The Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights (, ) was formed in the city of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, then

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

on December 18, 1877, by an influential group of

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 ...

n intellectuals, patriots, and politicians, such as

Hasan Tahsini Hoxhë Hasan Tahsini or simply Hoxha Tahsim (7 April 1811 – 3 July 1881) was an Albanian alim, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher. He was the first rector of Istanbul University and one of the founders of the Central Committee ...

Abdyl Frashëri Abdyl Dume bey Frashëri (, or ''Abdullah Hüsni''; 1 June 1839 – 23 October 1892) was an Ottoman Albanian civil servant, politician during the First Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire, and one of the first Albanian political ideologues ...

, , Iljaz Pasha Dibra,

Ymer Prizreni Haxhi Ymer bey Effendi Prizreni or Ymer Drini (c. 1820 – 12 June 1887) was an Ottoman-Albanian 'alim, hoxha and the political leader of the League of Prizren. He was Prime Minister of its Autonomous Provisional Government, formed in th ...

Sami Frashëri Sami bey Frashëri (; June 1, 1850 – June 18, 1904) or Şemseddin Sâmi was an Albanian writer, lexicographer, philosopher, playwright and a prominent figure o ...

, Zija Prishtina,

Ahmet Koronica Ahmet Koronica (also known as Ahmet Gjakova) was an Albanian military commander and regional leader of the League of Prizren. In 1877 he joined the Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights in Konstantiniyye. The organisation, whose aim was ...

Mehmet Ali Vrioni Mehmet Ali Vrioni was an Albanian politician and the vice president of the League of Prizren. Life Mehmet Ali Bey was from the famous landowning bey family of Berat named Vrioni. In 1877 he became one of the founders of the Central Comm ...

, Said Toptani, ,

Pashko Vasa Pashko Vasa (17 September 1825 – 29 June 1892), known as Vaso Pasha or Wassa Pasha (, ), was an Albanian writer, poet and publicist of the Albanian National Awakening, and Ottoman mutasarrif of Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate from 1882 until ...

Jani Vreto Jani Vreto (14 January 1822 – 9 July 1900) was an Albanian writer, printer, publisher and important figure of the Albanian National Awakening. He was responsible for setting up and overseeing the work of the first Albanian printing house in B ...

, ,

Pandeli Sotiri Pandeli Sotiri (1842–1892) was a teacher that acted as director of the first Albanian school of modern times in Korçë. Sotiri was one of the most important Rilindas figures that contributed in the propagation of the Albanian language. He also ...

Koto Hoxhi Konstandin Hoxhi, known as Koto Hoxhi (1824–1895) was an advocate of the Albanian language. He taught the language secretly to his students in Qestorat in Southern Albania. He was imprisoned and died in prison for his beliefs. Biography Koto H ...

, and

Mane Tahiri Mane may refer to: *Mane (horse), the line of hair along the spine of the neck *Mane (lion), the hair found around the male mammal's neck In arts and entertainment * ''Mane'' (film) is a 1990 Kannada language film directed by Girish Kasaravalli ...

. The chairman of the committee was elected Abdyl Frashëri. The committee would be referred later with a more practical name as ''Komiteti i Stambollit'' ("Istanbul Committee"). The goal of the committee was to disseminate the idea of an autonomous Albanian region within the steadily diminishing

. The committee's plan and ideals were printed in the Tercuman i Sark paper, and anticipated the founding of a single

Albanian vilayet The Albanian Vilayet (, ''Vilâyet-i Arnavid'') was a projected ''vilayet'' of the Ottoman Empire in the western Balkan Peninsula, which was to include the four Ottoman vilayets with substantial ethnic Albanian populations: Kosovo Vilayet, Sc ...

that would encompass the vilayets of

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 ...

, Monastir,

Janina Ioannina ( ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina (regional unit), Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus (region), Epirus, an Modern regions of Greece, administrative region in northwester ...

and

Scutari Scutari may refer to: * Shkodër, in Albania; also known as ''Scutari'' in Italian and traditional English usage * Sanjak of Scutari, Ottoman province centred on the city * Pashalik of Scutari, a semi-independent Albanian state during Ottoman rule ...

. Contrary to what is often said, a claim for territories very often included the

Salonica Vilayet The Vilayet of Salonica () was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire from 1867 to 1913. In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of .

too. As support for both the committee and the idea of a united autonomous Albania grew, supporters decided to meet in the city of

Prizren Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...

. This became the first meeting of what came to be known as the

League of Prizren The League of Prizren (), officially the League for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nation (), was an Albanian political organization that was officially founded on June 10, 1878 in the old town of Prizren in the Kosovo Vilayet of th ...

. In October 1879, elite members of the committee formed the

Society for the Publication of Albanian Letters Society for the Publication of Albanian Letters () (Arvanitika: Σ̈oκ̇ε̰ρι ε τε̰ Σ̈τυπȣρι Σ̈κρoν̇α Σ̈κ̇ιπ) was a patriotic organization of Albanian intellectuals, promoting publications in Albanian, especially scho ...

, which would perform the difficult tasks of establishing a unified alphabet and primer, and spreading the Albanian writings.

References

Organizations of the Albanian National Awakening 1877 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Albanian Question {{Europe-org-stub

See also

References