MIDIS DËBIMIT DHE ASIMILIMIT PËRPJEKJET PËR SHPËRNGULJEN E SHQIPTARËVE NGA KOSOVA. KONVENTA TURKO-JUGOSLLAVE E VITIT 1938
BETWEEN EXPULSION AND ASSIMILATION ATTEMPTS TO DISPLACE ALBANIANS FROM KOSOVO THE TURKISH-YUGOSLAV CONVENTION OF 1938

Summary/Abstract: The rise and strengthening of the Serbian state in the first half of the nineteenth century was accompanied by projects for a pure ethnic Serbian state. This was followed by its expansion into its neighbors. These projects took on a greater dimension during the first half of the twentieth century. They were oriented toward the south or territories inhabited by Albanians that provided access to the Aegean and the Adriatic. However, it could not expand towards the north and west because it bordered Austria-Hungary or in the east, Bulgaria. The occupation of Albanian lands by Serbia during the Balkan Wars was accompanied by efforts to expel Albanians and denationalize these territories. Such a policy was also followed during the interwar period. The Agrarian Reform and Colonization programs aimed at changing Kosovo's ethnic structure had not produced the expected results, so mass Albanian deportations to Turkey was planned. This project, drafted during the 30s, was finalized in 1938 when the Turkish-Yugoslav agreement was signed for the deportation of 40,000 Albanian families (200.000 persons) from Kosovo and other territories inhabited by the Albanian population in the former Yugoslavia to Turkey. The agreement was matched with the demographic needs of the Turkish state, since the last years of the Ottoman Empire were accompanied by numerous war developments, resulting in drastic population reduction. Turkey in this period welcomed Muslims from the Balkans (Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Yugoslavia). These Muslims were gradually assimilated into the Turkish nation through administrative laws and regulations. The expulsion of about 40,000 Albanian families from their lands raised serious concern in Albania. Albanian diplomacy used all mechanisms and traditional Turkish-Albanian ties to prevent the agreement's implementation. The agreement was not approved by the Turkish parliament and was not implemented. Meanwhile, the Second World War broke out, creating other political circumstances and the convention was never implemented.

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