Çair, 11 August, 2023
At the invitation of the Mayor of the Municipality of Çair, Visar Ganiu and the Mayor of the Municipality of Tetova, Bilall Kasami, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, is visiting these two municipalities of North Macedonia today.
He started his visit in the Municipality of Çairi, whereupon Prime Minister Kurti participated in the naming ceremony of the street after “Adem Demaçi”, an event which two weeks ago marked the 5th anniversary of his death.
The ceremony of naming a street after Adem Demaçi in the Municipality of Çairi is of special importance for the prime minister, although there are several streets in Kosovo that bear this name. He described this event as the marking of a time with a name: “the time of the oppression of Albanians in the former Yugoslavia, which among the Albanians produced a man who was a symbol of freedom: Mr. Adem Demaçi”.
During his statement, Prime Minister Kurti recalled how the journalist, writer, intellectual and activist, Adem Demaçi, whose works cost him 28 years spent in prison, scared the two dictatorial leaders, Josip Broz – Tito of the former Yugoslavia and Nikita Khrushchev of the former Soviet Union, who had taken care to imprison Adem Demaçi before their visit to Skopje, 60 years ago.
“The oppressors and deniers of freedom could not march freely in a country where freedom was synonymous with a special human name, the name of Adem Demaçi. 60 years later, in Macedonia there are still streets and schools with the name “Josip Broz – Tito”, so naming a street with the name “Adem Demaçi” is also an act of persistence in the endless effort of a people for freedom”, he said.
Thus, by naming this road in Çair with the name “Adem Demaçi”, the prime minister said that a triumph of freedom in its purest political, historical and human meanings is being marked.
The event’s granddaughter Adem Demaçi, Fitore Shahini, the Mayor of Çairi, Visar Ganiu, the Mayor of Tetova, Bilall Kasami, the Deputy Chief of the Mission of Kosovo in the Republic of North Macedonia, Prindon Sadriu, were also present at this inauguration. , deputies and former deputies of the Assembly of North Macedonia and Albanian citizens of Çair and all of Skopje.
According to the agenda, Prime Minister Kurti is expected to arrive in the Municipality of Tetova to carry out the planned activities and meetings within the framework of this visit, which ends with the welcoming event in the “Iliria” square of Tetova.
Prime Minister Kurti’s complete speech:
The honorable Mayor of Çairi Municipality, Mr. Visar Ganiu,
Dear members of the Çairi Municipal Council,
Honorable Mrs. Fitore Shahini, niece of Adem,
The Honorable Mayor of the Municipality of Tetova and Chairman of the “Besa” Movement, Mr. Bilal Kasami,
Dear Chairman of the “Alternativa” Party, Mr. Afrim Gashi,
Dear Chairman of the Democratic Movement, Mr. Izet Mejhiti,
Dear Deputy Head of the Mission of Kosovo in the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Prindon Sadriu,
The honorable former deputy and indomitable fighter of the national issue, Hysni Shaqiri,
Dear Members of the Assembly of North Macedonia,
Dear citizens, sisters and brothers, ladies and gentlemen from Çairi and all of Skopje,
About two weeks ago, on July 26, we had the 5th anniversary of Adem Demaçi’s death, and today, August 11, we are inaugurating a street named after him, “Adem Demaçi” street, in the Municipality of Çairi. In Kosovo, there are several streets that bear the name “Adem Demaçi”, but the naming of a street named after Adem Demaçi here in the Municipality of Çairi in North Macedonia, has a special significance.
This, because the naming of a street is not simply the evidence of a space of movement, but also the marking of a time with a name. So what is this time and what is this name that will mark this road from now on? It is the time when, during the second half of the last century, the Albanians in the former Yugoslavia were the most oppressed and discriminated ethnic community in Europe after the Second World War.
During that period, Albanians both in Kosovo, as well as here in North Macedonia, in Montenegro and in the Presheva Valley, lived the dictatorial regime of Yugoslavia in the same way: between political persecutions and prisons, displacements and emigrations, between expulsions from work and closures of schools, political under-representation and social inequalities, with curtailed national and civil liberties and violated human rights. And since it is time that produces people, that time of oppression of Albanians in the former Yugoslavia, among Albanians, produced a man who was a symbol of freedom: Mr. Adem Demaçi.
Journalist and intellectual, writer and activist, Adem Demaçi, with his writings and activity, public and secret, which cost him 28 years spent in prisons, became a symbol of indomitable resistance to oppression and exploitation and the attempt to unstoppable for the freedom of Albanians in the former Yugoslavia. Therefore, the name “Adem Demaçi”, in addition to being a person’s name, was also the name of a figure, it was a separate slogan, as “Long live Adem Demaçi” was chanted in the 1968, 1981 and 1989 demonstrations.
Dear participants,
If we were in Skopje exactly 60 years ago, we would see the residents of Skopje trying to clean up the ruins and repair the damage caused by the earthquake of July 26, 1963. At that time, on August 22, 1963, Skopje hit by the earthquake, two dictator leaders had come to visit together: Josip Broz – Tito of the former Yugoslavia and Nikita Krushqev of the former Soviet Union. As part of the preparations for their visit, fearing that it could be disrupted, the Yugoslav authorities of the time, whose repressive state apparatus was led by Aleksandar Rankoviç, had taken care to imprison Adem Demaçi in advance. The oppressors and deniers of freedom could not march freely in a country where freedom had as a synonym even a special human name, the name of Adem Demaçi. 60 years later, in Macedonia there are still streets and schools named after “Josip Broz – Tito”, so the naming of a street after “Adem Demaçi” is also an act of persistence in the endless effort of a people for freedom.
From my experience of working with Adem, I know that the most beloved national and political figure of the 20th century for him was Hasan Prishtina. Today, as we remember Adem Demaç and mark the road with his name, we naturally remember Hasan Pristina, who tomorrow, but 111 years ago, came and liberated Skopje together with Bajram Curri and Isa Boletini, and the day after tomorrow, but 90 years ago, was brutally murdered in Thessaloniki.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Sisters and brothers,
Whenever a street, a square or a school is named after a person who has passed away, you naturally wonder what that person would think of it if they were alive. This is almost impossible to know, but what can be said with conviction is that by naming this street here in Çair, in Skopje, with the name “Adem Demaçi”, a triumph of freedom in its broadest sense is being marked, political, historical and human drains!
Thank you.
Last modified: August 14, 2023