Sulë Hotla

Sulë Hotla (born Sulejman Asip Sulejmani; 1875 – 11 October 1947), was an Albanian rebel, Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization member and a military leader of Balli Kombëtar, who led the Karadak-Gollak Uprising against Yugoslav and Macedonian Partisans in the Kumanovo Karadak region.

Biography Early years Sulë Hotla was born in 1875, in the village of Otlja in the Kaza of Kumanovo of the Ottoman Empire.

First Balkan War During the First Balkan War, Hotla fought alongside Idriz Seferi in his Uprising in Karadak and in the Battle of Kumanovo against Serbian forces.

World War I In 1916, during the Bulgarian occupation of Kumanovo during the First World War, he joined the VMRO detachment, led by Krastyo Lazarov, to protect the Albanian population from Serbian Chetnik formations. A large meeting of Albanian nationalist leaders was held in Sharr, which was attended by Hotla, as well as Xhem Gostivari, Gajur Derala, Mullah Idriz Gjilani and others. At the meeting, it was decided to create a volunteer army for the defense of Albanian lands. Xhem Gostivari was elected commander of the Balli Kombëtar forces in Sharr, while Hotla was appointed as the commander in Karadak.

During the Kumanovo Operation Hotla's units took part in the battles for Skopje. From September to mid-November, the Albanian forces, numbering about 3,600 soldiers, managed to repel all military attacks of the 16th and 17th brigades of the Kumanovo Partisan Division. In the second half of November and December 1944, the communist units managed to push the Ballist Forces out of Karadak.

Sulë Hotla was captured by the Yugoslav secret service, while trying to cross into Greece. He was executed on 11 October 1947. All his properties in Otlja, Lopate and Nikushtak were confiscated.