19.07.2021 – 14:15
In 1912, Albania became independent, but had some powers in the country. In the south, the government of Ismail Qemali, in Central Albania, Esat Pashë Toptani, in Shkodra, foreign powers as administrators, in the north the highlanders who governed themselves.
The rivalry between Ismail Qemali and Esat Pasha Toptan was great. The country was facing a civil war.
There were rumors that Esat Pasha was favoring a Turk to become the prince of Albania, although he officially swore that he supported the arrival of Prince Wilhelm zu Wied, as ruler.
On January 9, 1914, some forces supporting Esat Pasha, carried out attacks on the outskirts of Elbasan, to sever the telegraphic connections between Elbasan and Vlora.
The mayor of Elbasan, Aqif Pasha, who was loyal to the government of Vlora, sent a telegram to the International Commission of Control in Vlora, warning of the danger from the forces of Esat Pasha.
The Control Commission was a kind of UNMIK, which had to take care of the governance of Albania and avoid total chaos.
The commission and the government of Ismail Qemali gathered at the Telegraph Office in Vlora to communicate with Aqif Pasha, whom they ordered not to surrender, while Esat Pasha called on him to stop.
Thus began a war with telegrams, between Ismail Qemali and Esat Pasha.
Dutch officer Lodewijk Thomson, who had come to Albania to set up an efficient police force, said the exchange of telegrams between Ismail Qemali and Esat Pasha was a unique opportunity to study the vocabulary of swearing in Albanian.
Esat Pasha called Ismail Qemali “dirty” and “adventurous”, Ismail Qemali called him: “robber”, “murderer” etc.
Officer Thomson was killed in Durrës, during the attack by the villagers of Central Albania who supported Haxhi Qamil.
Fan Noli dedicated a poem to Lodewijk Thomson (Thomson and the Couch).
Te Ura, te Ura
Run, O men.
With guns, cannons, cords and swords.
That the dark couch toasted from the night,
That he raised the blood-stained bajarak
And he ran from Shjak to Durres.
Kuçedr ‘of Turkey,
Hyen’e of hunger,
Beaten by the Greeks, Serbia and Bulgaria
He wants to suck blood and comes to the Albanian,
Like a serpent it crawls, it goes around,
They knew me in my mouth, with poison in my stomach.
The description of the telegraph war by Thomson is mentioned in the book “Esat Pashë Toptani. Man, war, power “by publicist Ilir Ikonomi, writes Enver Robelli.