FYROM: Albanians are responsible for Skopje liberation

in FYROM news, skopje / by D-Mak / on August 10, 2010 at 3:16 am /

Albanians were the ones who were responsible for Skopje liberation, according to the National-Democratic Union and Izet Mexheti, the mayor of Skopje’s predominantly Albanian municipality of Cair.

NDU and Mexheti will stage a celebration on August 12 for first time for the liberation of the city from Albanians, as Dnevnik mentions.

Their aim is the 12 of August to be declared a National Holiday that should mark the liberation of Skopje by the Albanian forces, however the Slavs of FYROM claim this will .

Of course this event instigated serious reactions by FYROM’s historians who claim that Albanians never liberated Skopje.

Skopje was conquered by Ottomans, during the reign of Bayezit I (1392) and was liberated after 520 years in 1912. As the turkish academic Mehmet Inbasi mentions: “Having strategic significance as located in the borders, the city of Skopje was subjected to a systematic settlement of Turkic people after the conquest.[..]It is, however, obvious that Ottoman conquests were made to settle there, which were not just temporary adventurous or marauding movements.”

Its characteristical the fact that during 1544, 80% of Skopje’s population were Ottoman Muslims that identified themselves mainly as Vardarians, Albanians, Turkomans, Karamanlis, Kurds but never as Macedonians.

For a more detailed view on the history of Skopje:

Anatolian Elements and Identification among Skopje’s inhabitants during 15th and 16th century