The displacement of Albanians to Turkey, according to Albanian documents

By: Sabit Syla

The state political leadership of Tirana, after the breakdown of diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia in 1948, in addition to other issues that dealt with Kosovo, presented a problem of its own, at all costs, the protection of the Albanian population of Kosovo from assimilation and forced expulsion from their ethnic territories. From the sources and documentation of the time, it can be seen that with all the seriousness and great sensitivity that was shown in this direction, the Albanian state constantly followed a constant policy in relation to this issue, which was being strengthened in parallel with the consolidation of this state itself.

The Yugoslav government, as is known, concluded an Agreement with Turkey in 1926 for the repatriation of the Turkish population from the Serbo-Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom. But, in fact, the provisions of this Agreement were used to expel the Albanian population from Kosovo to Turkey, considering it as Turkish. According to the Turkish press of April 7, 1926, 300-400 people should emigrate from Yugoslavia to Turkey, based on this agreement. Whereas, according to a calculation made by the Albanian Legation of Ankara, in 000 there were 1928-27 Albanian families who had moved from Kosovo in Turkey, including those Albanians who had emigrated after 30.

In 1938, another agreement was signed between Yugoslavia and Turkey, on the basis of which the repatriation of 250 so-called Turks was foreseen. The Turkish newspaper "Vatan" dated July 000, 12, on the occasion of the conclusion of this agreement, published an official communiqué as well as an article in which it was stated that: "1938 immigrants would arrive from Yugoslavia and that their transportation would begin after 250 months". The same newspaper also published a statement from the Yugoslav delegation that signed the agreement, in which the mentioned high figure was also mentioned as well as other announcements on the content of this agreement. According to the data available to the Albanian government, the most emigration of Albanians to Turkey was from the provinces of Macedonia and Kosovo (the area of ​​Prizren, Gjilan, Pristina, Mitrovica, Peja), etc.

The third migration of Albanians from Yugoslavia to Turkey, based on Albanian diplomatic documents, took place after 1948, especially starting from 1951-1952. The displacement was known as the denationalization of Kosovo and other provinces inhabited by Albanians, which was one of the main goals of Yugoslav policy. According to a report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (January 4, 1955), entitled: "On the policy of denationalization of the Yugoslav Government in the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia", the Yugoslav government was exercising a policy of denationalization through the migration of Albanians from Kosovo and Macedonia to Turkey .

As a result of the policy of terror during the years 1953-54, about 5 people left for Turkey from the districts: Skopje, Kumanovo, Preševo, Tetovo, Gostivar, as well as from the villages of Upper Zhapa and Koxhaxhik of Dibra e Madhe. while from the village of Elefc in Dibra, which consists of 000 houses, 170 families have fled and another 40 are preparing to flee, and thousands of people have fled from Manastir, Prilepi, Resnja, etc. The reasons for the departure were: national oppression, illegal killings of the UDB (Unutrašnja državna bezvodna - State Internal Security), land robbery, heavy taxes, unemployment, terror and propaganda that supposedly Muslims are Turks and as such it is better to they go to Turkey because life is better there, etc.

The process of denationalization of Kosovo divided the time after the Second World War into periods, each of which had its own distinctive history. Thus, the period after the Second World War and until 1959 was characterized by the capture of those persons who had collaborated with the occupier, the physical liquidation of Albanians under the guise of collecting weapons and the relocation of Albanian families to Turkey. According to the documentation in question, the last two denationalization processes reached their peak in the years 1955-1957. Both of these processes were combined with each other, as the 1953 census laid the groundwork for migration as many people were forced to register as Turkish nationals. In this aspect, there were two reasons that forced the Albanians to move: a) By moving to Turkey, they escaped torture; b) Being of Turkish nationality, they were considered more privileged people than the Albanians.

The displacements were done with various direct and indirect pressures, mistreating the Albanians so that they were forced to flee, and for this purpose, the Yugoslav authorities used all means. At the same time, they also created favorable and facilitating conditions for carrying out the formalities necessary to move. Thus, the expenses were very small, they cost only 2 dinars, while they needed 000 dinars to be repatriated to Albania. The Yugoslav authorities even created material facilities by making available means of transport at low prices, allowing them to take with them the household appliances they have, etc. at the customs. In 12, they created another secret with the tax for leaving Yugoslav citizenship, which was reduced from 000 dinars to 1958 dinars per person, and in 12, this tax was completely removed.

Considering the severe economic situation of the Albanians, this was a great relief. Until 1958, the newspaper "Nova Makedonia", in Skopje, every day announced on its pages the announcements of the Secretariat of the Common Affairs of Macedonia on the requests that had been made by various persons to release the Yugoslavs from their citizenship for the purpose of emigration. According to an analysis made by the Albanian Legation in Belgrade, the average number of these requests per month reached 900-1. The publication of these notices was stopped in 000. In 1958, the existence of a minority was officially recognized in Kosovo. Turkish with all political and cultural rights, 1952 schools were opened in 14-1951. The initiator of this plan was the secretary of her Party at the time, Gjoko Pajkovic, Dushan Mugosha, etc. G. Pajkovic (former secretary of the Yugoslav Communist League for Kosovo, S. S) during a speech on March 1952, 20, stated: "Here in Kosovo and Metohija there is a Turkish minority, people speak Turkish in the cities. We will let people freely decide the nationality they want. Anyone can call themselves whatever they want...".

The Yugoslav government since 1956/57 stopped direct emigration from the Albanian countries to Turkey, but created Macedonia and especially the city of Skopje as a transit center, where after spending some time, they registered as Macedonians with Turkish nationality and then filled out the emigration documents to Turkey. After the Skopje earthquake (1963), an ordinance was issued that no foreigner will be allowed to register in the city of Skopje (we are talking about Albanians from Kosovo, S.S.), creating the opinion that even the intermediary center for emigration was destroyed. In essence, it was for propaganda effect, since they did not even bring any kind of obstacle. Albanians, after moving from Kosovo, were registered as citizens of the Republic of Macedonia.

It was enough to accept the change of nationality from Albanian to Turkish with two witnesses and prepare the documents for emigration to Turkey. According to a document of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Albania, titled "Unpublished 1967 overview of the Turkish Ministry of Internal Affairs on the distribution of the Albanian population in Turkey", which was available to the Albanian government, the demographic distribution of the population is reflected Albanians in different cities of Turkey. According to that table, the number of people who were known as Albanians was 800, those of origin 000, the total number of Albanians 1, people who speak Albanian well 090 and a little 000.

According to another information, "On Albanian emigration from Kosovo and other countries inhabited by Albanians in the West", of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Directorate III), of the Albanian State, dated May 18, 1981, the largest number of Albanian emigrants were in Turkey. The distribution of emigration in different cities of Turkey was particularly pronounced and massive in the years 1913-1937, 1937-1941 and 1949-1970. In each of these periods, 200, 000 and 380 people moved, respectively. Whereas, the distribution of Albanian emigration to other countries, according to the aforementioned Albanian information, was as follows: in the FRY 000 people, in Belgium 283 (of these 000 are Albanians who left Turkey), in the USA 70 , in Australia 000, in Argentina 50, in France 000, in Austria 22, in Switzerland 000, in Sweden 40, in Syria 000, in Libya 40 and according to the agreement reached by Yugoslavia with this country, this figure is expected to reach 000 people.

The position of the state political leadership of Tirana, regarding the migration of Albanians from Kosovo and other Albanian countries, has been that they should not move to Turkey, but stay in the country as a compact population. The displacements had caused a deep indignation in the Albanian government. The information about migration causes the Albanian government to coordinate its activity on the political and diplomatic level. Naturally, the alarm from Tirana affected the Turkish government in Ankara and created concerns in Yugoslav government circles. The latter was repeatedly exposed for the denationalization of the Albanian population, forcing them to leave their land and emigrate to Turkey. For the protection of the national rights of the Albanians in Yugoslavia, in addition to other sectors of the state, the Albanian Legations were also charged, which would concretize the interest through visits, the press, direct contacts, and coming up with concrete proposals for the methods of their realization. An important task was to prevent and prevent the emigration of Albanians to Turkey, through the establishment of contacts with Albanians displaced from the Albanian territories in Yugoslavia. This objective was entrusted in particular to the Albanian Legation in Ankara and Belgrade.

For Tirana, an important source of information for the Albanians in Yugoslavia continued to be the information-diplomatic sources. The Albanian legates sent special reports about the situation of the Albanians of those countries and about the Yugoslav policy of their migration to Turkey, etc. Even Minister Bato Karafili himself had made a visit to Kosovo and Macedonia in order to learn about the situation of Albanians, how many of them left for Turkey. After the visit, he sent a report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Second Branch) in Tirana, which contained a series of data on the matter in question.

The Albanian state, even officially, made efforts to prevent the migration of Albanians to Turkey. Regarding this matter, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, Behar Shtylla, instructed the representative of the Albanian Legation in Ankara to talk with the Turkish authorities to prevent such a phenomenon. In 1959, according to the instructions, the Albanian diplomatic representative intervened with the Turkish authorities to not accept the emigration of Albanians to Turkey, and the Turkish government had given the assurance several times that, "understanding the national feelings, it would take measures to stop the emigration and continue a strong control over the nationality of immigrant persons". Meanwhile, a year later (in 1960), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a "Plan of measures for propaganda related to Kosovo". Among other things, it was requested to encourage the Albanians in Turkey to send their people to Yugoslavia, in order not to move to Turkey.

In addition to the intervention of the Turkish authorities, the Legation in Ankara itself had requested from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Albania commit itself to the maximum to oppose the Yugoslav propaganda in various forms so that the Albanian population would not be discouraged by the Yugoslav propaganda and make the efforts itself to preserve its own national identity. In particular, it was suggested to Tirana to prevent the migration of the Albanian population to Turkey, and among other things it proposed: a) To further expose the criminal actions of the Yugoslavs for encouraging emigration; b) Since Radio Tirana here in Turkey is listened to very well, it would be good to create a program for Albanians in Turkey and Kosovo, where through the programs the criminal actions of the Yugoslavs can be exposed, and more popular songs from Kosovo and the Highlands will be played of the North. This would be a very effective tool for attracting Albanians, for education and raising national feelings to a higher level. As a result, these actions will further hinder the measures of emigration, assimilation and denationalization of the Yugoslavs towards the Albanian mass in Kosovo and the Albanian villages in Macedonia and Montenegro.

The Albanian legate in Ankara also harbored strong doubts about the use of Albanian political emigration in Western Europe and the forcibly displaced Albanians in Turkey against it. He suspected that they could be used for agent purposes by foreign intelligence, to overthrow the communist regime in Albania. Regarding this problem, on December 20, 1965, he recommended to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana: a) not to allow the massive use of people influenced by the imperialists and reactionary governments of neighboring countries, to use them against the RPSH. ; b) to work in an all-round way to preserve the Albanian emigration to Turkey from the influences of the enemies and from its assimilation, trying to have it as a support for the People's Republic of Albania.

In order to achieve these objectives, it was recommended to take such measures as related to the increase of propaganda activity through radio programs, to work primarily with people with special influence, to use and improve tourist services and various visitors in the direction of Albania, Albania's participation in sports, folkloristic activities and its participation in the Izmir fair, to propagate Albania's achievements, etc.