Bamir Myrteza Topi (; born 24 April 1957)CV at Albanian presidency website
. is an Albanian diplomat and politician who served as

President of Albania The president of Albania (), officially the president of the Republic of Albania (), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the Albanian Armed Forces, military and the representative of the unity of the Albanian people. The president sets ...

from 2007 to 2012. Topi was the honorary president of the Albanian football club

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. The men's football club is part of the multi-discipli ...

from 2005 to 2007. In September 2012, Topi became the leader of the New Democratic Spirit party.

Early life, education and career

Bamir Myrteza Topi was born in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

on the 24th of April 1957 to Riza Topi and Haxhire Karapici. Bamir comes from a Tirana family from his father's and mother's side. His family are of the

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

faith in origin. On his father’s side he comes from the Topi family, which he hypothesises descend from the noble Thopia family. On his mother’s side, he comes from the Karapici family, which makes him a relative of

Adem Karapici Adem Karapici (1912–1972) was an Albanian football player and coach who played for Sportklub Tiranë in the 1930s where he won six National Championships. Managerial career As a coach, he was in charge of Albania national team for five games ...

and Artan Karapici. He has mentioned how his great grandfather owned the Karapici mosque which was located in

Skanderbeg Square The Skanderbeg Square () is the main plaza in the centre of Tirana, Albania. The square is named after the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg, Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu. The total area is about 40,000 square metres. The Skanderbeg Monument dom ...

, Tirana before it was demolished in 1929. Bamir graduated from the

Agricultural University of Tirana The Agricultural University of Tirana () is a public university located in Tirana, Albania. It offers education in agronomy, veterinary, forestry, ecology, agribusiness, and similar subjects. History AUT was created in 1951. It was first calle ...

in veterinary studies and earned a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree in the same field. In 1984, he was appointed a Scientific Researcher at the Institute of Veterinary Scientific Researches until 1995. During the 1987-90 period, he attended post-graduate studies in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the field of Molecular Biology. After his return from Italy, Topi was appointed Director of the Food Safety and Veterinary Institute, a position he held until the end of 1995. Alongside his work as Scientific Researcher, Topi has carried out a dense academic activity in preparing the educational curricula of the Toxicology and Pharmacology subjects for the students and postgraduates of the Veterinary Medicine Faculty. At the same time, he was also a lecturer in these subjects for about a decade. He was first elected as a member of the

Albanian Parliament The Parliament of Albania () or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of no less than 140 members elected to a four-year term on the b ...

in 1996 and was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Food where he served until 1997. He was elected to three mandates in the Assembly of Albania as a candidate of

Democratic Party of Albania The Democratic Party of Albania (, PDSH), also known as the Democratic Party (, PD), is a Conservatism, conservative political party in Albania. It has been the largest opposition party in the country since 2013 and has dominated the Albanian ...

. In two terms, Topi led the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party in the Assembly. He has been elected vice-chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania, which is led by

Sali Berisha Sali Berisha (; born 15 October 1944) is an Albanian cardiologist and conservative politician who served as the president of Albania from 1992 to 1997 and as the 32nd Prime Minister of Albania, prime minister of Albania from 2005 to 2013. Berisha ...

. Topi has been distinguished and widely hailed as a politician of a moderated profile, as very active in resolving the crisis between the ruling majority and opposition and as a protagonist of political agreements and various parliamentary initiatives.

Presidency

On 8 March 2007, Topi said that he would be the candidate of the ruling Democratic Party in the 2007 presidential election. Both the Demochristian and Republican parties said that they would intended to support him. Parliament took 4 tries, and the opposition finally gave up and elected Topi, a choice of Prime Minister

. On a vote held on 8 July, Topi won 75 votes in parliament; short of the 84 votes required. The opposition, led by the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, boycotted the vote. The second round of voting for electing the president was held on 10 July. The parliament again failed to elect a president, with Topi receiving 74 votes. On 14 July, another vote was held. Topi won only 50 votes, while Neritan Ceka of the Democratic Alliance Party won 32. On 20 July, in the fourth round of voting, Topi was supported by some members of the opposition and won 85 votes, thus being elected as the President of the Republic of Albania for a five-year term. He was sworn in on 24 July. Topi officially resigned his position as vice-chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania and at the same time withdrew from his party.

Support for Kosovo's independence

Topi is a vocal advocate of independence for

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. He pointed out the need for a sovereign state of Kosovo before the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

and other international instances. With a joint invitation of Kosovo's President, Fatmir Sejdiu, and the head of the UN mission, Joachim Ruecker, Topi stayed for a three-day visit in Kosovo in January 2009. He was proclaimed an honorary citizen of the capital

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

. During his visit, he was also conferred an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

by the University of Pristina.

Honours and awards

Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav ("For outstanding contribution to the development and improvement of relations between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Albania." – 7 April 2009) *Doctor

Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

of the University of Pristina (25 January 2008) *Honorary Citizen of

(26 January 2008) *Honorary Citizen of Burrel *Honorary Citizen of

Gjakova Gjakova or Đakovica, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the sixth largest city of Kosovo and seat of the Gjakova Municipality and the District of Gjakova, Gjakova District. According to the 2024 census, the municipality of Gjakov ...

Topi, qytetar nderi i Gjakovës
Telegrafi.com, 2012-06-30 (in Albanian)

References

External links