Vranje was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1878 , when the town was liberated by the Serbian army commanded by Jovan Belimarković . During the Serbian – Ottoman War ( 1876 – 1878 ) most of the Muslim population of Vranje fled to the Ottoman vilayet of Kosovo while a smaller number left after the conflict . The city entered the Principality of Serbia , with little more than 8,000 inhabitants at that time . The only Muslim population permitted to remain after the war in the town were Serbian speaking Muslim Romani of whom in 1910 numbered 6,089 in Vranje . Up until the end of the Balkan Wars Vranje had a special position and role , as the transmissive station of Serbian state political and cultural influence on Macedonia
fled
Expulsion of the Albanians 1877–1878
Vranje