Lazarat
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Lazarat Lazarati |
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Coordinates: 40 ° 3 ' N , 20 ° 9' E |
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| Basic data | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Qark : | Gjirokastra | ||
| Municipality : | Gjirokastra | ||
| Height : | 460 m above sea level A. | ||
| Residents : | 2801 (2011) | ||
| Telephone code : | (+355) 084 | ||
| Postal code : | 6004 | ||
Lazarat ( Albanian also Lazarati ) is a village in southern Albania that belongs to the municipality of Gjirokastra in the Qark (prefecture) of the same name . The place is less than two kilometers south of the outskirts of Gjirokastra and around 30 kilometers north of the border with Greece .
In 2011 Lazarat and the neighboring town of Kordhoca had 2801 inhabitants.
geography
The two villages Lazarat and Kordhoca are located on the western edge of the Drino plain on the slopes of Mali i Gjerë . The district of Kordhoca is still in the plain and is crossed by the national road SH4 , which connects Gjirokastra with the Greek border at Kakavija . The village of Lazarat is slightly elevated and set back in the foothills of the Mali i Gjerë, cut by several streams . An Ottoman stone arch bridge, the Ura e Kordhocës , crosses the Drin on the border with Gjirokastra.
population
As the only rural municipality in southern Albania, the population in Lazarat has not decreased since 1991. The former cooperative in Kordhoca has become a place of residence. In contrast to the neighboring villages of the Dropull to the south , the place is not inhabited by the Greek-speaking minority .
history
The village, which is believed to have been founded in the 16th century and is later said to have been a colony of lepers , grew rapidly after the Second World War when the communists deported unwanted families there. As a result, an “attitude critical of the regime” developed in the village. This continued after communism, when the country was ruled by the Socialist Party .
Until 2015 Lazarat was - together with Kordhoca - an independent municipality, which was then merged with the other municipalities in the north of Gjirokastra County .
economy
Lazarat has long been considered the center of cannabis cultivation in Albania. The Italian Guardia di Finanza explored the cultivated areas from the air in 2013. She estimated that the cultivation area was over 300 hectares and that more than 1,000 tons of cannabis worth 4.5 billion euros were produced annually, which corresponds to almost half of Albanian gross domestic product. The village of Lazarat has escaped the control of the Albanian authorities since the police station was destroyed in 2004. Security forces encountered armed resistance and drug gangs controlled the entrances to the site.
In the early morning of June 16, 2014, the Albanian police began to take Lazarat to destroy the drug fields and restore order. The police surrounded the village and were shot at by criminal gangs and residents with machine guns, bazookas and grenades. Around 900 police officers were deployed, including special units from the RENEA (Department of Neutralization of Armed Elements) and the FNSH (Police Forces of Rapid Intervention ) . The public prosecutor opened an investigation. On June 17th, the first six criminals were arrested. Meanwhile, it was observed that the residents set their crops on fire and that cannabis plants were pulled from the ground. The police called on residents to lay down their weapons. Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri traveled to Gjirokastra to coordinate cooperation between the various authorities. The police have been controlling the place since then, but incidents have continued.
In September 2015 it was reported that the Albanian police, with the support of Italian colleagues who provided helicopters, had destroyed 650,000 cannabis plants in raids and arrested 279 suspects since the beginning of the year. Large plantations have declined, cultivation is shifting to small areas in uninhabited mountain areas that can only be seen from above.
In Kordhoca along the national road, several service and trading companies have settled in recent years.
Web links
- Deutsche Welle: The marijuana village (video)
- The Albanian Moped Trip News Flash Lazarat on YouTube - Video from two Dutch tourists about their visit to Lazarat and the reception of their video by the Albanian media
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Ines Nurja: Censusi i popullsisë dhe banesave / Population and Housing Census - Gjirokastër 2011 . Results Kryesore / Main Results. Ed .: INSTAT . Pjesa / Part 1. Adel Print, Tirana 2013 ( instat.gov.al [PDF; accessed April 14, 2019]).
- ↑ a b c Christoph Baumann: The Albanian "Transformation Region" Gjirokastra - Structural Change in the 20th Century, Spatial Trends and Patterns of Action in Rural Space . Dissertation. In: Bamberg Geographical Writings . Issue 23. Institute for Geography at the University of Bamberg, 2008, ISSN 0344-6557 .
- ↑ Entela Bani; Translation: Michael Schmidt-Neke : Lazarat under the monarchy, communism and democracy . Interviews from "Panorama". In: Albanian notebooks . No. 4 , 2004, p. 12 f . ( albanien-dafg.de [PDF; accessed on February 11, 2016]).
- ↑ Cecilia Ferrara: Lazarat the capital of Albanian marijuana. In: Osservatorio balcani e caucaso. October 8, 2013, accessed November 2, 2013 .
- ^ Italian authorities publish Lazarat images. In: Top Channel . August 7, 2013, accessed April 29, 2019 .
- ^ Security Message: Travel to the Town of Lazarat. In: Embassy of the United States Tirana, Albania. April 3, 2014, archived from the original on June 18, 2014 ; accessed on June 10, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Drogendorf defends itself with bazookas. In: Stern.de. June 16, 2014, accessed on June 17, 2014 (This source mentions 900 tons of cannabis per year, which corresponds to almost a third of Albanian GDP.).
- ↑ Lazarat, arrestohen 6 PARET TE. Top Channel , June 17, 2014, accessed June 17, 2014 (Albanian).
- ↑ a b Albania: Cannabis worth billions destroyed. In: orf.at. September 14, 2015, accessed November 6, 2015 .
- ^ AFP: Albanie: opération d'envergure de la police à Lazarat, royaume du cannabis. In: Romandie.com. June 24, 2015, accessed November 6, 2015 (French).