On September 5, 1878, Riza Bey approached the house of Abdullah Pasha and gave him a 24-hour ultimatum to leave the area and get back to Istanbul.
[3] Between 1885 and 1886, he got into a feud with Bajram Curri that lasted for a decade and was only ended through an envoy sent by the sultan who conferred upon each man a military command and rank with Riza Bey becoming a major of the gendarmerie in Shkodër.
[4] In November 1897, a rebellion led by Riza Bey and Haxhi Zeka occurred in Kosovo aiming to reduce taxes and for the allowance of Albanian schools.
[7] During the 1912 uprising, while waiting for an Ottoman response to the demands of the rebels, Riza Bey and other leaders of the rebellion ordered their forces to advance toward Üsküb (modern Skopje) which was captured during August 12–15.
[8] On August 18, the moderate faction led by Prishtina managed to convince Riza Bey, and other leaders Idriz Seferi, Bajram Curri and Isa Boletini of the conservative group to accept the agreement with the Ottomans for Albanian sociopolitical and cultural rights.