Suharekë

Suva Reka ( sr-Cyrl, Сува Река) or Suharekë () or Therandë () is a town and municipality located in the Prizren district of central-southern Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town has 10,422 inhabitants, while the municipality has 59,722 inhabitants mostly Kosovo Albanians.

Suva Reka is located from the city of Prizren, and from Kosovo's capital, Pristina.

Name

''Suva Reka'' means "dry river" in the Serbian language. The Albanian spellings are ''Suharekë'' or ''Suhareka'' (derived from the Slavic form), while an alternative ''Therandë'', was adopted from an unlocated ancient site (possibly in Suhareka or Lubizhda in the Mirusha valley.

History

Historical background

The municipality includes several medieval sites and old settlements, such as the villages of Banjë, Suharekë, Duhël, Mushtishtë, Popolan, Reçan, and churches of Virgin Hodegetria, St. George, Holy Trinity, St. Nicholas, among others. The settlement of Theranda itself was first mentioned in 1465.

Ottoman period

In 1651, the Albanian Catholic Gregor Mazrreku reported that all the men in Suharekë (Suva Reka), where there had been previously 160 Catholic households, had converted to Islam, but that about 36 or 37 of their wives remained Catholic.

Yugoslav period

From 1929 to 1941, Suva Reka was a town part of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Between 1918 and 1941, the demographic structure of the municipality of Suva Reka has been affected by settlements and colonization such as the Serbian colonization and population settlement, for the most part from the Toplica District.

During World War II, Albanians destroyed the Serbian church in Trnje in Suva Reka.

On the night of 9–10 June 1984, ethnic Albanians desecrated 29 tombstones of the Church of the Holy Saviour.

Kosovo War and aftermath

During the Kosovo War (1998–99), the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) operated in the region and it was reported that it had killed and wounded several Serbian policemen and civilians. Among KLA attacks against police officers recorded in 1998 in the municipality were: on 16 August in Blace (one badly wounded), on 23 August in Dulje (three badly, four lightly wounded) and in Reštane (one badly wounded), on 25 August in Dulje (one badly wounded), on 28 September in Budakovo (three badly wounded) and in Vranić (one lightly wounded). KLA shot at an OSCE vehicle driving behind a FR Yugoslav military convoy between Suva Reka and Štimlje on 5 November 1998. On 8 January 1999, KLA members ambushed a MUP convoy near Suva Reka, killing three Serbian policemen. In 10–16 January 1999, FR Yugoslav forces conducted counter-insurgency operations in Suva Reka.

The UNHCR estimated on 18 March 1999 that the Suva Reka municipality had 6,100 displaced and 5,600 returnees. On 25 March, the town was surrounded by the Yugoslav army and police, and 48 Albanians were massacred. 46 of the victims were members of the Berisha family, 14 of whom were under 15 years old. There were reports that Serb forces extorted Albanians in Belanica on 27 March. In April and May 1999, Serb paramilitary repeatedly attacked the villages in the municipality, forcing the population to leave and gather in KLA territory. Human Rights Watch also reported the killing of 11 Albanian men in one village, 24 killed in Trnje, and 12 killed in the village of Belanica. According to the Suva Reka office of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms, 430 people were killed in the Suva Reka municipality during the NATO bombing campaign (24 March-11 June). On 11–12 June 1999, a Serb family of four was kidnapped in Dvorane and never located. On 12 June 1999, KLA attacked Mušutište and kidnapped eighteen Serb civilians.

After the war, Serbian heritage was destroyed all over Kosovo. The churches (including cemeteries) of Virgin Hodegetria, St. George, Holy Trinity, St. Nicholas and others were completely destroyed in 1999 after the arrival of KFOR and the end of the war.

NATO set up a military base in the municipality, Camp Casablanca.

Culture

Churches

* Church of the Virgin Hodegetria, Mušutište, built 1315, destroyed 1999
* Church of St. George (Rečane), built in the 14th century, destroyed 1999
* Church of the Holy Trinity, Mušutište, built before 1465, destroyed 1999
* Church of the Holy Saviour, Mušutište, built in 1465, destroyed 1999
* Church of St. Nicholas, Popovljane, built in 1626, destroyed 1999
* Church of Archangel Michael, Dvorane, built in the 19th century, destroyed 1999
* Church of the Holy Saviour, Dvorane, built in the 19th century, destroyed 1999
* Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, Suva Reka, built 1938, destroyed 1999
* Church of St. Parasčeva, Mušutište, built 1973, destroyed 1999

Mosques

* Suhareka town Mosque
* Peçan Mosque
* Semetisht Mosque
* Gjinoc Mosque
* Sopinë Mosque

Demographics

According to the 2011 census done by the Government of Kosovo, the municipality of Suva Reka had 59,722 inhabitants of which 98.9% were Kosovo Albanians. According to OSCE, the whereabouts of the displaced Serb and Roma communities is unknown.

Twin towns – Sister cities

Suva Reka is twinned with:
* Sarandë, Albania
* Fellbach, Germany
* Lilburn, United States

References

Sources

*

External links

Municipality of Suva Reka



SOK Kosovo and its population

{{Authority control

Cities in Kosovo
Municipalities of Kosovo
Populated places in Prizren District