Ebru Süleyman (1990), consultant, Pristina
Ebru Süleyman: My name is Ebru Süleyman, I’m 27 years old.
Aurela Kadriu: Do you remember the summer of 2007?
Ebru Süleyman: Yes, I remember it, because it was the last summer that we spent at the old house, the place where I grew up. And I remember that it was very hot or maybe that’s how it felt to me because we hadn’t gone to the seaside that year. Like that, I spent it in the garden, on the hammock.
Aurela Kadriu: When did you first understand, first heard that Kosovo will declare its independence?
Ebru Süleyman: I first heard it just days before the declaration. Few days before. People were speaking about it, that something like this is going to happen. I was hearing it at home, outside. Was it going to happen or not, things like this. But I heard about it just days before for the first time.
Aurela Kadriu: Where were you on independence day?
Ebru Süleyman: I was at home.
Aurela Kadriu: Can you tell us what you did, how you celebrated it, where did you celebrate it?
Ebru Süleyman: I was at home but we didn’t celebrate, because… I remember watching it on television, the declaration, it showed the parliament, Hashim Thaqi read the declaration, everyone applauded and stood up and we were declared independent. But on one side, perhaps because I had never felt that nationalism or states or borders represented anything important to me, and perhaps because people seemed to be on edge at the time, it didn’t have… a relaxed atmosphere didn’t exist. There was a bit of a turmoil, some uneasiness in the air and it wasn’t leading anyone in the direction that you could clearly feel what will happen after this declaration. And for me it’s more important to know what’s going to happen with my life and with the lives of people around me whom I care about, than nationalist stuff. But… I can say that I only followed it perhaps with a bit of anxiety and that’s it. But I didn’t celebrate it.
Ebru Süleyman: Where were you at 3:50PM when the independence was declared, did you watch it on television or later?
Ebru Süleyman: I don’t exactly remember. But I know that I watched it on television, though I do not remember whether I watched it as the declaration was just happening or at a later time, but I watched it on television.
Aurela Kadriu: Thank you very much.
Ebru Süleyman: Thank you.