[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 45 (Thursday, April 21, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: April 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
THE ALBANIAN PERSPECTIVE ON PEACE IN THE BALKANS
______
HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN
of new york
in the house of representatives
Thursday, April 21, 1994
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, a former Member of this body, the Hon. Joe
DioGuardi, has long been a tireless advocate of the rights of ethnic
Albanians, both in Albania proper and in the other States of the
Balkans region. As president of the Albanian-American Civic League, Mr.
DioGuardi was invited to address an international conference on the
Balkan States and the problems of that region, held in Istanbul, Turkey
from April 7 to 10. I was pleased that Mr. DioGuardi presented me with
a copy of his speech to that conference. I have found it an informative
presentation of the Albanian point of view regarding the conflicts in
the Balkans and the rights of ethnic Albanians, and I would like to
commend it to the attention of my colleagues.
Peace in the Balkans--The Albanian Perspective
Let me first thank the Solidarity Foundation for inviting
me to address this Balkan Conference as President of the
Albanian American Civic League. For those who do not know
what Albanian American Civic League is, it is an independent
non-governmental organization that represents not only the
domestic concerns of the Albanian American people but even
those international geopolitical and cultural interests of
ethnic Albanian Americans like myself.
I was born in America, I'm proud to be American and I'm
proud my father was Albanian. He was born in Italy, in a
small Albanian village, where after 500 years the Albanian
language and culture still survive. He was a poor young
farmer who came to America for a job and managed to get that
great opportunity that America offers everybody who works
hard. That is the secret of America. You have to dream, but
you have to work. If you do both those things you can succeed
anywhere there is free enterprise and democracy. My father
and I know this from personal experience.
I thank the Solidarity Foundation for this Forum and the
opportunity to tell the truth about what is happening in the
Balkans. It's important to give good information to the
people and to the world. Thomas Jefferson, one of the great
founding fathers of the United States of America, said that
``information is the currency of democracy'' (like money is
the currency of a bank). Information promotes democracy!
I came here also in the spirit of another great American.
His names was Thomas Paine. He was not as celebrated as
Thomas Jefferson, but many believe it was his words in the
Crisis Papers and in the Common Sense Pamphlet during the
American revolution that gave winning spirit to the American
soldiers at Valley Forge when they were about to collapse
just before the important battle at Trenton. That battle
turned the revolution around so that those 13 small American
colonies could defeat the greatest power in the world at
that time, Great Britain. And let us not forget that
Thomas Paine wrote an important book called ``The Rights
of Man''. He may be the quintessential human rights
activist of all times. Listen to his words because I came
here in his spirit as well. He said: ``the world is my
country, to do good is my religion''. Think about that.
What Paine meant was that when it comes to people and
their human rights and freedom, borders and countries are
meaningless, because the people transcend governments and
borders. The people are more important than governments,
political parties and borders. And mind you, he said that
more than 200 years ago.
Why did communism collapse as a system? Because it put the
party and government above the people. Why is the U.S. so
strong today as a democracy? Because people come first. The
people in ``We The People'', the first three words of our
Constitution, are above the government and the parties, and
we must understand this even more today in order to see the
Balkans flourish again. It's people like Slobodan Milosevic,
the President of Serbia who are going the other way. He is a
Stalinist communist. He has never changed. He is promoting
the evil values of ``ethnic cleansing'' to create a geo
political nightmare called ``greater Serbia.'' Slobodan
Milosevic like Adolf Hitler will fail because he is going
against human nature, democracy and everything that is right.
And, when it also comes to religion think about what Thomas
Pane said ``to do good is my religion''. I am Roman Catholic
but most Albanians are Muslims, many are Eastern Orthodox and
some are Roman Catholic. Albanian tolerate all religions.
Approximately 60% of the Albanians in the world today are
Muslims (90% in Kosova), 25% are Eastern Orthodox and 15% are
Roman Catholic. Look at Albania--the great democratic
President of Albania Dr. Sali Berisha is a Muslim, the
chairman of the parliament, Pjeter Arbnori (who spent 28
years in jail under the worst communism in Albania) is a
Roman Catholic, and the Prime Minister, Aleksander Meksi, is
Eastern Orthodox. So religion is not an issue with the
Albanian people. They tolerate and respect all religions.
They believe in the individual and they believe in democracy.
Albanians know that no religion has a monopoly on doing good.
Today if you look at the Albanian nation of seven million
people in the Balkans, only 3.5 million are in Albania and
there is another 3.5 million on the borders of Albania--2
million in Kosova, 1 million in Macedonia, 100,000 in
Montenegro and another 100,000 in Presheva, Bujanovc and
Medvegje. They are all together, not separated by hundreds of
miles like Krajina to Belgrade. Do you know why Albanians are
located together? Because on Nov. 28, 1912 when Albania
declared its independence from the Ottoman Turkish Empire,
The country of Albania included all the Albanian people. They
did not move to Kosova like Mr. Milosevic wants you to
believe. They did not move to Macedonia like Mr. Gligoroy,
the President of Macedonia wants you to believe. They did not
chase Greeks out of southern Albania like Mr. Papandreou, the
President of Greece wants you to believe. They were there all
the time. The Slavs came to the Balkans in the 5th century.
As a matter of fact, the Albanians are the descendants the
Illyrians. They have been in the Balkans for 6,000 years.
They have not moved.
The Albanians were gerrymandered and politically
emasculated after Nov. 28, 1912 in order to create the now
failed south slave states called Yugoslavia. What they did
was arbitrarily draw a new border around one half of the
Albanian people to put them in a Slavic state. The Albanians
are not Slavs. They are Indo-Europeans. The Albanians do not
use the Cyrillic alphabet. They use the Latin alphabet. The
Albanians have nothing in common with the culture of Slavs.
Finally, the Albanians want democracy. The Slavs in Serbia
want communism, at least the ones who follow Slobodan
Milosevic. So, the Albanians are looking towards Europe and
America. Mr. Milosevic he is looking the other way. In fact
he is looking to hell as far as the Albanian people are
concerned. Any time you can do to people, to any people, what
is being done in Bosnia and in Kosova today--it is nothing
less than inhuman and satanic.
Look at the logo of the Albanian American Civic League. It
is the symbol of the Alabanian people. It is the old
Byzantine symbol-the eagle with two heads, which is the
national flag of Albania today. This logo represents 15
million Albanians around the world--7 million of whom are
in the Balkans and another 8 million in different
countries. Melbourne, Australia, for instance, has about
20 thousand, mostly from Macedonia. The United States has
400,000 Albanians, including 200,000 in the New York area.
And what about Turkey? I'm told that at least 5 million
Albanians are here in the Istanbul area.
I met with the Albanian community here last night.
Albanians are good citizens of Turkey, but are still proud to
be Albanian. They are lobbying Ankara very hard to protect
the Albanians in the Balkans, the way I and other Albanian
Americans are lobbying very hard in Washington today, as a
strong voice for the Albanian people. We don't represent the
Albanian government in either Albania or Kosova. We don't
represent any Albanian political party. The Civic League
represents the interests of the Albanian American people who
want to tell the truth about what is really happening in the
Balkans, especially against the Albanians in Kosova,
Macedonia and Montenegro. Now, this is our message and please
listen carefully. There will be no peace in the Balkans until
the Albanian National issue is resolved. No matter what you
hear about Bosnia, and we must help the Bosnian people in
every way, we must support democracy everywhere, especially
in Kosova.
So, let me repeat there will be no peace in the Balkans
until the national aspirations of 7 million Albanians in the
Balkans is resolved! What do we mean by that? Do we mean that
there is a quest for a greater Albania. NO! The Albanians are
not looking to redraw the borders. They understand what the
Helsinki process means. They understand that, to be secure,
they must agree under Helsinki that all borders must stay the
way they are. But Slobodan Milosevic does not believe that.
He wants to change the borders by force and by blood. The
Albanians want to preserve the borders but within those
borders, they want to be respected for who they are. They are
not a minority. Let me repeat the Albanian people are not a
minority anywhere in the Balkans. They are a divided nation
of people, all together, in a geographic compact area.
I have a map which I sent to the Congress of the U.S. to my
friend Senator Bob Dole and many other important Congressmen,
so that they can see the map of the Balkans including Albania
with 3.5 million and another 3.5 million outside Albania with
no separation 7 million Albanians all in the same area.
Albanians are asking for equality in Macedonia. They don't
want to be treated as second class citizens. They want to be
treated equal to the Macedonian Slavs. They believe they have
as many people as the Macedonian Slavs, and they want to have
a fair census taken to prove it. If Macedonia wants to be a
sovereign State. If it wants aid from the U.S., it must count
all of its citizens because Macedonia is a multi-ethnic
state. Albanians believe the Macedonian Slavs represent 40
percent (1,000,000), the Albanians represent another 40
percent (1,000,000), with the other 500,000 being Turks
Gypsies, ethnic Bulgarians, Serbs etc. So we tell Mr. Gigorov
to treat the Albanians fairly and they will treat you fairly.
The Albanian people want to be equal with the Macedonian
Slavs in making the Macedonian state strong. And it should be
a strong independent state to withstand the rampant
chauvinism in the region.
When it comes to Kosova what do the Albanians want? The
Albanians in Kosova are not looking to join with the Albania.
That is the propoganda of Milosevic from 1989 when he began
to suppress the Albanian people there and forcibly took away
their autonomy. The Albanians of Kosova have declared their
independence under international law. And why do they want
independence? Well just look at what the Serbs have done to
Bosnia. They can't trust the Serbs! Look at what the Serbs
for 50 years have done to the Albanians in Yugoslavia. They
need their independence and they should have it.
Legally, Kosova deserves to be an independent state. When
it was part of Yugoslavia, Kosova was treated equally with
Serbia and the other Republics in the confederal presidency.
Kosova voted equally with Serbia. So it always had been
considered an independent unit of the former Yugoslavia. And
now there is no Yugolsavia! There is only an outlaw, renegade
state run by a war criminal called Milosevic. It is not even
recognized by the U.N. and the U.S. And, Albanians do not
want to be part of that outcast state! Kosova wants to be
it's own sovereign Republic and there is a legal basis for
it.
Let me go on now to Mr. Papandreou because in southern
Albania there is big propoganda today about the so called
400,000 Greek minority there. That is not the case and that's
why I put these reports together for you from the CSCE
(Helsinki) High Commissioner on Human Rights and the
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. They count
only 58,000 Greeks in Albania! And they report that the
Greeks have elected members of the Albanian parliament, Greek
newspapers, many businesses (go to Tirana and you'll see all
the Greek stores that are opened) and even Greek schools. So,
what is Papandreou doing? He is naive and is being used by
Milosevic to discredit the President of Albania, Dr. Berisha,
by saying that the Greek minority in Albania is being treated
the way the Serbs are treating the Albanians in Kosova. That
is sheer nonsense! There is no moral or other equivalency
between the issues of Kosova and the Greek minority in
Albania! But it is this kind of gross misrepresentation that
sounds like the truth, if it goes unresponded. The Greeks in
Albana are treated fairly. Is life for Greeks in Albania
perfect. Probably not. But life for Albanians in Kosova is
like lifing in Hell. Please read the reports I have
distributed from independent and well recognized
international groups.
Let me conclude my talk by mentioning a few people. First
let me recognize Judge Bardhyl Cavushi from Kosova. He's in
the audience. Just before he came here the Serbs ransacked
his house. They damaged his files and books. Talk about the
rule of law! Here is a judge who now has to worry about his
family, his libary and will happen to him when he returns to
Kosova from this Conference. They are likely to detain him
and probably torture him and throw him in jail. That is the
rule of law in Serbia!It is happening day in and day out to
many Albanians. But, you don't here it. And why don't you
hear it? Because Milosevic has thrown out the Helsinki
commission. He has thrown out all the human rights groups.
Miloservic doesn't want you to see what he is doing. Just
like Adolf Hitler didn't want you to see the concentration
camps. Milosevic doesn't want you to see his dirty work unit
it is too late.
Let me also recognize Dr. Negib Sacirbey and his son
Ambassador Mohammad Sacirbey for all they are doing to help
their great President, Alija Izetbegovic, to reach a just
peace for the oppressed people of Bosnia. While nothing can
be compared today to the atrocities we have seen against the
innocent civilians of Bosnia, let us not forget that the
Serbs are conducting another form of ethnic cleaning in
Kosova, including raping young Albanian women in front of
their families, torturing those detained, banging down doors
at night, etc. . . There is constant intimidation because
Milosevic wants to see the Albanians leave. He wants to
fulfill the medieval dream of Stephan Dushan. He wants a
greater Serbia and, even worse than that, he is following
what was written by Vaso Cubrilovic in 1937 on ``The
Expulsion of the Albanians'' (in effect ``The Extermination
of the Albanians''). This is what the Albanians are facing
today and the world hardly knows about it.
So let me finally conclude by saying shame on you Mr.
Milosevic! Shame on you for following the traditions of Adolf
Hitler by fanning the flames of ultra-nationalism to create
such barbaric conditions on the Albanian and Bosnian people
in the Balkans today.
And, shame on you Mr. Papandreou. Shame on you because you
are naive to follow the ultranationalist policies of
Milosevic. You should know that this is not in the interest
of the good Greek people. And, by the way, all people are
good. The Serbian people are good. The Bosnian people are
good. The Macedonian and Albanian people are good. It's their
governments that stink and we condemn those leaders who
misrepresent their people. So Mr. Papandreou, you are naive
for following Milosevic because you have forgotten that the
dream of greater Serbia has always included the port of
Salonika. Consider yourself lucky to have poor, but
democratic and peace loving Alabania on your border, and not
Serbia!
And, shame on you Mr. Gligorov, because you are dishonest.
You speak good words to the Albanians in Skopje. Your words
are good, but your deeds are not. You are treating the
Albanian people like second class citizens. Just look at the
report of the unrepresented Nations and people organization.
It was just issued and talks about how inferior the public
roads and facilities, including the schools, are in
Albanian towns and villages compared to those in
Macedonian towns and villages. Yet the Albanian people are
working hard to make a strong state in Macedonia. So shame
on you Mr. Gligorov for not keeping your word to give the
Albanians in Macedonia an equal partnership with the
Macedonian slavs who now control them as second class
citizens.
And, shame on you Mr. Bush. Shame on you because you said
you stood for democracy and you knew that the Albanian people
supported you. What you did to the Albanian people after they
got Senators Nickles and D'Amato to amend the foreign aid
bill and take foreign aid away from Serbia was
unconscionable. Your Secretary of State, James Baker, who was
badly counciled by his undersecretary Mr. Eagleburger,
certified incredibly that Serbia was in compliance with
International Human Rights Conventions in Kosova. If you had
taken the aid away from Serbia in 1991, Bosnia and Kosova
would not be in such a terrible crisis today.
And, shame on you Mr. Clinton! Shame on you because you ran
for the presidency and you promised the Albanian and Bosnian
people a lot when it came to bringing peace to the Balkans.
But you have delivered even less than President Bush. Just
look at what your Defense Secretary, Mr. Perry, said a few
days ago in connection with Bosnia. Specifically he said
``safe havens'' like Gorazhde ``shouldn't count on us to
help''. So shame on you Mr. Clinton and Mr. Perry!
And, shame on you Mr. Tudjman because as President of
Croatia you sold out the Albanians in 1990 when you tried to
buy peace with Mr. Milosevic by appeasing him in saying that
Kosova was an internal problem of Serbia! Kosova is a Balkan-
European problem and it is now going to be a world problem if
we don't set up an international protectorate or U.N.
trusteeship there right away. Mr. Tudjman, you finally woke
up by joining with the good Bosnian people in a Confederation
in Bosnia. Wake up again and go meet with Dr. Rugova, the
President of Kosova, and stand together with him to show Mr.
Milosevic that Croatians and Albanians stand together against
Serbian barbarism and chauvinism. Milosevic is only winning
because he is Croatian enough to take on one battle at a
time. First Kosova in 1989, then Slovenia in 1990, Croatia in
1991 and now Bosnia. He is too smart to take on more than one
nation at a time and you are naive for letting him do it. So
shame on you Mr. Tudjman.
And, shame on you Boutros Ghali! You should know better
than passing UN resolutions that you do not support. This
creates false hope for the Bosnian and Albanian people and
more ``green lights'' for Serbian atrocities. So shame on you
Boutros Ghali.
Finally let me say that the two most important countries in
the world for solving the Balkan crisis are Turkey and the
United States. Turkey is an essential part of NATO and can
resolve this problem in the spirit of that great Turkish
President and leader Turgut Ozal who willingly and rightly
tried to assert his and Turkish democratic values to solve
the Balkan crisis before he died. So I ask Prime Minister,
Tansu Ciller, and President, Suleiman Demirel, to follow in
his footsteps.
Thank you for having me here.
In Turkish--tesekkur ederim!
In Albanian--falemnderit shume!
And, in plain old American--God be with you all.
____________________