Filipche on Karpalak: 25 years on, peace is defended through responsibility, not through division
On the 25th anniversary of the ambush in which ten reservists from Prilep were killed, the SDSM leader said Karpalak must not be merely a date on the calendar.
Twenty-five years after the ambush at Karpalak, in which ten reservists of the Macedonian Army from Prilep were killed on 8 August 2001, SDSM leader Venko Filipche marked the anniversary with a message that revived the debate about the meaning of remembrance. "Karpalak must not be merely a date on the calendar," Filipche wrote, framing the anniversary as an obligation rather than a ritual.
In his post he first addressed the fallen and their families. "Today, on 8 August, we remember and pay tribute to the defenders who fell at Karpalak," Filipche wrote, recalling that "25 years ago these young men laid down their lives fulfilling their duty to their homeland". Their sacrifice, as he put it, remains part of the nation's collective memory and obligation: "We remember with respect. We bow to them with dignity."
The strongest part of the message is the political conclusion Filipche draws from 2001. "Karpalak is a reminder that peace and stability are defended through responsibility, not through division," the SDSM leader wrote, adding that "the future of Macedonia is built together, without fear and without hatred". He closed the post with "Eternal glory to them" and "Respect to their families".
The anniversary was also marked institutionally today. A delegation of the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff of the Army laid flowers at the memorial plaque at the Karpalak site on the Tetovo—Skopje motorway, and flowers were also laid at the memorial to the Macedonian defenders in the centre of Prilep, where most of the fallen had lived.
The ambush of 8 August 2001 claimed the lives of Sasho Kitanoski, Nane Naumoski, Branko Sekuloski, Marko Despotoski, Erdovan Shabanoski, Ljube Grujoski, Darko Veljanoski, Vebi Rushitoski, Goran Minoski and Pece Sekuloski — all reservists from the Prilep contingent, most of them under thirty.
The date is not linked to only one ambush. Stojanche Angelov, director of the Protection and Rescue Directorate, recalled today the two ambushes at Karpalak: the first against members of the "Tigers" police unit, and the second, on 8 August 2001, against the convoy of army reservists.
The call for "responsibility instead of division" carries additional weight given what has happened to the memorial site itself. The plaque at Karpalak has repeatedly been damaged and removed, most often immediately after the anniversary commemorations, which each August revives the same debate — whether the state is capable of protecting its own memory.
Photo: Sloboden Pecat
