A CRITIQUE OF THE ASHAK & MEHMET KRAJA PAMPHLET — Serbia's destabilising aims in the Balkans

The pamphlet under criticism: “Serbia's destabilising aims in Kosovo and the Western Balkans” | Panellists: Milazim Krasniqi, Mustafë Bajrami, Nexhmedin Spahiu

In this long Prishtina Talks panel, three well-known intellectuals — professor Milazim Krasniqi, hoxhë Mustafë Bajrami and professor Nexhmedin Spahiu — analyse and criticise the document of the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts (ASHAK) on Albanian national identity, presented by its president, the writer Mehmet Kraja. The document, which in the panellists' view sets out to play down or write out the Islamic component of Albanian identity, was withdrawn by ASHAK after the reaction to it, but the argument over its claims is still very much alive.

Milazim Krasniqi opens the panel with a systematic analysis of the ASHAK document: he treats it as an ideological pamphlet rather than an academic text, and argues that its claims about Albanian national identity repeat old narratives whose source lies not in scholarship but in the cultural politics of one part of the elite. He sets out the internal process at ASHAK, the procedural failings, and why the document had to be withdrawn. Mustafë Bajrami follows with a theological and historical treatment of the claims about the part Islam played in the forming of the Albanian nation, answering the claims about “the converted” and reasserting the dignity of the Albanian Muslim tradition. Nexhmedin Spahiu offers the historical and political perspective, examining the Academy's approach to religious questions, the absence of prominent Muslim figures within ASHAK, and criticism of public figures such as Jetish Efendi Bajrami.

The panel closes with a long question and answer session in which the panellists take their arguments further, meet the counter-arguments, and discuss what the document means in practice for public debate in Albania and in Kosovo.

Some of the points covered: 📌 An analysis of the ASHAK document, and the process of its withdrawal 📌 Why a “pamphlet” rather than an academic text 📌 The part Islam played in the forming of the Albanian nation 📌 A theological answer to the claims about “the converted” 📌 The structure of ASHAK, and the absence of Muslim figures 📌 Criticism of Jetish Efendi Bajrami, and of other public figures 📌 A critique of the communist mindset within the academy 📌 A long session of questions, answers and replies

📍 Prishtina Talks