Prishtina, February 25, 2025
Under the auspices of the Office of the Prime Minister, a commemorative meeting was held today in honor of the late Faik Rexhepi, known as a symbol of resistance against the Serbian regime in the 1990 protests in Prishtina. Faik Rexhepi passed away on February 23, 2025.
In his speech, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, stated that in the continuous chronology of daily events, there are rare cases and so few people who manage to rise from mundanity and become symbols of special political events of their time.
“Among the thousands of people being chased by the police, a man, Faik Rexhepi, sat right in the middle of the road, sitting cross-legged and with his hand under his chin, in a stoic stance,” described Prime Minister Kurti, telling the story of August 29, 1990, when a delegation of seven American senators, led by Robert Joseph Dole, was visiting Prishtina, and about 10,000 people had gathered in Prishtina to let the American senators know that they were so welcome in Kosovo, where Albanians were oppressed, underrepresented and discriminated against under the Serbian regime.
Through the image of a man who does not give in to the violence of the Serbian police, Faik Rexhepi also embodied the image of the Albanian Chamber in Republic Square, the Prime Minister said.
“Faik Rexhepi, a hard worker and patriot, from Preshevo to Prishtina; Faik Rexhepi is our man who does not run away, our man who stays. And those who do not leave, those who stay, even if it is just one individual, become an entire people that stays and wins. And that day came to us 9 years later in June 1999”, he continued.
32 years after the protest with the central figure of Faik Rexhepi, he was monumentalized in a public sculpture in the middle of Prishtina on November 28, 2022, by the artist Eliza Shala. During his speech, Prime Minister Kurti expressed that we know Faik Rexhepi by name and by his work, by his kindness for the people, for work, for the population, for our nation.
“Faik Rexhepi will remain immortalized in the central square of Prishtina, now also a democratic Republic without the Serbian occupiers, as he has remained immortalized in our memory, that of families, society and all Albanians, not only in Kosovo”, he concluded.
Present at this commemorative meeting, along with Prime Minister Kurti, were the Deputy Prime Minister for Minority Affairs and Human Rights, Emilija Rexhepi, the Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci, the Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Rozeta Hajdari, the Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, Liburn Aliu, the Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, members of Parliament, as well as family members, friends and associates of Faik Rexhepi.
Full speech of Prime Minister Kurti:
Honorable Mrs. Hyrije, wife of Faik Rexhepi,
Honorable Visar, Elvis, Albana and Vlora, children of Faik Rexhepi,
Honorable family members,
Honorable Mr. Dibran Gashi, associate and friend of Faik Rexhepi.
Honorable colleagues from the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, Deputy Prime Minister Rexhepi, Ministers Maqedonci, Hajdari, Aliu and Haxhiu,
Honorable members of the Assembly of the Republic,
Activists of the national cause, former political prisoners,
Honorable guests, saddened by the loss we suffered,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Sisters and brothers,
In the continuous chronology of daily events, there are very rare cases and so few people who manage to rise from mundanity and become symbols of the special political events of their time. One of these cases and one of these people is that of Faik Rexhepi, whom we have gathered to remember today, a day after he was buried and we are physically separated from him, only physically.
On August 29, 1990, a delegation of seven American senators, led by Robert Joseph Dole, came to visit Prishtina. While they were holding a meeting with the Kosovar political elite of the time, about 10,000 people gathered in Prishtina in front of the Grand Hotel, where that meeting was being held. By gathering, those thousands of people wanted to let the American senators know that they were so welcome in our beloved Kosovo, where Albanians were oppressed, underrepresented and discriminated against under the Serbian regime. So it was that time when no less than two months separated us from the declaration of the Republic through the Constitutional Declaration of July 2, while on the other hand it had been almost a year and a half since the autonomy had been suppressed, occupation by Yugoslavia and Serbia had taken place, apartheid had also been enforced in the Republic of Kosovo which was then occupied but there was always the will and desire of the Albanian people.
And while the delegation with the American senators were being informed about the violations of human rights and political and national rights by the Serbian regime against the Albanians in Kosovo, the Serbian police moved towards the crowd of people to disperse them by force. Among the thousands of people being chased by the police, a man, Faik Rexhepi, sat right in the middle of the road, sitting cross-legged and with his hand under his chin, in a stoic stance. In addition to the filming of the time, Faik Rexhepi was captured in an iconic photograph, in an emblematic image by the photojournalist Hazir Reka. And since it had been less than two months since we had the Constitutional Declaration of July 2, 1990, our squares were squares of the Republic, even though it was occupied, and with that moment of Faik Rexhepi standing there in the Republic Square, it somehow seems as if the image of the Albanian Chamber materialized in the Republic Square because Faik Rexhepi’s stance is precisely the stance of someone in the Albanian Chamber, that’s how we stand cross-legged when we go to the chambers in our cities and villages and meet with each other. Our autonomy had been suppressed, the parliament could not meet, the Republic had been declared, and in the square of the Republic of occupied Kosovo, the Albanian Chamber materialized with this special name, Faik Rexhepi.
The next day, August 30, in an article titled “Albanian Protest Broken Up in Yugoslavia,” The New York Times reported: “Riot police used batons and tear gas to disperse thousands of ethnic Albanians awaiting a delegation from the United States Congress to complain about human rights violations. About 10,000 people, chanting “Freedom, freedom” and “USA, USA,” gathered in front of a hotel where the delegation of seven Republican senators was expected to hold talks with leaders of the Albanian majority in Kosovo, a southern province of Yugoslavia.”
Faik Rexhepi, a hard worker and patriot, from Presevo to Prishtina; Faik Rexhepi is our man who does not leave, our man who stays. And those who do not leave, those who stay, even if it is just one individual, become an entire people who stay and win. And that day came to us 9 years later in June 1999.
And 32 years after that protest with the central figure of Faik Rexhepi, while Kosovo was liberated and independent, on November 28, 2022, Faik Rexhepi in his resistant image, was monumentalized in a public sculpture in the middle of Prishtina, by the young artist Eliza Shala. Perhaps the image of that man who does not give in to the violence of the Serbian police, can be compared to the famous and well-known Tank Man, the man who on June 5, 1989, stood unwavering in front of the tanks of the Chinese regime that was suppressing the student protests in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. But unlike the one who has remained unknown even today, as an anonymous figure in history, we know Faik Rexhepi by name and by his work, by his kindness to people, to work, to the population, to our nation. Faik Rexhepi will remain immortalized in the central square of Pristina, now also a democratic Republic without Serbian occupiers, as he has remained immortalized in our memory, that of families, society and all Albanians, not only in Kosovo.
May he always be remembered and honored!
Thank you.
Last modified: February 26, 2025