In the seventh grade, after the expulsion of Albanians to Turkey began…I had a deskmate, Nazmije, I don’t remember her last name. When the letter came that she absolutely had to go to Turkey, it was an extremely heavy event which left such an impression that I will never forget it. Every time I remember it, somehow I get very emotional. All the people of Mitrovica would go out to the train station. It was the Belgrade–Skopje train. Because there had also been an agreement with Skopje, that they should go to Skopje where they were given some kind of papers, permits called vesika. Then Turkey accepted them and… that atmosphere was so heavy, that all the people cried. Those who were leaving cried, their relatives cried, the people cried. No one knew what kind of fate was awaiting them…That experience with that classmate was very hard… We went to the train to see them off, the crying and screaming went on. It was very sad. I don’t have any nostalgia for Turkey because our people suffered. They never opened schools, they didn’t let them speak the language…
Lirije Osmani was born on June 28, 1944 in Gjakova. After graduating from law school in 1967, she became a pioneering female prosecutor and judge, serving on the Supreme Court until 1986. During the 1990s she was a leading figure in the Council for Human Rights (KMDLNJ) and after the war she became the first female President of the Kosovo Bar Association and the Chair of the Kosovo Judicial Council, contributing to the drafting of the Constitution of Kosovo.