Ismail Qemali's rare letter/Order: "To be opened and read after 111 years..."

2023-11-28 16:10:00, Opinione Lutfi Dervishi

Ismail Qemali's rare letter/Order: "To be opened and read after 111

Journalist Lutfi Dervishi

Dear Albanians, I hope that this letter finds you safe and sound wherever you are.

I am writing to you with my hand on my heart on the last day of November 3, 1913. Albania today has great trouble with the lack of political calm, corruption and the great role of the great powers.

"Today, in a time when foreigners trampled all the lands of Albania, you say without any opposition, we, the sons of these lands, had only one task left: the attempt to form a government while keeping the lands they did not have still fell under the occupation of foreigners and raised our voice for the salvation of other countries and the rights of the Albanian nation".

But today, a month later, I am bitter. I have just received a letter from a representative of the Great Powers. Its wiring diagram is blue:

"This country is not done unless these two leave. (He's talking about me and Esat Pashë Toptan) And these two should be removed at the same time. One has made a government in Durrës and the other in Vlorë. Reason? Governments have done it near the customs to get the money faster".

If we had a courthouse, I would let this gentleman have a point of roasting there. But I have left God. Time will tell how right the representative of the 6 great powers was.

This is how it is written, the fate of the princes of small countries depends on the cables of the ambassadors of the great powers.

I hope that after 111 years in 2023, you have crushed the corruption that is unfairly accused of us today.

As always, some of us did not want us to declare independence from the Empire. Unfortunately we were not all in agreement. We announced our independence, telling them that we will be together again with Turkey. Time will tell. Turkey will be Albania's strategic partner.

One day foreigners will come to our lands to host, Afghans and Africans, Iranians and Syrians may come. Wait for them as the Albanians are used to, but do your best not to leave the Albanians from our country.

We could not hold all our lands. Austria did not expel the Serbs from all the Albanian lands. Kosovo is an open wound. Love Kosovo as much as I loved Is Boletini.

I am closing with two prayers: You vote for politicians, but you also rebuke, punish and change them. Sleeping water stinks. The seedling that does not move grows, but the people that do not move the politicians die.

The second prayer is to use words sparingly. Lots of chatter is bullshit. A farce is a farce.

Less talk and more work. When we declared Albania independent, we wrote only 35 words in the cable, which you can post on Twitter in 2023.

"After the words that Mr. President Ismail Kemal bei, with which he showed the danger and situation in which Albania is today, all the delegates decided with one voice that today Albania should be independent, free and non-varma"

Finally, I hope that after 111 years when you celebrate Independence Day, there will be no more Albanians in the countries that have conquered us than in Albania!

Yours

Ismail Bey Vlora