Džemijet (Turkish:Cemiyet, "Society",Albanian:Xhemijet; full Turkish nameTurkish:İslam Muhafaza-i Hukuk Cemiyeti, "Islamic Association for the Defense of Justice"[1]/"Society for the Preservation of Muslim Rights"[2]) was a political party of the Muslim population in theKingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. It representedAlbanians,Bosniaks andTurks in what was then "Southern Serbia" (i.e.Vardar Macedonia,Kosovo andMetohija,Sandžak). It was formed in August 1918 and officially constituted inSkopje in late 1919. The party participated in the1920 and1923 elections, in which it elected 8 and 14 representatives respectively. In January 1925 the party's leaderFerhat Draga, anAlbaniannationalist who had previously served asmayor ofMitrovica, was arrested and soon after the party was disbanded.[3]
The official name of the party wasIslam Muhafazai Hukuk Cemiyeti usually translated in English as "Islamic Association for the Defense of Justice" and "Society for the Preservation of Muslim Rights".[4][5] It was also referred to as the National Turkish Organization Cemiyet (Serbo-Croatian:Narodna turska organizacija Džemijet).[6] It was popularly known by its abbreviated form:Xhemijet orBashkimi in Albanian,Džemijet in Bosnian andCemiyet in Turkish.
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Džemijet was founded inSkopje on 18 December 1919 withNexhip Draga, who had been imprisoned inBelgrade during theBalkan Wars, as leader by Albanians,Bosniaks and Turks ofKosovo, Macedonia andSandžak andKenan Ziya fromBitola.[7] Its program, included demands the protection of Muslim rights and the agrarian status of the Muslim landlords. Initially, the party followed a policy of moderation towards Serbian hegemonism within the kingdom and entered a coalition thePeople's Radical Party in the 1920 elections, in which it elected six deputies through a mixed-ticket and one-candidate system.[5]Prior to the1923 elections,Nikola Pašić, Prime Minister and leader of the Radical Party, met with the leaders of inSkopje and bargained for their support in exchange for their participation in his government, which became necessary for his party as it after the elections without Džemijet and ethnic German party, no government could be formed.[8] Pašić agreed to legalize Albanian-language schooling, while 1924 Džemijet requested the cancellation of thecolonization programmes of Kosovo. As no requirements were met by Pašić, Džemijet voted against the proposed budget by the Radical Party in 1924.[9] The opposition of the budget marked the breakdown of relations between the parties and Džemijet's eventual suppression and illegalization.Ferhat Draga, the new leader of the party, decided that the community's interests would be best represented through the formation of a wider anti-Belgrade opposition front with theCroatian Peasant Party, whose congress he attended in October 1924 for that purpose.[8]
However, his views weren't supported by a minority group that sought continuation of a policy of unconditional compromise with the radical party. In the meantime, another faction that covertly advocated Albanian irredentism in Kosovo and Macedonia emerged. Later in 1924, Pašić sent his strongmanPuniša Račić in Kosovo to organize with local Serb officials Džemijet's suppression. In January 1925, Ferhat Draga along and other prominent leaders and journalists of the party's journal were arrested. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison, later released and then arrested and sentenced again to twenty years in prison in 1927. That same year, a leading intellectual of the partyNazim Gafurri, who was outspoken about the electoral abuses in the region, was assassinated.[8]
In the Albanian-language schools as well as teaching in Albanian were banned and Albanians were allowed only to attend religious Muslim schools or secular Serbian-language ones. While trying to get legal recognition for the opening of Albanian-language schools in the parliament, the party also operated underground secular Albanian schools. After the party's ban, the school system continued with students smuggling Albanian books in Serbian schools andmullahs introducing Albanian secretly during religious courses.[10]
| Year | Popular vote | % of popular vote | Coalition | Overall seats won | Seat change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | 30,029 | 1.87% | — | 8 / 419 |  8 |
| 1923 | 71,453 | 3.28% | — | 14 / 315 | 6 |
| 1925 | 12,468 | 0.51% | — | 0 / 315 |  14 |