| Komiteti "Mbrojtja Kombëtare e Kosovës" | |
.svg) Flag | |
 Members of the Committee in a group photo | |
| Formation | 1 May 1918; 107 years ago (1918-05-01) |
|---|---|
| Founder | Hoxha Kadri |
| Founded at | Shkodër,Albania |
| Purpose | political activism |
Key people | Hasan Prishtina,Qazim Begolli,Hysni Curri |
TheCommittee for the National Defence of Kosovo (Albanian:Komiteti "Mbrojtja Kombëtare e Kosovës" abbrev.KMKK) was anAlbanian organization founded inShkodër on 1 May 1918.[1] It mainly consisted of the political exiles fromKosovo and was led byHoxha Kadri fromPristina.[2] It had existed in looser form since May 1915.
Prominent members were:[3][4][2][5]
The main objectives of the committee were to:[2]
The committee organizationally and financially supported thekachaks inKosovo andSkopje. On 6 May 1919 the Committee called for a general uprising in Kosovo and other Albanian regions in Yugoslavia. This led to a large scale revolt inDrenica involving around 10,000 people underAzem Galica. The uprising was quelled by the Yugoslav army.[3] The confrontation continued through the years 1920 and 1921,[6] 1923,[7][8] with a revival in 1924. One of the achievements was the creation of the"neutral zone" around Junik which would serve for jeopardizing the frontier and providing ammunition and other logistical support for the Kachaks.
In 1920,Beqir Vokshi represented the Committee in an assembly held atTrieste organized by theItalian scholar and politicianGabriele D'Annunzio, well known for his activism and support for Italian,Croat, and Albanian irredentist groupings. In this meeting, D'Annunzio promised armament to the Albanians of Kosovo.[9] Indeed, in the summer of 1920, a ship with armament came inShengjin. The "delivery" preoccupied the Albanian government and specifically the Minister of Interior Ahmet Zogu. He sentSejfi Vllamasi andXhemal Naipi to negotiate with the Committee for rejecting the delivery, promising money (20,000 Golden Franks). After Curri and Pejani rejected Zogu's offer, the Prefecture of Shkodra sent units of gendarmes to stop the delivery form being handed over. This was the first big contradiction between the Committee and Zogu.[10]
The Committee leaders as Bajram Curri (initially only),[11] Hasan Prishtina, Elez Isufi, andZija Dibra organized in theAlbanian Revolt of 1922 when their forces marched towardTirana.[12] They reached the northeastern neighborhoods of the capital, went into skirmish with the government forces led byPrenk Pervizi and withdrew only after the intervention of British diplomatHarry Eyres.[13] They were first given death sentence by the military court and later received amnesty.[14]
In January 1923, conflict will rise between the Committee leaders as Prishtina, Curri and Galica and pro-Zogu elements.Beqir Vokshi (1895–1923), andSali Bajraktari of Junik were operating in theNeutral Zone of Junik for convincing the population to stop the support for the irredentistchetas and accept the law and order. After a sharp discussion with Hasan Prishtina on 21 January regarding to Vokshi's activity of convincing many fighters not to support Prishtina in his next attempt of overthrowing Zogu's government, Vokshi, who had resigned from the Committee since the 1921 and was officially listed as member of Albanian military units, was assassinated in z skirmish with Azem Galica's men, together with one of his collaborators on 22 January. The assassination was not received well as Vokshi was a known leader and nephew ofSulejman Vokshi, one of the heroes of theLeague of Prizren. Vokshi's supporters sought revenge and the larger conflict was avoided only after the intervention of theSali Rama and his guerrillas fromRugova. Following the events, the Albanian army entered Junik and later handed it over to the Yugoslav forces. The kachaks moved inside Kosovo. The Neutral Zone of Junik ceased existing.[15][16][17]
During June 1924, the Committee members would support the so-calledJune Revolution. The Committee was one of the 5 pillars of the Noli' movement (together with the army, liberalbeys, the progressives, and the Shkodrans - catholic leaders from Shkodër), though they we not invited to be part of the new government.[18] Nevertheless, there was cooperation and support between the Committee and Noli government. According to theBelgrade newspaperVreme, Noli and the head of the Committee were working closely together. An article on theMorning Post of November 17, 1924 stated that "the Yugoslav government was in possession that theSoviets have provided moral and material help to theCroat peasant leaderStjepan Radić, Noli, the Committee of Kosovo, and the Macedonian revolutionary organizations".[19] With rise ofAhmet Zogu in power, who was a sworn enemy of the Kosovar irredentists,[20] the Committee was banned as a sign of Zogu's appreciation forYugoslavian support and most of Committee's leaders fled the country.[21] Many of them joined theKONARE ("Revolutionary National Committee") founded byNoli, andBashkimi Kombëtar ("The National Union") founded inVienna bySotir Peçi,Xhemal Bushati, Angjelin Suma, andAli Këlcyra. The Committee would receive some financial support fromComintern withKosta Boshnjaku and Noli as intermediaries.[22] The head of the Committee back then were Ibrahim Gjakova, Bedri Pejani, and Qamil Bala.
On July 15 Azem Galica fell in Kosovo betrayed by Zogu's agents.[23] Elez Isufi was shot and died in December 1924 during Zogu' offensive against Noli's government.[11][24] In 1925,Asllan Curri and Zija Dibra were captured and killed by the gendarmes of Zogu's right hand and brother-in-lawCeno Beg Kryeziu. Both were shot in dubious circumstances during their way to the prison with the same pretext of "having tried to escape".[23][25][26]Bajram Curri would continue fighting and was killed on March 29, 1925. He shot himself for not surrendering alive as was surrounded by Zogist troops while fighting in a cave nearDragobia. In 1933, Hasan Prishtina was killed by Zogu's agent Ibrahim Celo in a cafe inThessaloniki.[23][27]
According toSejfi Vllamasi's memories, after the affiliation with Italy, King Zog accepted in 1936 the re-establishment of the Committee by even offering wages for the leadership underQazim Koculi.[22] Nevertheless, the Committee would not function anymore. Meanwhile, by that time, Hasan Prishtina, Zija Dibra, Curri, and Rustemi would be eliminated by Zogu. After the death of Curri and Prishtina, the Committee had gone into lethargy.
In 1936, there was a revival in the Committee with new members as Sali Moni (Bajraktari), Xhaferr Spahija from Tropojë, Mehmed Alija from Vlanë, Has, Baftijar Kollovozi of Luma, Murat Kaloshi, etc. The cells were directed byIsmet Bey Kryeziu ofGjakova, a former representative in the Parliament ofKingdom of Yugoslavia, andSalih Bey Vuçitërni, a Kosovar Albanian politician who had come to Albania in early '20s. Both were trusted men of Zog, unlike the original members during the foundation. A small correspondent cell existed in Kosovo, stationed inMitrovica led byFerhat Draga, another person in good relations with Zog. Other members there wereXhafer Deva, Shaban Mustafa, and Mustafa Aliu, all from Mitrovica.
Despite its presence, the committee's work was limited to diplomacy, propaganda, and recruiting, rather than any military activity. Its existence was strongly influenced by ups and downs of the relations between Zog's governments and Yugoslavia.[28]
The Italian-German occupation ofWorld War II would change the situation in Kosovo.[29]
The Committee was very influential in North Albania and especially around Shkodër. It sent its delegates to theCongress of Lushnje of 1920.Eshtref Frashëri was elected to represent the Committee, while Hysni Curri and Xhemal Prishtina to represent the Prefecture of Kosovo (Has-Tropojë-Lumë) and the Irredentist Kosovo.
Kadri Prishtina (Hoxha Kadri) was the main representative and contact person to foreign authorities. All the memorandums, protests notes, request and other correspondence were prepared by him, translated by Bedri Pejani, and delivered usually with the help ofAmerican Red Cross or some French military commander stationed in the city. The Committee would act as the distributor of American Red Cross deliveries of medicaments, food, and clothes throughout North Albania.[30]
Though KONARE, and also directly, the Committee of Kosovo participated in theBalkan Federation, aComintern agency for the communization of nationally disaffected nations of theBalkans, thereby continuing Bajram Curri's early contacts (since 1921) with the Soviets. But as the policy of the defense of Yugoslavia became the official positioning of the Communists in the 1930s, that line of support faded.[31]
The Committee collaborated with other nationalist movements that had risen inside Yugoslavia in response to Serbianhegemony. Mainly throughZija Dibra, its leaders would get in contact and meet withStjepan Radić,[32] leader ofCroatian People's Peasant Party,BulgarianVMRO revolutionariesTodor Aleksandrov andPetar Chaulev, andMontenegrinMarko Raspopović who had settled inShkodër.[33] King Zog's secret police would collaborate with Serbian counterparts in eliminating them too.[33]
The newspaperPopulli ("The people"), republished in May 1918 by Sali Nivica in Shkodër, became the unofficial journal of the Committee. It gave a big support to the Committee and propagandized struggle against the Serbian occupation in Kosovo,[34] as well as against Italian'simperialistic politics towards Albania. After Nivica's assassination in 1920, it continued under the direction ofBedri Pejani.
Soon after peace was signed, at the beginning of November 1918, the Committee for Defence of Kosova ... was set up illegally in Shkoder
... Two of the most prominent members were Hasan Pristina and Bajram Curri ...
Në vitin 1920 gazeta "Populli" do njoftonte se në Kosovë bëhen luftime të rrepta midis çetave kryengritëse dhe ushtrisë. Azem Galica bënte betejë, Idriz Seferi, po kështu Hasan Budakova ishin në krye të çetave. Tahir Zajmi e lajmëronte Bajram Currin se:Morali i shqiptarëve të Kosovës është aq i mirë saqë smund të tregohet…Kjo letër e entuziazmoi Bajram Currin. Edhe në vitin 1921 që mbahet mend si vit i masakrës së shfrenuar serbe mbi popullsinë, janë zhvilluar luftime në Gjilan, Tetovë, Prizren, Kaçanik, Prishtinë, Mitrovicë, Kumanovë etj.
Pesë vjet para vrasjes së Dibrës, në 1920, poeti dhe politikani italian, Gabriele D'Anuncio, organizoi në Trieste një mbledhje të të gjitha organizatave nacionaliste, popujt e të cilëve kishin mbetur nën sundimin serb, tashmë në Jugosllavinë e porsakrijuar. Përfaqësues i kosovarëve dhe i Komitetit të Shkodrës, sipas Eqrem bej Vlorës, në këtë takim ishte "atdhetari i vjetër Beqir Vokshi". Në këtë mbledhje D'Anuncio u premtoi kosovarëve armatim me qëllim që këta të nisnin "çlirimin e Kosovës" duke sulmuar nga ana e Kukësit. Vapori me armë mbërriti në Shëngjin në verën e 1920. Asokohe Lufta e Vlorës ishte në kulmin e saj. Ushtria jugosllave u bë gati për ndërhyrje në anë të Bunës. Ahmet Zogu, ministër i Brendshëm në atë kohë ishte kundër shkarkimit të armëve të D'Anuncios në Shqipëri ...
E çara e parë e fortë mes krerëve kosovarë dhe Ahmet Zogut kishte ndodhur ... [Five years before Dibra's assassination, in 1920, the Italian poet and politician Gabrielle D'Annunzio organized in Trieste a meeting of all nationalist organizations, from the populations which had remained under Serbian rule, now inside the newly created Yugoslavia. As a representative of the Kosovars and the Committee of Shkodra, according to Ekrem Vlora, the "old patriot Beqir Vokshi" went to the meeting. In this meeting, D'Annunzio promised to the Kosovars armament so they could start "the liberation on Kosovo" attacking from Kukes. The ship with armament arrived in Shengjin in the summer of 1920. Back then, the Vlora War was in its peak. The Yugoslav army was ready to intervene from the Buna's side. Ahmet Zogu, Minister of the Interior of that time, was against the delivery of the armament of D'Annunzio in Albania ...
The first shutter between Kosovar leaders and Zogu had happened ...]
In March 1922, Bajram Curri, Hasan Bej Prishtina, and Elez Jusufi, and important kacak leader, tried to overthrow the government in Tirana, but failed.
Elez Isufi, Zija Dibra, Jusuf Xhelili e Hysen Eles Isufi të falen nga dënimi me vdekje në litar, dhënë në mungesë prej gjyqit ushtarak të Tiranës
... më 14 shkurt 1921, kryetari i Komitetit, Hoxha Kadri Prishtina, njoftonte se lutja e Beqir Vokshit për dorëheqje si anëtar i qendrës së Komitetit pranohej ... [on 14 February 1921, Hoxha Kadri Prishtina, announced that the resignation of Beqir Vokshi as a member of Committee Center was accepted ...]
Shkaku i vrasjes eshte se Beqir Vokshi ne rastin e levizjes qe u be kunder Krumes kishte pase mberrite me e ndalu popullin e "Zones Neutrale" nga te marrunit pjese ... [The motive of the assassination is that Beqir Vokshi in the case of the movement against Kruma had managed to stop the population of the "Neutral Zone" from participating ...]
... at the end of January 1923 he sent the Albanian army into the Junik 'neutral zone', driving out all the kacaks ...
Only after considerable discussion and compromise did a permanent cabinet emerge on June 16 that was a coalition of four of the five pillars of the insurrection: the army, liberal beys, the progressives, and the Shkodrans. The Committee of Kosovo was excluded.
It was progressive in the sense that it would had welcomed assistance from the Soviets to achieve its ends and would stop at nothing to eliminate Zogu, who was the 'sworn enemy of the Kosovar rebels and irredentists'.
Një pjesë e emigrantëve të "Konares" e të "Komitetit të Kosovës" ishin vendosur në Zara, Porto Franko, pasi atje jetesa relativisht ka qënë më e lirë. Me këtë pretekst shkuam e u vendosëm atje edhe Xhemal Bushati dhe unë, duke shpëtuar kështu nga shoqërimi policor. Pas një muaji, në kohën e drekës, me anë të një barke, Xhemal Bushati, Ahmet Dakli, Qazim Mulleti, Dan Hasani, Riza Dani dhe unë bashkë me gruan time, kaluam në Preko, qytet i vogël jugosllav, dhe prej këtej shkuam në Zagreb ...
Përveç kësaj pjese, edhe emigrantët kosovarë irredentistë, të grupuar e të organizuar nën emrin "Komiteti i Kosovës", si grup, u ndihmuan edhe ata nga "Cominterni". Ky komitet drejtohej nga një qëndër e përbërë prej major Ibrahim Gjakovës, Bedri Pejës e Qamil Balës ...
Nga ana tjetër, Milto Noçka na komunikoi pranimin nga ana e Zogut të formimit të një "Komiteti të Kosovës", me kryetar Qazim Koculin e me anëtarë Kol Tromarën e Bedri Pejën me rrogë 30 (tridhjetë) napolona ari për kryetarin e nga 20 (njëzet) napolona ari për çdo anëtar ...
Azem Bejta and his main force of a thousand kacaks were betrayed to the Yugoslav gendarmes at the very end of disorders that marked the change in power. Bejta fell on July 15. On December 24, Zogu was back in power at the head of a Belgrade-sponsored regime. He quickly suppressed the Kosovo Committee, had Zija Dibra murdered "while attempting to escape", sent his troops to kill Bajram Curri, and scattered the other Kosovar leaders. Nine years later, in 1933, his agents killed Hasan Bej Prishtina in Greece.
Një qëndresë që bëri Elez Isufi, në Peshkopi, u thye, dhe ai vetë u vra. Po ashtu mbaroi edhe qëndresa e Bajram Currit. Pasi mblodhi fuqi të tjera në Dibër e Mat, Ahmet Zogu hyri në Tiranë më 24 të Dhjetorit 1924.
Me ndihmën e hijes së tij të zezë Cena Beg Kryeziu, burgoset Asllan Curri dhe vritet bashkë me dy shokë në përcjellje prej Krumës për në Shkodër nga mercenarët e Zogut nën pretekstin "deshi me ik" si kamuflazhe e fshehjes së krimit.
Zija Dibra u vra. Ish-kapiten Zija Dibra, ministër tjetër herë në kabinetin e Pandeli Evangjelit, i akuzuar për çështje bolshevike, tek internohej në Berat, duke kaluar katundin Harizaj të Qarkut të Kavajës, u mundua të arratisej e t'ikë prej duarsh nji aspiranti, i cili e shoqnonte deri në Berat. Kështu, duke qenë i hypur në kalë, atë e ngau me gjithë fuqinë përpara. Aspiranti i bërtiti nja dy herë të qëndronte, por mbasi s'e dëgjoi, e qëlloi në kokë dhe e rrëzoi të vrarë prej kalit.
Pak muaj më vonë Ceno bej Kryeziu do t'i deklaronte një gazete të Beogradit: Unë e kam zënë dhe unë e kam vrarë armikun tuaj, Marko Raspopoviç. Unë kam vrarë Zija Dibrën, Bajram Currin, Luigj Gurakuqin, për paqen tuaj e tonën…".
translated
Zija Dibra got killed. Former captain Zija Dibra, minister of Pandeli Evangjeli's cabinet, accused of Bolshevism, while being sent to internment to Berat, passing through the Harizaj village of Kavaja District, tried to escape and get away from the gendarme who was accompanying him to Berat. So, being up on a hose, he rode straight ahead as fast as he coould. The gendarme called him twice to stop, but as he did not listen to him, he shot him in the head and dropped him dead from the horse.
A few months later, Ceno bej Kryeziu would declare to a Beograd newspaper: I captured and killed your enemy, Marko Raspopovic. I killed Zija Dibra, Bajram Curri, Luigj Gurakuqin, for your peace and ours…"
Pra, Komiteti nga ana e tij delegon Eshtref Frashërin për ta përfaqësuar në Kongres dhe, nga ana tjetër, për ta përfaqësuar prefekturën e Kosovës dhe Kosovën irredente, zgjodhi dy delegatë të tjerë, Hysni Currin dhe Xhemal bej Prishtinën, dy tipa me karakter të ndryshëm.
Ai, si hoxhë dhe si shqiptar me origjinë kosovare (Prishtinë), ka qënë i pazëvëndësueshëm për atë situatë. E ka përfaqësuar pranë të huajve me dinjitet Komitetin dhe i ka zbatuar me aftësi vendimet e tij. Memorandumet, protestat e panumurta, drejtuar Konferencës së Paqës dhe qeverive të huaja rreth të drejtave kombëtare e të Kosovës irredente, me anë të Kryqit të Kuq Amerikan, e pjesërisht me anë të kolonelit francez, të gjitha këto kanë dalë nga dora e Hoxhës dhe ishin të përkthyera në frëngjishte nga dora e Bedri Pejës.
Nga ana tjetër, Kryqi i Kuq Amerikan, me qëllim që të shtojë autoritetin e Komitetit, ndihmat e tij në ushqime, në veshëmbathje e në barna ua ndante malësorëve nëpërmjet Komitetit të Kosovës. Komiteti ka qënë drejtuesi dhe autoriteti më i lartë i politikës kombëtare të organizuar.
Çaulev kishte takuar Hasan Prishtinën, ndërsa Aleksandrov Bajram Currin. Zija Dibra, madje u akuzua nga jugosllavët edhe si organizator i një takimi Noli-Aleksandrov, por ky takim u përgënjeshtrua nga Tirana zyrtare. Brenda pak muajsh, agjentët jugosllavë arritën të vrasin krerët e VMRO, Aleksandrovin në gusht të 1924 dhe Çaulevin, në dhjetor të 1924 teksa e kishin ndjekur deri në Milano, pas kthimit të tij nga Shqipëria.
Një tjetër nacionalist antijugosllav që kishte lidhje me kosovarët e Shkodrës ishte malazezi Marko Raspopoviç. Ky bashkë me dy malazezë të tjerë kishte marrë pjesë madje me armë në dorë në ngjarjet e qershorit të 1924-s. Në fillim të 1925-s malazezët ishin ende në Shkodër. Një dëshmitar i kohës, Asim Kopliku, ka rrëfyer: "Mua më thirrën në konsullatën jugosllave të Shkodrës. U paraqita te konsulli jugosllav, i cili më kërkoi t'u dorëzoja Raspopoviçin bashkë me dy malazezët që kisha nën komandë. Konsulli tha se tre malazezët ishin armiq të rrezikshëm të Jugosllavisë dhe të Shqipërisë… Në kazermë bisedova gjatë me Marko Raspopoviçin. Ai e fliste mirë shqipen. I tregova rrezikun që e kanoste dhe ramë dakord që unë ta nxirrja nga Shkodra, ta përcillja deri në Bërdicë e pastaj të shkonte në Shëngjin e të hidhej në Itali. Por në Shëngjin Marko Raspopoviçin e kapën. Treshja malazeze iu dorëzua Ceno bej Kryeziut, i cili e vari Marko Raspopoviçin në Krumë".
He was also a member of the Committee for the National Defence of Kosovo (Komiteti Mbrojtja Kombëtare e Kosovës) founded in November 1918. His newspaperPopulli, now edited with Maliq bey Bushati, gave the committee broad support and publicity in the struggle against the Serbian occupation of Kosovo.