Post by engers on Dec 10, 2007 5:50:54 GMT -5
A primer on Kosovo
____________________________________________________
QUESTION: What is Kosovo?
ANSWER: A province in southern Serbia. It is 4,200 square miles, just more than twice the size of tri-county metro Detroit. About 90% of Kosovo's 2 million residents are ethnic Albanians; the rest are Serbs.
Q: Who are the Serbs and why don't they let the majority ethnic Albanians control Kosovo?
A: Serbs are Slavs who migrated to the Balkans from northeastern Europe around 700. Their first kingdom included Kosovo. St. Sava, their patron, founded the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, and numerous monasteries were built beginning in the early 13th Century. Some of Christendom's most stirring art is found on the ancient walls of monasteries in Kosovo, several of which have been damaged or destroyed in fighting with Albanians. Serbs pledge never to cede Kosovo as it is the cradle of their nationhood and religion.
Q: How do Albanians figure in?
A: They are descendants of the Illyrians, who have inhabited the region for more than 2,300 years.
A timeline
1389: Thousands of Serbs (some Albanians, too) lose their lives to an overwhelming Ottoman force on a field in Kosovo. The battle effectively slows the Ottoman drive to conquer Europe but ends the Serb kingdom and leads to nearly 500 years of Ottoman Turk occupation.
1912: Serbia regains independence in 1878, but without Kosovo, which remains under Ottoman rule. In 1912, Serbs retake Kosovo by force and hold on to it over the objections of the new nation of Albania, created in 1912 from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. Serbia prevails in the dispute with the help of the Western powers.
World War II: Most of Kosovo becomes part of an Italian-controlled Greater Albania. Other parts are occupied by the Germans and Bulgarians. Tens of thousands of Serbs are driven out or killed.
Since 1945: Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito gives Kosovo full autonomy in 1974. Fears of growing ethnic-Albanian dominance in Kosovo lead to calls from Kosovo Serbs for a crackdown on Albanian separatists, culminating in a government decision to take away Kosovo's autonomy in 1989. In 1998, a major crackdown begins against separatist rebels.
1999: The crackdown leads to a mass exodus of ethnic Albanians -- perhaps as many as 1 million flee as Serbian troops and paramilitaries fight the guerilla Kosovo Liberation Army. Soon NATO troops and aircraft take on the Serb forces, establishing a precarious peace.
Source: Free Press research
____________________________________________________
[ftp]http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071209/NEWS07/712090617/1009[/ftp]
____________________________________________________
QUESTION: What is Kosovo?
ANSWER: A province in southern Serbia. It is 4,200 square miles, just more than twice the size of tri-county metro Detroit. About 90% of Kosovo's 2 million residents are ethnic Albanians; the rest are Serbs.
Q: Who are the Serbs and why don't they let the majority ethnic Albanians control Kosovo?
A: Serbs are Slavs who migrated to the Balkans from northeastern Europe around 700. Their first kingdom included Kosovo. St. Sava, their patron, founded the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, and numerous monasteries were built beginning in the early 13th Century. Some of Christendom's most stirring art is found on the ancient walls of monasteries in Kosovo, several of which have been damaged or destroyed in fighting with Albanians. Serbs pledge never to cede Kosovo as it is the cradle of their nationhood and religion.
Q: How do Albanians figure in?
A: They are descendants of the Illyrians, who have inhabited the region for more than 2,300 years.
A timeline
1389: Thousands of Serbs (some Albanians, too) lose their lives to an overwhelming Ottoman force on a field in Kosovo. The battle effectively slows the Ottoman drive to conquer Europe but ends the Serb kingdom and leads to nearly 500 years of Ottoman Turk occupation.
1912: Serbia regains independence in 1878, but without Kosovo, which remains under Ottoman rule. In 1912, Serbs retake Kosovo by force and hold on to it over the objections of the new nation of Albania, created in 1912 from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. Serbia prevails in the dispute with the help of the Western powers.
World War II: Most of Kosovo becomes part of an Italian-controlled Greater Albania. Other parts are occupied by the Germans and Bulgarians. Tens of thousands of Serbs are driven out or killed.
Since 1945: Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito gives Kosovo full autonomy in 1974. Fears of growing ethnic-Albanian dominance in Kosovo lead to calls from Kosovo Serbs for a crackdown on Albanian separatists, culminating in a government decision to take away Kosovo's autonomy in 1989. In 1998, a major crackdown begins against separatist rebels.
1999: The crackdown leads to a mass exodus of ethnic Albanians -- perhaps as many as 1 million flee as Serbian troops and paramilitaries fight the guerilla Kosovo Liberation Army. Soon NATO troops and aircraft take on the Serb forces, establishing a precarious peace.
Source: Free Press research
____________________________________________________
[ftp]http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071209/NEWS07/712090617/1009[/ftp]