By Jean Christou
INTERNET chat rooms set up to discuss the Kosovo crisis are being hijacked by Greeks and Turks engaged in a cyberwar of words, slugging it out over the Cyprus problem.
Channels such as #kosovo, #nato, #anti-america and #serbia have become some of the most popular on the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) over the past two weeks.
The Kosovo channel has become so popular that people of all nationalities with an ethnic gripe have been airing their views during a major free for all in which politeness is a dirty word.
As well as the situation in Yugoslavia and in Cyprus, other conflicts surfacing have included Israelis and Palestinians, Northern Ireland, and Canada-Quebec.
Journalists from various corners of the world have also logged online in search of quick-fix quotes from people living in the Balkans.
But in nine cases out of ten discussion has quickly degenerated into a competition as to who could use the ‘F’ word the most.
On #anti-america, a chat room set up by three Cypriots, which had as a topic “U R WELCOME TO F*** AMERICA”, the ‘debate’ became so vicious that the channel operators themselves abandoned it and more than 90 per cent of what was said is unprintable.
Americans love Microsoft products and Bill’s jokes!!!!!!!!!!!!!
all Bills suck
F*** ALL OF YOU COMMIE BASTARDS, IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE US STAY OUT!!
<TaZoUa^-^> NATO PLANES ARE FALLING DOWN…..FALLING DOWN….FALLING DOWN…..
What we should be sending in is the UFOs we have from Area 51. Let’s show them what technology really is.
Profound stuff. Kosovo channel was slightly more civilised, although a message in French calls on those who detest Serbs to join #Kosovo2.
It was a Turk calling himself F16-Pilot who ignited the Greco-Turkish argument. F16-Pilot believes Turkey is the best country in the world for minorities and religions and that Jews, Christians, Muslims, and atheists live freely there.
He got a quick response from Cypriots on the channel.
Turkish commandos are the scum of the earth.
How many Kurds have you killed today, F-16?
bond, it is clear that you are ignorant on the Kurdish issue, 95 per cent of Kurds are living in Turkey in peace with us.
why when the Turks invaded Cyprus, which was a wound to human rights, Americans did NOTHING?
Enter a voice of reason:
It’s one world people. One world.
But not for long:
jester… have you seen small Turkish babies killed by Greeks?
F16-Pilot have u ever seen your mother raped by Turks?
jester you are liar, no Turks do that. For Turks women, kids, older people are holy and no one thinks to kill them or rape them.
<Our_Kid> haha, I lived with you Greeks, and the Turks for six months, and it was funny to listen to you guys blaming each other…
I have been in UN force and saw how Greeks behaved to Turkish people.
I can’t believe these guys are fighting over a tiny piece of land when there are entire planets that can be colonized and inhabited.
At this point the conversation degenerated totally into how the CIA was running the chat rooms and how Bill Clinton himself had visited #kosovo during the week.
<Louii_X> Milosevic would be on this channel but his internet access has been destroyed.
Did you hear that in Phase III, Nato is going to bomb Serbia with lawyers who will SUE MILOSEVIC FOR DAMAGES?
rain drops are falling in my hair
<o_o> well, so much for trying to wait for some intelligent discussion… good luck to those that want some serious talk.
it’s bad enough that people are fighting in real life …should this extend to cyberspace as well??????
Felicity got the following highly intelligent response:
the Russians ripped apart their McDonalds. Is there no shame? That’s it, you start smashing up McDonalds and I am sorry but this is war. I demand an immediate apology from Russia for this atrocity.
At this point, having failed miserably to discover anything of use about what was actually going on in Kosovo, I quit the channel and took two Panadols.
Someone called , however, seemed to feel the need for a stronger herbal remedy as he quit the channel: “I must get more stoned so I’m ready for the first white flashes on the horizon” was his parting shot.
