- Date of the event
- Place
- Stantërg — the Trepça mines, Prishtina
- Evidence status
- Evidence status: Documented. Supported by contemporaneous documents, institutional reports or independent studies that corroborate one another.
On 17 November 1988 Trepça miners marched towards Prishtina against the forced resignation of leaders Kaqusha Jashari and Azem Vllasi and against the planned constitutional changes. This began several days of mass peaceful protest.
UPI reported about 20,000 protesters marching through Prishtina on 17 November (an official media estimate) [1]; according to Ramet, some 100,000 Albanians marched in Prishtina on 18 November [2]. The sources read do not confirm the number of miners who marched or the length of the march.
Historical context
1981–1989
A decade that began with student protests and ended with the dismantling of autonomy: repression, rising nationalism and the mobilization of the miners and of Albanian society.
Read the chapter “From the 1981 demonstrations to the abolition of autonomy”Sources
- [1]Albanians march in support of their leaders. United Press International (UPI), 1988-11-17. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/11/17/Albanians-march-in-support-of-their-leaders/9569595746000/. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- [2]Sabrina P. Ramet. Nationalism and Federalism in Yugoslavia, 1962–1991. Indiana University Press, 1992. https://publish.iupress.indiana.edu/read/nationalism-and-federalism-in-yugoslavia-1962-1991/section/120b9dc9-8aaa-4af4-a31b-cac893f71b6a. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- [3]Zyra e Kryeministrit të Kosovës. The 35th anniversary of the great strike of the miners of Trepca is marked. 2024-02-20. https://kryeministri.rks-gov.net/en/blog/the-35th-anniversary-of-the-great-strike-of-the-miners-of-trepca-is-marked/. Accessed 2026-09-16.