Enriko Telini: Martyr of the Albanian border
On August 27, 102 years ago, on the southern border of the Republic of Albania, General Enrico Tellini was killed, two days after turning 52. In fact, the dates of August 25 and August 27 of every year in Albania should be dates of remembrance and thanks that the Albanian people and institutions should offer to the Italian General Tellini.
General Telini was appointed by the Conference of Ambassadors as chairman of the International Boundary Commission between the Albanian and Greek states, a task that had been abandoned by this Conference since 1914. The ambiguity of the border from 1914 until the Commission began its work, with Albania having declared itself an independent state about 10 years earlier, had created an advantage for neighboring states to violate the border and territory of the Republic of Albania. The Commission, from the beginning, encountered direct obstacles from Greece and Serbia, and its work was interrupted as soon as it began. In these circumstances, thanks to the persistence of General Telini, the Commission managed to begin and complete its work.
The Greek press called him an “enemy of Greece”; Greek soldiers in Korça tried to intimidate him by forcibly entering the Commission’s offices. Greek fury increased as more Albanian villages, mountains and cities remained in Albania. What seems to have determined Telini’s fate was the prospect of all of Northern Chameria remaining within the Albanian border. According to the Italian diplomat and historian Renzo Falaski, General Telini, who knew the area very well, “did not hesitate to accept the legitimate demands of the Albanians, that according to his conviction, Ioannina and beyond should also remain within the Albanian state.” (ID Hoxha, “VKSH në Sh. Gr., 59).
Honesty, justice and seriousness in carrying out their duties led to the ambush and murder of General Telini and his companions in Zepa on August 27. The International Commission of Inquiry, set up specifically for that occasion, confirmed that the Greek government itself was the organizer and murderer of the murder, and was also punished by paying an extremely large sum of money as compensation.
It is not an exaggeration to say that General Telini shed his blood for the border of the Albanian state. His murder, regardless of the punishment that the Greek government may have received, punished Albania more by setting a more unjust border. The problems with the borders and the pressures for the surrender of territories and seas are still present in Albania and Kosovo today. But nowadays there is no such general who can arbitrate with honesty, justice and seriousness. That is how important and valuable General Telini is for Albania and the Albanians.
In honor of Telini, in 1933 a street in Tirana was named after him, which was baptized “Shëtitorja Telini”, and a bust was also erected. In 1941, his statue was inaugurated in Tirana, made by the master sculptor Odhise Paskali. Where the Academy of Sciences is today, the street no longer has this name, and the statue no longer exists. They were removed in 1947 by the communist government. The statue was melted down in a foundry, thus damaging another work of art, in addition to a work that honored the martyr of the Albanian border.
The anti-Albanian stance of the communist regime continues to be faithfully followed by today's Albanian rulers and institutions. The 100th anniversary of the assassination of General Telini (two years ago) passed in silence, with a few articles published in several daily newspapers in Albania, but more was written in the Kosovo press.
Today we commemorate with a modest article in VNA, but with deep and boundless respect General Telini. Other, much larger commemorative activities should be organized by Albanian institutions. Honor wants the name and statue of General Telini to be returned to where they were, and why not to place such a statue on the border that he defended. But our Prime Minister is busy bowing to the Italian Prime Minister, who has done Albania the “great honor of donating” a refugee camp that Italy does not want for itself, badly trampling on the Albanian state. In fact, this general, defender of our border, deserves the bowing.
