Two of the brightest minds among Albanians, the genius of Albanian literature, Ismail Kadare, and the renowned academician Rexhep Qosja, engaged in a heated long-distance polemic over the European identity of Albanians. The debate lasted more than two years, involved other intellectuals, and much later ended with a reconciliation between them. Ismail Kadare championed the thesis that Albanians should overcome the five centuries under Ottoman rule and return as princes of Europe, to the DNA of Skanderbeg. Rexhep Qosja countered by defending Albanian Muslims, who, according to him, were just as Albanian and just as European as the Christians embraced by Kadare. "Like a blind bird, an Albanian delegation flew by plane to Jeddah, a flight after which Albania woke up in the Islamic League. The expensive hotels of Dubai, accompanied perhaps by costly gifts, were also quite tempting for the left," Ismail Kadare declared. In response to Kadare, the academician from Kosovo cultivated another thesis while writing his essay 'National Identity and Religious Consciousness.' "Albanians belong to the Islamic civilization no less than to the Christian civilization," Rexhep Qosja declared. The academician did not hold back, calling Kadare's theses racist. "Ismail Kadare's challenge is based on false premises: in an attempt to prove, on one hand, the cultural contradictions between Europe and the Muslim East, and on the other hand, the superiority of European identity over other identities, primarily over Muslim identity! And this superiority is racist superiority," Qosja declared. Kadare accused Qosja of dividing the "European identity" of Albanians into "Muslim identity" and "Christian identity." And this division, to Kadare, resembled a familiar, often-heard, and dangerous tune. "Such confusions, on the threshold of approaching the gates of Europe, before being comical, are deeply tragic. As such, they require a clear, serious, and why not, decisive response. In such cases, the main principle is that a people is what it is and needs neither decorative powder nor contemptuous soot," Kadare declared. Years later, Qosja and Kadare ended their polemic. In a speech on the 90th birthday of the genius of Albanian literature, academician Kadare wrote: "Our most famous polemic was related to the issue of Albanian identity. They were different opinions, different arguments, different perspectives on the same fundamental issue. These disagreements were not personal; they were intellectual and cultural. However, as sometimes happens in human life, they also left consequences on our personal relationship. Our society faded, and our paths, unfortunately, never crossed again." / Top Channel