Petrit Latifi

From the Movement for the ReturnOnly one people in the Balkans lost the religion of their ancestors. Only one nation was cut off from its spiritual and civilizational roots. And this did not happen by chance. Albanians, unlike Greeks, Serbs or Bulgarians, were massively Islamized in the Ottoman period. While the Orthodox survived as Christians. The question is simple: why?

The answer lies in the Ottoman imperial policy, which cultivated a silent Ottoman-Orthodox alliance, protecting the Eastern Churches and systematically oppressing Albanian Catholics. The latter were not simply followers of a religious current, but bearers of a civilizational heritage that was connected to Rome, to Europe and to the Albanian national identity itself.

Orthodox, privileged in the Ottoman system

After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II created the so-called “Orthodox Nation” (Rum Millet), giving the Orthodox Church legal status and self-government in religious and civil matters. Halil İnalcık, one of the greatest Ottoman historians, describes this system as “a state within a state,” while Dimitri Obolensky emphasizes: “The Orthodox Church became a political bridge that helped the Ottomans maintain control over the Balkan provinces.”

This imperial-ecclesiastical alliance preserved the Orthodox heritage and guaranteed its survival. Therefore, Serbian and Greek monasteries survived and flourished, with the help of the Sublime Porte. The Patriarchate of Peja, in fact, became one of the most important centers of Slavic Orthodoxy, and was reestablished with the Sultan’s blessing in 1557, serving as a political instrument for the spread of Serbian influence in Albanian lands, separate from Catholic influence.

Albanian Catholics, excluded and persecuted

Unlike the Orthodox, Albanian Catholics had no recognized status in the Ottoman system. Due to their connections with the West, the Pope, and Western culture, they were considered potential enemies and were subjected to constant persecution.

Noel Malcolm, in his work Kosovo: A Short History, writes:
“If the Orthodox were integrated into the Ottoman system, Albanian Catholics were excluded and often persecuted.”

Robert Elsie emphasizes:
“The Albanian Catholic Church survived through the deep devotion of its people, in the face of constant persecution.” The liturgy in the Albanian language was banned. Churches were demolished. Priests were exiled. Books were burned. The population was forced to pay the jizya, a humiliating tax on non-Muslims, and was excluded from all state representation.

Edith Durham wrote:
“Albanian Catholics survived the darkest centuries under the Ottomans. They were forbidden schools, language, and the liturgy itself.”
Evidence of violence, Ottoman chronicles, and documented history
Contemporary Ottoman sources testify to the atrocities against Arbër Catholics.

In his chronicles, Tursun Bey, personal secretary and chronicler of Sultan Mehmet II, describes the burning of Catholic villages in Central and Northern Albania, the destruction of churches, and the enslavement of the inhabitants.

He writes:
“The unfaithful (Catholic) men, women, and children were taken captive, their churches were burned, and they were driven out like cattle.”
This was not a purely military war, but a strategy to destroy spiritual and national resistance.

Islamization, not a choice, but pressure and violence

The Islamization of Albanians did not occur through religious preaching, but through physical, social and economic violence

Mark Mazower writes:
“Catholic Albanians converted en masse because they faced exclusion, pressure and poverty. The state did not allow them to live freely.”
While Vasiliki Papoulia, analyzing the Devshirme system, emphasizes:
“The Ottomans had more faith in the early Orthodox than in the new Muslim converts of Albanian origin.”

Even after they were converted, the Albanians did not enjoy full trust in the Ottoman hierarchy, because their national and European past made them suspicious in the eyes of the authorities.
Today, history repeats itself in other forms

The legacy of division and inferiority continues.

Turkish policy in the Balkans is based on two standards: in Serbia, Turkey invests in the economy and development and strategic projects. While in Kosovo and Albania, it finances madrasas, mosques, religious foundations and Islamic identity propaganda.
Albanians, who lost their religion through violence, are today used as a platform for ideology, while the Orthodox, who preserved their religion, are treated as reliable partners in regional politics.

Conclusion
Despite all the atrocities that the Albanian Catholic Church experienced during the five-century Ottoman darkness, from persecution, language bans, burning of churches to the slaughter of priests, it managed to keep alive the spirit of national identity, the Albanian language and the Albanian spirit.

In particular, the sacrifice of the Albanian Franciscans, who preserved religion, culture and patriotism in extreme conditions, is one of the foundations of Albanian resistance.

The Return Movement is re-transmitting this very spirit among Albanians today, the spirit of returning to oneself, to the true identity and to the European roots of our people.

This editorial is also a response to the many Albanian-speaking losers who continue to trumpet that Albanians willingly embraced Islam. History speaks differently. And it must be said out loud.