Over the course of the past two decades, the "Albanian Spring" that took place in 2001 left a real imprint on general developments in independence worldwide. The movement, which began in Kosovo, jumped over to Macedonia after three years. Those who at the time perceived this movement as mere clashes in Macedonia, were unable to see that it was in fact opening the way towards the democratization of Macedonian society.

Albanian leaders, who did not join in the official celebrations on Aug. 8, 2011, sent this clear message: Since Macedonia has not taken all the democratic steps set out by the Ohrid Framework Agreement, we will not be joining you. The Albanian leaders did however relay to their congratulations to their Macedonian counterparts. An invitation for Turkey to attend Macedonia's celebrations at the very highest levels, as a result of the Turkish Republic's having been the first country to recognize the Macedonian Republic constitutionally, would have been viewed as paying back a sort of spiritual loan. At the very least, even if the Macedonian authorities did not carry out this courtesy, they should have been able to guess that an act like this would have been to the benefit of Macedonia. But the fact is, authorities at the Macedonian Foreign Affairs Ministry are clearly unable to see or perceive the extent to which Turkey's star is shining on an international level.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's recent visits to the three countries in which the "Arab Spring" has produced concrete results have managed to place Turkey right at the center of global discussion, as well as bringing even more overlap to the Turkish and world agendas. The comparative superiority of the results of Erdoğan's visits to Somalia, Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya have made themselves felt in the meetings, agendas, and back corridors of the UN. In brief, Turkey has truly managed to arrange its own agenda in a manner that makes it possible to extract results from UN meetings.

At the same time, it is quite clear that Turkey in particular could take interesting and dynamic steps in the region on the question of the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece. Regional and global actors in the Macedonia problem have always gotten stuck between the status quo and change. It is also clear that the Macedonian authorities, who do not see the situation this way, are having trouble perceiving just what it is that Turkey could do as both a regional and global actor. The Prime Minister's upcoming visit to Macedonia must be perceived as an opportunity for Macedonia's foreign politics, and in fact, Macedonian-Turkish relations must be put on display for the economically-stuck Greece to consider.

Looking at the parameters of Macedonian-Turkish relations

In the coming years, we will be able to see the true political, scientific, and cultural parameters of Macedonian-Turkish relations over the past 20 years since Macedonian independence. But before considering this, one must take a step backward and ask questions such as: "What is Macedonia?", "Does Muslim society play a role in Macedonia?", "What does Macedonia mean for Turkey?" and "What is Macedonia's perception of Islam?"

A collective debate in Macedonia, led by Muslim academics or political elites, on the above questions would rescue us from the classic quandaries of "Macedonia is on the right road," or "To what degree are Turkish-Macedonian relations necessary?" In particular, a debate like this would bring clarity to our understanding of the Albanians, the Turks, and other Muslim ethnic groups within the framework of relations between these two countries.

It would perhaps be fitting to ask some simple questions: what does the same Macedonia, which has appeared on our agenda since 1903 in the context of "the Macedonian reform period" or the "Macedonian problem," represent to us today? Starting from the year Skopje was conquered in 1392, going all the way up to 1913, and considering all the various conflicts in Macedonian history, which Macedonia does today's Turkey address? And which Turkey does the Muslim population in Macedonia, which in the wake of 1913 has always been representative of a great civilization, turn toward? Are we talking about a group of people we can call "us" within Macedonia, a country which encouraged immigration from eastern and western Macedonia to the Turkish Republic after 1913? What is clear is that answering questions such as these is not going to be easy for anyone.

In the run-up to the Prime Minister's visit to Macedonia, there could well be debates over whether the realities in Macedonia now allow for relations between the two countries to sit on a firm foundation. The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization -- Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VRMO DPMNE), in power in Macedonia nowadays, is putting more and more local pressure on the Macedonian population. Macedonian nationalism, which is on the rise from day to day, is heading towards forcing the Macedonian administration to lose power in international relations. From an ethnic mix perspective, this tiny country, which declared its independence from Yugoslavia 20 years ago, is actually no different from the former Yugoslavia. Ethnically speaking, there are Macedonians, Albanians, Turks, Serbs, Bosnians, Bulgarians, and Roma living in Macedonia, and for these groups to simply support Macedonian nationalism is not enough to assist the stability of the country.

Incorrect stances by administration

The taking of sides by the current Macedonian administration in arguments over naming of busts in the capital of Skopje, or the re-naming of the Vardar Bridge as the "Justinian Bridge," or the construction of a church inside the Skopje Turkish Castle, does not help lend energy to Macedonian-Turkish relations today. The incorrect stances adopted by the official administration in opposition to the Ottoman culture that has existed in Macedonia since 1392 will be displayed to Turkish authorities only with some faintheartedness. And as for the two sides of Skopje, which is divided ethnically as well as by the river Vardar, one flourishes, and the other is left behind, and this can all be viewed openly and internationally. Those city residents left on the side that is not flourishing are given some hope these days by the upcoming visit to their country by Prime Minister Erdoğan, and the possible steps that could be taken by the Turkish Republic in all this.

When talking about Macedonia and the civilization that it represents, packaged answers based on larger generalizations really do not work to describe the situation. It is possible to go one step further here and say the following: One cannot consider the journey Macedonia has taken to get to its current state as the Macedonian Republic without considering its historical links to Islam. When saying this, I am not only referring to more recent eras in Macedonian history, or to some factors that have emerged in the democratic period the country has recently seen. Here is an example of what I am trying to explain: During the period when the Saint Erasmus Church was built in the courtyard of a physical therapy hospital in Ohrid (under the administration of VMRO DPMNE), the mere suggestion of building a small mescid for prayers next to that church is unthinkable. During a democratic era, when all sorts of diverse spots in the Macedonian mountains are decked out in crosses, even just the thought of placing a Muslim symbol at the top of one of these hills would be seen as a crime. The message, ringing out from the high peaks of Skopje's Vodno, is "Skopje is ours, forget about the Skopje described by Evliya Çelebi."

There are some very modest expectations held by those Macedonians currently under so much pressure. Some of these include the idea that the Prime Minister will be accompanied on his visit by some of the same types of business figures that went with him on his trips to Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. There is also the hope that investments will be made in regions such as Skopje, Üsküp, Kalkandelen, Gostivar, Debre, Ohri, and Struga, and that work at Skopje's Balkan University will bring it up to the level of similar universities in Turkey. There is also a wish to see companies of Turkish origin participate in bidding tenders in Macedonia. All of these scenarios and possibilities provide hope for a part of Macedonian society which has basically been neglected since 1913. Only in this way will the migrations encouraged from Macedonia to Turkey be stopped, and thus will the faithful Ottoman descendants living in the Macedonian plains be successful in shaping the political, scholarly, and cultural parameters of their lives. Any steps Turkey takes on these fronts in a Macedonian Republic headed for EU membership over the next few years will be advantageous not only for Turkey, but also for the Muslim population of Macedonia. It is also clear that this is the only way in which the Albanian political elite will be pushed to see that their choices have been wrong thus far, and that Turkey will be propelled into the position of a strong and right regional actor. Despite the fact that it is clear to all that the policies implemented by the Albanian political elite are not headed in a fruitful direction, the people of the region remain stuck between legitimate demands and needs, and between the status quo and change. For the needed change to come from Turkey, a regional and global figure of importance, would put Turkey in not only a legitimate, but also a very appropriate and correct, place.

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*Dr. Muhammad Aruci is an Albanian intellectual and author.