Kachaks (Albanian:kaçak,Serbian:качаци /kačaci) is a term used for theAlbanian rebels active in the late 19th and early 20th century in northernAlbania,Montenegro,Kosovo andMacedonia, and later as a term for the militias ofAlbanian revolutionary organizations against theKingdom of Serbia (1910–18)Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–24), called the "Kachak Movement".
The word is derived from Turkishkaçak for "outlaw".[1][2]
TheCommittee for the National Defense of Kosovo (Albanian:Komiteti për Mbrojten Kombëtare të Kosovës) was created inShkodër, underHasan Prishtina, in 1918. The committee organizationally and financially supported the kachaks in Albanian-populated areas of Yugoslavia, inKosovo andSkopje (the formerKosovo vilayet). Kachaks were also active around Ohrid and Bitola.[3] On 6 May 1919 the Committee called for a general uprising in Kosovo and other Albanian-inhabited regions in Yugoslavia. The Kachaks were popular amongAlbanians, and local support to them increased in the 1920s when Hasan Prishtina became a member of the Albanian parliament,Kadri Prishtina ("Hoxhe Kadriu") became Minister of Justice, andBajram Curri became Minister of war (1921). All three wereKosovar Albanians.
During this time, Kosovar Albanians underAzem Galica began an armed struggle, also known as the "Kachak movement",[4] a large-scale revolt inDrenica involving around 10,000 people under Galica. The uprising was quelled by theRoyal Yugoslav Army[5] Armed conflicts between the Royal Yugoslav Army and the Kachaks took place in 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 to jeopardize the frontier and provide ammunition and other logistical support for the Kachaks.
They are widely depicted in Albanian folklore.[9][10][11] Albanian collaborationists in Yugoslavia during World War II were also sometimes known asKachaks.[12]
The leading coordinator of the Kachak (outlaw, from the Turkish kachmak, meaning runaway or hide) movement was the Kosovo Committee.
Kosovar resistance movement known as the Kachaks (derived from the Turkish word for outlaw, kachmak).
The greatest and most celebrated Kachak leader was Azam Bejta (1889–1924), who kept his native Drenica, the central district of Kosovo.
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.