By Marin Vlahović, source
In the last article, we touched upon the Serbian myth of Kosovo, which triggered numerous reactions from both Serbian and Croatian readers. The question arose as to why one should even delve into the past when there are much more pressing issues at hand. Some people fail to understand that these issues stem directly from past times and that history actually repeats itself. So, we established, or rather reiterated, the fact that Serbia is internationally recognized within smaller borders than the present Republic of Serbia, and that the expansion of its borders is a result of wartime aggression and very favorable international politics of global powers for the Serbs.
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| Karađorđe, source: Wikipedia |
Considering that leading Serbian politicians constantly provoke Croatia with verbal aggression and interfere in the internal political matters of our country, it is necessary to respond to them in kind, but not with lies and myths, but with precise historical facts and arguments. The politicization of the story should be avoided. Fact-checking is entirely sufficient as a means to debunk all their myths and illusions. On this occasion, we will delve into the origins of the famous Serbian royal lineage of Karađorđević. The founder of the Karađorđević dynasty was Karađorđe, also known as Black George. Karađorđe is the famous leader of the first Serbian uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
The Klimenti Tribe, Illyrians, Albanians...
But who was Karađorđe really? We must be honest and admit that during his time, peoples were not understood in the same categories as today. Nevertheless, scientific research has proven that Karađorđe was of Albanian descent and a Catholic. His grandfather was named Jovan Mršin Klimenti. The Klimenti tribe is one of the twelve historical tribes of Northern Albanians. The tribe Klimenti took its name in honor of Pope Clement. The Klimenti, or Klementinci, were Catholics. To understand these data, we must go back even further into the past, to the mid-15th century, and remember the rebellion of the most successful Turkish commander Skanderbeg against the Ottoman Empire. Skanderbeg was Albanian, a Catholic, and a nobleman who defied the Ottoman Empire and successfully resisted all Ottoman military campaigns in the territories of present-day Albania and Macedonia for the next 25 years. After the Turks finally won, there was a great exodus of the Albanian people. Over a million displaced Albanians (by some estimates 1.2 million) settled in parts of Italy, Croatia, and Serbia.
If we go further back in history, we must note that Albanians, or their ancestors the Illyrians, lived on the territory of Kosovo and present-day Serbia even before the Serbs. In the Turkish army, the strength of military units was measured by the number of "Arnauts," which is a historical term for Albanians. And now we actually come to the real historical truth. Why have Kosovo Albanians only recently achieved independence and how is it that the Serbs, as the earliest inhabitants of these areas, kept them under their rule for so long? The key lies again in the choice of faith and Church. Serbia gained statehood in 1878, but it had a state-forming Church since Saint Sava. The Serbian Orthodox Church has been playing the role of uniting the Serbian people for centuries, but also of assimilating other nations and religions. Albanians, who originally belonged to the Catholic Church, have accepted Islam throughout history, but also Orthodoxy. In recent times, a political-religious movement has developed among Albanians, aimed at de-Islamizing the Albanian people. A similar fate befell the Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the so-called Bogomils who accepted Islam.
Paraćin Massacre
By the way, a month ago marked the thirtieth anniversary of the events known as the "Paraćin Massacre." According to official reports of that time, Aziz Keljmendi, a soldier of the then Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), armed with an automatic rifle, killed four and wounded five reservists. This bloodshed served the Milošević regime to carry out ruthless terror against Albanians in Kosovo. One could say that this marked the beginning of a new war for "Greater Serbia." According to statements by some JNA officers, the entire event was orchestrated by the top of the KOS. Keljmendi was allegedly just one of the victims of the massacre, which was designed to justify further repression against Albanians. History is full of interesting contradictions and that's why it should be viewed in its entirety. For example, Aziz Keljmendi, by origin, belongs to the Klementinci, just like the father of modern Serbian state, Karađorđe.
Croats often, due to the linguistic proximity, prefer to engage in dialogue with Serbs rather than with Albanians, thus repeating historical mistakes.
Do we owe anything to Serbia?
The court in Dubrovnik made a shameful decision to extradite Ismail Morina to Serbia, who flew a drone with the flag of "Greater Albania" during a match between Serbia and Albania. Such falsehood was also propagated by all Croatian media, but experts in this field explained to us that it was not the flag of "Greater Albania" but rather "Ethnic Albania," which is certainly different.
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| Ismail Morina wearing a t-shirt showing the Greater Albania map which writes "Autochthonous" |
Serbia does not extradite war criminals to Croatia and erects monuments to reckless terrorists like Milan Tepić. What do we owe Serbia that we have to extradite Ismail Morina to them?