Battle of Deçiq


The Battle of Deçiq marked the beginning of the turning point for Albanian secession from Ottoman Empire.

Location and background

The battle took place in Grudë Deçiq, south of the town of Tuzi. Tuzi is the town center for the region of Malësia that lies within Montenegro, whereas the capital town for all of Malësia E Madhe is Koplik. Malësia is simply translated to "The Great Highlands", which is a well depicted name due to the rough mountainous terrain within this region. The region of Malësia is primarily of the Roman Catholic faith in the interior and has sizeable Muslim populations in the exterior. The tribesman of Malësia are known as Malësor, meaning Highlander.

The battle

The main portion of the battle took place between Tuzi and Koplik, where the Malësors went against thousands of Turks. Koplik is the largest town in Malësia, right across the border with Montenegro is Tuzi. As the fighting proceeded, both armies decided to move north into the town of Tuzi, where the battle ended.

Outcome

In 1913, at the Treaty of London, the powers of Europe decided to annex half the land of Malësia to Montenegro, wheres the rest remained in Albania. Tuzi, along with the tribes of half of Hoti, Grudë, Triesh, and Koja e Kuçit went to Montenegro. Kelmendi, the other half of Hoti, Kastrati, Shkreli, and the town of Koplik remained in Albania, but certain parts of Kelmendi such as Vusanje, Martinovići, Plav, Gusinje, went to Montenegro and Kosova, which is an independent state since 2008, was annexed to Serbia.

Notable warriors