Ferhat Bey Draga | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | 1880 |
Died | 2 December 1944 Kralan,
Đakovica,
Yugoslavia | (aged 63–64)
Nationality | Ottoman, Serbian, Yugoslav |
Other names | Ferhat Draga |
Occupation | Politician |
Known for | Džemijet Party |
Ferhat Bey Draga (1880–1944) was a noted Kosovo Albanian politician during the Balkan Wars and World War I and Axis collaborator during World War II. [1]
Ferhat Draga was born in
Kosovska Mitrovica,
Ottoman Empire. He was the brother of
Nexhip Draga,
[2] another politician mostly known as co-founder of the
Džemijet party. Ferhat was educated in
Istanbul, where he was active together with his brother Nexhip in the movement for the Albanian writings and schools. He supported the Latin script for writing the
Albanian language.
[1] During the
Young Turk Revolution, Galib Bey managed to get Albanian leaders
Ferhat Draga,
Nexhip Draga and
Bajram Curri to attend a meeting at Firzovik (modern
Ferizaj) and use their influence to sway the crowd through fears of "foreign intervention" to support
constitutional restoration.
[2]
He participated in the
Congress of Trieste from 27 February to 6 March 1913, where Albanian and
Aromanian delegates from all Albanian territories approved a program regarding the Albanian future Sovereign, borders, and economical-political independence of the Albanian state.
[3]
During
World War I, he cooperated with
Austro-Hungarian forces, which controlled most of Kosovo. In 1915, he raised around 1,000 volunteers to assist the Austrians on the
Eastern Front.
[1] In 1915, he became an important figure inside Džemijet, and after the death of his brother Nexhip in 1921 he became leader. The party won 14 seats in the elections of 1923. In January 1925, the Dzemijet party came to conflict with the
People's Radical Party of
Nikola Pašić, and several Albanian leaders including Ferhat Draga were arrested and imprisoned. On the eve of the general elections of the same month he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was however released soon and invited to
Belgrade to reach a deal with Pašić, unsuccessfully.
[1]
In 1927, in the eve of next general elections, he was arrested again and sentenced to another 20 years. Draga still avoided the imprisonment. In the 1930s, he was active with the Muslim Religious Community of the southern Serbia. There he did what he could to oppose the deportation of Albanian Muslims to
Turkey. Draga served as well as Mayor of Kosovska Mitrovica.
[4]
Ferhat Draga had good relations with
King Zog of Albania. In the mid 1930s, he would become the leader of a separatist cell located in Mitrovica and composed as well by
Xhafer Deva, Shaban Mustafa, and Mustafa Aliu, all from Mitrovica. The cell was in contact with
Ismet Kryeziu and
Salih Vuçitërni, both originating in Kosovo and trusted men of Zog inside Albanian politics. Kryeziu and Vuçitërni had enabled other cells from the Albanian side with the goal of reviving the
Committee for the National Defence of Kosovo, which had gone into lethargy since the death of
Hasan Prishtina and
Bajram Curri. Since the Committee former leaders were not a threat for Zog, and the Albanian-Italians relations were stronger, King Zog thought of using the Committee as a leverage in the political endeavors with Yugoslavia. Despite its presence, the committee's work was limited to diplomacy, propaganda, and recruiting, rather than any military activity.
[5]
In 1941, Draga welcomed the Italian invasion and the accommodation of most of Kosovo into the Albanian state. Meanwhile, the Germans would consider him unreliable and too Italophile. Involved in fights against the Yugoslav partisans during the Albanian insurgency by the end of
World War II, he was wounded and died near Kralan village of
Gjakova.
[1]