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| Bishop Dom Gjergji delivers a speech during a Mass in Prishtina, connecting the 19th-century persecution of Albanian families from Karadak to subsequent historical struggles and forced migrations. |
During his speech, Dom Gjergji referred to the events of 1846, when Albanian elders from Karadak reportedly went to Beg Gjinolli in Gjilan to declare their desire to preserve their Christian faith.
According to Dom Gjergji, the authorities reacted with fear that other Albanians would follow their example.
“When 180 years ago, in 1846, the elders of Karadak went to Beg Gjinolli in Gjilan to tell him that we wanted to keep our faith, the whole country and the entire power structure rose up, fearing that they would all return, and they expelled them to Turkey.”
Dom Gjergji described the following period as two years of persecution and suffering, during which many of those expelled died.
“Two years of martyrdom. Half of them died on the road to Turkey, some died there, but eventually some returned. And today, their great-great-grandson is speaking before you.”
His words turned a religious ceremony into a powerful reminder of the way persecution, forced migration and pressure on identity have repeatedly shaped the history of Albanians in Kosovo.
The 1846 Expulsion of Albanian Families from Karadak
The events recalled by Dom Gjergji are connected with the Albanian Catholic communities of the Karadak region, including Stublla, Binca, Vërnakolla and Terziaj.
Historical research on the region records the deportation of 25 Laraman families to Anatolia in 1846. One historical account states that 167 people were deported, while only 79 eventually returned after intervention by the European powers.
The episode is particularly significant because the Laraman communities had maintained a complex religious identity and, during this period, sought to openly preserve or restore their Christian faith.
For the descendants of these families, the story represents more than an episode of Ottoman-era persecution. It became part of a broader historical memory concerning attempts to alter the religious and demographic composition of Albanian-inhabited territories.
From the Ottoman Empire to Yugoslavia
The history of forced migration did not end with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
During the 20th century, Albanian populations in Kosovo and other parts of Yugoslavia faced a series of political, economic and security pressures.
One of the most important documents in this history is the 1938 Yugoslav-Turkish Convention, negotiated between Belgrade and Ankara.
The convention concerned the relocation of tens of thousands of Muslim inhabitants from southern Yugoslavia to Turkey. Although the official terminology referred to people of “Turkish origin, language and culture,” Albanian historians have argued that the policy also affected Albanian Muslim communities.
The areas mentioned in the agreement included territories around Pristina, Gjilan, Prizren, Kaçanik, Tetova and Skopje.
The agreement envisaged the transfer of approximately 40,000 families, although the outbreak of World War II and the failure to fully ratify and implement the convention prevented its complete realization.
This distinction is important: the official text did not simply state that “Albanians were to be expelled.” Rather, the controversy lies in how the category of Muslim or “Turkish” population was applied and how Albanian communities were subsequently affected.
Tito, Kyprili and the 1953 Question
Another major episode occurred in 1953, when Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito met Turkish Foreign Minister Fuad Kyprili in Split.
Albanian historiography commonly refers to the resulting understanding as the “Gentlemen's Agreement” between Tito and Kyprili.
The Encyclopedia of Kosovo, published by the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, describes the arrangement as an unsigned agreement concerning the emigration of Albanians, Turks and Bosniaks to Turkey, connected to the earlier Yugoslav-Turkish arrangements.
The political environment was extremely hostile to many Kosovo Albanians.
Following the deterioration of Yugoslav-Albanian relations after the 1948 Tito-Stalin split, thousands of Albanians were arrested, interrogated and imprisoned on accusations of Stalinism or political disloyalty.
The security apparatus associated with Interior Minister Aleksandar Ranković exerted particularly strong pressure on Kosovo's Albanian population.
The collection of weapons, political trials, police repression and pressure to identify as Turks contributed to an environment in which emigration to Turkey became increasingly significant.
Was There a Turkish-Greek-Yugoslav Agreement to Expel Albanians?
This is where historical precision matters.
In February 1953, Yugoslavia, Turkey and Greece signed the Balkan Pact in Ankara. The agreement was primarily a political, military and economic cooperation framework.
It should therefore not be presented as a documented tripartite deportation agreement ordering the expulsion of Albanians.
The connection with the Albanian expulsions comes from the broader geopolitical context and, particularly, the separate Yugoslav-Turkish discussions concerning population transfers.
In other words, there is a historical relationship between the Balkan Pact, Yugoslav-Turkish cooperation and the policies affecting Albanian migration, but that is different from claiming that the Balkan Pact itself was a secret treaty for the expulsion of Albanians.
This distinction makes the historical argument stronger rather than weaker.
The Ranković Era and Pressure on Kosovo Albanians
During the 1950s and early 1960s, the Yugoslav security system intensified pressure on Kosovo's Albanian population.
Albanian intellectuals and political figures opposed attempts to classify Albanians as Turks and encouraged the preservation of Albanian national identity.
The political climate contributed to substantial migration toward Turkey.
Historical estimates concerning the number of Albanians who ultimately left Yugoslavia for Turkey vary considerably depending on the period, methodology and definition of who was classified as Albanian.
Some Albanian historical works cite figures reaching hundreds of thousands.
Such numbers should therefore be treated cautiously rather than repeated as universally established facts.
What is not seriously disputed is that large-scale migration of Albanians from Kosovo and other Yugoslav territories to Turkey took place during the post-war decades, particularly during the 1950s and early 1960s.
A History That Survived
The significance of Dom Gjergji's speech lies not only in the historical details but in the continuity of memory.
The story he told begins in Karadak in 1846, when families faced expulsion because they sought to preserve their religious identity.
More than a century later, another generation of Albanians experienced political pressure, repression and migration during the Yugoslav period.
These episodes were not necessarily part of one uninterrupted plan spanning 180 years. They emerged from different political systems, different geopolitical circumstances and different forms of state power.
But they share one historical theme: the vulnerability of Albanian communities when powerful states attempted to reshape the demographic, religious or political identity of the territories in which they lived.
And perhaps that is the most powerful meaning behind Dom Gjergji's final words:
“And today, their great-great-grandson is speaking before you.”
The survival of the descendants is itself part of the historical story.
The caravans disappeared.
The borders changed.
Empires collapsed.
Governments came and went.
But the descendants remained — carrying with them the memory of what happened to those who came before them.
Editorial Note
Some figures concerning deaths during the 1846–1848 Karadak deportations and the total number of Albanians who migrated to Turkey remain disputed among historical sources. This article therefore distinguishes between documented agreements, historical interpretations and figures cited in Albanian historiography. The existence of the 1938 Yugoslav-Turkish Convention and the 1953 Balkan Pact is documented, but the latter should not be inaccurately described as a tripartite treaty ordering the expulsion of Albanians.