by Frasher Racaj

Abstract

This study analyzes the political and historical dimensions of the Yugoslav-Turkish “Gentlemen’s Agreement” of 1953, signed between Josip Broz Tito and Fuad Kyprili, within the broader framework of postwar Balkan geopolitics and the Balkan Pact between Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey. Drawing on Yugoslav and Turkish consular records, it is estimated that over 450,000 Albanians were expelled from Yugoslavia to Turkey between 1951 and 1968, while 63,000 Slavic colonists were simultaneously settled in Kosovo.

The agreement, built upon the 1938 Yugoslav-Turkish Convention, institutionalized ethnic cleansing under the guise of migration and was reinforced by police repression, forced Turkification, and fabricated trials. The study situates these deportations within the systematic strategy of the Yugoslav state under Aleksandar Ranković to de-Albanize Kosovo and consolidate Serbian dominance.

The research highlights the collaboration of Turkish authorities, who, in exchange for demographic and economic gains, accepted large numbers of displaced Albanians into Anatolia, particularly the Muş province. Through forced migrations, violence, and social coercion, approximately 18% of the Albanian population of Yugoslavia was displaced.

Despite massive demographic losses, the high birth rate among Albanians preserved Kosovo’s ethnic composition and ultimately undermined the policy of Serbization. The paper underscores the historical significance of this state-engineered displacement and its long-term socio-political consequences for the Albanian nation.

Based on systematic research of two consular services (passport sectors) of Yugoslavia and Turkey, it is documented that between 1951 and 1968, 414,500 Albanians were expelled from Yugoslavia to Turkey.

During this same period (according to secret Yugoslav statistics), 63,000 Slavic colonists were silently settled in Kosovo. After the fall of Ranković (1966), most of these colonists—mainly secret police agents and criminals—left for Serbia, unable to tolerate even minimal “equality” with Albanians. Later statistics revealed that between 1952 and 1965, 452,371 Albanians migrated to Turkey.

During those years, thousands of Albanians, especially from Montenegro (Hoti, Gruda, Plav, Gusinje, Vuthaj, Ulcinj, Bar, Triepshi, Shpuza, Kraja, etc.), were forcibly expelled. In the winter of 1955/56, Yugoslavia organized an operation for the collection of weapons, during which over 30,000 Albanians were brutally mistreated. In this UDBA-led expedition, 103 Albanians were killed from beatings and torture, while about 10,000 were permanently maimed.

Scientific research on the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” between Yugoslavia and Turkey in 1953—between Tito and Kyprili—though still incomplete, offers a clear picture of the historical reality. The works of Albanian historians such as Fehmi Pushkolli (“Fronti Popullor-Lidhja Socialiste e Kosovës”), Jusuf Osmani (“Vendbanimet e Kosovës-Gjilani”), Hakif Bajrami (“Politika e shfarosjes së shqiptarëve dhe kolonizimi serb i Kosovës 1844–1995”), and Sabile Basha (“Dëbimet e shqiptarëve dhe kolonizimi i Kosovës 1877–1995”), together with many other scholarly studies, shed light on this critical issue for the Albanian people. These works and numerous archival documents connect directly with the Split Agreement between Tito and Kyprili.

Although the contents of this oral agreement were never public, its effects became clear immediately after implementation: mass expulsions of Albanians to Turkey began after 1953. The Serbian repression was organized by state institutions of the Yugoslav regime. This followed the 1938 Yugoslav-Turkish Convention, which had already envisaged the deportation of Albanians to Anatolia. The issue of Albanian deportation remained publicly silenced, while Serbian circles propagated it as “voluntary migrations” of Serbs and Montenegrins.

The 1953 Yugoslav-Turkish Agreement

The 1948 break in Yugoslav-Albanian relations was exploited by Belgrade to persecute, arrest, and torture thousands of Albanians accused of being “Stalinists.” In the 1950s, Yugoslavia claimed to build a society of equality among its peoples, yet Albanians were treated as a minority, denied equality, and placed in an inferior position. Ranković’s UDBA police exerted intense pressure on Albanians, narrowing their prospects and pushing toward the de-Albanization of Kosovo.

As a result, many Albanians registered as Turks, causing an artificial increase of the “Turkish minority.” This forced Turkification was opposed by intellectuals such as Zekerija Rexha, Mehmet Vokshi, and Skender Rizaj. When Čubrillović was proposed for the AVNOJ Prize, it was categorically rejected by academician Fehmi Agani from the Kosovo Academy of Sciences.

Even after this period, particularly following World War II, Yugoslav authorities continued their campaigns of arms collection and various forms of coercion to force Albanians to migrate to Turkey.

The Split Meeting – Tito and Kyprili

In 1953, Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito met Turkish Foreign Minister Fuad Kyprili in Split. They agreed to restart the expulsion of Albanians to Turkey based on the 1938 Convention. Deportations were to pass through Macedonia. After the breakdown of Yugoslav-Albanian relations, more than 500 Albanians were accused of aiding Albania and sent to the notorious Goli Otok camp.

Since the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” failed to achieve full deportation to Anatolia, Serbia continued efforts to eliminate the Albanian population from Kosovo.

The Balkan Pact and Broader Context

The Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey was signed in Ankara on February 28, 1953, known as the Balkan Pact. The agreement, consisting of ten articles, had a military character aligned with the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty. It also opened paths for economic, technical, and cultural collaboration.

Yugoslavia aimed to strengthen ties with Turkey to facilitate the deportation of Albanians by reactivating the 1938 Convention. Under this cooperation, the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” was secretly concluded. Through the Turkish press, Yugoslavia encouraged emigration propaganda. Between 1955 and 1957, as a result of this agreement, Serbian authorities brutally beat about 30,000 Albanians, 300 of whom died from injuries.

Consequently, about 60,000 Albanians were forcibly “Turkified,” and over 250,000 were expelled to Turkey. Since 1944, many Albanians fled to the mountains or to Albania to resist Yugoslav reoccupation, even forming underground movements.

The official declaration from January 29, 1953, about the Split talks concealed the “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” referring instead to parliamentary cooperation and the Balkan Pact. For Tito, this agreement realized Serbia’s dream of ethnically cleansing Albanians from Kosovo, while Turkey gained a new population and financial benefits.

Every Albanian was labeled a “security threat,” especially intellectuals, who filled the prisons. The “Turkish nationality” was invented to disguise ethnic cleansing. The Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija had nominal legislative and executive powers but lacked judicial authority and, in 1953, lost its federal status, remaining under Serbian control.

Violence Against Albanians

The forced collectivization of farmland and the abuse of Kosovo’s peasants deeply harmed Albanian national traditions. The 1947–1951 five-year plan law furthered the expulsion agenda. The Yugoslav regime attacked both economically and culturally, suppressing Albanian education and denying their historical identity.

As a result, over 18% of the Albanian population was expelled to Anatolia. The deportations only slowed after 1966, following 21,520 fabricated trials against Albanians. This massive ethnic cleansing severely affected the economic, social, and political life of Albanians, but high birth rates preserved the ethnic structure and foiled the plan for the Serbization of Albanian lands.

A Yugoslav state commission for the deportation of Albanians to Turkey was formed, including Aleksandar Ranković, Krste Crvenkovski, Zvetislav Stefanović, Vojkan Lukić, and Marko Vučković. Upon learning of this, the Turkish government appointed Hulusi Keyman as liaison. Communications were highly secret, under document No. 3977/51, in which Turkey formally reactivated the 1938 Convention, promising to settle Albanians in the Muş province.

On February 28, 1953, Koča Popović and Hulusi Keyman signed a new secret agreement in Skopje to expel all Muslims from Yugoslavia to Turkey. The Yugoslav Deportation Staff was officially legalized on March 16, 1955.

References

Bajrami, Hakif. Politika e shfarosjes së shqiptarëve dhe kolonizimi serb i Kosovës 1844–1995. Prishtinë: Enti i Teksteve dhe i Mjeteve Mësimore i Kosovës, 1996.

Basha, Sabile. Dëbimet e shqiptarëve dhe kolonizimi i Kosovës 1877–1995. Prishtinë: Akademia e Shkencave dhe e Arteve e Kosovës, 2000.

Osmani, Jusuf. Vendbanimet e Kosovës: Gjilani. Prishtinë: Instituti Albanologjik, 1988.

Pushkolli, Fehmi. Fronti Popullor – Lidhja Socialiste e Kosovës. Prishtinë: Rilindja, 1981.

Government and Archival Documents

“Konventa jugosllavo-turke e vitit 1938.” Arkivi Shtetëror i Serbisë, Beograd.

“Deklarata mbi bisedimet e Splitit ndërmjet Titos dhe Kypriliut.” 29 janar 1953. Arkivi Diplomatik i Turqisë, Ankara.

“Pakti Ballkanik.” Marrëveshja mbi miqësinë dhe bashkëpunimin ndërmjet Jugosllavisë, Greqisë dhe Turqisë. Nënshkruar në Ankara, 28 shkurt 1953.

Dokumenti sekret turk nr. 3977/51, “Iniciimi i zbatimit të Konventës së vitit 1938.” Arkivi Kombëtar i Turqisë, Ankara.

Secondary sources

Agani, Fehmi. “Çështja Kombëtare dhe Barazia në Federatën Jugosllave.” In Studime Politike dhe Shoqërore. Prishtinë: Dukagjini, 1994.

Pula, Besnik. State, Law, and the Balkan Muslims: The Politics of Identity and Exclusion in Yugoslavia and Turkey. London: I.B. Tauris, 2018.

Malcolm, Noel. Kosovo: A Short History. London: Macmillan, 1998.

Judah, Tim. Kosovo: War and Revenge. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000.

Archival figures and political actors

• Josip Broz Tito
• Fuad Kyprili
• Aleksandar Ranković
• Hulusi Keyman
• Koča Popović
• Fehmi Agani
• Zekerija Rexha
• Skënder Rizaj
• Mehmet Vokshi