Page 680 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

From the 13th to the 20th century
to maintenance of good neighbourly relations with the Ot- toman empire, it is fully entitled to demand from the Sub- lime Porte measures that will efficiently put an end to this anarchy in Old Serbia and, especially, in Gnjilane, wherefrom most those who seek refuge and substantive assistance in Serbia come, due to the terror. So, not only do they expose us to great material losses, but in its form and appearance, this is a rebuttal for all the friends of good neighborly rela- tions with Turkey and they give rise to resentment in public opinion, which is very hard to resist for the Royal Govern- ment. (...)
THe DiPLOMaTiC CORReSPONDeNCe OF THe KiNGDOM OF SeRBia i, pp. 317–320
THe DiSSaTiSFaCTiON OF THe SeRBiaN GOVeRNMeNT WiTH THe OTTOMaN iNTeRVeNTiON iN KOSOVO
Sima Lozanić, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to Milosav Kurtović, Serbian Consul in Skoplje
the one that reforms are relatively less needed than in other parts. The main ailment of the Rumeli areas are the alba- nian anarchy and the terror of Muslims. That evil is the stron- gest around the Kacanik area, in Kosovo and around it. So, it would only be natural, if one truly wants to exterminate evil, to start there. Once order is restored there and the Chris- tian element freed from terror and terrorists, then one can move on with other parts of the empire. This would be not only natural, but also needed, fair, wise and political. Unfor- tunately, that is not the case. Hilmi Pasha ordered that in the provinces outlaws should be caught, as well as army desert- ers, unpunished thieves and offenders. The best way to il- lustrate his proceedings is the capture of the two exhausted old outlaws that others had to take down from their horses when they were brought to the court council (hucumat). While this is being done, reports are coming to me about the terrors perpetrated by Turks and albanians against Serbs from the other side of the Šara Mountain. For instance, from Novi Pazar, i get information that 1) the askeri (imperial army) cross the routes of people, stop them and take all they have from them, like a real army; 2) that a certain abodin aliasović stormed into a Serbian school in Vračevi and beat the children out of school; 3) in the village of Opavo Turks from Vučja Lokva village exhumated the dead body of Me- lentije Cepija, plucked both his eyes out and left him by the grave like that; 4) some unknown Turks dug out the dead Borisav Popović in Novi Pazar cemetery and mutilated him heavily; 5) Mujčinović, a well known Novi Pazar’s villain, is terrorizing Novi Pazar and its neighbourhood. Further on, askeri on the way javor-Nova Varoš-Priboj, steal anything they come across, take away, rape in Serbian villages; the peasants complain, but the authorities do not proceed with the cases, punishing the peasants for false accusations against the empire’s soldiers instead. in the villages of Novi Pazar’s Sandžak, toll collectors are plundering and fleecing the al- ready impoverished people. From the area arond Prizren, delegations keep coming here and claiming that they can- not stand the violence of albanians and Turks any longer. Similar messages come from the area of Gnjilane, and from Peć too. We should bear in mind that this is happening in the midst of winter, so what can we expect when spring comes? Moreover, the perpetrators of such misdeeds are freely and with impunity strolling the places where they have commit- ted such evils. Mujčinović, the murderer of anta jeličić in Novi Pazar, Ferat-agic in Mitrovica, Fejzul-aga in Vučitrn, son of Rustem Kabas in Prizren, the known murderer of Ni- kolče Djordjević in Gnjilane, Sait-aga in Gnjilane, islam in Djerkar, etc.
From the above described, it is clear that we could be- lieve in the genuine commitment of Turks to improve the position of their Christian subjects in Old Serbia and Mace- donia only when they curb the the bloody violence of alba- nians and Turks and when the perpetrators of this terror, as well as many other terrorists, are subjected to serious and severe punishment. Therefore i would kindly ask you, Mr. Consul, on the occasion of your first meeting with Hilmi- Pasha, to demand investigation and prosecution against all the terrorists, in particular: the Mujčinović brothers from Novi Pazar, Ferat-agiq from Mitrovica, Fejzulović from Vu-
Political and educational affairs No 203
Belgrade, january 19th/February 1st, 1903
it is with genuine interest that i followed your reports on the work of Hilmi-Pasha, inspector for Rumeli (Western) prov- inces of the european Turkey. We cannot be satisfied with his work or with the measures he takes either. His work is focused only on one part of Kosovo province and that being
Petar Kostić, Serbian writer and national activist in 19th and early 20th century.
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