During an interview to the Turkish television "Avaz", the Turkish historian Müfid Yüksel said that "Balkan Albanians, are autochthonous Illyrians". "They are neither Greeks nor Slavs," says Yüksel, explaining that during the Turkish-Russian war there have been many negative reactions to the Balkans ...
"Albanians got a lot of strokes, as they were on the border with the Slavs. The Russians were on the Serb side," he says," unfortunately, the Ottomans did not won any war with the Russians."
About these Ottoman losses the Turkish historian Yüksel says, "the bill would be paid by Albanians." "The Albanians were the people who could inhibid the Slavs and began to lose their lands," the historian further says.He also shows how the British at that time helped the Turks because they did not wanted the Russians to take Istanbul. "Many lands have been donated to Serbia," he says, indicating that the Albanians lands given to Slavs are Presevo, Nishi and Vraja.
The researcher from Turkey Müfid Yüksel has said that he himself has carried out many studies concerning the relations between the Ottomans and the Albanians, as well as with the Albanians in the Ottoman Empire. Yüksel states further in his speech:
"My works have been elaborated and accompanied by photos of the history of Albanians in the Ottoman Empire since the entry of this empire into the Balkans up to 1910-1920. Even in this conference we showed some of those files, documents and information that I have available."
Yüksel talked about Albanians during the Ottoman Empire, including not only 33 Albanian sadrazams, but also those who have been in charge as prefects had other high positions in other countries such Arab countries.
"In the Ottoman Empire, the strongest society was the Albanian one. The connections between the two countries can be raised by rereading the HIstory. In the past we had so many connections as in some meetings between viziers in Sarajin Topkapi the language used was the Albanian one.
Albanians were very powerful and effective. Even in the tombstones and tombs, there are documents that are written and underlined that these people were Albanian.
Namely, the Ottomans have engraved the name of Albanians even in marble because of the importance given to them. Relationships between them have not been as it is explained. "
According to him, the strongest diaspora of Albanians is in Turkey, a good part of which are in very good and high positions. "It is unacceptable that a country like Turkey that has such a high presence of Albanian diaspora has such relations with their country," says Yüksel.
Pointing once again to common history and values Yüksel says that Albanians have influenced and left many traces in Turkey's past history.
"You can see the works of Albanians everywhere. If we look at Istanbul, we will see that after the Sultans and their families, more works and traces have left the Albanian pashas, as this society brought more sadrazam and pashas than any other people.
These works are not limited to Istanbul. In Diyarbakır, Halep, Damascus and similar cities when we see the inscriptions of their works that are still standing, we understand that relations have been much more intense and good."
Yüksel in his speech also noted that the services of Albanians are not limited to the history of the Ottoman Empire. In this context he cites Albanians who continued to serve later in Egypt, Iraq and other similar countries.