Born in the oldTopaana- mahalla in
Skopje, Abdi became one of the first Roma, in former Yugoslavia, to attend
university and was one of the founders of Phralipe, in 1948. Although a
cultural association, it worked covertly for Roma civil rights.
He was a Member of
Parliament in the Macedonian Parliament, from 1969 to 1974 and attended
the First World Romani Congress in 1971, as an official Yugoslav
representative. He fell out with the Yugoslavian government and was deprived of
his passport, to prevent him from going to international meetings.
He later formed the
Roma Emancipation Party and returned to Parliament after 1989 but lost his seat
in 1998. One of the earliest Roma parliamentarians in Europe, he was widely
respected even by his opponents.
The last interview with Zoran Dimov president of IRU:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRihAI7GiXY