by Ganka SAMOILOVSKA-CVETANOVA, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia
In Macedonia, in the land where the idea of a universal state in Europe started, in the land from which the pan-European moral model - Christianity - spread to the rest of Europe, the church in Lesok was destroyed (mined), the old mosque in Prilep was burnt down and the "Sarena Dzamija" (colorful mosque) and "Arabati Baba Tekje" in Tetovo were severely damaged. We are left poorer by the loss of the erased frescos in the church of St. Mary in the monastery of the village of Matejce, frescos of immeasurable value, dating from the 14th century. The destruction of the giant sculptures of Buddha in Afghanistan, 1400 years old, and the destruction of the buildings of the WTC in the heart of Manhattan, which were a symbol of modern architecture, proves that the evil and destruction of cultural monuments of the highest rank - cultural treasure - is becoming a world trend.
The question remains why cultural monuments, a symbol of the worthiest achievements of civilization, are a target of the terrorist attacks and destruction? What are the motives? During the armed actions, which are still shaking the Republic of Macedonia, four basic motives for the destruction of cultural monuments can be clearly identified.
The destruction of the Lesok monastery was one of the most critical and emotional moments during the military actions in Macedonia. The Macedonian, but also the world public, were shocked by the act of the destruction of the church but it remained unclear why the terrorists targeted the monastery of Lesok and why they did so on the territory already occupied by the terrorists and the "freedom fighters". There was no military-strategic excuse for the destruction of the monastery. This act can only be compared with the massacre at Vejce and the necrofiliac mutilation of the already dead bodies of the police officers. The purpose and motive of these Plutonian otherworldly actions, as was soon witnessed, was to cause the exodus of the Macedonian Christian Orthodox population and to erase its collective memory. By deleting the traces of its spiritual and actual existence which lasted many centuries, a foreign history, tradition and culture was to be implanted and then used to falsely "prove" a desired centuries-old presence of another ethnic group in these areas. The terrorist attempt to present the old church in the monastery complex to the foreign observers as a work of "indigenous Christian Orthodox Albanians, dating from the 14th century" should be seen in this context.
The act of burning down the "Carsi" mosque in Prilep is another act that cannot be justified. But the motive for this vandalism was essentially different from the destruction of the monastery of Lesok. This was the reaction of a local population to the massacre of the local soldiers on the Skopje-Tetovo road in a terrorist action. The absurdity of this act is supported by the fact that this was not a mosque in which Albanians believers prayed, but a sanctuary of the Muslim Roma, such as the Roma soldiers, which were among the ones killed in the massacre. The massacre of their relatives caused the irrational bewilderment of the raging crowd, which sought and unfortunately found the object at which they directed their rage.
And who can control a crowd that is under a wave of negative emotions and anger? Such legitimate, yet irrational and unjustified anger, was seen right after the terrorist attacks of the United States of America, when, in response of the attacks, a lot of mosques and innocent American Muslims were attacked.
The third characteristic case of damage inflicted on a cultural monument is the desecration of the frescos in the monastery of Holy Mother of God in Matejce. The frescos, which presented one of the most wonderful examples of Byzantine court painting, were defiled in the most bizarre of ways, by "painting of motifs from urban culture" over them. The motive for the act of desecration is the need to destroy and degrade symbols of the ancient tradition of another ethnic group. Even more shocking for us is the attempt to hide what was already done by the terrorists in which, with active participation of NATO "experts", many frescos were irretrievably damaged. As an excuse for these destructive acts the NLA offered the accusation that our security forces destroyed a lot of mosques. As a proof, NATO presented a phantom list of destroyed or damaged mosques (I wonder why there is no such a list of Christian temples whose fate is still unknown to us, because they're situated in the occupied Macedonian territories?).
Some mosques were damaged and destroyed in military actions. Those mosques whose destruction is blamed on the Macedonian security forces were built recently, some even built unlawfully, and do not have the status of cultural monuments (according to the Law for protection of cultural monuments) - which doesn't degrade their religious and spiritual meaning.
Why exactly were these mosques destroyed by our security forces?
The answer is simple. Because they were military strongholds of the terrorist NLA, from where they shot at out forces. This was a direct threat to the lives of the members of our security forces, who not only have the legitimate right, but they also have constitutional obligation to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Macedonia.
The use of the religious objects for military purposes shows the true nature of the terrorists, their lack of respect for their own religion, as well as for the sacred sites of the people, for whose "rights" the terrorists are fighting. Only a few months ago these sacred sites were used by their people for uttering of their most intimate prayers, wishes and fears. This just might be the answer to the question why they are ready to abuse already dead bodies, destroy religious sites with no military logic, other than the logic of the already seen ethnic cleansing which was promoted on the Balkans.
In response to all this destruction in Macedonia, regardless of the motives, I'll end with a quote from the Bible, from Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans: "Be kind to another with brotherly love, compete in respecting each other".