Salih Butka (1852 – 24 October 1938), was an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

nationalist figure,

kachak Kachaks ( sq, kaçak, sr, качаци / ''kačaci'') is a term used for the Albanian bandits active in the late 19th and early 20th century in northern Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia, and later as a term for the militias of Albanian ...

, poet, and one of the delegates of the city of

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the eighth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population is 75,994 (2011 census), in a total area of . It stands on a plateau some ...

to the

Albanian National Congress The All-Albanian Congress ( sq, Kongresi Gjithë Shqipëtar) or Albanian National Congress or Albanian Independence Congress was a held in Vlorë (then Ottoman Empire, today Republic of Albania) on November 28, 1912. Congress participants constitu ...

Lushnjë Lushnjë (; in Lushnje's own dialect: ''Lushnje'' ; sq-definite, Lushnja) is a city and municipality in west-central Albania. It is located in the County of Fier. The total population is 83,659 (2011 census), in a total area of . History ...

.Nikolaeva Todorova Marii︠a︡
''Balkan identities: nation and memory.''
C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2004. , pp. 108-109. Butka was born in village

Butkë Butkë is a community in the Korçë County, Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Kolonjë. Notable people *Sali Butka, 19th and early 20th century freedom fighter * Gani Butka, 19th and early 20th centu ...

Kolonjë District Kolonjë is a municipality in Korçë County, southeastern Albania. It was created in 2015 by the merger of the former municipalities Barmash, Çlirim, Ersekë, Leskovik, Mollas, Novoselë, Qendër Ersekë and Qendër Leskovik. The seat of ...

to one of branches of large

Frashëri family Frashëri is an Albanian surname. People * Dalip Frashëri, 19th-century poet * Shahin Frashëri, 19th-century poet * Abdyl Frashëri, founder and head of the League of Prizren in 1878-1881. * Naim Frashëri, member of the Albanian Society who h ...

and he was a Bektashi Muslim. He belonged to a generation of village men that became literate and joined guerilla bands through the literary efforts of the Albanian intelligentsia. Butka became the commander of various Albanian irregular bands and initiated armed guerrilla operations in 1906 in regions of modern southern Albani which were part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

that time by being against the rule of Sultan Abdylhamid. Having learned to read Albanian on his own, Butka during his guerrilla campaigns composed revolutionary poems that combined naturalistic texts with nationalist themes in a form of folk poetry and viewed his contributions as feeding an Albanian national consciousness. His poems would be turned into songs which appealed to villagers that were illiterate. His guerrilla activities continued the next years and especially in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

(1912–1913) and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1914–1918). During the Balkan Campaign of World War I, several warrior groups of Albanian

Tosks Tosks ( sq, Toskët) are one of two major dialectal subgroups of Albanians (the other being the Ghegs) differentiated by their cultural, linguistic, social and religious characteristics. Territory ''Tosk'' may refer to the Tosk-speaking Albania ...

and

Ghegs The Ghegs (also spelled as Gegs; sq, Gegët) are one of two major dialectal subgroups of Albanians (the other being the Tosks) They are also differentiated by minor Culture, cultural, Albanian dialects, dialectal, Society, social and Religion, re ...

supported with their activity the armed operations of the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

in the region.Great Britain. War Office. General Staff
''Handbook of the Austro-Hungarian Army in war, June, 1918''.
Battery Press, 1994. , p. 50. Butka's band invaded in 1916 the town of

Moscopole Moscopole or Voskopoja ( sq, Voskopojë; rup, Moscopole, with several other variants; el, Μοσχόπολις, Moschopolis) is a village in Korçë County in southeastern Albania. During the 18th century, it was the cultural and commercial ...

, once a prosperous metropolis in 18th century, and lead to its destruction. The razing of the town forced many of its inhabitants to flee to nearby the occupied territories by Greece in Balkan Wars and some went in Korce also. In 1920 he became one of the delegates of the city of

to the

Congress of Lushnjë The Congress of Lushnjë (), historically documented by the name ''Mbledhja Kombiare Lushnje'', was a conference of Albanian political leaders held from January 28 to January 31, 1920 in Lushnjë, Albania. Its objective was to deal with the issue ...

Controversial personality

Butka's personality has created an ideological dilemma between homogeneity and heterogeneity myths in the pluralistic society of post-Communist Albania: while on specific Albanian textbooks he is considered a national hero, among circles of

Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...

he is considered a notorious criminal because he is held primarily responsible of the destruction of the Aromanian-inhabited settlement of Moscopole in 1916.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butka, Salih 1852 births 1938 deaths People from Kolonjë World War I crimes by the Central Powers Persecution of Eastern Orthodox Christians Albanian nationalists Sali Albanian people of World War I 20th-century Albanian people