Dielli | The Sun

Albanian American Newspaper Devoted to the Intellectual and Cultural Advancement of the Albanians in America | Since 1909

From the National Theater of Tirana to the Haghia Sophia of Istanbul

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By Genc Pollo-

In April 2009, then a Deputy Prime Minister I led the Albanian delegation to the Second Global Forum  Alliance of Civilizations that was held in Istanbul. This UN endorsed Alliance was initiated by the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and his Spanish counterpart Zapatero. It aimed to promote the tolerance, understanding and a peaceful or ideally amicable coexistence among the civilizations and the world’s cultural and religious traditions. Its inception four years after the attack on the New York Twin Towers, the profile of the two Prime Ministers and other elements made it obvious it was focusing mainly on the relationship between Europe, the West and the Muslim countries. Every participating state has to adopt a national plan to promote tolerance, understanding and amicable coexistence. A year later and in this spirit with Istanbul being European Capital of Culture Prime Minister Erdogan would declare: “This is a European city; with its heart, its culture, its civilization its people, its past, its future, it has always looked towards Europe. Istanbul has shaped European culture and has been shaped by it.”

Ten years later in Turkey,  the State Council rescinded a 1935 edict by state founder Atatürk which did turn into a museum a mosque that before the Ottoman seizure used to be Hagia Sophia, Constantinople’s biggest and most famous church. On the same day President Erdogan decreed that the building should be run again as mosque by Dianet, the religious affairs authority. He went further to announce the first day the Friday prayers would be held there. Interestingly in his Arabic language statement Erdogan also signaled that the next step would be the liberation of the Jerusalem al Aqsa mosque (!). The latter is controlled by Israel and managed by Jordan.

Since that day the debate rages wether the 20 century Atatürk secularism still fits in the 21 century increasingly sectarian Turkey, wether the museum status of Hagia Sophia was an offense for both Christendom and Islam or wether the shrine could have dual use. Questions are raised also wether Muslims in a Turkey with innumerable mosques did really need another one or wether the couples of hundreds open churches are sufficient for few Christians there. But these would be issues for another note.

What matters today is that Hagia Sophia’s reconversion into a mosque was widely condemned and criticized in Europe, in the West and elsewhere; including by Turkish and Muslim leaders who candidly believe in the tolerance, understanding and amicable coexistence between religions and cultures.

National sovereignty vs International law

The Hagia Sophia of Constantinople and the National Theater of Tirana differ a lot in terms of historical weight and symbolic power. The first is globally renown since fifteen centuries while the full history of our Theater since its founding as the Skanderbeg Circle in 1938 by Albanian royal authorities  was not known to many until the controversy of the last two years. What makes them resemble is the justification by both governments in front of the international criticism: “its an internal affair, a matter of national sovereignty”. In both cases though,  the reverberations of the actions go beyond the state borders and affect non material interests and feelings in Europe and the world. This is obvious in the case of the Church of Constantinople; for the Theater in Tirana this was clearly formulated by the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament who opening a committee debate on Albania spoke of “destruction of European cultural heritage”. In both cases the governments refused dialogue with legitimate domestic and foreign stakeholders. Further to that more concerning is the disregard or even the violation on international rules and obligations. In 1985, following a request by the Turkish government, Hagia Sophia was admitted in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This status makes it obligatory that any legal or physical change of the site must occur after consultations and perhaps approval by this UN body.

The National Theater was included this year among the seven most endangered cultural sites by Europa Nostra, the first partner of the European Commission in this field, This organization, after exchanges with the government and with the encouragement of the Commission, had secured funds from the European Investment Bank Institute for a restoration project.

Unfortunately neither Tirana nor Istanbul cared to follow international rules or self-assumed obligations.

One more distinction between the cases of Hagia Sophia and the Tirana Theater – the motives of the Turkish government appear to be political and electoral, whereas in Tirana, the motives have been exposed as highly corrupt. In Istanbul, things were run through procedures, paperwork, and statements; formally things appeared right. In Tirana, from the first special law on demolishing the theater through to a public private partnership to the last municipal council vote, almost all were unconstitutional, illegal, and irregular. Beyond this, the government sent armed police and bulldozers in a pre-dawn raid against civil activists and the historical building complex – actions that were similar to the Taliban’s destruction of the ancient Buddha statues in Bamyan, Afghanistan.

*Genc Pollo-

Albanian MP and former Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration. He is also an ex-Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Education; Telecoms

 July  2020

Civilian Hospitalised Others Injured Following Clashes With Police at National Theatre

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One civilian has been hospitalised and several others injured following confrontation with police and private security firms at the National Theatre in Tirana today.

For over 18 months, a group of actors, writers, film producers, and members of civil society have been protesting every day against the government’s plans to sell off public land, demolish the theatre and erect six tower blocks in its place. 

The longest running protest in Albanian history, the arrival of the police on site today resulted in the first instance of violence and injury since the protests began.

Following a verbal altercation with a police officer and some pushing from both the police and the protestors, one man was pushed backwards and fell into an empty swimming pool. He fell approximately 1.5 metres onto the tiled surface and sustained injuries to his neck, arm, and head. He was attended to by paramedics who removed him from the scene on a stretcher.

Other injuries were sustained by civilians after both police and private security guards, hired by the government manhandled protestors. Exit.al saw one policeman raise his fist in the face of a protestor only to be restrained by a colleague. Other photos surfaced on social media of a private security guard with his hands grabbing a protestors mouth, clutching at the throat of other civilians, and several police pushing a crying woman to the ground. 

The core group of theatre protestors had been maintaining a 24/7 watch on the theatre over fears that its demolition could be imminent. This morning, shortly after 6:30am, large numbers of police and privately contracted security guards arrived on the site, forming a line and barricading the way. 

After the news broke via social media, several hundred citizens joined the protestors in a show of solidarity. Luzlim Basha, the leader of the Opposition was also in attendance.

The crowd shouted “down with the dictator”, “Rama go”, and calls for the theatre to be saved, saying it belongs to them and not a “criminal government”. They also criticised the police, telling them that they should be ashamed to use violence against civilians and questioning if they agreed with the demolition of the historical building.

A number of the protestors who have been protesting for 18 months were spotted in tears, distraught at the thought that their battle might be over.

It is not clear why a private security firm had been sent to the site when there were already three different branches of the police officers in attendance. The inclusion of largely unregulated private guards in today’s protest has been widely criticised as they are not bound by the same rules, nor do they undergo the same training as police officers.

Former Albanian ambassador to the UK, Mal Berisha was in the crow “we grew up with the famous actors here that have given us so much culture- their legacy is inside this building and now a group of people (the government) want to make money illegally, using public property.”

“We will lose our legacy” he added.

The selling of the public land that the theatre sits on, to a private company is illegal but the Socialist Party passed a “Special law” to circumnavigate this, in a move that has been widely considered as unconstitutional. This cannot be challenged in the constitutional court however as the court remains defunct.

A number of protestors and journalists have now occupied the theatre and are refusing to leave. The police remain outside and have reportedly been joined by Special Forces.(Cortezi Exit.al)