Congress of Manastir

The participants of the congress were prominent figures of the cultural and political life from Albanian-inhabited territories in the Balkans, as well as throughout the Albanian diaspora.

There were fifty delegates, representing twenty-three Albanian-inhabited cities, towns, and cultural and patriotic associations of whom thirty-two had voting rights in the congress, and eighteen were observers.

[citation needed] Below is the list of the participants with the right to vote:[5] The speeches of the first two days with regard to the alphabet were general in character, and helped to create the atmosphere in which to carry out the serious work.

[6] On November 20, when the congress was coming to an end, Hodja Vildan, Fazil Pasha and Colonel Riza, three members of the Albanian community of Istanbul, arrived.

He denounced Sultan Abdul Hamid and defended the importance of unity among Albanians for self-determination and national spirit.

[8][9][10] The situation was also alarming for the Ottoman government, as the Albanians were the largest Muslim community in the European part of the empire, apart from the population of Istanbul.

[8] While the congress was progressing, members of the CUP in Tirana orchestrated a demonstration, criticising the adoption of a Latin-based alphabet to the local branch of the Union Association.

Talat Bey, the interior minister, claimed that the Albanian population supported the use of the Ottoman Turkish alphabet, and not a Latin-based one.

[10] Due to the alphabet matter and other Young Turk policies, relations among Albanian elites, nationalists, and Ottoman authorities broke down.