Prizren/Prizren: cultural heritage and community

2011-08-27T13:05:00.000+03:00

I decided to officially archive this blog on the day my DPhil was confirmed. But I have waited for the electronic publication of my thesis, Interrogating Archaeological Ethics in Conflict Zones: Cultural Heritage Work in Cyprus, to announce the archiving. From now on, I will blog at Conflict Antiquities.

On Conflict Antiquities, I will concentrate on illicit antiquities trading, organised crime and political violence in Cyprus, Greece and Turkey. As I explain in an introduction to Conflict Antiquities,

I want to study the history of the trade in conflict antiquities; and to explore the relationship between the trade in conflict antiquities and the funding of conflict and violence.

2007-03-19T17:17:00.000+02:00

Prizren Namazgah 3: this is Fatih Sultan Mehmed Namazgâhı or Kırık Camii.

2007-03-19T17:08:00.000+02:00

Prizren Namazgah 2b: this is a close-up of the public information board for Fatih Sultan Mehmed Namazgâhı or Kırık Camii (taken so I could read the English text afterwards).

It reads:

Namazgah stands for a mosque without a roof which is design[ed] for large groups to perform namaz together. This work was built on 21st of June 1455, [in] Fatih Sultan Mehmet's period. It is known that, in the past, near this mosque, which is called "Kırık Camii" by the public, there was a martyrdom. Digging and restoration activities of this work is done with the cooperation of Kosovo Turkish Task Force Battalion, Prizren Municipality, Prizren Institute for Protection of Ancient Works, Prizren Presidency of Islamic Unity, Turkish Republic Republic Religious Affairs Presidency, Turkish International Cooperation and Development Administration (TICA) and Turkish Gazi University Faculty of Science and Literature between 12th of October 2001 and 5th of April 2002.

2007-03-19T17:04:00.000+02:00

Prizren Namazgah 2a: this is the public information board for Fatih Sultan Mehmed Namazgâhı or Kırık Camii, with notices in Turkish, Albanian, Serbian and English (listed in the left-to-right, top-to-bottom way they're displayed).

2007-03-19T17:00:00.000+02:00

Prizren Namazgah 1c: this is Fatih Sultan Mehmed Namazgâhı or Kırık Camii.

2007-03-19T16:47:00.000+02:00

Prizren Namazgah 1b: this is Fatih Sultan Mehmed Namazgâhı or Kırık Camii.

2007-03-19T16:39:00.000+02:00

Prizren Namazgah 1a: this is Fatih Sultan Mehmed Namazgâhı or Kırık Camii (which I think means either the Broken Mosque or the Hybrid Mosque), built in 1455.

2007-03-19T16:15:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 70: a compact little mosque, the name of which I don't know.

2007-03-19T15:33:00.000+02:00

Suzi Celebi Mosque: it was built in Prizren in the early Sixteenth Century.

If I understand correctly (which I may well not), Kosovo Turkish sources tend to date Suzi Çelebi Camisi to 1513 (like Macit Şekerci on Fikirde Birlik) or "1513'ten önce [before 1513]" (like Nazmi Ekinci on Söz Ola).

2007-01-12T02:27:00.000+02:00

Prizren political art 4: "UCK [(Ushtria Clirimtare e Kosoves) KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army)]" has been carved into the wall over the stencilled advert for ice-creams.

2005-12-13T09:19:00.000+02:00

Albanian League of Prizren Museum 4: the artefacts set into these walls include:

left, an iron cooking pot or cauldron;
centre, a piece of unidentified ceramics; and
right, a soapstone mortar.

2005-12-13T09:04:00.000+02:00

Albanian League of Prizren Museum 3: the artefacts, here displayed on shelves set back into the exterior wall of the museum, include:

far left, what looks like a sculpture of a woollen cap, but which, I imagine, is an architectural detail;
centre left, what I think is a grindstone or door pivot, as it appears too large to be a loomweight;
centre right, an architectural detail, the top of which is reminiscent of the "woollen cap" detail on the far left; and
far right, a similar architectural detail, which is plainer and possibly unfinished.

2005-12-13T07:28:00.000+02:00

Albanian League of Prizren Museum 2: this is the courtyard inside the museum complex, where some archaeological artefacts are displayed on shelves set back into the building's walls.

The artefacts are exposed outside, so they lack any protection from natural elements, like the weather and climate; however, they are accessible, so visitors can actually touch the past and feel it, which is a powerful way of engaging with it and helping to learn about it.

2005-12-13T07:20:00.000+02:00

Albanian League of Prizren Museum 1: this is the plaque at the entrance to the Museum of the Albanian League of Prizren (Muzeumi i Lidhjes Shqiptare te Prizrenit). The League was established to protect Albanian communities from the Ottoman Empire's elites' abuses of power.

I can't remember where I got my interpretation from now; I don't have my reading with me. Vasilevs commented that:

Albanian league is the first organisation in Kosovo and Metohia (because the Kosovo is only the small part of that Srbian province)that is formed for aim of construction of "Greater Albania" (ethnic clean land of Albanians).International comunniti was help to Albanians to build that "dream".

In its piece on Prizren Municipality, Human Rights Watch included a footnote on the League of Prizren that may serve as a middle ground:

The League of Prizren was founded in 1878, bringing together representatives of all Albanian inhabited regions to demand autonomy from the Ottomans. The establishment of the League was a landmark in the movement for Albanian self-determination. The building that was destroyed-where the League was organized-archived historic documents relating to the League's creation and activities.

2005-12-13T07:07:00.000+02:00

Sinan Pasha Mosque 8; this was built in 1600-1601 C.E.

2005-12-13T06:00:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 69: this is a memorial to a priest.

The plaque reads:

ketu pushon: Veli Shah Baba, nga Horosani i cili vdiq ne vitin 1570. Ndertuesi i xhamise: Katip Sinani ne vitin 1577. Vorrin e Veli Shah Babes (si halim i madhe). Katip Sinani morri nen strehun e xhamise, ne anen e majte te hyrjes dhe vuri kuburen. Duke bere meremetinin ne vitin 1996 hoqen kuburen, per zgjerimin e koridorit dhe mafiles me nderime te larta xhemati i mahalles vendosi kete pllake te perjeteshme. Prizren 1997.

This translates as: "here rests Father Veli Shah, from Horosani, who was born in Vitin in 1570. A mosque, Katip Sinani, was built in Vitin in 1577..." I just found this unfinished and unpublished; I'm not going to risk making any more errors of translation and have published it as it is.

2005-12-12T17:13:00.000+02:00

Prizren buildings 68: these are homes destroyed during ethnic cleansing; I understand that some of the houses in this area - beneath the ruins of the fourteenth-century Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Saviour - have been mined, though I don't think that they're the buildings reduced to ruins, like the central structure here.

2005-12-12T17:10:00.000+02:00

Prizren buildings 67: these are other homes destroyed during the ethnic cleansing. I don't know what the arch was part of; as far as I can tell, it could either be an arch for a bell or for an entrance to what would previously have been an enclosed complex.

2005-12-12T17:03:00.000+02:00

Prizren buildings 66

2005-12-12T16:49:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 65: on this gutted and torched home, the windows of which have been smashed in, there are faint grey graffiti tags to the left of the door, "bish" and "bil".

Members or supporters of the "PDK [Partia Demokratike e Kosoves]" - the DPK (Democratic Party of Kosovo) - have tagged the far left of the house and those of the "AKSH [Armata Kombetare Shqiptare]" - the ANA (Albanian National Army) - have tagged the far right of it.

2005-12-12T14:16:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 64: this structure's bare exterior allows us to see its construction from and maintenance in manifold materials, including brick, wood, concrete and plaster. The interior is severely stained with what I suspect is rising damp.

2005-12-12T14:11:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 63: I was particularly struck by this former home, probably because it still had its number (32) on it. It's been burned out and smashed up, the remaining shell filled with rubbish and other waste. A fresh bin bag of domestic waste sit atop the existing spoil heap, which is half the height of the room.

The site is undergoing ecological succession. Pioneer species of annual plants that colonised the ruins are being replaced by perennial plants and grasses and they by shrubs. The plant in the far corner of the room may be a softwood tree.

The succession here might be so advanced because the plants that colonise the site in the later stages were deposited in the rubbish; otherwise, it might be because the home was destroyed in the 1998-1999 Kosovo War, rather than the 2004 riots.

2005-12-12T13:32:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 62: some sites destroyed during ethnic cleansing, which, for one reason or another, were unsuitable for use as rubbish tips or makeshift car parks, have been left as they were.

Some sites may have (economic migrant or refugee) emigre owners, who the local community recognise and accept as the owner, in which case they will be left as they are.

2005-12-12T13:11:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 61: many sites destroyed during ethnic cleansing were then filled with waste. Evading the government's refusal to allow destroyed sites to be concreted over and converted into car parks, some sites were left as they were and cars were parked in them.

Unfortunately, when I visited those sites, people who lived by them and who may have been using them as car parks were present; I didn't want to offend them, so I chose not to take photographs.

2005-12-12T12:49:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 60: this house appears, not merely to have degraded naturally, but to have been damaged deliberately.

2005-12-12T10:36:00.000+02:00

Prizren political art 3: NATO vehicles and other property have an arrow-like symbol and the name, "NATO", printed on them, similar to this logo.

There are sites where members or supporters of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) (Ushtria Clirimtare e Kosoves (UCK)), have written "UCK" and "NATO", signifying their alliance, so it is possible that this is a tag for an ally who, obviously, would never write a tag themselves.

The solitary marker, on a burned-out building, however, suggests that it may be, rather, branding by an opponent of the NATO bombing, indelibly tying NATO's intervention with the deaths of civilians and the destruction of communities.

2005-12-12T02:35:00.000+02:00

Prizren palimpsest 4: on the first set of posters in which some recognisable features remain, there is an open hand, possibly reaching up to the sky or out for something; on the posters over those appear to be for one political party ("partia") or another, which, unremarkably, claims to be right or just ("drejte"); the posters over those advertise, "Identiteti: Drame nga Albatros Rexhaj ne regji te Kastriot Saqipit... Une do ta them vetem te verteten", which translates as "Identity: a film from Albatros Redzhay and produced by Kastriot Sachipit... I will say the whole truth".

2005-12-11T18:21:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 59: "Gjon Buzuku, Shek XVI" ("John Buzuku, Sixteenth Century"), a Catholic priest, wrote and published the first Albanian language book, which was a translation of the Latin language Catholic Missal, a text explaining how to conduct masses. This monument was in a school playground.

2005-12-11T18:12:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 58: "McDona" is another eatery with a pleasing corruption of the McDonald's brand.

There was also a reinterpretation of McDonald's imagery in Mitrovice.

2005-12-11T18:07:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 57: this is a home that was destroyed during ethnic cleansing; it really is a jarring experience to look through a window into a house and see the sky. I think the poster on the bottom left of the building was part of a political campaign, but it's too degraded to identify; it may just have been a music promotion.

2005-12-11T03:20:00.000+02:00

Work-in-progress: many more photos have yet to be posted; I hope to upload them soon. I've been working on another aspect of my project, but I should be able to split my time soon.

Please be patient.

2005-12-10T07:34:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 56: this is a close-up of the mosque.

2005-12-10T04:17:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 55: this is another of Prizren's many mosques. When some local Albanian youths saw me getting ready to take the photograph, they got my attention, then, jokingly, warned me that, "they [KFOR] will shoot you!" and that, "they will kill you!"

To limit the intelligence available to potential terrorists, KFOR ban photographs of their bases and staff and in order to protect Kosova/Kosovo's cultural heritage, they have converted some cultural heritage sites into military sites.

Thankfully, I never had a gun pointed at me, but the KFOR soldiers always made it very clear to me that I couldn't take any photographs of sites at which they were present, even if I ensured that they were out-of-shot.

I had already taken photographs of the fourteenth-century Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Saviour and, though they were from a great distance and the military installation was obscured, they did ask for me to delete them (and I did).

2005-12-10T03:23:00.000+02:00

Catholic Cathedral of the Skilful Helper 6: some other walls are brick-built and have iron railings on top. The railings include these sections, which display a cross in front of a sunburst design. I do not know if there is any significance to them, but there are small grill panels spreading out from the base of the cross; I suppose that it might be a stylised eagle.

2005-12-10T03:03:00.000+02:00

Catholic Cathedral of the Skilful Helper 5: some of the outer walls of the complex are cast concrete and some of those are raised with symbols, including a cross, set into them. On the left, there is another gateway into the cathedral (Cathedral Zoja Ndihmetare or Katedrale Zoja Ndihmetare).

2005-12-10T02:51:00.000+02:00

Catholic Cathedral of the Skilful Helper 4: this is a view of the cathedral (Cathedral Zoja Ndihmetare or Katedrale Zoja Ndihmetare) through the main gateway.

2005-12-10T02:36:00.000+02:00

Catholic Cathedral of the Skilful Helper 3: this portrait of Mother Teresa hangs outside the cathedral (Cathedral Zoja Ndihmetare or Katedrale Zoja Ndihmetare).

2005-12-10T02:32:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 54: this is one of the many mosques in Prizren.

2005-12-10T02:22:00.000+02:00

Prizren building 53; I don't know what set of acts and events led to this building being in this state. It's not destroyed or as badly damaged as many of the buildings attacked, but the combination of physical and fire damage suggests that it wasn't an accident. The plaster work is damaged, revealing the many different components in the structure's construction.

On the far left, there is the graffiti tag, "PDK [Partia Demokratike e Kosoves]", "DPK [Democratic Party of Kosovo]". On the left, there is what appears to be fire damage to exposed wood. I think that the faded Serbian language print on the right of the building reads, "jedinica" - "unit" - or "jedinjenje" - "compound".

2005-12-10T01:16:00.000+02:00

Prizren buildings 52: this was a home; I believe it was destroyed during the riots of the 17th and 18th of March 2004.

2005-12-10T01:13:00.000+02:00

Catholic Cathedral of the Skilful Helper 2: this is the bell tower of the cathedral (Cathedral Zoja Ndihmetare or Katedrale Zoja Ndihmetare).

2005-12-10T00:57:00.000+02:00

Municipal Red Cross Centre: this building, built in 1932, in the characteristic style of the 1930s. The sign reads, "Organizata Komunal e Kryqit te Kuq [the Municipal Organisation of the Red Cross]... Prizren... Kryqi i Kuq i Kosoves... Red Cross of Kosova".

2005-12-10T00:39:00.000+02:00

Catholic Cathedral of the Skilful Helper 1: this is a gateway to the cathderal (Cathedral Zoja Ndihmetare or Katedrale Zoja Ndihmetare). Its pillars have been graffitied by members or supporters of the AKSH (Armata Kombetare Shqiptare) - the ANA (Albanian National Army) - and of the PDK (Partia Demokratike e Kosoves) - the DPK (Democratic Party of Kosovo).

2005-12-10T00:26:00.000+02:00

Prizren buildings 51; I think the building behind this tower is the Cathedral of the Skilful Helper (Cathedral Zoja Ndihmetare or Katedrale Zoja Ndihmetare).

2005-10-17T07:04:00.000+03:00

Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George 6: the sign at the entrance to the Cathedral Church of Saint George reads, "this building/site is protected by law. Any act of vandalism and looting will be considered as [a] criminal offence of the utmost gravity. The police forces of Kosovo and KFOR will take necessary actions, including the use of force, to stop such crimes. All acts of destruction, vandalism and looting will be punished in accordance with the Kosovo Criminal Law".

2005-10-17T07:00:00.000+03:00

Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George 5: this is the entrance to the church, with two coils of barbed wire stretched across it to prevent access.

2005-10-17T06:57:00.000+03:00

Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas; this was built in the Fourteenth Century.

[Updated on the 25th of November 2005]

This was built and decorated between 1331 and 1332; it was funded by Serbian member of the elite, Dragoslav Tutic.

Kate M asked:

How is the interior condition of this structure? Fascinating from the outside...

By the way, good luck in Istanbul. Will you be attending Bogazici University? I'll be in "the city" in a few weeks. I can't wait to drink a real kahve...

The photograph doesn't show it well, but unfortunately, the church is surrounded by barbed wire and the interior inaccessible, so I can't say. (As for real kahve, I've found it really rare, though I have found a few good places.)

2005-10-17T06:53:00.000+03:00

Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George 4: although its roof has collapsed into its gutted and torched interior, the Cathedral Church of Saint George still needs barbed wire all around it to deter attackers.

2005-10-17T06:50:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 50: this is the street that runs behind the Cathedral Church of Saint George.

2005-10-17T06:47:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 49:

This says 'pravoslavna [right faith]', from 'Pravoslavna Arhiepiskopija' and indicates that it was the door of the Orthodox Archbishopric.

[Corrected on the 14th of January 2007]

I had noted that, 'if this does say "pravoslabo..." ("slabo" meaning "poorly"), I think it might be the Cathedral Church of Saint George's infirmary.'

Anonymous commented that, 'that is not "pravoslabo..." but "pravoslavna" meaning "right faith" (orthodox),not "poor" like you were read...'; Vasilevs agreed that, 'I think,too,that the full name on these door is "pravoslavna arhiepiskopija" (orthodox archbishopy)'. This is really helpful, as I hadn't been able to tell during my visit and the only photographs I'd been able to compare this too left it unclear.

2005-10-17T06:38:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 48: this is the entrance to what I think is a courtyard behind the Cathedral Church of Saint George.

2005-10-17T06:35:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 47: this is a building behind the Cathedral Church of Saint George.

2005-10-17T06:21:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 46: I wrongly thought this was the Cathedral Church of St. George's seminary. I don't know what it was, but I understand it was destroyed in the same spree of violence as the cathedral; riots fuelled by rumours ended in dozens of deaths and over a thousand injuries, as well as the destruction of cultural heritage throughout Kosova/Kosovo.

[Updated on the 10th of December 2005]

2005-10-17T05:44:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 45: this is - or rather, was - a window in what I think is - or was - the Cathedral Church of Saint George's seminary. More than one friend suggested that this resembled Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man", drawn in 1490; I was too stunned to make the connection as I walked around, but I can see it now.

[Updated on the 25th of November 2005]

This isn't the seminary; I don't know what it is. On reflection, I may have seen the resemblance, but it was certainly pushed from my mind by what I saw.

2005-10-17T05:33:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 44: this is (what I think is) the Cathedral Church of Saint George's seminary.

[Updated on the 25th of November 2005]

This isn't the seminary; I don't know what it is.

2005-10-17T05:32:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 43: this is (what I think is) the Cathedral Church of Saint George's seminary.

[Updated on the 25th of November 2005]

This isn't the seminary; I don't know what it is.

2005-10-17T04:06:00.000+03:00

Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George 3: this [the building in the background] is the Cathedral Church of Saint George, with (what I think is) its seminary in front of it; on the left, there is a branch of the Kosova insurance company, which is so common a sight as to make a person suspicious.

[Updated on the 25th of November 2005]

The cathedral is also known as the Episcopal Church of St. George. The building between the church and the Kosova insurance company is not the seminary; it's not the bishop's residence either.

2005-10-17T04:01:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 42: these are buildings further behind the Cathedral Church of Saint George; they include what appears to be the razed foundations of one structure.

2005-10-17T03:59:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 41: these are buildings behind the Cathedral Church of Saint George, some of which have been damaged or destroyed; I do not know if, but I suspect that, they were attacked for being Serb, whether they were or not.

[Updated on the 25th of November 2005]

These were attacked because their owners and/or occupants were Serbs.

2005-10-17T03:57:00.000+03:00

Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George 2: on the right is the Cathedral Church of Saint George and on the left, I think, is its seminary, other burned-out buildings visible between them.

[Updated on the 25th of November 2005]

The cathedral's also known as the Episcopal Church of St. George. I don't know what the building on the left is, but it's not the seminary; it's not the bishop's residence either.

2005-10-17T03:50:00.000+03:00

Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George 1: this building, also known as the Episcopal Church of St. George, was built in the Nineteenth Century; it was destroyed in riots on the 17th of March 2004.

2005-10-17T03:31:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 40: behind the "Hollywood" sign for the new venue, a damaged building remains.

2005-10-17T03:20:00.000+03:00

Sinan Pasha Mosque 7: this is the side entrance to the building.

[Updated on the 13th of December 2005]

Sinan Pasha Mosque (Xhamia Sinan Pasha or Xhamia e Sinan Pashes) was built in 1600 C.E.

2005-10-17T03:19:00.000+03:00

Sinan Pasha Mosque 6: this is the main entrance to the building.

[Updated on the 13th of December 2005]

Sinan Pasha Mosque (Xhamia Sinan Pasha or Xhamia e Sinan Pashes) was built in 1600 C.E.

2005-10-17T03:18:00.000+03:00

Sinan Pasha Mosque 5: the walls of the building have "PDK" - Partia Demokratike e Kosoves (Democratic Party of Kosovo), "LKCK" - Levizja Kombetare per Clirimin e Kosoves (National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo) and "LDK" - Lidhja Democratike e Kosoves (Democratic League of Kosovo) tags on them.

[Updated on the 13th of December 2005]

Sinan Pasha Mosque (Xhamia Sinan Pasha or Xhamia e Sinan Pashes) was built in 1600 C.E.

2005-10-17T03:14:00.000+03:00

Sinan Pasha Mosque 4: the windows of the building have "PDK" - Partia Demokratike e Kosoves (Democratic Party of Kosovo) - tags around them.

[Updated on the 13th of December 2005]

Sinan Pasha Mosque (Xhamia Sinan Pasha or Xhamia e Sinan Pashes) was built in 1600 C.E.

2005-10-17T03:09:00.000+03:00

Sinan Pasha Mosque 3: this is a close-up of the sign for the Museum of Islamic Manuscripts or Museum of Oriental Manuscripts, which reads "Muzeumi i Doreshkrimeve... Muzej Orientalni... Oriental el Yazila... Muse des Manuscrits [Manuscripts Museum... Oriental Museum]".

[Updated on the 13th of December 2005]

Sinan Pasha Mosque (Xhamia Sinan Pasha or Xhamia e Sinan Pashes) was built in 1600 C.E.

2005-10-17T03:07:00.000+03:00

Sinan Pasha Mosque 2: the building contains what is variously referred to as the Museum of Islamic Manuscripts or the Museum of Oriental Manuscripts; the sign reads "Merat Mubarek Ramazan", then, "Muzeumi i Doreshkrimeve... Muzej Orientalni... Oriental el Yazila... Muse des Manuscrits [Manuscripts Museum... Oriental Museum]".

[Updated on the 13th of December 2005]

Sinan Pasha Mosque (Xhamia Sinan Pasha or Xhamia e Sinan Pashes) was built in 1600 C.E.

2005-10-17T02:54:00.000+03:00

Sinan Pasha Mosque 1; with its central position in Prizren and its position by the path along the river as well as by the path across it through the town, I kept returning to the seventeenth-century building.

[Updated on the 25th of November 2005]

Sinan Pasha Mosque was built in 1615.

[Updated on the 13th of December 2005]

Sinan Pasha Mosque (Xhamia Sinan Pasha or Xhamia e Sinan Pashes) was built in 1600 C.E.

2005-10-17T02:43:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 39: these buildings were built in the 1920s and 1930s, when there was extensive renovation.

2005-10-17T02:37:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 38: this is a monument to "Heroi i Kombit [War Hero] Xhevat I. Berisha, 1961-1998".

[Updated on the 14th of January 2007]

Apart from changing what I had written from '"... 1961-1995"(?)', which, as shown, I now think was '... 1961-1998', this update is to note that Vasilevs alleged that 'Berisha was a simple criminal and drug dealer whos been shoot by police of Yugoslavia'. As with so many of his other comments, I don't have the evidence to confirm or deny this.

I don't want to try to have a discussion when I don't have any information or confirmation, but if nothing else, discussing state police treatment of four men, including one named Xhevat Berisha, in 1998, Amnesty International (AI) did state that it was:

concerned about serious allegations that the men were tortured with electric shock batons during their interrogation and that at least one of them was beaten. Torture and ill-treatment by police of such suspects to obtain "confessions" is unfortunately routine in the province in the organization's experience.

If AI are referring to the same Xhevat Berisha, it wouldn't necessarily contradict Vasilevs' presentation, but, even if it weren't the same Xhevat Berisha, it would certainly bring into question the trustworthiness of the police, whose interpretations and actions Vasilevs' presentation depends upon.

At the same time, the Tribunal Watch List recorded that on the 8th of August 2001, 'German soldiers used barbed wire to stop the construction of the monument to Xhevat Berisha, killed on September 1, 1998 in the village of Lez', before, on the 20th,

More than 3000 people protested against the decision to ban the erection of the statue to Xhevat Berisha and Ismet Jashari - Kumanova. At 12.15, the protestors scuffled with KFOR soldiers and the police. Police used tear-gas, truncheons and trained dogs against the protestors. A number of protestors were injured and had to ask for medical help at the hospital in Prizren. Liman Sejranaj suffered serious body injuries.

These seem to be (even) more likely to be referring to the Xhevat Berisha that this statue is of and that Vasilevs presents one opinion of and, if the German KFOR and Kosovan Police actions are anything to go by, Vasilevs' presentation may have some merit to it; still, all of this is still circumstantial. If it were the same Berisha, what happened between August 2001 and July 2005 that a statue was erected? Are the Berishas being presented here different Berishas?

Given the presence of another statue, that one to 'Ismet Jashari Komandant Kumanova', I think the Tribunal Watch List information is relevant, so the question is: what happened between August 2001 and July 2005 that led to these statues?

2005-10-17T02:33:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 37; the river and the promenades alongside it are at the heart of the community.

2005-10-17T02:32:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 36: this is the old stone bridge, built in the Sixteenth Century.

2005-10-17T02:29:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 35; the Sinan Pasha Mosque, built in 1600 or 1608 C.E., overshadows its neighbours.

[Updated on the 13th of December 2005]

Sinan Pasha Mosque (Xhamia Sinan Pasha or Xhamia e Sinan Pashes) was built in 1600 C.E.

2005-10-17T02:24:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 34: this is a monument to "Ismet Jashari Komandant Kumanova [Kumanova Commander Ismet Jashari]".

As I've explained in relation to Vasilevs' allegations against Xhevat Berisha, 'I don't want to try to have a discussion when I don't have any information or confirmation', but, given Amnesty International's concerns that alleged criminals were,

tortured with electric shock batons during their interrogation and that at least one of them was beaten. Torture and ill-treatment by police of such suspects to obtain "confessions" is unfortunately routine in the province in the organization's experience,

which would certainly bring into question the trustworthiness of the police, whose interpretations and actions Vasilevs' presentation depends upon, these matters of definition are obviously not as simple as Vasilevs' comments would suggest.

As I observed in the other post,

Tribunal Watch List recorded that on the 8th of August 2001, 'German soldiers used barbed wire to stop the construction of the monument to Xhevat Berisha, killed on September 1, 1998 in the village of Lez', before, on the 20th,
More than 3000 people protested against the decision to ban the erection of the statue to Xhevat Berisha and Ismet Jashari - Kumanova. At 12.15, the protestors scuffled with KFOR soldiers and the police. Police used tear-gas, truncheons and trained dogs against the protestors. A number of protestors were injured and had to ask for medical help at the hospital in Prizren. Liman Sejranaj suffered serious body injuries.

So, if KFOR/Police intervention was in any way justified, 'what happened between August 2001 and July 2005 that a statue was erected?'

2005-10-17T02:02:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 33: this is a Communist monument to the "heronjte e popullit [heroes of the people]".

2005-10-17T02:01:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 32; the seventeenth-century Sinan Pasha Mosque pierces the skyline.

[Updated on the 13th of December 2005]

Sinan Pasha Mosque (Xhamia Sinan Pasha or Xhamia e Sinan Pashes) was built in 1600 C.E.

2005-10-17T01:57:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 31: the river and the promenades either side of it are central to the social life of the community.

2005-10-17T01:54:00.000+03:00

Prizren palimpsest 3

2005-10-17T01:47:00.000+03:00

Bridge of Marashi; its reconstruction was funded by Kosovan people's taxes and completed on the 7th of July 2003.

2005-10-17T01:38:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 30: the Republic of Turkey donated this park to the people of Kosovo; it was opened for use by the Commander of the Turkish Battalion in Kosovo on 19th of May 2003.

2005-10-17T01:24:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 29

2005-10-17T01:09:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 28: from the pile of stones by the door, I would guess this is a stone quarry or mine, but they appear to be finished, so it may be a stone works.

2005-10-17T01:04:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 27

2005-10-17T01:03:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 26

2005-10-17T01:01:00.000+03:00

Gazi Mehmet Pasha Mosque; this was built in the Sixteenth Century.

[Updated on the 25th of November 2005]

Gazi Mehmet Pasha Mosque was built in 1561.

2005-10-17T00:59:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 25; the building that is the focal point of this is the Gazi Mehmet Pasha Mosque, built in the Sixteenth Century.

2005-10-17T00:55:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 24

2005-10-17T00:53:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 23

2005-10-17T00:51:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 22; in the background, but still dominating this scene, is the Sinan Pasha Mosque, built in 1600 or 1608 C.E.

[Updated on the 13th of December 2005]

Sinan Pasha Mosque (Xhamia Sinan Pasha or Xhamia e Sinan Pashes) was built in 1600 C.E.

[Updated on the 14th of January 2007]

Kate M wanted to know whether it had 'any connection to Mimar Sinan, the Ottoman architect'; as far as I know, the architect was unknown - certainly I haven't been able to find anything associating him with it, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything associating the two.

2005-10-17T00:00:00.001+03:00

Prizren buildings 21

2005-10-17T00:00:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 20

2005-10-16T23:59:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 19: as the Council of Europe noted in its (2001) book, "Architectural and Urban Heritage of Prizren, Kosovo", "the city did not suffer damage during the recent conflict. But more than ever, historic and architectural identity are at stake in a political game. [Ever] since the end of the fighting, there have been direct and indirect threats to the heritage: houses have been burned and Orthodox buildings are under the surveillance of the international force". Given the Council of Europe implied that the Orthodox buildings were then intact, their damage or outright destruction (and the further damage and destruction of other buildings categorised as Serb) must have occurred in the rioting since then.

2005-10-16T23:37:00.001+03:00

Prizren buildings 18

If I have identified this site correctly and if it is a similar age to the other local structures with an architectural resemblance, this minaret is the last remaining evidence of the Arasta Mosque, built in the Sixteenth Century, but destroyed in 1963.

2005-10-16T23:37:00.000+03:00

Prizren palimpsest 2

2005-10-16T23:36:00.000+03:00

Prizren buildings 17

2005-10-16T23:35:00.001+03:00

Prizren buildings 16

2005-10-16T23:35:00.000+03:00

Prizren building 15

2005-10-16T23:34:00.000+03:00

Prizren palimpsest 1

2005-10-16T23:32:00.001+03:00

Prizren buildings 14