Geographical Features:
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is situated in the central part of the
Balkan Peninsula, occupying an area of 25,433 km².. It is situated in a
mountainous and dry area, with a few lakes and some small rivers. The capital is
Skopje.
The Albanians in Macedonia mainly inhabit the western part of the country. The
largest Albanian communities live in Tetovo, Skopje, Gostivar, Dibra, Kėrcova,
Struga and Kumanovo. .
Population:
Before Macedonia became part of Yugoslavia, in 1944, western Macedonia was part
of Albania. In this area, the Albanians are the original inhabitants. The Albanians are
the second largest population group in Macedonia (40% of the population), after the
Slavs-Macedonians (50% of the population). The remaining 10% of the population is
formed by a combination of Turks, Vlasies, Roma and Bulgars. Approximately,
700,000 Albanians are living in Macedonia.
Culture and language:
The Albanians of Macedonia are overwhelmingly Muslim although there are a few Christian Orthodox villages. (Meanwhile, the largest population group, the Macedonian, is Christian Orthodox.) Their language is Albanian. Like other Albanians in the Balkan, they have a strong Albanian identity.
Economy:
Agriculture is relatively well developed, although the soil is poor. There is little
industry. A major part of the population, primarily Albanians, work abroad as a result
of the lack of opportunities inside Macedonia. The figures showed that the country's
workforce is 84.5% ethnic Macedonian and 9.4% ethnic Albanian. At this moment 30
to 40 % of the Albanian workforce are abroad for jobs.
Organizations:
Party for Democratic Prosperity (PPD)
It is the largest Albanian party in Macedonia. It is the third party by participation in
the Macedonian Parliament. President is Ymer Ymeri.
Party for Democracy of Albanians in Macedonia (PPDSH)
Second largest Albanian party in Macedonia. It was formed 3 years from a wing that
separated from the PPD. This party's main strongholds are Tetova and Gostivar.
President is Arben Xhaferi.
History:
In the 1950`s and 60`s during the reign of the interior minister Aleksander Rankovic, more than 450.000 Albanians were deported to Turkey, and tens of thousands were tortured. This led to the purification of cities like Shkup (Skopje) and Monsatir (Bitola) of Albanians.In January 1992, the Albanians in Macedonia organized a successful referendum on territorial autonomy. The Slavic Macedonian government interpreted this as a first step toward secession and declared the referendum illegal. Shortly thereafter, the Council of Albanian Political Parties in the Former Yugoslavia -an umbrella organization of ethnic Albanians in Kosova, Montenegro, Serbia proper and Macedonia- decided that autonomy would only be an option for the Albanians in Macedonia if other democratic efforts to gain political and cultural rights fail.
Albanian people have no national rights, nevertheless, they are forced to pay the same
taxes as Slavic-Macedonians. A major factor in improving living conditions for
Albanians is education. The Albanians in Macedonia have long demanded higher
education in the Albanian language. Admission to middle and higher education is
made very difficult for Albanians, most higher education is in the Macedonian
language. In reaction the Albanian population built an Albanian language university
in Tetovo. The Macedonian government has not legalized the university yet and has
therefore been illegal so far. As a consequence 4,000 graduates left the university
without a recognized diploma. Even for Slavic-Macedonian universities, only 3 % of
Albanian students are allowed to go to these universities. It is very difficult for
Albanians to find proper employment. Therefore, Albanians go abroad for jobs and at
this moment 30-40 % of Albanian working population are abroad for jobs.
Albanians have suffered from forced moving, they are not allowed their own
school and cultural activities or weapons which is allowed for Slavic-Macedonians.
They have no right to demonstrate, and are suppressed, tortured and shot. The
Macedonian army and special security forces control the Albanian population and
their villages.
The only way to get peace is to change the constitution and for the Slavic
Macedonians to accept a multi ethnic state. But inequality and absolute advantages of
the voting system have made it almost impossible to accomplish this.Western
countries have neglected all of these violations of the Macedonian government in
order to avoid war and conflict.
Current events:
13 August
Macedonia signed Peace Accord
Key events in Macedonia `s Standoff
7 May 2001 Macedonia forms unity government
Macedonia has formed a national unity government with ethnic Albanian
representatives. NATO and EU supported the coalition announcement between the
main ruling and opposition parties. The government would include the ethnic
Albanians. Two of the ethnic Albanian parties were still arguing internally about how
to provide the situation of the Albanian people with better access to higher education.
6 May 2001 Macedonian government almost declared a state of war against
Albanian protest
As fighting in Macedonia has spread with Albanian protesters attacking checkpoints
in the north-west of Tetovo, Macedonian security forces have continued and
intensified bombardment of Albanian villages in a bid to dislodge ethnic-Albanian
guerrillas, The National Liberation Army. The Macedonian government had
considered a declaration of war but postponed it thanks to European Union efforts.
Nearly 3,000 ethnic Albanian refugees crossed into Kosova from Macedonia so far.
15 March 2001 Violence breaks out
From the end of February there has been fighting between Albanians and the
Macedonian army along the border with Kosova. After two soldiers were killed by
Albanians, Macedonian security forces closed its Kosova border and launched an
offensive against ethnic Albanians using helicopters, gun ships, tanks and artillery. On
March 30th, Macedonian forces claimed victory. However, they resumed attacks on
Albanians in Tetovo 10 hours after the end of a ceasefire. International fora such as
NATO, EU and UN blamed Macedonia for its excessive attacks and urged to stop
them. As a result of the violence, hundreds of Albanians fled to neighboring Kosova
and an estimated 5 civilians were killed.
10 September 2000 Macedonia election 'fell short'
The municipal elections were held in Macedonia but there were many violations on
the Slavic-Macedonian part according to The European security organization, the
OSCE. There was violence and intimidation in the western part of Macedonia - home
to a large ethnic Albanian community-, major irregularities, and ballot boxes were
destroyed in at least fourteen polling stations. There was much international criticism
of local elections in Macedonia that fell short of democratic standards in a number of
respects.
25 July 2000 Macedonia legalizes Albanian-language university
A new law, which establishes a privately funded Albanian-language university to
serve the country?s large ethnic Albanian minority, was passed by Macedonian
parliament. The new university is co-funded by western governments, the Council of
Europe and the Soros Foundation. But, the government denied funding and required
that students must pass an examination in the Macedonian language to have their
degrees validated in Macedonia. Therefore, graduates have no diploma approved
officially, which makes finding jobs after graduation very difficult.
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