Suva Reka (Serbian Cyrillic: Сува Река) or Suharekë (Albanian definite form: Suhareka) or Therandë (Albanian definite form: Theranda) 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.
Suva Reka
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|---|---|
Town and municipality | |
From the top, View of Suhareka, Xhamia e Qytetit, Suva Reka Bus station | |
 Flag  Seal | |
  Suva Reka  Suva Reka | |
| Coordinates: 42°22′48″N 20°49′19″E / 42.38000°N 20.82194°E | |
| Location | Kosovo |
| District | Prizren |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Bali Muharremaj (AAK) |
| Area | |
• Municipality | 361 km2 (139 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 12th in Kosovo |
| Elevation | 389 m (1,276 ft) |
| Population (2024)[1] | |
• Municipality | 45,713 |
| Demonym(s) | Albanian: Therandas (m), Therandase (f) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 23000 |
| Area code | +383 29 |
| Vehicle registration | 04 |
| Climate | Cfb |
| Website | kk |
Suva Reka is located 18 km (11 mi) from the city of Prizren, and 57 km (35 mi) from Kosovo's capital, Pristina.
Name
editSuva Reka means "dry river" in the Serbian language.[2] The Albanian spellings are Suharekë[3] or Suhareka (derived from the Slavic form), while an alternative[4][5] Therandë,[6] was adopted from an unlocated ancient site (possibly in Suhareka or Lubizhda in the Mirusha valley.[7][8]
History
editHistorical background
editThe 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
editIn 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.[9]
Yugoslav period
editFrom 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.[10]
On the night of 9–10 June 1984, ethnic Albanians desecrated 29 tombstones of the Church of the Holy Saviour.[11][12]
Kosovo War and aftermath
editDuring 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).[13] KLA shot at an OSCE vehicle driving behind a FR Yugoslav military convoy between Suva Reka and Štimlje on 5 November 1998.[14] On 8 January 1999, KLA members ambushed a MUP convoy near Suva Reka, killing three Serbian policemen.[15] In 10–16 January 1999, FR Yugoslav forces conducted counter-insurgency operations in Suva Reka.[16]
The UNHCR estimated on 18 March 1999 that the Suva Reka municipality had 6,100 displaced and 5,600 returnees.[17] 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.[18] There were reports that Serb forces extorted Albanians in Belanica on 27 March.[19] In April and May 1999, Serb paramilitary repeatedly attacked the villages in the municipality, forcing the population to leave and gather in KLA territory.[19] 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).[20] On 11–12 June 1999, a Serb family of four was kidnapped in Dvorane and never located.[21][22] On 12 June 1999, KLA attacked Mušutište and kidnapped eighteen Serb civilians.[23][24]
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.[25]
NATO set up a military base in the municipality, Camp Casablanca.
Culture
edit
Churchesedit
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Mosquesedit
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Demographics
edit| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 27,044 | — |
| 1953 | 30,184 | +2.22% |
| 1961 | 34,729 | +1.77% |
| 1971 | 45,316 | +2.70% |
| 1981 | 59,434 | +2.75% |
| 1991 | 72,229 | +1.97% |
| 2011 | 59,722 | −0.95% |
| 2024 | 45,713 | −2.04% |
| Source: Division of Kosovo | ||
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.[26] According to OSCE, the whereabouts of the displaced Serb and Roma communities is unknown.[26]
Twin towns – Sister cities
editSuva Reka is twinned with:
References
edit- ^ "Population and housing census in Kosovo preliminary results - July 2024" (PDF). Retrieved 21 July 2024.
- ^ Vlahović, Petar; Nedeljković, Aleksandar (2004). Serbia: The Country, People, Life, Customs. Serbian: Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade. p. 84. ISBN 978-8678910319.
- ^ "Suhareke". kk.rks-gov.net. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ Robert Elsie (15 November 2010). Historical Dictionary of Kosovo. Scarecrow Press. pp. 298–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7483-1.
- ^ Saskia Drude (2008). Hundert Wochen Kosovo: Alltag in einem unfertigen Land. Karin Fischer Verlag. pp. 99–. ISBN 978-3-89514-836-1.
- ^ Elsie,R. (2010-11-15). Historical Dictionary of Kosovo. Scarecrow Press. p. 268. ISBN 9780810874831.
- ^ Arheološko blago Kosova i Metohije: Text. Srpska Akademija nauka i umetnosti. 1998. p. 286.
- ^ Andreas Wittkowsky (2011). Grand Hotel Kosovo: Schlaglichter einer europäischen Staatsbildung (in German). LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 69–. ISBN 978-3-643-11425-9.
- ^ Rebels, Believers, Survivors Studies In The History Of The Albanians Malcolm Noel ( 2020) p. 62
- ^ "Kolonizimi serb i Kosovës" (in Albanian). 9 Jan 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-01-09..
- ^ "Вапаји Са Метохије И Косова". Православље (in Serbian) (429). 1 February 1985. Archived from the original on 2011-11-27. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
- ^ Antonije Isaković (1990). Kosovsko-metohijski zbornik. SANU. p. 84.
- ^ "Members of the Ministry of the Interior - Victims of Albanian Terrorism in 1998". March 10, 1999.
- ^ Krieger 2001, p. 227.
- ^ "OHR BiH TV News Summary, 8 January 1999". Office of the High Representative.
- ^ Krieger 2001, p. 248.
- ^ Krieger 2001, p. 67.
- ^ Ivana Nikolić (26 March 2016). "Activists March to Kosovo Mass Grave in Belgrade". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
- ^ a b Krieger 2001, p. 56.
- ^ "Under Orders: War Crimes in the Municipality of Suva Reka". hrw.org. Human Rights Watch.
- ^ Government of the Republic of Serbia, SPISAK KIDNAPOVANIH I NESTALIH LICA NA KOSOVU I METOHIJI
- ^ Plarre, Wolfgang. "ABDUCTIONS-7-010417.htm HLC - Humanitarian Law Center - Abductions and Disappearances of non-Albanians in Kosovo - copy on 17 April 2001". www.bndlg.de. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ "Kosovo (1998-2000)". zrtveratovasfrj.info (in Serbian). Retrieved 2 September 2017.
- ^ "Српско село Мушутиште на КиМ: Старци бачени у бунаре, манастир порушен" [Serb village Mušutište, in Kosovo: elders were thrown into wells, monastery demolished]. srbijadanas.net (in Serbian). 1 June 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
- ^ "Destroyed and Damaged Cultural Properties in Kosovo and Metohija 1994-2004" (PDF). Municipality of Dečani. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
- ^ a b "MUNICIPAL PROFILE 2018 - PRIZREN REGION - SUHAREKË/SUVA REKA". Retrieved 2023-08-17.
- ^ "Komuna Suhareke - Suhareka & Fellbach". kk.rks-gov.net. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
- ^ "Lilburn Becomes a 'Sister City' With Kosovo Town". patch.com. 16 July 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
Sources
edit- Krieger, Heike, ed. (2001). The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation 1974–1999. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521800716.