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Opinion / Editorial

104 years since the death of Ismail Qemali

104 years since the death of Ismail Qemali

DEATH OF ALBANIAN ELDER ISMAIL QEMALIT this is the title of the chapter of the book "NATIONAL ANTIQUITIES" written by Mihal Grameno.
The bitter news about the loss of the old man of Albania, Ismail Qemalit, spread like lightning, not only in Albania but all over the world. This news was like lightning and one of the biggest blows for the Albanian nation, that Albania lost the greatest man it had produced after Skënderbe, lost the great famous diplomat, lost the steel pillar of the national program, lost the Father of the nation, who saved him from danger, lost the lion that crushed the chains of captivity, that raised the flag of Skënderbeu and proclaimed the self-government of Albania. Unfortunately, the immeasurable death snatched us away in a hurry when the homeland had placed great hopes on the brilliant mind of the Elder and the great man of Albania, Ismail Qemali. Yes, the mud could cover the body because... the spirit of the Old Man of Albania can never die, because he lives and will live as long as the world lasts, showing generation after generation to the Albanian expectation who Ismail Qemali was and advising them to strive like him for the sacred ideal of the national program. Wherever you look in the history of Albania for such a definition for Ismail Qemali, as the patriot Mihal Grameno writes in the newspaper "Koha", 1919, no. 134, it would probably be more meaningful, direct and clear.
The little son of one of the most famous families of Vlora, Ismail Qemali spent his childhood in Turkey and then was educated in the famous Zosimena of Ioannina. In this school he acquired the pan-European culture, especially ancient Greco-Roman humanism as well as modern humanism. He learned several foreign languages ??and was filled with patriotism for his country, thanks to his skills he got a job in the Foreign Ministry of the Ottoman Empire. From his youth he joined the great revivalists and participated in the first Albanian societies of Istanbul, which operated clandestinely. In this period, the Ottoman Empire was in decline. It had increased its tyranny to an extreme, and had an unprecedented ferocity, because the bad economic situation had also reached its peak. The liberal movement was born and revived in Turkey as well. One of the figures of this movement was Ismail Qemali, a friend of Mithat Pashaii, the head of Turkish liberalism. Ismail Qemali had advised the Sultan himself, as a man of authority that he was, that the Empire had to come out of the medieval twilight, westernize and take the lead from Europe, which was positive. But the Sultan had sunk into the deep sleep of the Orient along with his degenerate caste. Ismail Qemali worked in several important provinces as a senior government official, such as Romania, Bulgaria, the Danube Region and Lebanon. Wherever he went, he conveyed only the sense of development of these provinces. The epic of the Albanian League of Prizren was a warning that the peoples had a desire for national progress and were convinced that only with a liberation war could freedom and the protection of the territorial integrity that was threatened by the Balkan neighbors and the Great Powers be gained. This platform for political and administrative autonomy, which was one step away from independence, was also adhered to by Ismail Qemali, who along with other friends were lucky enough to put it into practice. In 1900, the patriot decided to sever ties with the High Gate and dedicate himself with all his energies to the liberation of the motherland. He got in touch with politicians from Europe and the Balkans to tax the pulse and get some support. But he paid the greatest attention to the connection with the patriots of the diaspora and their organization, such as those of Italy, Greece, Egypt, Romania, Bulgaria and America. In this mission, he was helped by our intellectual patriot Faik Konica, who sensitized the European public opinion with the Albanian magazine "Albania" in Brussels. The Albanians of the colonies gave a great help, while Luigj Gurakuqi, Hasan Prishtina, Isa Boletini were next to him in every situation. In this war, which had not only friends and enemies, some even stupid people who did not understand politics began to slander that Ismail Qemali was sold to foreigners. Before reaching the Assembly of Vlora, Ismail Qemali and his friends did one of the last marathons which started from Istanbul, Vienna and Trieste, Nice Bucharest and ended in Durrës and Vlora. They tried to secure the support of foreigners for the act of declaring independence, especially Rome and Vienna.
The idea of ??Albania's independence and the news of the meeting of the national assembly in Albania was received with great enthusiasm, the ground had already been prepared by patriotic circles within the country. These districts had established connections between them and had designated Vlora as the center where the meeting of representatives of the Albanian nation would take place. The calendar of events of the group headed by Ismail Qemali begins on November 21st and they arrived in Durrës and on November 25th they arrived in Vlorë.<<A holy fire of patriotism, - writes I. Qemali in his memoirs, - had conquered the city where I was born and the people greeted me everywhere with enthusiasm and joy>>. Meanwhile, the Serbian army was rapidly advancing on Albanian lands. It was approaching Durrës, Tirana, Kruja and Elbasan. The patriotic circles of these cities decided to declare independence as soon as possible to put the Serbian military authorities in front of the fait accompli. The first task of the patriotic leader was to organize the armed forces. Elabasan was the first to declare independence on November 25, followed by Durrësi and Tirana, Kavaja and Peqini and Lushnja. The situation in Albania was becoming more and more critical due to the advance of the Serbian armies. This was the reason that on the evening of November 27, the delegates who were in Vlora, although we had not yet reached the representatives of some provinces, decided to convene the national assembly the next day. On November 28, 1912, at 2 p.m., the National Assembly was opened in Vlora, in which only 37 delegates participated. The Assembly elected Ismail Qemalin as chairman. who spoke about Albania's past under Ottoman rule and the Albanians' struggles to gain their rights. He pointed out that in the circumstances created by the Balkan war<<the only way out was the separation of Albania from Turkey>>. From the first day of Albania's independence and his election as head of the interim government, Ismail Qemali developed a dense political and diplomatic activity. He announced the declaration of independence to the great powers and warring states and asked them to recognize the change in the political life of the Albanian nation. In the telegram addressed to the great powers it was said, among other things: <<The Albanians who have entered the family of peoples of Eastern Europe, of which they are proud to be the oldest, follow only one goal: to live in peace with all the Balkan states and become an element of balance>>. It is to the credit of the Albanian patriots and their foresight, especially the outstanding patriot Ismail Qemali, who supported the popular struggle of the Albanian people for national liberation, that they chose the right moment to move from the political platform to the movement for autonomy to that for independence. The historic decision of the Vlorë assembly announced on November 28 was not only against the great powers of the Entente and the neighboring Balkan monarchies, but also against the plans of the Tripartite League. The latter, especially Austria-Hungary and Italy, as interested in the Albanian issue, were at that time for the autonomy of Albania under the sovereignty of the sultan and its <<independence>>, who considered it a possible variant of the Albanian solution, understood it under the prism of their interests. This was the reason that right from its launch the new Albanian state was a creature as weak as possible, unconsolidated among the independent states of Europe, for the government of Isamil Qemaliiudesh to wage a life-or-death struggle to preserve the existence of his. November 28 was a new stage in the history of Albania. The stage of a struggle to defend freedom and independence and to establish a democratic order. Although the Great Powers did not want to recognize Ismail Qemal's Government as the national authority and for this reason they did not respond to his telegrams. In the messages of November 28, 1912, addressed to the Great Powers and the Balkan allies, I. Qemali declared to them the neutrality of the Government of Vlora in the Balkan conflict. Ismail Qemali and his government recognized themselves with full awareness of the attributes of the highest central power. This can be seen in his correspondence with the municipalities, communes and heads of the country's principalities, as well as other hierarchical relationships that were expressed through decisions, ordinances, instructions, etc., that she sent. Ismail Qemali was guided by European models of state organization. According to him "if Albania will not stand up to Europe and live like a Western country, it will not be able to stand on its feet in the Balkan Peninsula". "All of us Albanians, big and small, rich and poor, old and young, - called Ismail Qemali, we must unite and move the country forward on the path of civilization and progress. showing Europe that the Albanian has always remained European in blood and that he wants nothing more than to form his nationality and become civilized. Ismail Qemali's government kept alive the statement of the Rilindas to put the nation before religion, treating the nation's relationship with religion as fairly as possible. The good traditions of coexistence and understanding between different religions in Albania are a weapon against foreign powers that sow discord. In the conditions when Esat saw Toptani, ambitious for political power, sometimes he appeared as a Turkophile when he complained to the Turkish Minister of War "about the slanders of the press against him, but that could not destroy his Islamic feelings", while shamefully surrendered Shkodra to the Serbo-Montenegros, he also appeared as a Slavophile. Ismail Qemali, moved by the spirit of unity, extended his hand by appointing him to the government to the position of Minister of the Interior. But Esati would use this appointment to get revenge after the decision of the London Conference in July 1913, which did not recognize the Government of Vlora as permanent and that the Great Powers would send to Albania an International Commission that would to control the administrative activity. This decision created uncertainty and anarchy, shaking people's confidence in the Government. Esat Pashë Toptani used this opportunity to propose to Isa Boletini to leave the government and on the other hand threatened him to drive him out of Albania. Esati became a serious danger for Albania to the extent that he has been stigmatized as "the prince of the Albanian knee". But Esati would use this appointment to get revenge after the decision of the London Conference in July 1913, which did not recognize the Government of Vlora as permanent and that the Great Powers would send to Albania an International Commission that would to control the administrative activity. This decision created uncertainty and anarchy, shaking people's confidence in the Government. Esat Pashë Toptani used this opportunity to propose to Isa Boletini to leave the government and on the other hand threatened him to drive him out of Albania. Esati became a serious danger for Albania to the extent that he has been stigmatized as "the prince of the Albanian knee". But Esati would use this appointment to get revenge after the decision of the London Conference in July 1913, which did not recognize the Government of Vlora as permanent and that the Great Powers would send to Albania an International Commission that would to control the administrative activity. This decision created uncertainty and anarchy, shaking people's confidence in the Government. Esat Pashë Toptani used this opportunity to propose to Isa Boletini to leave the government and on the other hand threatened him to drive him out of Albania. Esati became a serious danger for Albania to the extent that he has been stigmatized as "the prince of the Albanian knee". which did not recognize the Government of Vlora as permanent and that the Great Powers would send to Albania an International Commission that would control the administrative activity. This decision created uncertainty and anarchy, shaking people's confidence in the Government. Esat Pashë Toptani used this opportunity to propose to Isa Boletini to leave the government and on the other hand threatened him to drive him out of Albania. Esati became a serious danger for Albania to the extent that he has been stigmatized as "the prince of the Albanian knee". which did not recognize the Government of Vlora as permanent and that the Great Powers would send to Albania an International Commission that would control the administrative activity. This decision created uncertainty and anarchy, shaking people's confidence in the Government. Esat Pashë Toptani used this opportunity to propose to Isa Boletini to leave the government and on the other hand threatened him to drive him out of Albania. Esati became a serious danger for Albania to the extent that he has been stigmatized as "the prince of the Albanian knee". Esat Pashë Toptani used this opportunity to propose to Isa Boletini to leave the government and on the other hand threatened him to drive him out of Albania. Esati became a serious danger for Albania to the extent that he has been stigmatized as "the prince of the Albanian knee". Esat Pashë Toptani used this opportunity to propose to Isa Boletini to leave the government and on the other hand threatened him to drive him out of Albania. Esati became a serious danger for Albania to the extent that he has been stigmatized as "the prince of the Albanian knee".
Diplomat Renz Falaschi, married to Mrs. Nermin Vlora, in his book dedicated to the figure of Ismail Qemal bey Vlora in Italian documents, among other things, states: To want to illustrate the diplomatic genius of Ismail Qemal Vlora, means to reflect his entire life. Because, in truth, none of his actions have excluded the diplomatic aspect, either when he was in the service of the Ottoman Empire, or when he was fighting for the independence of his country. He defined himself quite well when, during an interview published by the "Giornale d'Italia" (Gazette of Italy) on June 25, 1909, he declared: "what is most sacred is the purity of my liberal convictions and feelings for freedom ". Ismail Qemali's political genius is all summed up in one of the last documents he wrote before he died. It is about a memorandum addressed to the Italian Prime Minister VittorioEmanueli Orlando, who was leaving to participate in the Peace Conference in Paris. Here, below, is a text that reveals a diplomatic skill and a great love for the country. It expresses the sadness for the impossibility to talk with Orlando and, serving from this episode, underlines the hope for appropriate support in favor of Albania, as well as its participation in the Peace Conference and, finally, argues the historical and ethnographic right of Albania for its claims. "Besides my feelings of personal admiration, my quality as a representative of the Albanian ideals, to the realization of which I have dedicated my whole life, I feel obliged to entrust my hopes for the freedom of my country to the great support and care of Italy , whose long martyrdom throughout her glorious history has been equally great, and the victory of her superhuman wars has forever secured freedom to oppressed peoples. Having been charged through a formal act by the Albanian community of America with the capacity of delegate in the defense of Albania's interests and its territorial claims at the Peace Conference and benefiting from the polite invitation that was communicated to me by the Italian embassy in Madrid , having made myself known to those who sent me, and recommended to them full confidence, I hastened to depart for Rome, in order to place myself at the disposal of the Italian Government, and to determine our position in accordance with its lofty plans. In Rome, they told him that the prime minister and the foreign minister were not in the city. Furthermore, Renzo Falaschi adds, on January 22, 1919, this is what Ismail Qemali would write "today is the decisive day for Albania: you will be reborn, we will die". But bad luck suddenly cut short the wonderful and intense life of the great patriot, in absolute poverty and far from the nation to which he had restored the dignity of independence. He understood that this was a trick and could not hold back and shouted "They ate me with the treacherous". Anger gathered like a lump in his throat and took his breath away. There was a conference with the journalists, but he could neither start nor finish it, because his mouth was closed and he could not connect the words. They dragged him to another room and there he was suffocated by foam and vomit, then his heart stopped forever from apoplexy on January 24, 1919. His corpse was buried in Vlora, occupied by the Italians, and the only national flag was the one that covered his coffin. At first, they buried him in Kania, his beloved birthplace, then during the reign of King Zog, his remains were transferred to Flag Square. Today, on the 104th anniversary of the death of this great patriot, Albanians can look closer than ever to the dream of those who signed the act of independence, that project that still continues, it is up to the generations to speed it up.