Fehmi Ajvazi, an eminent author from Kosovo, has shared his book ‘In the Kingdom of Death’ published in Albanian in 2012 in Pristina, and in Romanian in 2019, and was translated from Albanian to English 

Fehmi Ajvazi author

[In March 1999, the Serbian regime blanketed Kosovo with a contingent of 120,000 regular police, military, and civilian paramilitary forces. Just about two weeks before NATO’s intervention in Kosovo began, the region was surrounded on all sides, while pockets of the interior (villages and towns) were hit with arrests, liquidations, and massacres. Kosovo became a reservation. A kingdom called the “Kingdom of Death” established authority everywhere! However, some areas were controlled by insurgent liberation forces, and in some places, Serbian forces couldn’t penetrate. Well, the hatred between Serbs and Albanians was the same, but the bullets were the same too: they brought death to everyone, and it was no problem for the “bullet” whether the target was Albanian or Serbian. I mean, the forces of the Kosovo Liberation Army held some territory and kept it free! But about ten days before NATO planes launched their attack in their battle for Kosovo, Albanian insurgents managed to have the world’s most powerful force as their ally: the NATO alliance. However, no one had managed to master a pact with death. Just a few days before March 24th, the “Lady of Death” was the ruler of Kosovo, in reality, she was the ruler of the Albanian citizens of this extremely small territory! And for the third time in history, the state of Serbia wanted nothing more and nothing less than: the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo. Over 1 million residents before March 24, 1999, challenged “this kingdom” by saying, “Here we are, your power is not the power of God!” I had decided to stay, not to leave. I was a journalist, but also a creator. And so, I had no idea what dilemmas lay in this direction, despite the open threats from the Serbs, and I knew well that they would try to wash their hands of us like Pontius Pilate! Regardless of every situation and circumstance, I sacrificed to be a witness to a time and a history without parallel! Yes, a witness…! And everything I have said and written about literary-historical conditions is in this book – a testimony. Therefore, this book is a source and my personal experience of a time I pray will never be repeated – anywhere. Just as I pray for the souls of those who did not come out alive in this “kingdom of death” in the third millennium! Read the truth about Kosovo…  Author]

CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SURRENDER

Recent Threats

The International Tribunal in The Hague, today, on June 7, 1999, has raised charges against the Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic, as well as some of his closest political and military collaborators. An international plan named “Plan G-8” is sailing like a solitary boat in the open sea during a storm, unable to find political and diplomatic support, unable to find any consensus to strike the Serbian dinosaur with full military force, both in the air and on the ground.

“The Conscience of Humanity – Kosovo” has entered its third month of bombings. However, ongoing international political and military efforts (bombings, indictments, Plan G-8) are concrete signs that even Belgrade will not be able to resist indefinitely. NATO generals and Serb-Chetnik generals are said to be meeting at the Yugoslav-Macedonian border point somewhere north of Skopje. It is said that negotiations are taking place at a restaurant with the symbolic name “Evropa 92,” owned by an Albanian named Ramadan. The meetings are more or less secretive and take place away from the ears and eyes of the public, the media, etc.

There is talk of massive bombings in Belgrade and elsewhere, for massive bombings in many cities in Serbia

What is being discussed in these meetings? For now, nobody knows. But it is implied that Belgrade, under great political and military pressure, is gradually seeking a way out of the abyss it has fallen into. In other words, it is submitting. However, it is said that the negotiations are taking place under a tense atmosphere, without any special protocol, reluctantly. It is rumored that they have been interrupted several times or are suddenly halted as soon as they begin. It is known why: they are discussing the well-known and long-established “5 points” at the negotiation table, from which there is no retreat. Therefore, NATO has significantly increased the level of threat during these June days.

Serbian military vehicles

There is talk of massive bombings in Belgrade and elsewhere, for massive bombings in many cities in Serbia. NATO is said to be analyzing the plan for the invasion of the “FRY” with ground forces.

The Surrender of Belgrade

After difficult negotiations led by the special envoy of the European Union, Mr. Martti Ahtisaari (former career diplomat and current President of Finland), accompanied by Strobe Talbott, the U.S. special envoy, and Viktor Chernomyrdin, the special envoy of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, finally (today, on June 9, 1999), the dictator Slobodan Milosevic has accepted that his generals sign an agreement with NATO generals, according to which Belgrade will withdraw from Kosovo unconditionally. In return, NATO will stop the bombings. This acceptance, or surrender, in military and political language, is called capitulation. In fact, it is capitulation.

Ahtisaari had handed over every letter to Milosevic and told him clearly: “Milosevic, either you accept our plan, or Belgrade will be leveled to the ground. For a week in Belgrade, there will be half a million people killed!” After this stern threat from Mr. Ahtisaari, the dictator agreed to surrender.

Belgrade has capitulated. NATO bombings have ceased. Uncontainable joy, tears, steppe dances, cheers, hugs have transformed our hearts and faces for the better. These are moments that cannot be described in words or captured by letters

Belgrade has accepted the terms of the agreement. The Serbian parliament is expected to vote on the agreement. The end is near. Based on a technical-military agreement signed in Kumanovo between NATO military forces and Serbian military forces, after 78 almost uninterrupted days of bombings, NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana has ordered the cessation of bombings. This move ordered by Mr. Solana has been approved by the United Nations Security Council, with 14 votes in favor and one abstention. China was the one that chose to abstain. Resolution 1244 of the United Nations has also been issued, placing Kosovo under international protection. On the other hand, today, Mr. Solana has officially requested General Wesley Clark to command the ground forces to enter Kosovo.

(Additional note: Belgrade has capitulated. NATO bombings have ceased. Uncontainable joy, tears, steppe dances, cheers, hugs have transformed our hearts and faces for the better. These are moments that cannot be described in words or captured by letters. Ah, this is the reflection that is shining in the first days of Serbia’s capitulation: in Veleshta, and everywhere among the Albanians.)

Description of an Indescribable Day

Today, on June 12, NATO troops enter Kosovo. I am in Veleshta. Undoubtedly, I am overwhelmed with joy and almost “frozen” in the sphere of ecstasy, an experience that happens once or twice in a lifetime. So, I am in the midst of great joy for the fact that Belgrade has capitulated and the arrival of the moment to return home. In other words, to Kosovo. I think that we all, everywhere, more or less, are in the same state: within the anxiety of great joy, indescribable joy. And right in the middle of the anxiety, we are somewhat saddened by the many questions that come to us in distant echoes in our hearts. We are “struck” by the chaotic images and imaginations related to our questions and dilemmas about what has really happened there (in Kosovo) in these 78 days. Or: how has Kosovo truly awakened this morning?

The people of Veleshta have decided unanimously: our return will be organized, tactically, so to speak. They will prepare the way for our return. The people of Veleshta are thinking of organizing a farewell meeting first. Then, just as they have taken us to the border in an organized manner, they will return us in an organized manner.

NATO bombings have stopped. However, the fighting between the UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army) and Serbian occupying forces has not stopped. NATO ground forces have begun entering Kosovo from both land and air since the morning. This is a historic day, the essence of which will only unfold in a few years. “I don’t know what to write in my notebook. What should I write before? Veleshta is celebrating, just like its ‘Kosovar’ counterparts. The whole Struga and its surroundings are also in celebration. People cry from the emotions and joy this day has brought into their spirits, but they also cry from the depths of their multidimensional sorrows, from endless worries, the weight of which rests on their shoulders like a large pyramidal stone. At noon, I find a moment to be alone, just for a few minutes. I find a corner in a café in the city of Struga and order an espresso. I write a few words with trembling hands. But those words, the letters, seem to have escaped my mind. I can’t connect them. Perhaps they have hidden and dissolved somewhere, just like the structure of expression, the message in the words, their rhythm. I light a cigarette. Unintentionally, tears burst from my eyes, tears of the century that is passing. I know one thing: it will never be as it was yesterday. Never, ever! The word ‘never’ in this context is as heavy as the ocean. In the meaning and entirety of this word, deep within its core, it will forever remain the ‘photograph’ of our enslaved life and the ‘photograph’ of our endless sacrifice. Wiping away the tears with a shaky hand, I write on a piece of paper: ‘This is, above all, the time for the future of freedom.’

Whole columns of NATO military units, heavy motorized units (armored vehicles, tanks, soldiers), and Apache helicopters flying low, performing acrobatics over the vast fields of Struga, come in waves from the southwest, actually from the Qafe Thana border. The NATO forces pass through the town of Struga and then slowly march along the main roads of Struga-Dibër-Tetovë-Shkup and Struga-Kërçovë-Shkup. These forces have only one destination: Kosovo. The local NATO units are warmly welcomed by the people, more than warmly, they are greeted by thousands of displaced Kosovo residents who have found refuge in the Struga region. The greeting, apart from throwing flowers, is mainly done by raising two fingers and a fist.

Since we came here, the airspace of this area has been used for NATO bomber flights, which continuously (day and night) headed towards the southern territory of Kosovo and the southeastern territory of Serbia. From here, they also returned after completing their missions through this air corridor. In fact, the Veleshta residents said that the first flights of bombers towards Kosovo along this ‘corridor’ were so low over the Struga region that their noise caused random fear. Initially, they said, we thought that Macedonia was being bombed too. Even afterwards, how many times we have followed their flights towards the north. NATO planes usually passed silently after 11:00 at night through this corridor, two by two, but also in larger groups, leaving behind a trail of noise and blinding lights. They went and, after an hour or more, returned silently towards the southwest (the three-border area), heading for the Aviano base.

For hours, I have watched their departures and returns. How many times I have prayed with a heavy heart for the lives and health of the pilots, for the lives and health of the soldiers, for the lives and health of their families, wishing kindness and endless happiness to them all. And how many times, personally, I have silently thanked them for their historic contribution to the achievement of my freedom and that of my people.”

(Additional Note: Today, at 5:30 in the morning, NATO units have started moving from Skopje and have begun to enter from the direction of Kaçanik into Kosovo. The first to breach the border at the Blace point were the British forces: the “Chinook” and “Merlin” helicopters, along with the 4th Motorized Brigade with 2,000 elite soldiers. The French units will enter the other side of Kosovo, between Bellanoca and Stançiq, to later advance through the Danube Valley, to regroup in Zhegër (Morava Plain) on their way to Gjilan. The German elite forces will enter a few hours later, as communicated by NATO Central Command in Mons, from the Morina border point (Albania-Kosovo) to disembark in Prizren. Meanwhile, it has been reported that there is a “misunderstanding,” perhaps even a deliberate move: several hundred soldiers from the Russian contingent, who were part of SFOR in Bosnia, infiltrated without permission, on their own, during the previous night. Around 1:30 in the morning, Russian troops were in the center of Pristina. In their armored vehicles, they have replaced the “S” (SFOR) emblem with the “K” (KFOR) emblem. It is not known how this movement of Russian troops happened, who ordered it, why? But it seems to be an unauthorized move, an incident, which Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has hurried to describe as a “mistake.” However, Kosovo’s historic day, June 12, will not be marred by anything. Guardian angels from Western countries will also be in the center of Pristina starting today. These angels will not be there to protect the “teachers and students of terror and crime” like the Russian forces but to serve the entire people of Kosovo, to serve the defense and development of human values – humanity, and undoubtedly, to protect and develop the international order, freedom, and democracy.) (Continues)

______________________

Published under International Cooperation with "Sindh Courier"