The Establishment of “Cemiyet” Movement and an Evaluation of Some Archival Sources About Its Political Activities

The full name of the political organization Cemiyet was “？slam Muhafaza-i Hukuk Cemiyeti” (Islamic Association for Protection and Justice). From the name of the organization itself, it urges curiosity to know more about this organization. This organization was virtually a legal political party of Muslim Albanians, as well as of the other ethnic minorities with Muslim religious affiliations during the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. This research explains causes that incited the establishment of the Cemiyet party. At the same time, from some archival sources as well as from a several parliamentary interpellations, the very activity of this political organization subsequently will be clearly understood. In general, as a result of various problems emphasized, such as: violent displacement to Turkey and colonization of Albanian lands by Slavic factors, Cemiyet will be considered as a political organization for the protection of the rights of Albanians and other Muslim minorities. Extortion of the land from Albanians and then granting that to Serbian settlers was understood as an agrarian reform, however in addition to that, there was imposed the strict prohibition for the education in mother tongue and the Serbian language was became the official language in the everyday use. Also the lack of and the restriction to information and prohibiting the publication of any kind of newspapers or journals into Albanian language was imposed. Hereto, the government used to place different traps to Albanians so they will obtain a legal reason to punish them in the most brutal forms