2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence
|
Date
|
14 January 2012 – May 2012
|
Location
|
Republic of Macedonia
|
Parties to the civil conflict
|
|
Casualties
|
Death(s)
|
7
|
Injuries
|
10[1]
|
The 2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence started in early 2012 and involved ethnic Macedonians and Albanians of the Republic of Macedonia.
Religious incidents
Some Muslims took offense to costumes worn by ethnic Macedonians on January 14, 2012 at the annual carnival in Vevčani. It was followed by several protests by ethnic Albanians. On January 30, arsonists set fire to an Orthodox church near Struga in southwest Macedonia.[2]
Ethnic violence
On February 28, a policeman killed two ethnic Albanians in Gostivar, Macedonia after the policeman stated he was attacked by the Albanians for refusing to park in a different location.[3]
By March 9, there has been a wave of inter-ethnic violent acts. On March 7, five persons were beaten in a bus in the capital, Skopje.[4]
On March 10, several acts of violence were recorded in Skopje and Tetovo. In Skopje, a group of youngsters beat a 66 year old. In addition, a wooden bridge over the Vardar river was burned.[1] In Tetovo, ethnic Albanians beat a 16-year-old girl.[5] Also, a policeman was physically assaulted. Five people were arrested.[1]
On late April 12, four young men were abducted and killed in an execution-style killing near the capital, Skopje. A fifth man was killed soon afterwards, probably because he witnessed the event. The dead were confirmed as being ethnic Macedonian, and anti-Albanian protests erupted soon afterwards.[6]
Macedonian protests
Throughout Macedonia many protests were organised in a variety of cities and villages, two of which turned violent: the village Smilkovci from where the victims came from and in the city of Skopje.
The Skopje protest was organised by youths. The protesters wanted to march in the Saraj Municipality where there is an Albanian-speaking majority. The protesters ware stopped by the police and there started a 10-minute conflict between the police and the protesters.[7] The protesters were recorded chanting “a good Shqiptar is a dead Shqiptar” and “gas chambers for Shqiptars”.[8][9][10][11]
Another large peaceful protest was organised in Čkembari.[12]
Albanian protests
Albanian Protesters holding various signs, including at least one stating "I am Muslim I am not a terrorist." At least one other protester is instead holding the
Black Flag of Jihad or the
Saudi flag.
On 4 May 2012, 1,500-3,000 ethnic Albanians protested in [15][16][17]
On 11 May 2012, 5,000 [18]-10,000[19] Albanians protested in front of the government building in Skopje, Macedonia. They waved Albanian flags, Saudi flags and shouted "Muslims are not Terrorists!", “We are not Terrorists, we are Muslims”, “KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army)”, “Greater Albania”, "Murderers", "UÇK" and smashed windows in government offices and court buildings. Six policemen, one reporter and one cameraman were lightly injured. The demonstrators also carried banners saying that “Serbs and ethnic-Macedonians” were responsible for the quintuple murder.[20][21][22][23][24]
See also
References
-
^ a b c "Pritvor za učesnike incidenata u Makedoniji | Al Jazeera Balkans". Retrieved 2012-03-27.
-
^ "Church Almost Burned in Struga, Macedonia :: Balkan Insight". Retrieved 2012-03-27.
-
^ "Milka Smilevska o dvostrukom ubistvu u Makedoniji | Al Jazeera Balkans". Retrieved 2012-03-27.
-
^ "Talas međuetničkih incidenata u Makedoniji | Al Jazeera Balkans". Retrieved 2012-03-27.
-
^ "Kamenovanje, tuča i požar u Skoplju | Al Jazeera Balkans". Retrieved 2012-03-27.
-
^ http://balkans.aljazeera.net/makale/nadena-tijela-pet-muskaraca-blizu-skoplja
-
^ http://bukvar.mk/news/protest-poradi-petkratnoto-ubistvo?newsid=WXHm
-
^ http://www.top-channel.tv/english/artikull.php?id=5466
-
^ http://alsat-m.tv/lajme/vendi/127294.html
-
^ http://www.necn.com/04/16/12/Macedonian-youngsters-clash-with-riot-po/landing_nation.html?&apID=d8a4d8ea86ed444e8fa39eec3a3f4517
-
^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF2LprmkK4M&feature=player_embedded
-
^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=-dSqfYNSMVw&NR=1
-
^ http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/135995/radical-islam-poses-regional-threat-.html
-
^ a b http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-785531?ref=feeds%2Flatest
-
^ a b http://umdiaspora.org/content/view/662/1/
-
^ http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n277145
-
^ http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n277150
-
^ http://www.rferl.org/content/macedonia_ethnic_albanians_protest_murder_suspect_arrests/24578167.html
-
^ http://micnews.com.mk/node/30626
-
^ http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Protests-in-Macedonia-after-arrests-for-5-slayings-3552002.php
-
^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/thousands-protest-in-macedonia-to-demand-fair-trial-for-5-suspects-in-fishermens-murders/2012/05/11/gIQA1TGTIU_story.html
-
^ http://www.b92.net/eng/news/region-article.php?yyyy=2012&mm=05&dd=11&nav_id=80201
-
^ http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=139265
-
^ http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/20979/45/
This article was sourced from Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. World Heritage Encyclopedia content is assembled from numerous content providers, Open Access Publishing, and in compliance with The Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR), Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Public Library of Science, The Encyclopedia of Life, Open Book Publishers (OBP), PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and USA.gov, which sources content from all federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government publication portals (.gov, .mil, .edu). Funding for USA.gov and content contributors is made possible from the U.S. Congress, E-Government Act of 2002.
Crowd sourced content that is contributed to World Heritage Encyclopedia is peer reviewed and edited by our editorial staff to ensure quality scholarly research articles.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. World Heritage Encyclopedia™ is a registered trademark of the World Public Library Association, a non-profit organization.