brought them in Kosovo and these Turkoalbanians only feared certain Montenegrin tribesmen (very similar in mentally with Albanians) and thus the reason they were brought in Kosovo at this particular time by Serbian King who has given them land.



Back to the story, as I was talking about the northern Yemeni tribesmen is clear that southern Yemenis practically hated these northern tribesmen who were different in many aspects from southerners such as in religion to some extent and who of course served a ruler that southerners viewed as a tyrant and unfortunately it is not surprising that his own enforcers were brutal as well.



Again comparison in Montenegro can be seen with the already mentioned Montenegrin tribesmen that sometimes used brutal methods in order to scare Turkoalbanian populations into leaving the region, that Serbs view as their holly land where Serb nation emerged, and of course since this is Balkans these same Turkoalbanians in second world war (when Serbs temporarily lost Kosovo to Italian Albania) used the methods against the Serbs this time thus continuing their centuries old practice.



Another comparison is that these two populations also hated each other and also did belong and still belong to two different religious orders, Serbs being Orthodox Christians (Montenegrin tribesmen are Serbs) and vast majority of Kosovo Albanians being Sunni Muslims.



In the story the southerners in northern Yemen were being abused to such an extent that these tribesmen policemen even forced the local they were sent to deal with to sometimes give us their daily wages and this didn’t depend on the fact whether the individual was guilty or not.



Again the comparison can be easily made with the times when Turks rules Balkans (since the conditions were same throughout) when any Christian could never be correct when he would have a conflict with a Turks in the eyes of the Turkish justice system since simply put Christians were infidels, if not almost animals, and how as such can they even be compared much less stacked against a fellow Turks who is a low abiding Muslim.


As far as collections go I gave a much more worse comparison and that is when Turkish soldiers would come from house to house and take away male newborn babies from their mothers in order for them to be raised as loyal Muslim Ottoman soldiers in so called “Yanissary” Legions (elite Turkish troops composed mainly of children taken from the already mentioned practice that was called “payment in blood”) where they would never even know of their Serb origins although many would end up in military positions such as Grand Vezir that only a Ottoman Sultan would be more powerful in comparison.



There was a case where one of the yannisary children was in Bosnia and at one point he recognized his old and blond mother who actually recognized him just by touching his face after so many years later, his name was Grand Vezir Mehmed Pasha (Sokolovic) who later practically embraced his Serb heritage by assisting Serbs in building roads, bridges and churches while remaining a loyal Ottoman Grand Vezir but such stories are rather rarities.



Second story I choose is called “Ya Khabiir” which is similar in some aspects to the first story I have spoken about. The similarity can be found in the fact that among the major characters again is a barefoot soldier but the difference being that this soldier is not of the same personality as the one that was in the previous story. Of course comparison to my country, or any other country for that matter, is that not every soldier will be exactly alike and some will be a bad seed while others might and most likely will be on the opposing side of the spectrum.



This soldier is not of the same brutal nature as the one in the previous story but a rather much more humane version and this example is visible in the fact that the soldier is after a local lawyer who fears the worst based on tribesmen’s reputation but as it turns out a soldier just wanted company. Comparison can be made in Montenegro where many time one can see that people from different nationalities actually get along more frequently then opposed but it is the propaganda of the political establishment that might be creating myths and fears that disables one to be capable of humanizing the “other” side.




As the soldier spends time with the lawyer they open up to each other and show of their human sides and find out that their realities are not that far apart and the soldier also mentions that he himself is also a victim of the tyrant ruler and that he has forced into this line of “work” by tribal elders who have taken away his land.


Comparison again can be easily made with Montenegro or even more so Bosnia or Croatia where during the recent Balkan wars many individual were in deed drafted into one of the armies also against their will and there is even reports from soldiers that some were even drugged by special drugs that make one completely dehumanize the “enemy” and to make the situation even more tragic many individuals were of mixed heritage (just like the authors father) and on the other side he might in fact be shooting at his own cousin who is in the same exact situation.



At the story the tribesman soldier also makes a point that not all soldiers are thiefs and criminals and that in comparison the Governor is the biggest thief by far when it comes to taking a very large portion (referring to ‘taxes’ here).



Comparison with Montenegro or one of the sister former Yugoslav republics such as Serbia, Bosnia or Croatia again stands that not every soldier is a criminal while certainly some were and some were thieves while the second part is even more true since the biggest thieves are the people in power positions who have been stealing since the days of old Yugoslavia and during the last wars only consolidated their positions and one can argue that some of these politicians even made these wars as simply diversions from their criminal activities (goes for all former Yugoslav republics).



At the story by the dusk the two men behave as friends even pray together while the greatness of the soldier is showed by the jokes which are directed somewhat at his own persona.


Comparison here also exists since there are many cases when people in Montenegro meet people from different cultures or rather from culturally and religiously different parts of Montenegro or other parts of Balkans that usually these people turn out to be pretty close friends who have a lot more in common then they initially believed.

I can point myself as an example since after coming here in United States over fifteen years ago I have meet many Bosnian Muslims, Montenegrin Muslims and Albanians and befriended many of them. In fact some of them turned out to be among my best friends and after spending long periods of time with them I practically cease to see any difference between us.



Such closeness between individuals from supposedly opposing parts of Balkans isn’t anything unusual since it is my firm belief from my own experiences and research that Balkan people are practically the same people, with same appearance and mentality and the existing divisions (whether linguistic or religious) are of rather artificial nature since they are result of different historical circumstances that further divided the people of Balkans that further back in history were practically the same people.



Closeness of the Balkan people was even showed at the recently passed “Eurovision” (which is annual music festival where European countries, including Turkey, Cyprus, and Israel, compete with the best song each and then all give out points to the songs they considered the best - only rule is they can’t give any points to themselves) where Balkan countries were very generous to giving each other points (also in my opinion it is no wonder since many Balkan countries had the best songs apart from Spain and Ukraine) and it really made my heart happy when I say former Yugoslav republics such as Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia give the most points to Serbia/Montenegro (who had by far the best song although they finished second in Europe, close behind Ukraine who was first).



And at the conclusion I will say that another common denominator Yemeni and Balkan people have is that both were ruled by Ottoman empire although I am pretty sure that Ottomans didn’t view Balkanians and Yemenis on the same wavelength since Ottomans “payment in blood” was only confined to Balkan countries thus explaining why much of Ottoman elite was of Balkan origin including even the creator of modern Turkish state Ataturk who is from what is today northern Greece and it is interesting that much of the current general staff in highly secular modern Turkey is of Balkan origin as well.

Class: Urban Study: Intercultural Communication
Professor: Tom Regan
Student: Vlado Vukovic

Task: Research Project
Title: Short Story by Yemeni Writer Mohammed Abdul-Wali
Focus: Comparing Yemeni and Balkan Culture





The author of short stories I chose is a gentleman by the name of Mohammed Abdul-Wali and his book named “They Die Strangers” who writes about life in exile that is filled with nostalgia for his father’s land of Yemen. Mr.Walli is of mixed heritage considering that his mother is from Ethiopia and the action is taking place in Yemen during the 1950s.



The land that Mr.Walli feels most attached to is his fathers land Yemen, which his father left in search for better opportunities for Ethiopia at the start of 20th century. The land and particularly the region where his father is from a very poor region that lead Yemen as far as emigration goes but also a region that is riddled with civil war, separated families (since many men went to live and work abroad) where children are raised practically fatherless.



First short story I chose is “Brother, Are You Going To Fight”. In this story one of the major characters is one rather arrogant Yemeni policemen and the first comparison I can make with my homeland Montenegro is that is certainly isn’t a rarity to encounter an arrogant policeman.



This Yemeni policemen is dressed in traditional clothing and he is barefoot and the only comparison I can make with Montenegro is that traditional clothing is sometimes still worn by elderly people in remote mountain villages far from urban civilization but certainly one will never see any policemen dressed in traditional clothing at the present time although if we are to go back say over 100 years in time then such possibility would certainly increase.




The Yemeni policemen is carrying his weapon over his shoulder as to show of that he is armed in a land where weapons are not a rarity and comparison I can made that also in Montenegro weapons are not rarity by any stretch of imagination since practically every house has weapons in it and males are rather fond of their weapons and to them it is as important as jewelry is to a woman and some are outright obsessed with weapons such as guns.



This Yemeni policemen is a member of a tribe from northern part of north Yemen that is deployed in the southern part of North Yemen (where Mr.Walli’s father is from) and these tribesmen were used by Yemens ruler of the time called Hamiid al-Diin as mercenaries to act on his behalf and enforce his laws in villages such as Hujariyyah where his father is from.



The comparisons I can make with these tribesmen who are serving the local ruler are numerous since the region I am from since the ancient days of Illyria are inhabited with tribes. I myself belong to one and Montenegro is among the last regions in Europe that still maintains tribal system together with mountain parts of northern Scotland and northern mountain parts of northern Albania and did I mention that Montenegro is composed mainly of mountains as its even name suggests since Monte in Latin means mountain.



These Illyrian and later Montenegrin tribes have been used in numerous occasions by different rules in various wars, from the days of Roman empire when Illyrian tribesmen composed of the major source for Roman legions and Royal Roman Praetorian Guard that protected Roman Emperors (many of whom came from Illyrian tribesmen and were elevated from General positions in Legions to their Emperor position via mainly Illyrian populated Roman Legions) to more modern time when either Montenegrin or Serbian rulers would from time to time appeal to their honor and Serbian blood to defend other Serb brothers and free them from Ottoman yoke.



In some example these tribesmen were used to frighten and expel other nationalities such as Turks and their major local cohorts Albanian Muslims militia also called Turkoalbanians at the time from parts of Kosovo after its liberation from Ottoman hand shortly prior to coming of First World War.



Local Turkoalbanians conducted terror in the name of Ottomans against local Christians in order to empty Kosovo from them throughout Kosovo since 17 century when Turks brought them in Kosovo and these Turkoalbanians only feared certain Montenegrin tribesmen (very similar in mentally with Albanians) and thus the reason they were brought in Kosovo at this particular time by Serbian King who has given them land.



Back to the story, as I was talking about the northern Yemeni tribesmen is clear that southern Yemenis practically hated these northern tribesmen who were different in many aspects from southerners such as in religion to some extent and who of course served a ruler that southerners viewed as a tyrant and unfortunately it is not surprising that his own enforcers were brutal as well.



Again comparison in Montenegro can be seen with the already mentioned Montenegrin tribesmen that sometimes used brutal methods in order to scare Turkoalbanian populations into leaving the region, that Serbs view as their holly land where Serb nation emerged, and of course since this is Balkans these same Turkoalbanians in second world war (when Serbs temporarily lost Kosovo to Italian Albania) used the methods against the Serbs this time thus continuing their centuries old practice.



Another comparison is that these two populations also hated each other and also did belong and still belong to two different religious orders, Serbs being Orthodox Christians (Montenegrin tribesmen are Serbs) and vast majority of Kosovo Albanians being Sunni Muslims.



In the story the southerners in northern Yemen were being abused to such an extent that these tribesmen policemen even forced the local they were sent to deal with to sometimes give us their daily wages and this didn’t depend on the fact whether the individual was guilty or not. Again the comparison can be easily made with the times when Turks rules Balkans (since the conditions were same throughout) when any Christian could never be correct when he would have a conflict with a Turks in the eyes of the Turkish justice system since simply put Christians were infidels, if not almost animals, and how as such can they even be compared much less stacked against a fellow Turks who is a low abiding Muslim.


As far as collections go I gave a much more worse comparison and that is when Turkish soldiers would come from house to house and take away male newborn babies from their mothers in order for them to be raised as loyal Muslim Ottoman soldiers in so called “Yanissary” Legions (elite Turkish troops composed mainly of children taken from the already mentioned practice that was called “payment in blood”) where they would never even know of their Serb origins although many would end up in military positions such as Grand Vezir that only a Ottoman Sultan would be more powerful in comparison.



There was a case where one of the yannisary children was in Bosnia and at one point he recognized his old and blond mother who actually recognized him just by touching his face after so many years later, his name was Grand Vezir Mehmed Pasha (Sokolovic) who later practically embraced his Serb heritage by assisting Serbs in building roads, bridges and churches while remaining a loyal Ottoman Grand Vezir but such stories are rather rarities.



Second story I choose is called “Ya Khabiir” which is similar in some aspects to the first story I have spoken about. The similarity can be found in the fact that among the major characters again is a barefoot soldier but the difference being that this soldier is not of the same personality as the one that was in the previous story. Of course comparison to my country, or any other country for that matter, is that not every soldier will be exactly alike and some will be a bad seed while others might and most likely will be on the opposing side of the spectrum.



This soldier is not of the same brutal nature as the one in the previous story but a rather much more humane version and this example is visible in the fact that the soldier is after a local lawyer who fears the worst based on tribesmen’s reputation but as it turns out a soldier just wanted company. Comparison can be made in Montenegro where many time one can see that people from different nationalities actually get along more frequently then opposed but it is the propaganda of the political establishment that might be creating myths and fears that disables one to be capable of humanizing the “other” side.




As the soldier spends time with the lawyer they open up to each other and show of their human sides and find out that their realities are not that far apart and the soldier also mentions that he himself is also a victim of the tyrant ruler and that he was forced to do this “work” by tribal elders who have taken away his land.



Comparison again can be easily made with Montenegro or even more so Bosnia or Croatia where during the recent Balkan wars many individual were in deed drafted into one of the armies also against their will and there is even reports from soldiers that some were even drugged by special drugs that make one completely dehumanize the “enemy” and to make the situation even more tragic many individuals were of mixed heritage (just like the authors father) and on the other side he might in fact be shooting at his own cousin who is in the same exact situation.



At the story the tribesman soldier also makes a point that not all soldiers are thiefs and criminals and that in comparison the Governor is the biggest thief by far when it comes to taking a very large portion (referring to ‘taxes’ here).



Comparison with Montenegro or one of the sister former Yugoslav republics such as Serbia, Bosnia or Croatia again stands that not every soldier is a criminal while certainly some were and some were thieves while the second part is even more true since the biggest thieves are the people in power positions who have been stealing since the days of old Yugoslavia and during the last wars only consolidated their positions and one can argue that some of these politicians even made these wars as simply diversions from their criminal activities (goes for all former Yugoslav republics).



At the story by the dusk the two men behave as friends even pray together while the greatness of the soldier is showed by the jokes which are directed somewhat at his own persona. Comparison here also exists since there are many cases when people in Montenegro meet people from different cultures or rather from culturally and religiously different parts of Montenegro or other parts of Balkans that usually these people turn out to be pretty close friends who have a lot more in common then they initially believed.







I can point myself as an example since after coming here in United States over fifteen years ago I have meet many Bosnian Muslims, Montenegrin Muslims and Albanians and befriended many of them. In fact some of them turned out to be among my best friends and after spending long periods of time with them I practically cease to see any difference between us.



Such closeness between individuals from supposedly opposing parts of Balkans isn’t anything unusual since it is my firm belief from my own experiences and research that Balkan people are practically the same people, with same appearance and mentality and the existing divisions (whether linguistic or religious) are of rather artificial nature since they are result of different historical circumstances that further divided the people of Balkans that further back in history were practically the same people.



Closeness of the Balkan people was even showed at the recently passed “Eurovision” (which is annual music festival where European countries, including Turkey, Cyprus, and Israel, compete with the best song each and then all give out points to the songs they considered the best - only rule is they can’t give any points to themselves) where Balkan countries were very generous to giving each other points (also in my opinion it is no wonder since many Balkan countries had the best songs apart from Spain and Ukraine) and it really made my heart happy when I say former Yugoslav republics such as Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia give the most points to Serbia/Montenegro (who had by far the best song although they finished second in Europe, close behind Ukraine who was first).



And at the conclusion I will say that another common denominator Yemeni and Balkan people have is that both were ruled by Ottoman empire although I am pretty sure that Ottomans didn’t view Balkanians and Yemenis on the same wavelength since Ottomans “payment in blood” was only confined to Balkan countries thus explaining why much of Ottoman elite was of Balkan origin including even the creator of modern Turkish state Ataturk who is from what is today northern Greece and it is interesting that much of the current general staff in highly secular modern Turkey is of Balkan origin as well.