Friday, December 23, 2005
A Slow News Day so I will put up some background information ..
This is originally from the excellent Bulgarian news source Focus on the News, in English, I didn't have room for it when it first came up on their site, so I saved it for a slow day, it's for people who want to have some background on the question of Kosov, specifically on ethnic Turks in the region.
The non-Albanian Muslims of Kosovo include Bosnian Muslims, presnt for a very logn time, centuries, Roma-Ashkali, Gorani, and Gorani. of these, the Roma Ashkali and the Gorani have had the worst problems with Albanians as they've been percieved as haveing ties to the Serbians in Kosovo. Gorani, and Bosnian Muslims in Kosovo speak Bosnian or Serbian. I do not know what the Roma-Ashkali people there speak, but I know they were persecuted very much. The ethnic Turks are now a small population and have had an interesting history.
Information and Analysis
Some 92 years ago, they were the predominant nation in Kosovo. Now they struggle so that the United Nations Mission in Kosovo recognises their language as official. Who are those Turks, who live in the most critical region of the Balkans? Will the most pacific minority during the Kosovo crisis have its word to say in the Balkans where only violence resolves the problems? AIA brings a reference file on Kosovo Turks.
Kosovo Turks in history
Turkish existence in Yugoslavian territories goes back as early as to the 5th century with immigrations of Avar, Pecenek, Oghuz and Kuman tribes. Systematic settlement began however after the Ottoman conquest during the 14th century.
In 1389, Ottomans defeated Serbians and conquered Kosovo. Turks started to settle down in the region according to the Ottoman traditions. After the Russo-Turkish war in 1877-78, the domination of Ottomans in the region was attenuated, and gradually Turks became a minority. In 1913, Kosovo was integrated into Serbia. Since then and still legally Kosovo is a part of Serbia-Montenegro. Although the Ottoman heritage is still alive in the region, the official number of Turks is lower than one would expect: 15 to 20 thousand people. However in Kosovo, individual declarations of national identity depend on the political conditions of the period of time when official censuses are made.
When the census of 1948 is compared to that of 1953, it is seen that in the first census, the figure of Kosovo Turks is as low as 1300, whereas in the second one, this figure suddenly reaches 35.000. By 1948 the beginning of the Cold War, Turks of Kosovo were “suspects” for the Yugoslavian communist administration. Therefore Turks preferred to be registered as Albanians. In 1953 however as relations between Yugoslavia and Turkey were softened, relations between Yugoslavia and Albania were tense more than ever. This time Albanians were suspect. So Turks made themselves registered as Turks in order to obtain the permission of immigration to Turkey. In 1991, Turks suffered from Albanian assimilation pressures. During the census, 12 Turkish census officials had to resign under Albanian pressure. The result of that census showed the figure of Turks diminished to 12.000. In 2000, the census organised by the OSCE (Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe) was boycotted by Turks, who demanded the recognition of their mother language as one of the official languages of Kosovo - a privilege that was granted to them once with the Yugoslavian Constitution of 1974, though suppressed by Milosevic in 1989. Finally, the OSCE statistics estimated the figure of Turks between 15 and 20 thousand.
Although it is not possible to give any figure with solid evidences, many sources estimate the figure of Turks living in Kosovo between 50 and 80 thousand people. In any case, the figure of Kosovo Turks must be much higher than it appears in official censuses.
Turkish minority of Kosovo live mainly in Prizren, Sandzak, Mamusha, Gnjilane, Pristina, Mitrovica and Djakovica.
Between 1389 and 1913, Turks, being members of the predominant nation, lived peacefully in Kosovo. After 1912 however they had to endure many assimilation measures first from Serbians, and then from Albanians.
Serbia, which obtained its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878 with the Berlin Treaty, began to “slav-ise” its new territories, including Kosovo after 1913. The “slavisation” meant to force by every possible means those, who qualified themselves as “Ottoman”, “Turk” or “Muslim” to immigrate into the frontiers of the retreating Ottoman Empire. During and after the Balkan Wars, there was a mass exodus to the imperial capital, which for a long time did not know how to help them. Before those wars, there were 2 million 315 thousand Turks in the Balkans. By 1913, only 1 million 682 thousand of them took refuge in Istanbul. As to what happened to those 633.000 no one ever asked. Statistics do not tell much but no doubt that Kosovo was one of the most suffered regions at that time.
During the 1930’s, the lands of Turks were forcibly confiscated in the name of the land nationalisation reform. Between 1923, when the Republic of Turkey was established, and 1939, 120.000 Turks emigrated from Yugoslavia to the new Turkish State.
It is known that Kosovo Turks participated in Tito’s resistance groups and fought against Nazis during the Second World War. After 1945, Turks were not permitted to leave the communist Yugoslavian Federation for fear that the West might consider that immigration as flight from communism.
Between 1956 and 1960, Turks suffered from severe pressures under the campaign for the collection of arms. Consequently, between 1954 and 1968, 175.000 people immigrated to Turkey.
Between 1968 and 1991, Turks were subject to the applications of assimilation by the Albanians. Especially with the recognition of the autonomous status of Kosovo in 1974, Kosovo’s Muslim Albanians started assimilating every other Muslim ethnicity in the region (Turks, Muslim Gypsies, Pomaks and Bosnians). For instance, they encouraged Turks to boycott Serbian schools. Those Turks, who did not follow that boycott, were called “Milos”, and some of them even suffered from physical violence. Ironically, in 1989 when Milosevic suppressed the autonomy of Kosovo, Turks were released from that Albanian pressure.
Turks and Serbs have a history of conflict dating back to the 14th century. This historical antagonism and the unity of faith of these Turks with Kosovo Albanians made out of Turks strong supporters of the NATO during the 1990’s. Turkey welcomed refugees fleeing the crisis, and agreed to take as many as 20.000 of them. After the war, they returned to their homes.
Turks in Kosovo’s political and social life
Politics
Despite all, Turks were able to survive and to preserve Turkish culture in Kosovo. Particularly Turks, who constitute a majority in Pristina and Dragas (city in south of Kosovo, near Gora region) continue their struggles to invigorate Turkish identity through cultural societies and political parties against Serbians and Albanians.
As the negotiations for the final status of Kosovo, it seems that Kosovo Turks have not made their mind yet. Some of them are for an independent Kosovo. Others paradoxically sympathise with Serbians for fear that Albanians, being the predominant ethnicity, would start another vague of violent assimilation, which may be ended with forced immigration.
It cannot be said that Turks within Yugoslavian territories in general are organised the way they should be. Other minorities in Yugoslavia like Greeks, Armenians and Jews, which are lower than 3000 people, represent a more solid unity and lead political activities proportional to their population. However it must be remembered that the secession of Macedonia from Yugoslavia destroyed the unity of Turkish minority in the region, and put Kosovo Turks in a difficult position.
There are three Turkish political parties in Kosovo:
· Turkish Public Front under the leadership of Sezai Saipi
· Turkish Democratic Union under the leadership of Erhan Köroglu, centred in Pristina
· Kosovo Turkish Democratic Party (KTDP) under the leadership of Mahir Yagcilar, centred in Prizren
(the only registered Turkish party of Kosovo)
Turkish Public Front is pro-Albanian, and accuses the other two parties of “servility to Serbians”. The Party opposes that Turks attend Turkish schools.
KTDP used to wish for a solution of the Kosovo issue, which would not harm the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia. However, since the violent events of March 2004, the KTDP President, Mahir Yagcilar claims that a coexistence of Serbians and Albanians in Kosovo is impossible: “Serbian thesis and Albanian thesis are completely opposite. It is impossible that they live together”. Yagcilar, who does not believe that Kosovo can be a part of Serbia anymore, proposes a special status for Kosovo, through which Kosovo will be integrated into the European Union.
Activities of Turkish Democratic Union and KTDP mainly consist in the maintenance of Turkish culture and education. Especially the foundation of KTDP in July 1990 appeased anxieties of the Turkish minority in the region, for during the one-party-system in Yugoslavia, minority rights were protected by the Communist Party. Closing of Turkish schools and discriminations against Turks had an end. Thus KTDP contributes to the preserving of the Turkish identity in Kosovo.
In the parliamentary elections on the 17th of November, 2001, KTDP, with 1 per cent of the popular vote, obtained 4 seats out of 120 seats in the Assembly (Kuvendi). In the parliamentary elections of the 23rd of October, 2004, KTDP raised up its vote percentage to 1.2, though obtained only 3 seats. Kosovo Assembly has a particularity. Along with 100 seats elected through proportional representation, there are 20 set-aside seats representing national minorities: 10 for Serbs, 4 for Romas, Ashkalis and Egyptians, 3 for Bosnians, 2 for Turks and 1 for Gorancis. Thus in 2001 and 2004 Turks were represented in the Assembly respectively with 6 and 5 seats. KTDP also obtained the Ministry of Health and one minister deputyship in current government of Kosovo. And by the 27th of September, 2005, Mamusha (near to Prizren) municipality is administrated by Turks.
There are also two cultural and artistic Turkish associations in Kosovo: Right Way (Dogru Yol) and Truth (Gercek). The purpose of these two associations is to keep the Turkish culture alive in Kosovo.
Media
The main newspaper of Kosovo Turks was weekly Dawn (Tan), published under State control from 1969 until the end of the Kosovo conflict (1998-99). Before 1969, Kosovo Turks had no independent Turkish press. Another Turkish newspaper, the famous Unity (Birlik), published in Skopje by Macedonia Turks since 1944, also dealt with Kosovo Turks. After 1999, the first independent Turkish newspaper appeared: New Period (Yeni Dönem). Other important Turkish newspapers are:
· Our Voice (Sesimiz), the official newspaper of KTDP
· Your Environment (Cevren) since 1973
· Avalanche (Cig)
· Bird (Kus) since 1974
· Pearl (Inci)
Radio broadcasting in Turkish started as early as in 1951. As to television broadcasting in Turkish, it started by 1974. By civil initiative, Kosovo Radio-Television agreed to broadcast 5-minutes-long news and another 40-minutes-long program in weekends in Turkish. Along with Kosovo Radio, which transmitted 2-hours-long programs in Turkish, another two Turkish radios were founded: New Period Radio in Prizren and Kent FM Radio in Pristina. Since the 1st of February, 2003, the New Period Radio broadcasts in four languages: 21 hours in Turkish, 3 hours in Albanian, Bosnian and Roman. This is the first radio, which broadcasts in four languages in Kosovo.
Language
The Yugoslavian Constitution of 1974 recognised Turkish as the official language everywhere Turks were majority. In 1989, Milosevic suppressed the status of Turkish as the third official language of the Federation. Nowadays, Kosovo Turks are fighting to take back this right. However neither the OSCE nor the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) seem to take this demand into account. According to the European Council, the language of a minority can be recognised as official if this minority represents a substantial percentage of some ethnic community. However, Turkey gives full support to Kosovo Turks in this matter and accepts no concession. When Bernard Kouchner, former head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) proposed the recognition of the Turkish language in regions where one of the elected local officials is a Turk, the proposition was categorically rejected by Ankara.
The owner of the Kosovan Turkish newspaper, Yeni Dönem and the New Period Radio, Mehmet Bütüc uttered his anxiety: “The Constitution of 1974 declared that Turkish be the official language in regions where Turks are majority. That formality depended on the Constitution. There is still such a formality but instead of the Constitution it depends on municipal regulations. This is a disadvantage for Turkish population. For instance, Prizren municipality accepts Turkish as official language. However if someday a conservative Albanian wins the municipal elections, he would suppress this status of the Turkish language. Our main struggle is to regain the constitutional guarantee”.
As to the President of KTDP, Mahir Yagcilar declared that as Kosovo Turks, they do not consider themselves as minority. Yagcilar emphasised that the Yugoslavian Constitution of 1974 recognised Turkish minority as one of the three founder ethnic communities of Kosovo, and accused the UNMIK: “All of negative measures against us were undertaken by this institution. This is the same UNMIK, which removed Turkish from official languages as soon as they settled in Kosovo”. It is significant that UNMIK periodicals like UNMIK News and UNMIK Chronicles give no information at all about Turkish minority in Kosovo.
However, it seems that first of all Kosovo Turks should prove their exact number in order to impose their demands on international platform.
Education
After 1913, Serbia banned the Turkish education in Kosovo except some religious schools in Pristina and Prizren. By 1943, Turkish education completely disappeared from Kosovo. The judicial existence of the Turkish minority in Kosovo was recognised as late as in 1951. In fact, after the foundation of the Yugoslavian Federation in 1945, every minority obtained the right of education in their own language. However, Turks, who had to study in Serbian in schools until 1945, after that year were forced to study in Albanian. The right of education in Turkish was granted to the Turkish minority with a delay of six years. By the 5th of September, 1951 only Turks had the right to build their own schools where they are majority.
Today Kosovo Turks have their own schools in every educative level. In Prizren, Mamusha, Pristina, Gnjilane, Djakovica and Vucitrin, there are 3 kindergartens, 11 primary schools, 6 colleges and the Pristina University where on the whole 2532 Turkish students attend lectures. After the Kosovo conflict in 1998-99, the Kosovo Turkish Battalion Task Force Commandership located in Prizren and founded a kindergarten (“Mehmetcik” after the symbolic name of Turkish soldiers) in 2001. In this kindergarten, there are two classes that educate children in Turkish.
Religion
For Balkan Muslims in general, more than ethnic identity, religious identity is the main determinant element. Balkan Muslims learnt Islam through Bektasi Sufi dervishes and other orders’ priests coming from Anatolia. That is why they are bound still today with Sufi orders. Especially in Kosovo, there are dervish lodges (tekke) of all of religious orders (mainly those of Bektasi order) in every city. Rafai Lodge in Prizren welcomes every Thursday many Albanians, Turks, Bosnians and Goranis for rites. Entering the lodge, everyone leaves their national identity behind and behaves according to their Muslim identity only.
Turkey-Kosovo relations
Former Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hikmet Cetin remembered an interesting moment during one meeting about Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992: “Turkey was also invited (to the meeting). Milosevic, Karadzic were all there. Beside me, the American Secretary for Foreign Affairs [Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger] was sitting. He had been Ambassador to Yugoslavia for seven years. He turned to me, and said, How come you succeeded to remain in these terrible territories for 500 years?” [Zaman newspaper, 22.9.1994]
This “success” can be explained by “pax ottomana”. It must be emphasised that “pax” means here political and ethnic stability. Except some turbulent periods, the Ottoman Empire managed to provide to the Balkans a supra-identity, namely the Ottoman identity, which was hard to demolish even after the rise of the nationalism during the 19th century.
During the Ottoman reign, thousands of Bosnians, Albanians, Pomaks and Roma Gypsies were converted to Islam by their free will. They accepted Islam in order to be integrated into the predominant nation, Turks, and also to have the Ottoman protection against Christian Serbians and Bulgarians. These Balkan Muslims ethnically are not Turks. They speak the same languages as Serbians and Bulgarians. However they feel themselves closer to Turks than to their Slav kinsmen because of their religion. Moreover throughout history and still today, Serbians diffuse the image of a monolithic Muslim community whereas they demolish the unity of Orthodox Christianity in the Balkans in the name of nationalist ideals. Turk, Pomak (a Muslim Bulgarian), Bosnian (a Slav Muslim) or Goranci (a Slav Muslim connected to Pomaks and Torbs of Macedonia), for Serbians they are all “Turks”, for they are all Muslims. Therefore, today Turkey is not only responsible for a couple of millions of Balkan Turks, but also for almost 10 millions of Balkan Muslims whatever their ethnic origin may be. This is the historical responsibility of Turkey.
The psychological affection of Balkan Muslims towards Turkey is still alive. Kosovo Roma Gypsies still protect the banner (sancak) confined to them by the Ottoman Sultan as a reward of their loyalty and courage in war times. During demonstrations in Belgrade in 1997, some carried banners with slogans like “Where are the days under Ottoman reign” on them. The intense affection showed to the Kosovo Turkish Battalion Task Force surprised foreign observers and journalists at that time. Every official visit from Turkey provokes great enthusiasm in Kosovo. For many Muslim Albanians, Turkish is a second language. Ottoman marks are imprinted on their wedding feasts and other festivities. Ironically, they remain more loyal to the Ottoman memory than Turkey itself. Prizren has every quality to be a perfect model for an Ottoman city.
Kosovo Turks take great care to hold their political and economic relations with Turkey at the highest, and follow every evolution in Turkey. Especially Prizren has intense commercial and social relations with Turkey. Almost every family member has a relative in Turkey.
So far Turkey participated in
KFOR, UNMIK and OSCE missions with soldiers, police agents and specialists in order to contribute to the security and stability in Kosovo. Turkish troops not only perform security missions, but humanitarian missions as well, including building schools and roads, restoring historical buildings, healthcare and social work. The Turkish presence in Kosovo is very visible.
Turkey does not change its Kosovo policy. During his Pristina and Belgrade visits in October 2005, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullah Gül stated: “Kosovo cannot turn to the period before the NATO intervention in 1999. Kosovo can be neither divided nor annexed to neighbouring countries. Except these, all other options will be saluted”. Serbia claims that thus Turkey does not support the independence of Kosovo. However Turkey’s position is more complicated than that.
Turkey worries that the independence of Kosovo would be a precedent for the solution of its own internal problems. Moreover, Turkey, which focuses on the European Union membership, does not want to clash with the Slav-Orthodox bloc in the Balkans.
However Turkey, on its own soil, has a considerable Kosovo Albanian population, who has several solidarity associations in Istanbul:
- Kosovans Solidarity Association (Shoqata e Kosovarëve)
- Pristina Culture and Solidarity Association (Shoqata e Pristinasve)
- Prizren Solidarity and Culture Association (Shoqata e Prizrenasve)
- Kosovo Gnjilane Association (Shoqata e Gjilanasve)
In Turkey, the number of people with Balkan origins is estimated over one million. Some of these people have relatives in Kosovo and elsewhere. Therefore Turkey should consider its responsibility over the Balkans beyond its self interests. The rather passive attitude of Turkey over Kosovo issue is criticised in Turkey as well.
According to the deputy president of the Turkish National Security Strategies Research Centre (TUSAM), Ali Külebi Turkey should adopt a “multi-dimensional foreign policy”. In this regard, Turkey should take benefit from its potential influence over the Balkans as well.
To start, Turkey may subsidise more Turkish education and cultural activities in Kosovo. Kosovo Turks lack many educative materials in Turkish. They demand the increase of the quota for students, who will attend lectures in Turkey, and also the equivalence of diplomas received in Turkey. Ankara may intervene with the UNMIK administration in the name of these Turks, who live in the most critical region of the Balkans.
The non-Albanian Muslims of Kosovo include Bosnian Muslims, presnt for a very logn time, centuries, Roma-Ashkali, Gorani, and Gorani. of these, the Roma Ashkali and the Gorani have had the worst problems with Albanians as they've been percieved as haveing ties to the Serbians in Kosovo. Gorani, and Bosnian Muslims in Kosovo speak Bosnian or Serbian. I do not know what the Roma-Ashkali people there speak, but I know they were persecuted very much. The ethnic Turks are now a small population and have had an interesting history.
Information and Analysis
Some 92 years ago, they were the predominant nation in Kosovo. Now they struggle so that the United Nations Mission in Kosovo recognises their language as official. Who are those Turks, who live in the most critical region of the Balkans? Will the most pacific minority during the Kosovo crisis have its word to say in the Balkans where only violence resolves the problems? AIA brings a reference file on Kosovo Turks.
Kosovo Turks in history
Turkish existence in Yugoslavian territories goes back as early as to the 5th century with immigrations of Avar, Pecenek, Oghuz and Kuman tribes. Systematic settlement began however after the Ottoman conquest during the 14th century.
In 1389, Ottomans defeated Serbians and conquered Kosovo. Turks started to settle down in the region according to the Ottoman traditions. After the Russo-Turkish war in 1877-78, the domination of Ottomans in the region was attenuated, and gradually Turks became a minority. In 1913, Kosovo was integrated into Serbia. Since then and still legally Kosovo is a part of Serbia-Montenegro. Although the Ottoman heritage is still alive in the region, the official number of Turks is lower than one would expect: 15 to 20 thousand people. However in Kosovo, individual declarations of national identity depend on the political conditions of the period of time when official censuses are made.
When the census of 1948 is compared to that of 1953, it is seen that in the first census, the figure of Kosovo Turks is as low as 1300, whereas in the second one, this figure suddenly reaches 35.000. By 1948 the beginning of the Cold War, Turks of Kosovo were “suspects” for the Yugoslavian communist administration. Therefore Turks preferred to be registered as Albanians. In 1953 however as relations between Yugoslavia and Turkey were softened, relations between Yugoslavia and Albania were tense more than ever. This time Albanians were suspect. So Turks made themselves registered as Turks in order to obtain the permission of immigration to Turkey. In 1991, Turks suffered from Albanian assimilation pressures. During the census, 12 Turkish census officials had to resign under Albanian pressure. The result of that census showed the figure of Turks diminished to 12.000. In 2000, the census organised by the OSCE (Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe) was boycotted by Turks, who demanded the recognition of their mother language as one of the official languages of Kosovo - a privilege that was granted to them once with the Yugoslavian Constitution of 1974, though suppressed by Milosevic in 1989. Finally, the OSCE statistics estimated the figure of Turks between 15 and 20 thousand.
Although it is not possible to give any figure with solid evidences, many sources estimate the figure of Turks living in Kosovo between 50 and 80 thousand people. In any case, the figure of Kosovo Turks must be much higher than it appears in official censuses.
Turkish minority of Kosovo live mainly in Prizren, Sandzak, Mamusha, Gnjilane, Pristina, Mitrovica and Djakovica.
Between 1389 and 1913, Turks, being members of the predominant nation, lived peacefully in Kosovo. After 1912 however they had to endure many assimilation measures first from Serbians, and then from Albanians.
Serbia, which obtained its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878 with the Berlin Treaty, began to “slav-ise” its new territories, including Kosovo after 1913. The “slavisation” meant to force by every possible means those, who qualified themselves as “Ottoman”, “Turk” or “Muslim” to immigrate into the frontiers of the retreating Ottoman Empire. During and after the Balkan Wars, there was a mass exodus to the imperial capital, which for a long time did not know how to help them. Before those wars, there were 2 million 315 thousand Turks in the Balkans. By 1913, only 1 million 682 thousand of them took refuge in Istanbul. As to what happened to those 633.000 no one ever asked. Statistics do not tell much but no doubt that Kosovo was one of the most suffered regions at that time.
During the 1930’s, the lands of Turks were forcibly confiscated in the name of the land nationalisation reform. Between 1923, when the Republic of Turkey was established, and 1939, 120.000 Turks emigrated from Yugoslavia to the new Turkish State.
It is known that Kosovo Turks participated in Tito’s resistance groups and fought against Nazis during the Second World War. After 1945, Turks were not permitted to leave the communist Yugoslavian Federation for fear that the West might consider that immigration as flight from communism.
Between 1956 and 1960, Turks suffered from severe pressures under the campaign for the collection of arms. Consequently, between 1954 and 1968, 175.000 people immigrated to Turkey.
Between 1968 and 1991, Turks were subject to the applications of assimilation by the Albanians. Especially with the recognition of the autonomous status of Kosovo in 1974, Kosovo’s Muslim Albanians started assimilating every other Muslim ethnicity in the region (Turks, Muslim Gypsies, Pomaks and Bosnians). For instance, they encouraged Turks to boycott Serbian schools. Those Turks, who did not follow that boycott, were called “Milos”, and some of them even suffered from physical violence. Ironically, in 1989 when Milosevic suppressed the autonomy of Kosovo, Turks were released from that Albanian pressure.
Turks and Serbs have a history of conflict dating back to the 14th century. This historical antagonism and the unity of faith of these Turks with Kosovo Albanians made out of Turks strong supporters of the NATO during the 1990’s. Turkey welcomed refugees fleeing the crisis, and agreed to take as many as 20.000 of them. After the war, they returned to their homes.
Turks in Kosovo’s political and social life
Politics
Despite all, Turks were able to survive and to preserve Turkish culture in Kosovo. Particularly Turks, who constitute a majority in Pristina and Dragas (city in south of Kosovo, near Gora region) continue their struggles to invigorate Turkish identity through cultural societies and political parties against Serbians and Albanians.
As the negotiations for the final status of Kosovo, it seems that Kosovo Turks have not made their mind yet. Some of them are for an independent Kosovo. Others paradoxically sympathise with Serbians for fear that Albanians, being the predominant ethnicity, would start another vague of violent assimilation, which may be ended with forced immigration.
It cannot be said that Turks within Yugoslavian territories in general are organised the way they should be. Other minorities in Yugoslavia like Greeks, Armenians and Jews, which are lower than 3000 people, represent a more solid unity and lead political activities proportional to their population. However it must be remembered that the secession of Macedonia from Yugoslavia destroyed the unity of Turkish minority in the region, and put Kosovo Turks in a difficult position.
There are three Turkish political parties in Kosovo:
· Turkish Public Front under the leadership of Sezai Saipi
· Turkish Democratic Union under the leadership of Erhan Köroglu, centred in Pristina
· Kosovo Turkish Democratic Party (KTDP) under the leadership of Mahir Yagcilar, centred in Prizren
(the only registered Turkish party of Kosovo)
Turkish Public Front is pro-Albanian, and accuses the other two parties of “servility to Serbians”. The Party opposes that Turks attend Turkish schools.
KTDP used to wish for a solution of the Kosovo issue, which would not harm the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia. However, since the violent events of March 2004, the KTDP President, Mahir Yagcilar claims that a coexistence of Serbians and Albanians in Kosovo is impossible: “Serbian thesis and Albanian thesis are completely opposite. It is impossible that they live together”. Yagcilar, who does not believe that Kosovo can be a part of Serbia anymore, proposes a special status for Kosovo, through which Kosovo will be integrated into the European Union.
Activities of Turkish Democratic Union and KTDP mainly consist in the maintenance of Turkish culture and education. Especially the foundation of KTDP in July 1990 appeased anxieties of the Turkish minority in the region, for during the one-party-system in Yugoslavia, minority rights were protected by the Communist Party. Closing of Turkish schools and discriminations against Turks had an end. Thus KTDP contributes to the preserving of the Turkish identity in Kosovo.
In the parliamentary elections on the 17th of November, 2001, KTDP, with 1 per cent of the popular vote, obtained 4 seats out of 120 seats in the Assembly (Kuvendi). In the parliamentary elections of the 23rd of October, 2004, KTDP raised up its vote percentage to 1.2, though obtained only 3 seats. Kosovo Assembly has a particularity. Along with 100 seats elected through proportional representation, there are 20 set-aside seats representing national minorities: 10 for Serbs, 4 for Romas, Ashkalis and Egyptians, 3 for Bosnians, 2 for Turks and 1 for Gorancis. Thus in 2001 and 2004 Turks were represented in the Assembly respectively with 6 and 5 seats. KTDP also obtained the Ministry of Health and one minister deputyship in current government of Kosovo. And by the 27th of September, 2005, Mamusha (near to Prizren) municipality is administrated by Turks.
There are also two cultural and artistic Turkish associations in Kosovo: Right Way (Dogru Yol) and Truth (Gercek). The purpose of these two associations is to keep the Turkish culture alive in Kosovo.
Media
The main newspaper of Kosovo Turks was weekly Dawn (Tan), published under State control from 1969 until the end of the Kosovo conflict (1998-99). Before 1969, Kosovo Turks had no independent Turkish press. Another Turkish newspaper, the famous Unity (Birlik), published in Skopje by Macedonia Turks since 1944, also dealt with Kosovo Turks. After 1999, the first independent Turkish newspaper appeared: New Period (Yeni Dönem). Other important Turkish newspapers are:
· Our Voice (Sesimiz), the official newspaper of KTDP
· Your Environment (Cevren) since 1973
· Avalanche (Cig)
· Bird (Kus) since 1974
· Pearl (Inci)
Radio broadcasting in Turkish started as early as in 1951. As to television broadcasting in Turkish, it started by 1974. By civil initiative, Kosovo Radio-Television agreed to broadcast 5-minutes-long news and another 40-minutes-long program in weekends in Turkish. Along with Kosovo Radio, which transmitted 2-hours-long programs in Turkish, another two Turkish radios were founded: New Period Radio in Prizren and Kent FM Radio in Pristina. Since the 1st of February, 2003, the New Period Radio broadcasts in four languages: 21 hours in Turkish, 3 hours in Albanian, Bosnian and Roman. This is the first radio, which broadcasts in four languages in Kosovo.
Language
The Yugoslavian Constitution of 1974 recognised Turkish as the official language everywhere Turks were majority. In 1989, Milosevic suppressed the status of Turkish as the third official language of the Federation. Nowadays, Kosovo Turks are fighting to take back this right. However neither the OSCE nor the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) seem to take this demand into account. According to the European Council, the language of a minority can be recognised as official if this minority represents a substantial percentage of some ethnic community. However, Turkey gives full support to Kosovo Turks in this matter and accepts no concession. When Bernard Kouchner, former head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) proposed the recognition of the Turkish language in regions where one of the elected local officials is a Turk, the proposition was categorically rejected by Ankara.
The owner of the Kosovan Turkish newspaper, Yeni Dönem and the New Period Radio, Mehmet Bütüc uttered his anxiety: “The Constitution of 1974 declared that Turkish be the official language in regions where Turks are majority. That formality depended on the Constitution. There is still such a formality but instead of the Constitution it depends on municipal regulations. This is a disadvantage for Turkish population. For instance, Prizren municipality accepts Turkish as official language. However if someday a conservative Albanian wins the municipal elections, he would suppress this status of the Turkish language. Our main struggle is to regain the constitutional guarantee”.
As to the President of KTDP, Mahir Yagcilar declared that as Kosovo Turks, they do not consider themselves as minority. Yagcilar emphasised that the Yugoslavian Constitution of 1974 recognised Turkish minority as one of the three founder ethnic communities of Kosovo, and accused the UNMIK: “All of negative measures against us were undertaken by this institution. This is the same UNMIK, which removed Turkish from official languages as soon as they settled in Kosovo”. It is significant that UNMIK periodicals like UNMIK News and UNMIK Chronicles give no information at all about Turkish minority in Kosovo.
However, it seems that first of all Kosovo Turks should prove their exact number in order to impose their demands on international platform.
Education
After 1913, Serbia banned the Turkish education in Kosovo except some religious schools in Pristina and Prizren. By 1943, Turkish education completely disappeared from Kosovo. The judicial existence of the Turkish minority in Kosovo was recognised as late as in 1951. In fact, after the foundation of the Yugoslavian Federation in 1945, every minority obtained the right of education in their own language. However, Turks, who had to study in Serbian in schools until 1945, after that year were forced to study in Albanian. The right of education in Turkish was granted to the Turkish minority with a delay of six years. By the 5th of September, 1951 only Turks had the right to build their own schools where they are majority.
Today Kosovo Turks have their own schools in every educative level. In Prizren, Mamusha, Pristina, Gnjilane, Djakovica and Vucitrin, there are 3 kindergartens, 11 primary schools, 6 colleges and the Pristina University where on the whole 2532 Turkish students attend lectures. After the Kosovo conflict in 1998-99, the Kosovo Turkish Battalion Task Force Commandership located in Prizren and founded a kindergarten (“Mehmetcik” after the symbolic name of Turkish soldiers) in 2001. In this kindergarten, there are two classes that educate children in Turkish.
Religion
For Balkan Muslims in general, more than ethnic identity, religious identity is the main determinant element. Balkan Muslims learnt Islam through Bektasi Sufi dervishes and other orders’ priests coming from Anatolia. That is why they are bound still today with Sufi orders. Especially in Kosovo, there are dervish lodges (tekke) of all of religious orders (mainly those of Bektasi order) in every city. Rafai Lodge in Prizren welcomes every Thursday many Albanians, Turks, Bosnians and Goranis for rites. Entering the lodge, everyone leaves their national identity behind and behaves according to their Muslim identity only.
Turkey-Kosovo relations
Former Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hikmet Cetin remembered an interesting moment during one meeting about Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992: “Turkey was also invited (to the meeting). Milosevic, Karadzic were all there. Beside me, the American Secretary for Foreign Affairs [Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger] was sitting. He had been Ambassador to Yugoslavia for seven years. He turned to me, and said, How come you succeeded to remain in these terrible territories for 500 years?” [Zaman newspaper, 22.9.1994]
This “success” can be explained by “pax ottomana”. It must be emphasised that “pax” means here political and ethnic stability. Except some turbulent periods, the Ottoman Empire managed to provide to the Balkans a supra-identity, namely the Ottoman identity, which was hard to demolish even after the rise of the nationalism during the 19th century.
During the Ottoman reign, thousands of Bosnians, Albanians, Pomaks and Roma Gypsies were converted to Islam by their free will. They accepted Islam in order to be integrated into the predominant nation, Turks, and also to have the Ottoman protection against Christian Serbians and Bulgarians. These Balkan Muslims ethnically are not Turks. They speak the same languages as Serbians and Bulgarians. However they feel themselves closer to Turks than to their Slav kinsmen because of their religion. Moreover throughout history and still today, Serbians diffuse the image of a monolithic Muslim community whereas they demolish the unity of Orthodox Christianity in the Balkans in the name of nationalist ideals. Turk, Pomak (a Muslim Bulgarian), Bosnian (a Slav Muslim) or Goranci (a Slav Muslim connected to Pomaks and Torbs of Macedonia), for Serbians they are all “Turks”, for they are all Muslims. Therefore, today Turkey is not only responsible for a couple of millions of Balkan Turks, but also for almost 10 millions of Balkan Muslims whatever their ethnic origin may be. This is the historical responsibility of Turkey.
The psychological affection of Balkan Muslims towards Turkey is still alive. Kosovo Roma Gypsies still protect the banner (sancak) confined to them by the Ottoman Sultan as a reward of their loyalty and courage in war times. During demonstrations in Belgrade in 1997, some carried banners with slogans like “Where are the days under Ottoman reign” on them. The intense affection showed to the Kosovo Turkish Battalion Task Force surprised foreign observers and journalists at that time. Every official visit from Turkey provokes great enthusiasm in Kosovo. For many Muslim Albanians, Turkish is a second language. Ottoman marks are imprinted on their wedding feasts and other festivities. Ironically, they remain more loyal to the Ottoman memory than Turkey itself. Prizren has every quality to be a perfect model for an Ottoman city.
Kosovo Turks take great care to hold their political and economic relations with Turkey at the highest, and follow every evolution in Turkey. Especially Prizren has intense commercial and social relations with Turkey. Almost every family member has a relative in Turkey.
So far Turkey participated in
KFOR, UNMIK and OSCE missions with soldiers, police agents and specialists in order to contribute to the security and stability in Kosovo. Turkish troops not only perform security missions, but humanitarian missions as well, including building schools and roads, restoring historical buildings, healthcare and social work. The Turkish presence in Kosovo is very visible.
Turkey does not change its Kosovo policy. During his Pristina and Belgrade visits in October 2005, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullah Gül stated: “Kosovo cannot turn to the period before the NATO intervention in 1999. Kosovo can be neither divided nor annexed to neighbouring countries. Except these, all other options will be saluted”. Serbia claims that thus Turkey does not support the independence of Kosovo. However Turkey’s position is more complicated than that.
Turkey worries that the independence of Kosovo would be a precedent for the solution of its own internal problems. Moreover, Turkey, which focuses on the European Union membership, does not want to clash with the Slav-Orthodox bloc in the Balkans.
However Turkey, on its own soil, has a considerable Kosovo Albanian population, who has several solidarity associations in Istanbul:
- Kosovans Solidarity Association (Shoqata e Kosovarëve)
- Pristina Culture and Solidarity Association (Shoqata e Pristinasve)
- Prizren Solidarity and Culture Association (Shoqata e Prizrenasve)
- Kosovo Gnjilane Association (Shoqata e Gjilanasve)
In Turkey, the number of people with Balkan origins is estimated over one million. Some of these people have relatives in Kosovo and elsewhere. Therefore Turkey should consider its responsibility over the Balkans beyond its self interests. The rather passive attitude of Turkey over Kosovo issue is criticised in Turkey as well.
According to the deputy president of the Turkish National Security Strategies Research Centre (TUSAM), Ali Külebi Turkey should adopt a “multi-dimensional foreign policy”. In this regard, Turkey should take benefit from its potential influence over the Balkans as well.
To start, Turkey may subsidise more Turkish education and cultural activities in Kosovo. Kosovo Turks lack many educative materials in Turkish. They demand the increase of the quota for students, who will attend lectures in Turkey, and also the equivalence of diplomas received in Turkey. Ankara may intervene with the UNMIK administration in the name of these Turks, who live in the most critical region of the Balkans.
# posted by Katja R. @ 7:09 PM 
