An archival document published in the series “Dokumenti o spoljnoj politici Kraljevine Srbije” mentions the mass displacement of the Albanian population toward Turkey during the years 1912–1914, a turbulent period that followed the Balkan Wars and the major territorial changes in the region.
According to this source, thousands of Albanians were forced to leave their homes and head toward the Ottoman Empire, mainly through the port of Thessaloniki. The document states that the displacement occurred under harsh conditions of violence and pressure, including killings, assaults, executions, and propaganda campaigns that, according to the text, forced Albanians to abandon their lands.
The document also presents a monthly list of those displaced during this period. According to it, in November 1912 alone, 8,866 Albanians departed for Turkey, while in December of the same year the number reached 11,493.
At the beginning of 1913, the wave of migration continued, with 12,087 people recorded in January and 12,088 in February.
The data continues for the following months of 1913: 7,553 people in March, 6,725 in April, and 12,813 in May. In June, 9,368 displaced individuals were recorded, while in July 21,045 people departed for Turkey. August 1913 marked one of the peaks of this process, with 29,312 people leaving, while in September the number of displaced persons was 13,380.
The process continued toward the end of 1913: 14,764 people left in October, 17,313 in November, and 15,502 in December.
In 1914, according to the same document, 10,182 displaced persons were recorded in January and 25,060 in February. In March the number was 12,346, while in April 6,520 people were recorded. The final documented waves during this period include 15,414 people in May, 14,821 in June, and 26,236 in July 1914.
According to the cited Serbian document, a total of 302,907 Albanians migrated through Thessaloniki to Turkey during this period. The figure, it is noted, does not include children under the age of six. It also states that around 40,000 other Muslims migrated through the port of Kavala, while a considerable number also left via land routes.
The document further emphasizes that the transportation of the displaced population through Thessaloniki was carried out with the assistance of 395 European ships that took part in the process.
The source of these data is cited as “Dokumenti o spoljnoj politici Kraljevine Srbije,” Volume VII, Issue 1, published in Belgrade in 1980. It includes document no. 474 titled “List of Muslims who emigrated to Turkey through Thessaloniki from the time of the occupation until now (1914).” The same period is also addressed in the study “Iseljenici sa Balkana, 1912–1915,” which examines the migration of Muslim populations from the Balkans during and after the Balkan Wars.
These documents provide a broader overview of population movements in the Balkans during the early years of the twentieth century, when territorial changes and military conflicts caused major demographic shifts across the region.