Albanian uprising in Macedonia 2001
The Albanian uprising in Macedonia ( Macedonian Воен конфликт во Македонија од 2001 Voen konflikt vo Makedonija od 2001 , Albanian Lufta e vitit 2001 në Maqedoni ) was an armed conflict between representatives of the Albanian minority from January to November 2001 in the Republic of Macedonia Macedonia (now North Macedonia ). It began with the attack by the Albanian nationalist paramilitary organization UÇK on a police station in Tearce . The conflict lasted most of the year and claimed several dozen victims on both sides of the conflict.
As a result of the war, the Albanian minority received more political rights with the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement . Among other things, Albanian has been the second official language after Macedonian since January 2019 . Other state authorities are also mostly bilingual.
course
The first attacks by ethnic Albanians began in the border area between Macedonia and the UN- administered Kosovo towards the end of 2000. The rebels followed the same pattern as the KLA in Kosovo in 1997 and 1998: They took over a village in stages the other, established themselves in the newly won areas and forced the non-Albanian residents to leave their homes. In January and February 2001, the KLA took up the fight against the Macedonian authorities. The priority targets were remote border and police posts in the mountainous border region with Kosovo and the rest of southern Serbia .
Initially, the Macedonian authorities did not intervene because they did not see the attacks as an act of violence against Macedonian sovereignty . Skopje's reticence lasted for two months. The UÇK attack on Tetovo then surprised the Macedonian government, which began to mobilize its security forces.
In January 2001 the UÇK officially appeared for the first time. She took responsibility for attacks on members of the Macedonian police. The KLA leaders from western Macedonia, including Ali Ahmeti and his uncle Fazli Veliu , said they had between a few hundred and a thousand fighters in their ranks, including Islamic fundamentalists , foreign mercenaries and mujahideen .
However , the insurgents received no support from the two major parties of the Albanian minority in Macedonia (the Democratic Prosperity Party and the Albanian Democratic Party ). The government in Skopje says that the rebels are members of the Kosovar UÇK who invaded Macedonia across the border. For the fighters of the Macedonian UÇK, Kosovo was in any case a safe refuge to withdraw from the operations of the Macedonian security forces.
Macedonian attacks
After eight members of the Macedonian security forces were killed by members of the KLA in the Vejce massacre at the end of April 2001, Macedonian nationalists took to the streets in Prilep , Skopje and Bitola and destroyed the houses and shops of the Albanian population as well as mosques . After ten civilians - Macedonians and Roma - were killed, Macedonians took up arms in Prilep and attacked neighboring Albanian villages.
Armistice and Disarmament
The rebels agreed to a ceasefire following the Ohrid Accords in June. Further negotiations followed until a final agreement was reached between the conflicting parties in January 2002. The Ohrid Agreement ensured that the Albanians, who made up 25.3% of the Macedonian population in 2002, were granted more rights. Albanian was established as an additional official language at the local level. The proportion of Albanians in the government, in the authorities and in the army and police should be increased. The Ohrid Agreement also introduced decentralization and established more self-government for the regions with a high proportion of Albanians.
The Albanian rebels renounced the separatist aspirations and fully recognized all Macedonian institutions. As a result, the KLA was disarmed and the weapons were handed over to the NATO troops in Macedonia. Operation Essential Harvest was decided on August 22, 2001 and began work on August 27 with the aim of disarming the KLA. 3500 soldiers were involved in this 30 day mission. A few hours after the start of the operation, the KLA leader Ali Ahmeti announced to representatives of the press in the rebel stronghold of Šipkovica (Alb. Shipkovica ) the dissolution of the Macedonian KLA and the end of ethnic hostilities. A few months after the conflict in Macedonia, there were again armed incidents and bomb attacks, caused by Albanian hardliners. A serious incident occurred on November 12, 2001 when three Macedonian police officers were killed by Albanian rebels.
The small village of Tanusevci near the border with Kosovo was of Albanian in 2010 guerrillas occupied.
Victims and displacement
The figures on the victims during the conflict are inaccurate. On March 19, 2001, the BBC reported that the Macedonian army had reported losses of five soldiers, while the KLA reported the killing of eleven members of the army.
There was no reliable information about the losses of the UÇK during this period. On December 25, the Alternative Information Network reported 63 dead on the part of the Macedonian army and 64 dead on the part of the KLA. 60 Albanians and 10 Macedonians were announced as victims during the conflict. The Macedonian authorities did not provide any information on this. Dozens of civilians, mostly women and children, were also killed in attacks on villages.
In August 2001, 170,000 people were displaced, mostly Slavic Macedonians. In January 2004 there were still 2,600 displaced persons. Two EU observers and a British soldier were killed during the conflict .
The UÇK Freedom Museum
As a result of the conflict, the Museum of Freedom was founded in the Opština Čair district of Skopje on November 28, 2008, the Albanian national holiday, which deals with the struggles of the Albanians during the League of Prizren in 1878 until the crisis in 2001. UÇK uniforms and flags from the 2001 liberation struggle are on display. The Albanians see their museum as a peaceful continuation of their struggle against oppression.
“My heart tells me that history was born in this place, here in Skopje, the ancient city in the heart of Dardania . Our patriots fought for this goal for decades. Today it is our fate to celebrate the opening of this museum. Fighters from Kosovo are here to congratulate us ... "
War crimes
During the three-day operation by the Macedonian army against the town of Ljuboten from August 10 to 12, 2001, ten people were killed, 100 men were arrested and numerous prisoners were allegedly beaten and ill-treated while in custody. Macedonia justified the attacks with the presence of the KLA in Ljuboten. The organization Human Rights Watch denied direct links between the attacks and a presence of KLA rebels in the town.
As in the previous armed conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, religious buildings in Macedonia were also the target of attacks. The 14th century monastery Lešok near Tearce was bombed and painted with UÇK symbols. The KLA denied responsibility for the damage and described this as a further act by the Macedonian government to accuse the KLA of extremism .
In Neprosteno near Tearce , Macedonian soldiers destroyed a mosque, which was rebuilt in 2003 with funds from the European Union . Matejce monastery near Kumanovo was damaged as a result of the fighting between Macedonians and Albanians. The 14th-century frescoes in the Church of the Virgin Mary Hodegetria , on the other hand, were smeared with UÇK symbols and anti-Christian slogans by Albanian nationalists.
The Macedonian government regards the so-called Vejce massacre as another war crime committed by the Albanians . Albanian rebels attacked the army's lobsters with rifles and anti-tank weapons, killing eight soldiers. After an exchange of fire, the Macedonian soldiers tried to withdraw. One soldier was shot, the others fell into the hands of the KLA. Some soldiers were burned alive, others were killed with knives and genitally mutilated. The publication of the crimes in the Macedonian media led to a revolt among the ethnic Macedonian population. The violence was directed against the Albanian fellow citizens and their shops and mosques. The massacre was attributed to a group of 15 to 20 bearded men.
literature
- Ulrich Büchsenschütz: The Macedonia Crisis . Analysis of international politics, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Bonn 2001, ISBN 3-89892-031-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Europe & Cold War Database: Macedonia 2001. Air Combat Information Group, November 30, 2003, accessed December 25, 2012 .
- ^ Riot targets ethnic Albanians. CNN , May 1, 2001, accessed December 25, 2012 .
- ↑ Census of Macedonia 2002. State Statistical Office, accessed on December 25, 2012 (English, PDF file, 384 KB).
- ^ Macedonia police killed in ambush. British Broadcasting Corporation , November 12, 2001, accessed December 25, 2012 .
- ^ Neil MacDonald: Balkan disputes simmer under surface. Financial Times , June 2, 2010, accessed December 25, 2012 .
- ↑ Fatos Bytyci, Kole Casule: Impatient, some Albanians poor in Macedonia. Reuters , June 11, 2010, accessed December 25, 2012 .
- ↑ What Do the Casualties of War Amount to? Retrieved February 17, 2010 .
- ↑ May 2 - Day of the Victims. Archived from the original on May 4, 2013 ; Retrieved May 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Estimated total number of internally displacedpersons still seeking a solution in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is 736. Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, December 31, 2009, archived from the original on January 18, 2014 ; accessed on December 25, 2012 (English).
- ^ The Museum of Freedom. Newropeans Magazine January 29, 2009; archived from the original on May 12, 2013 ; Retrieved December 25, 2012 .
- ↑ Crimes Against Civilians: Abuses by Macedonian Forces in Ljuboten, August 10-12, 2001. Human Rights Watch , August 2001, accessed December 25, 2012 .
- ↑ Macedonia blast hits monastery. The Guardian , August 21, 2001, accessed December 25, 2012 .
- ↑ Monastery blast fails to derail Nato peace effort. The Daily Telegraph , August 22, 2001, accessed December 25, 2012 .
- ^ Destruction of Orthodox Christian Heritage by Albanian Extremists in Macedonia. Kosovo.net, accessed December 25, 2012 .
- ↑ Ahmeti Should Face Criminal Charges For Vejce Massacre. Dnevnik , October 14, 2001, archived from the original on July 22, 2009 ; Retrieved December 25, 2012 .
- ^ Anniversary of Vejce Massacre. MIA, April 25, 2002, accessed December 25, 2012 .
- ^ Al Qaeda and NATO Join Hands in supporting NLA Terrorists in Macedonia. Center for Research on Globalization, March 3, 2002, archived from the original on July 22, 2009 ; accessed on December 25, 2012 (English).
- ^ Eight years since the Vejce massacre. Macedonian Ministry of Defense, archived from the original on July 22, 2009 ; accessed on December 25, 2012 (English).