A talk was held in the city of Prizren in the south of Kosovo, in memory of the martyrs of the Yücel Organization, who sacrificed their lives for the Turkish cause and the defense of national and spiritual values 76 years ago in the former Yugoslavia.

The talk, organized in cooperation with Yunus Emre Institute (YEI), Türkiye's Embassy in Pristina and Human Rights and Freedoms (IHH) Humanitarian Relief Foundation, was held in the conference hall of Prizren YEI on February 27th, 2024.

Kosovo Regional Development Minister and Kosovo Democratic Turkish Party (KDTP) Chairman Fikrim Damka, Türkiye's Consul General in Prizren Celal Doğan, KDTP MPs Fidan Brina Jılta and Enis Kervan and YEI Kosovo Coordinator Ramazan Yılmaz, as well as representatives of Turkish institutions in the country and guests attended the talk where IHH Board of Trustees Member Osman Atalay and researcher-writer Eren Atala Eriş, author of the book "Yücelciler - Secret Turkish Organization in Yugoslavia"( Yücelciler - Yugoslavya'da Gizli Türk Teşkilatı) were  speakers.

In the talk, information was given about the Yücel Organization and the Yücel members who were executed by the regime of the period due to unfair and fictitious accusations.

On the other hand, with the participation of Türkiye's Ambassador in Pristina, Sabri Tunç Angılı, the "Yücelciler Corner" was opened at Faculty of Philology, Department of Turkish Language and Literature in Hasan Pristina University.

Yücel Organization

Muslim Turks living in Macedonia began to gather in 1937 to protect and preserve their national and spiritual values, customs and traditions.

While the organization was named "Yücel" in 1945, the chairmanship was assumed by Şuayb Aziz Efendi, who studied at the Ataullah Efendi Madrasa in Skopje and later went to Al-Azhar University in Egypt and studied in the fields of fiqh, theology, sufism and Western philosophy.

In efforts to eliminate all nationalist organizations in the former Yugoslavia, 16 people were arrested and tried in August 1947.

The court sentenced four members of the organization to death on January 25th, 1948. Şuayb Aziz, Adem Ali, Ali Abdurrahman and Nazmi Ömer were shot on February 27th, 1948. Others were sentenced to heavy prison sentences.