By Tritan Shehu
Tomorrow, January 17, is one of the saddest days for our people. 554 years ago, Albanians were left without the most prominent personality of our national history, the unifier, statesman, leader, the “shield”, our fighter for freedom and identity, Gjergj Kastriot Skenderbeu.
The politician and visionary who laid the foundations of our state, of our unbreakable ties with Europe and the West, with our large family to which we belong, passed away to enter immortality. With his wars against the Ottoman occupation, he not only defended our lands, freedoms and dignity, but he “sealed” our natural ties with that civilization and values by becoming a shield for parts of Europe, our Western neighbors.
It is significant that even after 500 years of that savage occupation, the Albanians reconfirmed the Western affiliation by declaring independence after endless wars in 1912.
And this was accomplished under the banner of Gjergj the Great.
Fortunately, the same thing happened again in 1990 when our efforts to liberate from the communist occupation had in their center the European aspiration, the Western democracy.
It was the same flag that led, which was already freed from the dictatorial “star”.
The fact that the centuries which followed January 17, 1468 our history trespassed two tragic periods, that of the Ottoman occupation and that of the communist one, which tried to destroy our belonging and identity and values as a nation, shows how careful and determined we must be to always keep unwaveringly: Our face turned towards the West! / Argumentum.al
