After the bloody events of last weekend Kosovo has become the focus of the world's attention. But really the worries, suffering and the pain of the Muslims of Kosovo has been continuing for years. Now the blood shed by the Serbians reveals to the world's public opinion how important this issue really is. The only 'crime' of this people, who for many years silently resisted against the Serbian yoke and occupation is that of constituting 95 % of the population while posessing no human right whatsoever.

When we look at the recent history of the Kosovo issue we note that Kosovo - having preserved its national and spiritual identity as one of the two autonomous regions of former Yugoslavia as guarenteed by its 1974-Constitution - has within short time made significant advances. However the Serbian nationalist fanatics have in the name of Communism in the violent actions they have taken in 1981 opened a wound that is still bleeding today. The culmination of this fanaticism was reached when the 'Nero' of the Balkans, Milosevic - then still a communist leader - delievered a certain speech in Gazimestan on the 600th memorial of the Serbian-Ottoman War of Kosovo in 1989. Milosevic, who in this speech also opened the way to the genocide in Bosnia-Herzegowina, for the first time used slogans like, 'Serbia is a whole and Kosovo is an inseperable part of Serbia; We rather give our lives than deliver Kosovo; This territory is a fortress of Christian Europe against Islam', demonstrating thereby clearly the extent of the abominable Serbian nationalism. After these events the Albanians of Kosovo realised the threat aginst them and in 1990 they declared a constitution in the city of Kachanik, declaring the independence of Kosovo and have since the break-up of Jugoslavia continued their struggle in a peaceful way as the 'Independent Republic Kosovo'. The Serbians occupied Kosovo after this and sistematically removed the Albanians from official and public offices and started their unparalled politics of Apartheid and begun their silent and sinister genocide. With the break-up of Jugoslavia and especially the war in Bosnia-Herzegowina the wolrd's attention was removed from Kosovo and the genocidal activities were postponed to the future. After the rejection of Alija Izzetbegovic's sincere proposal to include the issue of Kosovo in the Dayton-negotiations this issue appeared on the agenda of the world's public opinion after bloody events. The Albanians being determined to independence first gathered around President Ibrahim Rugova from the 'Democratic League of Kosovo' and insisted on a peaceful dialogue. However it became quite clear that no positive result would be achieved this way. Those who could not bear the struggle in this manner and who were finally prepared to liberate themselves from the Serbian yoke declared that they would no longer bow to the Serbians and if necessary engage in armed struggle. They founded the 'Kosovo Liberation Army' and began take over the control of the countryside. Beginning with Ibrahim Rugova, leaders and party members of the Republic Kosovo have not confirmed this army as being official and legal but have, however never denied it reality.

The KLA gained the sympath and support of the population by the declarations it isuued to the public opinion containing the message that one if its first aims was to protect the innocent population from Serbian criminals like Jelko Rajnatovic - Arkan who gained a dubious fame during the Bosnian War. With declarations of this like the KLA focused the attention of the world's public opinion on itself but the American diplomat Gelbarth's declaration of the KLA as terrorists extremely dissappointed the Albanians of Kosovo. But it is clear from the recent incidents that the issue has to be more seriously considered on the international level.

The slaughters in the Drenitsa region show that this is a repetition of what happened in Bosnia before. The killing of 28 innocent persons in the Skenderay region including children shows that this is likely to be, may Allah prevent this from happening, the beginning of a new genocide of a greater scale. Nearly 400 thousand people attended the funeral prayer for this people and neither the world's public opinion nor the UNICEF registered the 50 orphans of the Ahmetay clan. The Serbian occupants do not allow the media to take images of events like this. On the 2nd of March special forces of the Serbian police brutally dissolved nearly 50 thousand people who had gathered in Pristina for a demonstration to protest against the killings in the villages of Kirez, Likoshan and Prekaz. On 5th March the Serbians attacked the same villages again killing 30 more people and completely destroying Prekaz this time. The killing of eight Serbian policemen during this operation is a sign that the Albanian people are ready to prepared to defend the innocent population.

There are demonstrations being organized in Albania and Macedonia to protest against this bloody events in Kosovo. While this article is being written there is a meeting being held in Skopje with the participation of tens of thousands of Muslims to condemn the terrorism applied on the Muslims in Kosovo and to demonstrate their solidarity with them. It is not yet clear what direction the event will take. However, there are clear signs that a genocide like in Bosnia has already begun in Kosovo and that if no precautions are taken on international level the whole region will be set on fire. It is an obligatory necessity that especially Turkey and the other Muslim countries seriously consider the issue of Kosovo. Since Kosovo regarding its history and its islamic cultural inheritance on the one hand, and 92% of the 95% of the Albanian population being Muslims should in any case be at the focus of interest of all the Muslims.

European Islamic Summit:Macedonian Representative