Gora, one of the most mountainous and rugged regions of the Balkans, is located at the intersection of Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia. The Gorani people, who have existed for centuries in this difficult geography, have faced many difficulties and migrations throughout history.
These countries tried to preserve their existence after the Ottoman Empire withdrew from the region. Muslim South Slavic peoplehas managed to carry its strong ties with Turkish culture until today.
GoraniTheir cultural heritage and contributions to Turkey show that they are one of the important Turkish tribes in the Balkans. However, waves of assimilation and immigration in the modern period continue to threaten the existence of this unique community.
Where is Gora? Who are the Gorani people?
GoraIt is a region located at the intersection of Kosovo with Albania and Macedonia. This region starts slightly south of the city of Prizren and extends to the southwestern tip of Kosovo. Gora, Kosovo’s most mountainous and rugged It is located in the region and the local people of the region are Gorans.
There are relatively larger settlements in the Gora region. Dragaş, Brod and Restelica There are. These settlements play an important role in the social and economic life of the region. Gorani or Gorani (Goranci and Gorani), predominantly at the intersection of the borders of Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia Gora regionThey are a Muslim South Slavic people living in
Gora or Gorali; Slavic “Upper, Mountainous, Uludağli” It means. Geographically speaking, the Gora region and its villages are located on and at the foot of the Shar Mountains. “Shar” means mountains with cities. According to Abdullah Rahte, a member of Melami, the meaning of Gora is derived from the old Turkish word “Tura”, which means mountain. This region, consisting of Dragaş Municipality and 20 villages, is located in the south of Kosovo, two of these villages are within the borders of Macedonia and the other one is within the borders of Albania.
Gorani in the Period After the Ottoman Empire
Gora region and its people, During the last century after the Ottoman Empire, it faced poverty, economic difficulties, assimilation policies and migrations. According to the census held in the former Yugoslavia in 1991, the total number of Gorans was shown to be approximately 45 thousand. Due to constant migration, the population in the region is estimated to be between 24,000 and 18,000 according to unofficial data.
Today, approximately 7 thousand to 8 thousand people live in Gora. Large villages such as Restelica, Brod, Mlika, Baçka, Dikance and Vranişte are almost empty. After the war, more than two thousand more people left the region to find work.
Brod village, 15 kilometers away from Dragash Municipality, was one of the important craft and trade centers of the region during the Ottoman period. This village, which has an altitude of 1400 meters and is close to the Macedonia-Kosovo border, is one of the places with constant migration.
After the Ottoman soldiers left the region, the village and Most of the people of the region migrated to Turkey. This migration continued during the reign of the Serbo-Croat-Slovenian Kingdom and later the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. After the 1999 Kosovo war, there was another wave of migration in the region. Gorani people living in the Gora region or in cities were exposed to extreme nationalism, oppression, assimilation, looting and attacks after the war. There are approximately 450 Brod families settled in Skopje and other Macedonian cities (Štip, Bitola, Prilep, Veles, Kochani).
There is almost no young population left in the village of Brod and in the Gora region in general. For those who remain, the future means anxiety and uncertainty. Only 850 people live in this village, where approximately 3000 people lived until ten years ago. In the region where education was provided in Turkish until 1938, education began to be provided in Serbian due to the pressure of Serbian soldiers. Attempts were made to sever the ties of the Gorani people with the Turkish-Islamic culture. Islamic schools were closed and religious classes were banned. Today, approximately 150 students are studying in Brod village primary school.
The people living in Brod and other villages in the Gora region generally earn their living from animal husbandry, while in the cities they make a living from cooking, pastry and meatball making.
Identity, Race or Ethnicity of Gorani
There are many debates and various theses about the identity, race or ethnicity of the Gorani. Research on this subject among scientists, historians, sociologists and linguists is often far from objective or influenced by political orientations.
However, the oral culture, clothing, motifs, culinary culture, lifestyle and traditions of the people of the Gora region are similar to those in various regions of the Balkans. Pomak, Pecheneg and Turk It shares many common characteristics with its descendants. In the folk literary works compiled in the Gora region, it is seen that Turkish and Islamic terms are largely preserved, while some of them have survived to the present day with minor changes.
Bulgarian, Greek, Albanian, Serbian and Russian historians try to portray these people as their own races or peoples. Claims that they are Islamized Bulgarians, Macedonians, Serbians, Russians or Greeks are still current.
Gorani in Historical Documents
Northern China in the 10th and 12th centuries Cuman and Kipchak According to archive documents about the Pomak, Torbesh and Gorani people who came from their families and descended to the Balkans from the north; The ancestors of these peoples are Cuman Turks, who were strong warriors. having relatives Hun, Avar and Bulgar They first settled in the north of the Black Sea, following in the footsteps of Turkish tribes such as. Later, they moved to the Carpathian Mountains, Central Europe and the Balkans, settling in Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia, and adopted the names and cultural characteristics of the regions they lived in. They especially dominated over the Rhodopes, Western Thrace, Vardar, Macedonia and the Shar Mountains.
In 1078, the Cuman Turks, together with the Pecheneg Turks who had previously settled in the southern valleys of the Danube River, attacked Byzantium and besieged Edirne for a while. The federation established by Cuman and Pecheneg Turks in the south of the Danube and Sava Rivers in 1078 continued until 1091. Seeing this federation as a threat, Byzantium turned these tribes against each other and destroyed the Bulgarian Turks with the help of the Hungarians and the Hungarians with the support of the Pecheneg Turks.
Using the same tactic, he destroyed the Cuman-Pecheneg Federation by using the Cuman Turks, whom he had tied to himself in exchange for money, against the Pecheneg Turks in the Battle of Lebunion in 1091. Until 1154, some of the Cumans settled in Kosovo, Yeni Pazar and Bosnia, while some of them turned north and migrated to today’s Romania, Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, settling mostly in the mountainous areas.
The Gora region experienced its brightest period in every aspect, be it economic, social or cultural, during the Ottoman Empire. Animal husbandry, trade and craftsmanship developed in the region, and those who completed their higher education in Istanbul, the Ottoman capital, contributed important works to divan literature with the schools that were opened. Emrullah Recepler and Daver Krasnic in “BALTAM” magazine “Words Passed from Turkish to Gora Language” The number of Turkish words compiled in his articles is over 1300. However, it is estimated that this figure is even higher than that detected.
Most of the Gorani people belong to the Islamic religion. There is a Melami dervish lodge in the Brod village of the Gora region, and there are believers who belong to this sect. Some of the hymns sung by the Melami people of Brod during their religious worship are entirely in Turkish and some are in Gora language. The number of Turkish-Islamic terms in hymns in Gora language is quite high.
Gorani today
As a people whose ethnic affiliations are uncertain, the Gorani people have become a community that cannot be shared among many states and cultures. During the Ottoman Empire, they lived in harmony with the Muslim people in the region and their belonging was not questioned. However, as the political dominance of the Slavic population increased as a result of the end of Ottoman rule in the Balkans and increasing separatist movements in the first quarter of the 20th century, the Gorani people began to be influenced by Slavic ideas due to their linguistic proximity. The Slav-dominated structures of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and Yugoslavia led to their rapprochement with the Slavic peoples in the region.
Today, as Serbia is the former dominant power in the region, it continues to have political and lifestyle influence on the Gorani people. Due to the shortage of employment, many Gorani young people earn their living by working in Serbia. The Republic of Bulgaria distributes Bulgarian passports to Gorans in order to increase its influence in the region. Similarly, Macedonia has adopted the approach of distributing passports. In addition to these political maneuvers, many Gorani young people live temporarily or permanently in European Union countries due to financial difficulties.
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