Cham Albanians
Encyclopedia
Cham Albanians, or Chams , are a sub-group of Albanians
who originally resided in the coastal region of Epirus
in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria
. The Chams have their own peculiar cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many specifically Cham elements. Chams played an important role in starting the renaissance of the Albanian culture in the 19th century. The Chams speak their own dialect
of the Albanian language
, which is considered one of the two most conservative dialects, the other being Arvanitika
.
Following the Italian occupation of Albania
in 1939, the Chams became a prominent propaganda tool for the Italians
and irredentist elements among them became more vocal. As a result, on the eve of the Greco-Italian War
, the adult male Cham population was deported by the Greek authorities to internment camps. After the occupation of Greece, large parts of the Muslim Cham population collaborated with Italian and German
forces. This fueled resentment among the local Greek population and in the aftermath of World War II the entire Muslim Cham population had to flee to Albania
. Most Chams settled in Albania, while others formed émigré
communities in Turkey and the United States, and today their descendants continue to live in these countries. Since the fall of Communism in Albania
, Chams have campaigned for right of return
to Greece and restoration of confiscated properties.
Thyamis (Θύαμις in Greek, Kallamas in Albanian), or simply from the fact that as the descendents of Muslim converts the Chams came to be referred to by Greek Orthodox Christians as 'those who attend mosques (Turkish sing. cami = Greek tzami )'. In its original ethnographic and dialectological sense, the term Cham comprises the entire Albanian-speaking population of the Thesprotia
and Preveza prefecture
s of Greek Epirus, including both the Muslim and Christian populations.
Chams account for the greatest part of the erstwhile substantial Albanian minority in the wider area of the region of Epirus
; outside "Chameria" proper, there are only two Albanian-speaking villages further north-east (near Konitsa
in Ioannina prefecture
), whose inhabitants belong to a different Albanian subgroup, that of the Labs. Today, in the Greek context the use of the term has become largely associated with the former Muslim minority.
In Greece, Muslim Chams were referred to by a number of names by different authors. They were called Albanochams (Αλβανοτσάμηδες, Alvanotsamides), and Turkalbanians
(Τουρκαλβανοί, Tourkalvanoi) or Turkochams (Τουρκοτσάμηδες, Tourkotsamides).
At the same time, the Albanian speaking population in Thesprotia, who is very rarely characterized as Christian Chams, is often referred by Greeks as Arvanites
(Αρβανίτες), which primarily refers to the Albanophone Greeks of southern Greece but is commonly used as for all Albanian-speaking Greek citizens. The local Greek population also calls them Graeco-Chams (Ελληνοτσάμηδες, Elinotsamides), while Muslim Albanians sometimes designate them as Kaur
, which means "infidel" and refers to their religion. This term was used by Muslim Albanians for the non-Muslims during the Ottoman Empire. Orthodox Chams use the appellation "Albanians" (Shqiptar in Albanian) for themselves. Chams in Turkey are known by the name Arnauts (Arnavutlar), which applies to all ethnic Albanians in Turkey.
Chameria is the name applied by the Albanians to the region formerly inhabited by the Chams, which extends from the Ionian
coast to the Ioannina
mountains in the east, and in the south almost as far as the Preveza
gulf. This area corresponds to a few villages in the southern part of the Saranda district in Albania (the municipalities
of Konispol
, Xarrë
and Markat
) and to the prefectures of Thesprotia
and Preveza
in Greece. This area is part of the larger region of Epirus.
Much of the region is mountainous. Valley farmlands are located the central, southern and the western part of Thesprotia, while the terrain of the Preveza Prefecture is mostly hilly. There are two rivers in the region: the Thyamis and Acheron
.
The main settlements in which Chams originally resided were: Paramythia
, Filiates
, Igoumenitsa
, Parapotamos
, Sybota
,Sagiada
, Perdika
, and Margariti
. Preveza and Ioannina also had significant Cham Albanian communities. The Orthodox Chams originally resided in Fanari
, Louros
and Thesprotiko
.
, Durrës
and Tirana
. Several hundred Chams moved into properties along the Himara coast and to existing villages along the coast such as Borshi, or established entirely new villages, such as Vrina
, near the Greek border.
of 1923. They have populated the areas of Erenköy
and Kartal
in Istanbul
, as well as a number of towns in the area of Bursa, especially Mudanya
. After the Second World War, others settled in Izmir
, Gemlik
and Aydin
. After 1944, another part migrated to the United States of America, where they were mainly concentrated in Chicago
, as well as Boston
and New York
.
The date of the first presence of Albanians in the region of Epirus
is unknown, due to a lack of historical documentation. According to one source, it must predate the 12th century. However, in 1258 when groups of Albanians around Dyrrachion (Durrës
) were allied with the Despot of Epirus, Michael II Doukas, there is no evidence of Albanians in Epirus.
Elements of the Albanian population began, in the late 13th and early 14th century, for various reasons, to emigrate to Epirus. In the first decade of the 14th century, some Albanian clans were reported in Epirus and Thessaly
, mainly hired as mercenaries from the Byzantines. A major migration occurred in the 1340s and 1350s when Albanian tribesmen supported the successful Serbian campaign against Byzantine
possessions the region. During this migration period, two short-lived Albanian entities were formed in Epirus: the Despotate of Arta
(1358–1416) and the Principality of Zenebishti
(1386–1411), while the area of Vagenetia (medieval name of Chameria/Thesprotia) was mainly under the control of Italian rulers: either Venetians
or the Despotes of Epirus based in Ioannina. This migration wave formed the basis of the Albanian populations in Greece: in Epirus, the evolution of a distinct dialect would eventually differentiate the Chams from their northern cousins, while those Albanians who settled in southern Greece would become the ancestors of the Arvanites
.
in the early 15th century. From the establishment of Ottoman rule until 1864, the region of Chameria was included in the Eyalet
of Rumelia
. It was divided between the sanjaks of Delvina
and Ioannina
, which were second order administrative divisions. After 1864, this territory was organized under the Vilayet of Yanya (Ioannina), which was further divided into the sanjaks of Ioannina, Preveza and Gjirokastra. Between 1787 and 1822, Ali Pasha
controlled the region, which was incorporated into his Pashalik of Yanina, a de facto independent state under only nominal Ottoman authority.
was widespread amongst Albanians. In central and southern Albania, by the end of the 17th century the urban centers had largely adopted Islam. The growth of an Albanian Muslim elite of Ottoman officials, like pasha
s and bey
s, such as the Köprülü family, who played an increasingly important role in Ottoman political and economic life, further strengthened this trend. In northern Chameria the vast majority became Muslims, while south of Acheron and down to Preveza, Albanians remained Orthodox. Muslim Chams were mostly followers of the Bektashi
order, especially after the 18th century, when the Bektashis made considerable gains in influence in the rugged areas of southern Albania and northern Greece.
The process of Islamization of the Chams started in the 16th century, but it reached major proportions only in the 18th and 19th centuries. According to the population census (defter) of 1538, the population of the region was almost entirely Orthodox, with only a minority, estimated less than 5 per cent, having converted to Islam. The main instigator for the beginning of mass conversions in the region were the draconian measures adopted by the Ottomans after the two failed revolts of the Greek monk Dionysius the Philosopher
as well as a number of Muslim local farmers, against the Ottomans. In their wake, the Ottoman pashas tripled the taxes owed by the non-Muslim population, as they regarded the Orthodox element a continuous threat of future revolts. Another reason for conversion was the absence of liturgical ceremonies in Chameria, especially in the northern part of the region. According to the French historian Fernand Braudel
, in the wider region of what today is Southern Albania and Northwestern Greece, "it lacked the church discipline; in the churches was not performed any religious ceremony, what meant that Christianity did not have deep roots there". This combination resulted in the first wave of conversions in the beginning of the 18th century, by a number of poor farmers. At this time Muslims became the majority in a few villages like Kotsika, near Sagiada. During the entire 18th century, Muslims were still a minority among the Albanian population of the region, and became the majority only in the second half of 19th century. Estimates based on the defter of 1875 show that Muslim Chams had surpassed Orthodox Chams in numbers.
In a number of cases however, only one person, usually the oldest male member of the family, converted into Islam, in order not to pay taxes, while all other members remained Christians. As a result, historians argue that the Cham Albanians were either Christian or Crypto-Christian
as late as the first half of the 19th century. During the second half though the majority of Chams became fully islamized and Crypto-Christianity ceased to exist. As a result of the social structure of the Ottoman Empire, the Muslims of the region, the vast majority of whom were Albanians, being favored by the Ottoman authorities, were feuding with their Orthodox neighbors.
and not on ethnic groups, schools in Chameria, as elsewhere where Albanians lived, were conducted only in Turkish and Greek. Christian Albanians could attend Greek schools, and Muslim Albanians Turkish schools, but Albanian language schools were highly discouraged. The situation would change only during the National Renaissance of Albania, when a number of local Albanians would establish private, unrecognized Albanian-language schools. In 1870, the despot of Paramythia, Grygorios, translated the New Testament
into Albanian, as his followers could not understand well the Greek language. While, in 1879, the first Albanian school of the region was created in Sagiada by father Stathi Melani. At that time, the region was under the short-lived rule of the League of Prizren
.
Chams also played an important role in the National Renaissance of Albania (Rilindja Kombetare). Several Chams were heads of cultural clubs and patriotic organizations, which aimed at the establishment of an independent Albanian state. Amongst them, the most distinguished personalities during the last years before independence were Abedin Dino
, Osman Taka
and Thoma Çami
.
Abedin Dino was one of the founders of the League of Prizren
(1878) and one of the main contributors in the Albanian independence. He was appointed as the chief representative of the League of Prizren for Chameria, and established a local League branch in Ioannina. When the League was disbanded in 1881, he continued fighting against Ottoman forces in Albania. He was killed by the Ottoman army while on his way to participate in the formation of the League of Peja
.
Another leader of the Prizren League active at the same time was Osman Taka. When the League of Prizren was formed he was named as the head of the local branch in Preveza. When the Ottoman forces managed to seize the Preveza League in 1886, Osman Taka too was arrested, accused of treason, and sentenced to death. He was executed in Konispol in 1897.
Thoma Çami was one of the main contributors to the revival of Albanian culture during this period. He was a founder and the first chairman of the organization "Bashkimi", the best-known cultural club of the National Renaissance. He also wrote the first scholarly history book for Albanian schools, but died before the declaration of independence.
A large number of Cham delegates took part in the Assembly of Preveza
from 11 to 13 January 1879, aiming to halt the unification of Epirus with Greece, following the Congress of Berlin
. The Assembly was composed mainly from 200 Cham and Lab Albanian leaders, while in the last day of the meeting, it was completed with northern Albanian delegates reaching the town, making the total numbers of delegates 400. The decisions of the Assembly were to create three committees (political; military and diplomatic), so as to prevent the Ottoman Empire from ceding Epirus to Greece. The final demarcation of the border would be done in Preveza by the delegates of Greece and the Ottoman Empire, on 6 February 1897, while the delegates and a part of the population demonstrated against any move of this demarcation inside Epirus. At the end, the two forces reached a conclusion to include in Greece, only Arta
, leaving the rest of Epirus, under the Vilayet of Yanina of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1909 outlaw activity by Albanian bands was increasing in the region. On one incident in Filiates 15 Greek villagers were ambushed near the town by the band of Muharem Reshet, where one of the captured was burned alive
. When the First Balkan War
broke up the majority of Albanian intellectuals initially supported the Ottoman side. However, when the Ottoman defeat was imminent and before the arrival of the Greek army in the region, Muslim Cham and Lab armed units burned a number of Greek villages: 3 in the vicinity of Preveza (Tsouka, Glyky, Potamia), 4 in Thesprotia (Alpohori, Manoliasa, Keramitsa, Fortopia) as well as a number of villages in the regions of Ioannina, Sarande and Delvina. From these actions, many villagers managed to escape to the nearby island of Corfu.
Chams had their own delegates in the Vlora Congress of 1912, when Albanian Independence was proclaimed. Four representatives from Chameria and two representatives of Ioannina took part in the congress, and the six of them were in favor of Independence. They were Jakup Veseli
from Margariti, Kristo Meksi
and Aristidh Ruci
from Ioannina, Rexhep Demi
from Filiates, Veli Gërra
from Igoumenitsa, and Azis Tahir Ajdonati
from Paramythia.
of 1912-1913, an international boundary commission awarded the northern part
of the region of Epirus to the Principality of Albania
, and the southern part
to the Kingdom of Greece
, leaving Greek and Albanian minority areas on both sides of the border. Most of the areas inhabited by Chams, except for a few villages, were assigned to Greece.
After the incorporation of southern Epirus into Greece, Chams had the right to choose between Greek and Turkish nationality, under the 4th provision of the Athens peace treaty. It can be inferred that during the Interwar period the Muslim Cham community did not appear to have a clear-cut understanding of their national affiliation beyond their local religious affiliations. Chams were in fact divided amongst themselves as to where their loyalties lay. In the event, the Chams chose the Greek nationality instead of the Turkish. This convention gave special rights to religious minorities, but not to ethnic minorities, under the third provision.
In accordance with the Greek policy on minorities at the time, Orthodox Cham Albanians were counted together with Greeks, while the Muslim Chams were counted in the census as a religious minority. Although the Albanian government complained that Chams were discriminated against by the Greek authorities, there is little evidence of direct state persecution at this time.
During this period, the Muslim Cham beys lost the political power they enjoyed during Ottoman rule, but retained their economic influence. The Muslim portion of the population was under a sui generis
rule of the Greek authorities and the local muftis, who were recognized in these areas. In the region of Epirus there were the muftis of Ioannina, Paramythia, Filiates, Margariti, Igoumenitsa, Parga, Preveza, Sagiada and Thesprotiko.
In the december 1915 legislative elections, which were boycotted by the party led by Eleftherios Venizelos
, two of the three deputies of Epirus, were elected Muslim Chams: Ali Dino
and Musli Emin Ramiz.
At the conclusion of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), Greece and Turkey signed the Treaty of Lausanne
, according to which the Muslims of Greece would be exchanged
with the Orthodox Christians of Turkey, making a unique exception for the Muslims of western Thrace and the Orthodox Christian population of Istanbul. The treaty used religion as the indicator of national affiliation, thus including Muslim Cham Albanians in the population exchange.
Greek officials had two options. The first was to exchange Muslim Chams with Greeks from Turkey, under the population exchange. The second option was to exchange them with a community of the Greek minority in Albania
. They approached the Albanian government in 1923, but Albanian officials refused to consider the second scheme.
Muslim Chams were thus to become part of the Greek-Turkish population exchange, but the Albanian state asked for an exemption. The majority of the Muslim Cham community had no idea of their ethnic origin or preferences beyond that of their local religious affiliations and considered themselves simply Muslims.
After pressure by Italian and Albanian delegates which made a strong case that the Chams primarily self-identified as Albanian nationals (a dubious claim), Greece accepted in 1925, two years after the exchange had officially begun, that Muslim Chams were not subject to the exchange. The Greek minister in London, Kaklamanos, promised that "the compulsory exchange shall not be applicable to the Moslem [sic] subjects of Albanian origin". But Muslim Chams had to prove their ethnic origin in order to remain in Greece. According to the Greek decision, which was presented by Eleftherios Venizelos
to the local administration in Epirus, only those who were born in Albania or whose fathers were born in Albania could stay in Greece, thus excluding the genuine Chams of the Chameria region. On the other hand the Albanian state insisted that the Chams were forced to leave Greece because the Greek authorities were making life "unbearable" for them; but this was merely a ploy to distract world opinion and attention away from the harsh conditions endured by the Greek minority in Albania.
In the meantime, the Greek authorities did send a number of Cham Albanians to Turkey. According to the contemproary Greek political historian Athanasios Pallis, only 1,700 were exempted and the League of Nations estimated that 2,993 Muslim Chams were forced to leave for Turkey, even after their compulsory exchange was prohibited, by declaring themselves as Turks rather than Albanians. In Turkey, Cham Albanians were accommodated in Istanbul and Bursa. The majority of them were from Ioannina and outlying areas and Preveza. About 16,000 Greek refugees
from Asia Minor were settled in Epirus, mainly in the same areas.
During this period the Muslim Chams ranked among the biggest land-owners in Greece and there were no problems whatsoever in their relations with either the government or the Greek population. However, they owned vast tracts of land without the accompanying title-deeds. Under the Treaty of Lausanne some of this land was appropriated, on financial terms agreed to with the owners, to meet the needs of the landless refugees from Anatolia and Thrace who were settled in Epirus. This measure was applied across the board and there were no exceptions: as well as the Chams, Greek landowners and monasteries were also required to give up some of their property. The Chams, however, sought compensation not as Greek citizens, but under the terms providing compensation for certain West European nationals whose property had been appropriated. Both Greece and the League of Nations rejected the demand.
Four different laws were passed between 1923 and 1937 that expropriated the properties of Muslim Chams, while leaving those of the Orthodox Chams and the local Greeks intact. Official Greek policy was that properties belonging to either Muslim citizens in Greece, who were exempt from the exchange of populations, or to foreign citizens, be preferentially expropriated. Albanian reports to the League of Nations and the reply by the Greek government reveal that part of the bone of contention concerned the change in the status of the local Albanian landlords. In Ottoman times, the Albanian landlords received revenues from the neighboring villages. But the peasants refused to pay tribute after their land became part of the Greek state and in this case they expropriated from the Albanian overlords what they considered to be their property.
The first law was passed on 15 February 1923, expropriating the lands and second homes of Muslim Chams, in order to give it to Greek refugees and to landless Greek farmers. Compensation was set at below 1914 market price, and not 1923 values. On the other hand, the compensation for the homes would be given by 1923 value. Nevertheless, some Chams were never compensated. As a result of this policy, a number of petitions were addressed to the Ministry of Agriculture or to the officials of the Refugee Settlement Commission from Muslims of Albanian origin in Paramythia, Dragoumi, Filiates, and other parts of the region, but no answer was given. This law was reported even to the League of Nations, but in June 1928 the Albanian petition against Greece was turned down.
An unexpected turn in Chams' fate occurred when an Arvanite general, known for his pro-Albanian feelings, became prime minister of Greece. On June 24, 1925, a group of officers, fearing that the political instability was putting the country at risk, overthrew the government in a coup and their leader, Theodoros Pangalos
became the head of the dictatorial government. His main priorities in foreign relations were to establish good relations with Albania and to protect the rights of both minorities, Chams in Greece, and Greeks in Albania. For this reason he officially decided that the Albanians of Chameria would not be sent to Turkey after 1926, putting an end to the population exchange. He also decided that refugees from Asia Minor would not settle in Chameria, but rather in Western Thrace
, as was originally decided.
Pangalos was an Albanian-speaker, and declared himself proud of his half-Albanian identity. His priority in establishing good relations with Albania was soon materialized by four agreements between the two governments, among others addressing the confiscation of Cham properties before 1926, when Greek refugees from Asia Minor were settled in the region. This agreement stated that Chams would be compensated at least as much as foreign citizens or ethnic Greeks. In a public statement he also recognized that Chams were an ethnic minority and promised that Albanian schools would be opened in the region. But after a few months he was overthrown, and his pro-Cham policies were immediately abolished.
was restored as President of Greece
. Pangalos' actions had encouraged Albania to be more persistent in pursuing Cham claims. Pangalos' overthrow also meant a backtracking of Greece's official stance on the issue: discrimination against the Chams continued,
On the first elections on 1926, Cham Albanians created their own political party, called the Party of the Chameria founded by an eminent figure of that time, the famous Prevezan cartoonist Ali Dino
. It managed to gain 1,539 votes from the Preveza and Ioannina prefectures. In the subsequent elections, the party did not gain the support of the local Albanian population and Ali Dino ran under Farmer-Labor ticket, gaining only 67 votes in 1932.
In 1927, the Greek government abolished four of the nine Vakoufs
, the muftis of Parga, Preveza, Sagiada and Thesprotiko. Furthermore, beginning in 1927 with the publication of the relevant Presidential Decree, the Greek government implemented a policy depriving Muslim Chams and other minorities of their Greek citizenship if they would leave Greece. According to the 1927 decree, Greek citizens of non-ethnic Greek origin ("allogeneis") could lose their citizenship if they left the country. Such a practice is seen by scholars as a legal exclusion of Chams and other minorities from Greek society, since it made a distinction based on national affiliation, which was effectively set as a criterion above citizenship in Greek legal order.
In 1929, the League of Nations
asked Greece to open Albanian-language schools, since they had been officially recognized as an Albanian minority. The official position however of the then Greek prime minister, Eleftherios Venizelos, was that since the region had never had Albanian schools, even under the Ottoman Empire, this issue could not be compared with the rights demanded by the Greek minority in Albania.
Nevertheless, following pressure from the League of Nations and as a result of the agreements signed during Pangalos' regime, Greece officially announced the establishment of four bilingual primary schools in Filiates, Igoumenitsa, Paramythia and Sagiada. All these schools would be Greek, but Albanian would also be taught in the three first classes. An Albanian delegation led by the Albanian ambassador, Mid'hat Bey Frashëri
, asked the Greek government for 15 schools, with full teaching in Albanian, in the main towns and villages of Chameria, a request that was immediately rejected by Greek officials. After negotiations, the Albanian government accepted the Greek proposal and an agreement was signed in 1935 that would allow the Greeks of Albania to open new private schools in Himara and Korca, in exchange for the four bilingual schools in Chameria. But once again, the change of the Greek government with the coup d'état
of Ioannis Metaxas
made this agreement void.
At this time, the Greek government tried to resolve another core issue pertaining to the Cham Albanians, the property dispute. In 1928, the Venizelos government had withdrawn from the Greco-Albanian agreement, signed by Pangalos that would compensate Chams equally with other Greek citizens. Muslim Chams tried to regain their properties under the Law of 1926, which gave them the opportunity to dispute the confiscation of their properties before the courts. Following these actions, Greece passed two laws, in 1930 and 1931, which gave bigger compensations to the Muslim community, but not as much as to other Greek citizens. The first law doubled the promised compensation, and forced the state authorities to give 3/4 of the promised compensation, even if they appealed the decisions in the courts. The second law returned some of the lands that were not settled by Greeks to Cham Albanians. Both laws were implemented on a limited scale, because of the change of the Greek government and the establishment of the dictatorial Metaxas Regime.
During this period, a number of villages were renamed in the region. More than 100 village names were changed in Thesprotia, Preveza and Ioannina. Many other names had already been changed in 1913 when the region came under Greek sovereignty. Villages like Shëndiela in Preveza were translated into Greek Agia Kyriaki (Saint Kyriake), while other toponyms such as Ajdonati or Margëlliç had been immediately renamed with new Greek names (Paramythia and Margariti). The majority of villages and towns of the region got new names, mainly Greek ones, in 1928 and 1929. Another period of Hellenization
of toponyms occurred in the 1950s, when the remaining Albanian or Turkish names were finally renamed into Greek, with very few exceptions. Today, only a small number of Albanian toponyms, like Semeriza (from Albanian Shemërizë, meaning Saint Mary
), survive from Ottoman times.
In September 1930, the proposal for exchange of the Cham minority with the Greek minority of Albania was renewed, this time by the Albanian
government. King Zog of Albania
attempted to reach an agreement with the Greek government on the resolution of all differences between the two countries. The Albanian government believed that a voluntary population exchange of the two minorities would resolve a number of internal problems for both sides and improve Greek-Albanian relations. However, this proposal was rejected by the Greek side, who feared that Albania would forcibly evict its Greek minority from the country, making the exchange involuntary.
of Ioannis Metaxas, Prime Minister of Greece
from 1936 to 1941. The nationalistic character of his regime was imposed on all minorities in Greece. As with Slavic-speakers, Vlachs and Roma
, Albanian-speaking minorities were prohibited from using their own language outside home. Those who used Albanian words in school or in the army, were punished physically or humiliated. Such attitudes have led many parents to discourage their children from learning their mother tongue, so as to avoid similar discrimination and suffering. The Greek language was imposed in the schools and elders who had no knowledge of the language were forced to attend night-schools, in order to learn to read, write and even speak the Greek language.
, the Albanian Kingdom
had become a protectorate
of the Kingdom of Italy
. The Italians, especially governor Francesco Jacomoni, used the Cham issue as a means to rally Albanian support. Although in the event, Albanian enthusiasm for the "liberation of Chameria" was muted, Jacomoni sent repeated over-optimistic reports to Rome on Albanian support.
On June 1940 a Muslim Cham by the name of Daut Hoxha was found headless in the village of Vrina
in Southern Albania. Daut Hoxha was a notorious bandit killed in a fight over some sheep with two sheperds. Hoxha's death was used as the final excuse from fascist Italy in order to attack Greece. Italian propaganda officially described him as “an Albanian from Chameria animated by great patriotic spirit” murdered by Greek spies inside Albania, declaring the imminent liberation of Chameria. As the possibility of an Italian attack on Greece drew nearer, Jacomoni began arming Albanian irregular bands to use against Greece.
On the eve of the Greco-Italian War
, Greek authorities disarmed 1800 Cham conscripts and put them to work on local roads.
The Greco-Italian War
started with the Italian military forces
launching an invasion of Greece from Albanian territory. As Chams were used as a propaganda theme by Italians, the invasion force of Italy in Epirus was called "Ciamuria [sic] Army Corps". The invasion force included native Albanians, estimated at 2,000-3,500 strong, (among them Chams and Kosovars), in three volunteer battalions attached to the Italian army. Their performance however was distinctly lackluster, as most Albanians, poorly motivated, either deserted or defected. Indeed, the Italian commanders, including Mussolini, would later use the Albanians as scapegoats for the Italian failure. During October 28-November 14 while the Italian army made a short advance and briefly took brief control of part of Thesprotia, bands of Cham Albanians raided several villages and burned a number of towns, including Paramythia
and Filiates
.
In November, as the Greek counter-offensive managed to regain Thesprotia, the Greek authorities seized all Muslim Cham males not called up or with the Italians, and deported them to to island exile
. Until the invasion of Greece
by the German army
, the Muslim Cham population of the region of Chameria was composed of women, children and the elderly. The adult male Muslim Chams would be restored to their land only after fascist Italy gained control of the region. In 1941, Greece was occupied by German, Italian and Bulgarian
armies, who divided the country in three distinct occupation zones.
, 28 villages in the region were inhabited exclusively by Muslim Chams, and an additional 20 villages had mixed Greek-Cham populations. Fascist Italian
as well as Nazi German
propaganda promised that the region would be part of Great Albania after the end of the war. As a result of this pro-Albanian approach, large parts of the Muslim Cham population actively supported the Axis operations and committed a number of atrocities against the local population in Greece and Albania. Apart from the formation of a Nazi collaborationist local administration and armed battalions, a terrorist organization named Këshilla
and a paramilitary group called Balli Kombetar Cam were operating in the region, manned by local Muslim Chams. The results were devastating: many Greek as well as Albanian citizens lost their lives and a great number of villages were burned and destroyed. From 29 July-31 August 1943, a combined German and Cham force launched an anti-partisan sweep operation codenamed Augustus. During the subsequent operations, 600 Greek and 50 Albanian citizens were killed and 70 villages were destroyed. On September 27, combined Nazi-Cham forces launched large scale operation in burning and destroying villages north of Paramythia: Eleftherochori, Seliani, Semelika, Aghios Nikolaos, killing 50 Greek villagers in the process. In this operation the Cham contingent numbered 150 men, and, according to German Major Stöckert, "performed very well". In another incident, on 27 September, Cham militias arrested 53 Greek citizens in Paramythia and executed 49 of them
two days later. This action was orchestrated by the brothers Nuri and Mazar Dino (an officer of the Cham militia) in order to get rid of the town's Greek representatives and intellectuals. According to German reports, Cham militias were also part of the firing squad
. On September 30, the Swiss representative of the International Red Cross, Hans-Jakob Bickel, while visiting the area, concluded that Cham bands are completely out of control, terryfing and committing atrocities against the unarmed Greek population.
Collaborationist Cham bands were also active in southern Albania. German General and local commander Hubert Lanz
decided to initiate armed operations with the code name Horridoh in the region of Konispol
, in Albania. Albanian nationalist groups participated in these operations, among them a Cham battalion of ca. 1,000 men under the leadership of Nuri Dino. The death toll from these operations, which began on 1 January 1944 in the region of Konispol
, was 500 Albanians. However, according to British historian Mazower, it seems that, most of the local beys, the majority of whom were part of the nationalist resistance group Balli Kombëtar
(not to be confused with the collaborationist Balli Kombetar Çam) and the mufti did not support such actions.
was formed, named after a Cham Albanian who was killed in Vlora fighting against the Germans. At the time of its creation in 1944, it comprised a total of 460 men. However, the majority of the elites of the Cham community had become corrupted by the occupying forces and the atmosphere against the local Greeks who had suffered under Germans, Italians and Chams, led to an explosive polarization which would have constrained any motivation for joint Greek-Cham resistance.
, asked the Cham Albanians to join EDES in its fight against the Nazi occupational forces, but their response was negative. After that and in accordance to orders given specifically to EDES by the Allied forces to push them out of the area, fierce fighting occurred between the two sides. According to British reports, the Cham collaborationist bands managed to flee to Albania with all of their equipment, together with half million stolen cattle as well as 3,000 horses, leaving only the elderly members of the community behind. On 18 June 1944, EDES forces with Allied support launched an attack on Paramythia. After short-term conflict against a combined Cham-German garrison, the town was finally under Allied command. Soon after, violent reprisals were carried out against the town's Muslim community, which was considered responsible for the massacre of September 1943.
Moreover, two attacks took place in July and August with the participation of EDES Tenth Division and the local Greek peasants, eager to gain revenge for the burning of their own homes. According to Cham claims, which are not confirmed by British reports, the most infamous massacre of Albanian Muslims by Greek irregulars occurred on 27 June 1944 in the district of Paramithia, when this forces captured the town, killing approximately 600 Muslim Chams, men women and children, many having been raped and tortured before death. British
officers described it as "a most disgraceful affair involving an orgy of revenge with the local guerrillas looting and wantonly destroying everything". British Foreign Office reported that "The bishop of Paramythia joined in the searching of houses for booty and came out of one house to find his already heavily laden mule had been meanwhile stripped by some andartes". This day, was announced in Albania
in 1994 as The Day of Greek Chauvinist Genocide Against the Albanians of Chameria.
On the other hand Chris Woodhouse, the head of the Allied Military Mission in Greece during the Axis occupation, who was present in the area at the time, officially accepted the full responsibility of the decision for the expulsion of the Chams although he criticized the vendetta way in which this was carried out; including in his "Note on the Chams" military report of 16 October 1945 a brief description of the situation that led to the Paramythia events: "Chams are racially part Turk, part Albanian, part Greek. In 1941-3 they collaborated with Italians, making the organization of guerilla resistance in that area difficult. I never heard of any of them taking part in any resistance against enemy. Zervas encouraged by the Allied Mission under myself, chased them out of their homes in 1944 in order to facilitate operations against the enemy. They mostly took refuge in Albania, where they were not popular either. Their eviction from Greece was bloodily carried out, owing to the usual vendetta spirit, which was fed by many brutalities committed by the Chams in league with the Italians. Zervas' work was completed by an inexcusable massacre of Chams in Philliates in March 1945, carried out by remnants of Zervas' dissolved forces under Zotos. The Chams deserved what they got, but Zervas' methods were pretty bad - or rather, his subordinate officers got out of hand. The result has been in effect a shift of populations, removing an unwanted minority from Greek soil. Perhaps it would be best to leave things at that."(PRO/FO,371/48094)
region in late 1944 forcing EDES to leave in Corfu
.
As a result of the ELAS victory, in January - February 1945, about four to five thousand Albanians returned to their homes from Albania, mainly in the border areas of Filiates and Sagiada. But after the final defeat of ELAS during the battle of Athens and its capitulation (see Varkiza Agreement), EDES quickly regained control of the region, eager to take revenge for the Cham's participation in the attack against its forces. Led by a former Zerva's officer, Col. Zotos, a loose paramilitary
grouping of former EDES guerrillas and local men went on a rampage. In this second massacre, committed at the town of Filiates, on 13 March, some sixty to seventy Chams were killed. Many of the Cham villages were burned and the remaining inhabitants fled across the border into Albania.
The exact number of Cham Albanians that were expelled in Albania and Turkey, is unknown. Mark Mazower
and Victor Roudometof, state that they were about 18,000 in 1944 and 4 to 5 thousands in 1945. while Miranda Vickers says that they were 25,000 that fled into Albania. Chameria Association claims that Cham Albanians that left were 35,000, from whom, 28,000 left to Albania and the rest to Turkey. After the war, only 117 Muslim Cham Albanians were left in Greece.
. The Albanian state gave them homes in specific areas in the south of the country, so as to dilute the local Greek element in the region (known as Northern Epirus
to Greeks). In 1946, they formed a congress, where they adopted a memorandum
accusing Greece for their persecution, and asked the international community to react in order to return to their homeland and to receive reparations. The CAFC claimed that 28,000 Chams were evicted, 2,771 killed and 5,800 houses were looted and burned. During the Greek Civil War
(1946–1949), Albanian authorities recruited a number of the recently expelled Chams in order to support the communist side during the armed conflicts in Greece. It is claimed that the communist regime in Albania initially took a very distrustful view of the Cham community, regarding them as Italian Fascist sympathizers. Many of them were transferred further north, to Fieri
and Vlora.
The new post-war Communist government of Albania took the Cham issue to the Paris Peace Conference, demanding the repatriation of the Chams and the return of their property. The following month a delegation of the CAFC was sent to Athens to lodge a protest with the government of George Papandreou
. These demands were never answered. The United Nations Assembly in New York did however acknowledge the humanitarian crisis facing the refugees, and gave US$ 1.2 million via the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
(UNRRA), specifically for refugees from northern Greece. Meanwhile, in 1945–1946, a Greek Special Court on Collaborators found 2,109 Chams guilty of treason in absentia
and sentenced them to death, while their immovable property was confiscated by the Greek state. No war criminal of Cham origin has ever been brought to trial, however, as these had all managed to flee Greece in the aftermath World War II.
For those Chams of the Orthodox faith who remained in Greece after 1945, their Albanian identity was discouraged as part of a policy of assimilation. The demographic structure of northwestern Greece was meanwhile altered by the introduction of settlers, especially Vlachs
, from other parts of Greece.
In 1953, the Albanian government gave all Chams the Albanian citizenship and forced them to integrate into Albanian society. Despite this, many older Chams still regard themselves as refugees deprived of their Greek citizenship and claim the right to return to their property in Greece.
In 1994, Albania passed a law that declared the 27th of June, the anniversary of the Paramythia massacre of 1944, as the Day of Greek Chauvinist Genocide Against the Albanians of Chameria and built a memorial
at the town of Konispol. Albanians pay tribute to the victims every 27 June in Saranda and Konispol. This event is called the "Cham march" (Marshimi çam). In 2006, the biggest Cham March, with around 10,000 people participating, occurred at the Albanian-Greek border. The participants designated themselves as Greek citizens of Albanian ethnicity and expressed the desire for "a peaceful return to their homeland and to the graves of their forefathers"
In March 2004, the Institute of Cham Studies (ICS) was established with a board of 7 members. According to Miranda Vickers, the Institute’s primary aim is to attempt to “fill the huge gap in knowledge about the entire Cham issue”. In the same year, the Chams also created their own political party, the Party for Justice and Integration (PJI), in order to campaign in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
In 2005, a diplomatic incident occurred when the President of Greece, Karolos Papoulias
canceled his planned meeting with Albanian counterpart, Alfred Moisiu
, in Saranda, because 200 Chams were demonstrating about the Cham issue. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Albanian authorities did not take adequate measures in order to protect the Greek President "by deterring known extremist elements, who are trying to hinder the smooth development of Greek-Albanian relations". The Albanian president`s office stated that President Moisiu expressed "deep sorrow at this unexplainable decision, which was based upon misinformation, of the small, peaceful and well monitored demonstration".
Recently, a few Chams have managed to find their way back to their families' old homes, and have tried to rebuild them. At the same time, several hundred ethnic Greek minority families from Albania have settled in towns such as Filiates.
, Albanian speaking communities live along the border with Albania in Thesprotia prefecture, the northern part of the Preveza prefecture in the region called Thesprotiko, and a few villages in Ioannina prefecture
. Albanian is still spoken in the region and some of the older inhabitants are Albanian monolinguals. The language is spoken even by young people, because when the local working-age population migrate seeking a job in Athens, or abroad, the children are left with their grandparents, thus creating a continuity of speakers.
Today, the majority of these Orthodox Chams refer to themselves as Arvanites
in Greek (a Greek-identifying group of Albanian origin, living in southern Greece), but self-identify as Shqiptar in their own language, as do the Albanians of Albania. In contrast with Arvanites, some have retained, not only a distinct ethnic and linguistic identity, but also the Albanian national identity.
The exact number of Muslim Chams in Turkey is unknown, but various estimates conclude that they number between 80,000 to 100,000, from a total population of 500,000 to 1.3 million Albanians that live in Turkey. The Chameria Human Rights Association declares that most of them have been linguistically assimilated, although they maintain Albanian consciousness and regional Cham traditions. A considerable number of Chams in Turkey have changed their surnames to Cam or Cami, which in Turkish means pine, in order to preserve their origin. They are organized within the "Albanian-Turkish Brotherhood Association" , which fights for the rights of Albanians.
at the end of World War II, and the granting of minority rights. The Chams also demand the restoration of their properties, and reject a financial compensation. Greece on the other hand states that the expulsion of the Chams is a closed chapter in the relations between the two countries. However, Greece agreed to the creation of a bilateral commission, focused solely on the property issue as a technical problem. The commission was formally set up in 1999, but has not yet functioned.
During the 1990s, Albanian diplomacy used the Cham Issue as counter-issue against the one related with the Greek minority in Albania. Chams complain that Albania has not raised the Cham issue as much as it should. It was raised officially only during a visit to Athens of former Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta
at the end of 1999, during his meeting with his Greek counterpart, Kostas Simitis, but it received a negative response. After 2000, there was a growing feeling in Albania, since the Kosovo problem has been to an extend addressed, that the Albanian government should turn its attention to the Cham Issue. On the other hand, the fact that Greece is a member of the European Union and NATO, which Albania wishes to join, is one of the main factors why the Albanian government is reticent about the issue.
The Greek government on the other hand considers the Cham issue as a closed chapter. According to the Greek official position, the Chams would not be allowed to return to Greece because they have collaborated with the Italian-German invaders during the Second World War, and as such they are war criminals and are punished according to Greek laws. In an attempt to give a solution, in 1992 Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis proposed a trade-off in relation to their properties, only for the cases where their owners had certifiably not been convicted or participated in crimes against their fellow Greek citizens. Mitsotakis also proposed that the Albanian government likewise compensate ethnic Greeks who had lost properties due to alleged persecution during the communist regime in Albania. This proposal however was rejected by the Albanian side.
The "Cham Issue" is not been in the agenda of international organizations. Since 1991, delegates of the Cham community have begun an attempt to internationalize the "Cham Issue", but the only official support for this issue has come from Turkey. Meanwhile, in 2006, Members of the Party of Justice and Integration met European MEPs, including the chairwoman of Southwest Europe Committee on the European Parliament, Doris Pack
and introduced their concerns about the Cham Issue. Although this group of MEPs drafted a resolution about this issue, it was never put to a vote.
The Chams demand the restoration of the Greek citizenship as a first step towards solving the Cham issue. The restoration of the citizenship, rather that the regaining of the confiscated properties, is reported to be considered as the primary issue. They argue that the removal of their citizenship was a collective punishment, when even the Greek courts have charged only a minority of Chams for alleged crimes. They have demanded dual citizenship, a policy followed by Greece in the case of the Greek minority in Albania.
In the 1960s and 1970s an ad hoc
commission for the property alienation in Thesprotia gave by draw the rural properties to farmers with and without land, while homes and urban properties in Igoumenitsa, Paramithia, Margariti, Filiates, Perdika and Sybota were given to homeless people.
, then head of the opposition demanded more rights for the Cham minority in Greece, which includes cultural rights for Albanians living in Greece, such as the opening of an Albanian-language school in the town of Filiates.
and National Liberation Army
), in order to fuel the irredentist dreams of the descendants of the Chams. Moreover, there is a reported paramilitary formation in the northern Greek region of Epirus, called the Liberation Army of Chameria As of 2001, the Greek police reported that the group consisted of approximately 30-40 Albanians. It does not have the official support of the Albanian government.
Chams have created a number of organizations, such as political parties
, non-governmental associations and the Chameria Institute.
, as well as other organizations. Annually on June 27, the Cham March is organized in Konispol. This march is held to remember the expulsion of the Chams. One particularly disingenuous endeavor by the organization leaders has been to create unhistorical links in the public mind by presenting the ancient Greek King Pyrrhus of Epirus
(4th-3rd cent. B.C.) as an Albanian hero, thus revealing the extreme and irredentist aims of the association.
Chameria Human Rights Association (Shoqëria për të drejtat e Njeriut, Çamëria) is a Non Governmental Organization, based in Washington, DC, USA, which protects and lobbies for the rights of Chams.
It describes as its mission: the Right of Return
of Chams "to their homes in Greece and live there in peace and prosperity with their Greek brothers"; the Property Rights
; Other Legal Rights "ensuring to the Cham people all other legal and minority rights deriving from the Greek Constitution and Laws, the Treaties and laws of the European Union, and other rights originating from international treaties and conventions to which Greece is a party"; and the conservation and propagation of the rich history, culture, language, and other cultural aspects of the Cham people.
Another organization of Cham Albanians is based in The Hague
, Netherlands. The Democratic Foundation of Chameria (Fondacioni Demokratik Çamëria) was founded in 2006 and aims to resolve the Cham issue, internationalizing the question in peaceful ways. Every year it organizes protests outside the International Court of Justice
, where it intends to bring the Cham issue, if the governments of both countries will not find a solution.
The organization aims to resolve the Cham issue in three directions: "lawfully and peacefully drawing attention to the legal position, the living and working conditions of the inhabitants and former inhabitants of Chameria; entering into negotiations with all types of organisations, both governmental and non-governmental; safeguarding the legal interest of inhabitants and former inhabitants of Chameria by means of legal proceedings, when necessary."
, in September from two deputies of the new Albanian parliament: the sole representative of Party for Justice and Integration, Dashamir Tahiri and Shpëtim Idrizi
, a Cham MP
of the Socialist Party
. Currently it has 2 MPs in the Albanian parliament, which makes it the forth biggest party in Albania.
The Party for Justice and Integration (Partia për Drejtësi dhe Integrim), which represents the Chams in politics was formed in Albania in 2004. The party declares in its statute that it belongs to the center right, which is the political homeland for the vast majority of Chams marginalized by the Communist regime. Since the demise of the one-party state, the Chams have consistently put their faith in the center right parties to pursue their rights with Greece. However, the Chams are fully aware that Tirana’s politicians, whether Democrats or Socialists, only really focus on the Cham question during election time.
The party won the plurality of seats in the municipality of Saranda, Delvina, Konispol, Markat, Xarrë and was one of the main parties in big municipalities like Vlora, Fier
, etc, on the last municipal elections in 2007.
In March 2004, the Institute of Cham Studies (Instituti i Studimeve Çame), also known as Chameria Institute or Institute of Studies on the Cham issue was established with a board of 7 members. The Institute’s primary aim is to attempt to “fill the huge gap in knowledge about the entire Cham issue”. One of the first actions taken by the board of the ICS was to hold the first ever Cham Conference in Tirana in May 2004.
Its declares as its mission, "to make researches [sic] in the history and culture fields of the cham community as an inherent and important part of the Albanian nation." Also it seeks "to evolve and stimulate public scientific debate and to accomplish studies", "to organize scientific activities and publishes their outputs." Institute of Cham Studies seeks "to create a wide contacts network with analog research centers in Albania and abroad (Balkan, Europe and Northern America) and participating in mutual activities."
(Shoqata Kulturore "Bilal Xhaferri"), nicknamed also as "the Cultural Community of Chameria" (Komuniteti Kulturor i Çamërisë). The association is an non-profit organization which aims to keep and promote the values of Cham Albanian culture and tradition. The association has established a publishing house, which publishes books especially about Chams and Chameria. It is named after the well-known dissident writer, Bilal Xhaferri
and since its creation has published in Albania, Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia, his hand-written memoirs and stories which were incomplete due to Xhaferri's premature death.
The only census that counted Orthodox communities of Albanian ethnicity, was a highly unreliable fascist Italian, conducted during World War II (1941). This census found that in the region lived 54,000 Albanians, of whom 26,000 Orthodox and 28,000 Muslim and 20,000 Greeks. After the war, according to Greek censuses where ethno-linguistic groups were counted, Muslim Chams were 113 in 1947 and 127 in 1951.
Albanian is still spoken by a minority of inhabitants in Igoumenitsa. According to Ethnologue
, Albanian language is spoken by about 10,000 Albanians in Epirus and the village of Lechovo, in Florina
.
The only exact number of Chams in Albania comes from 1991, when Chameria Association held a census, in which were registered about 205,000 Chams.
Cham Albanians speak the Cham dialect (Çamërisht), which is a subbranch of the Tosk Albanian dialect
. The Cham dialect is the second southernmost dialect of the Albanian language, the other being the Arvanitic dialect
of southern Greece, which is also a form of Tosk Albanian. As such, Arvanitika and Cham dialect retain a number of common features.
Albanian linguists say that this dialect is of great interest for the dialectological study and the ethno-linguistic analysis of the Albanian language. Like Arvanitika and the Arbëresh
varieties of Italy, the dialect retains some old features of the Albanian, such as the old consonant clusters /kl/, /gl/, which in standard Albanian are q and gj, and /l/ instead of /j/.
Linguists say that these features give the Cham dialect a conservative character, which is due to the close proximity and its continuous contacts with the Greek language. They argue that this conservative character, which is reflected in a number of peculiar features of the dialect, is endangered, as are the Albanian toponyms of the region, which are no longer in use, and which have provided valuable material for research into the historical evolution of Albanian.
The first Albanian-language book written in the region of Chameria was the Greek-Albanian dictionary by Markos Botsaris, a Souliote captain and prominent figure of the Greek War of Independence
. This dictionary was the biggest Cham Albanian dictionary of its time, with 1,484 lexemes. According to albanologist Robert Elsie, it is not of any particular literary significance, but is important for our knowledge of the now extinct Suliot-Albanian dialect, a subbranch of the Cham dialect. The dictionary is preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris
.
During the 19th century, Chams started creating bejte
s, which were a new kind of poems, mainly in Southern Albania. The most well-known bejtexhi was Muhamet Kyçyku (Çami)
, born in Konispol. He is the only poet in Albania that has written in the Cham dialect and was apparently also the first Albanian author to have written longer poetry. The work for which he is best remembered is a romantic tale in verse form known as Erveheja (Ervehe), originally entitled Ravda ("Garden"), written about 1820. Kyçyku is the first poet of the Albanian National Renaissance.
In the modern period, the best-known Albanian writer is Bilal Xhaferri, who is considered as the most influential dissident under the Communist regime. He was born in Ninat, but was forced to migrate in the United States at an early age because of his anticommunism. He lived and died in Chicago
, at 51 years of age, but he contributed to Albanian literature
with more than 12 books of novels and poems. Canadian albanologist
Robert Elsie considers him "the best Cham Albanian writer and poet."
The Chams' culture and politics are represented by three local media in Albania and the United States. Due to the harsh Communist regime in Albania, Chams did not manage to publish any media in the 1945–1990 period. On the other hand, Cham emigrants in the United States established a newspaper and a magazine, both edited by Bilal Xhaferri, and headquartered in Chicago. The first Cham Albanian newspaper was published in 1966, named "Chameria - motherland". (Çamëria - Vatra amtare), and is still being published in Chicago, while the magazine "Eagle's wing" (Krahu i shqiponjës
) started publishing in 1974.
The newspaper "Chameria - motherland" is mainly political, and tries to internationalize the Cham issue. In 1991 it became the official newspaper of the National Political Association "Çamëria", and since 2004 it is also the official newspaper of Party for Justice and Integration. The newspaper is published in Albania by a joint editorial board of the organization and the party, while in the United States it is published by Chameria Human Rights Association.
On the other hand, the magazine "Eagle's wind" is primarily a cultural magazine and is no longer published in the US since 1982. The Cultural Organization "Bilal Xhaferri" republished the magazine in Tirana, and since 1994 it is self-described as a monthly "cultural Cham magazine".
. Cham Albanian folk music can be divided into three main categories: the iso-polyphonic, the polyphonic and the folk
ballads. The characteristics of the last two types are also common among the Greeks and Vlachs of the wider region.
According to German scholar Doris Stockman, Cham music "may give an impact to further explain the inner Albanian relationships, among the vocal practices of the various folk groups in South Balkan, more than it had been done that far, as well as to offer new material to comparative studies concerning the complex of problems of the folk polyphony in Europe".
Iso-polyphony is a form of traditional Albanian polyphonic music. This specific type of Albanian folk music is proclaimed by UNESCO as a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity". Chams sing a different type, called the cham iso-polyphony. Although they border with Lab Albanians
, their iso-polyphony is influenced more by the Tosk type. The song of Çelo Mezani
, a polyphonic folk song narrating and lamenting the death of Cham Albanian revolutionary Çelo Mezani is considered to be the best-known Cham Albanian song.
.
This Dance is linked with Osman Taka, a Cham Albanian leader who fought against Ottoman forces, and who managed to escape from death by amazing Ottoman forces with this dance. It is an old Cham dance, but under this name its known only since the 19th century.
The Dance of Zalongo (called in Albanian as Vallja or Vaji i Zallongut) refers to an event in Albanian and Greek history involving a mass suicide of women from Souli and their children. The name also refers to a popular dance song commemorating the event in both countries. It is inspired by an historical event of December 1803, when a small group of Souliot women and their children were trapped by Ottoman troops in the mountains of Zalongo
in Epirus. In order to avoid capture and enslavement, the women threw first their children and then themselves off a steep cliff, committing suicide. The song of the dance goes as follows in Albanian:
transmission of the Greek word Έλλην (ellin) which means "Greek".
, embroidered with silver thread, the doublet
, short shirt with wide sleeves, the fez, the leather clogs with red topknots and white knee socks. Other parts of the outfit were the silver chest ornamental and the holster embroidered with silver thread used to carry a gun or a pistol.
This kind of dress was common for all Albanians, but there was difference in the length in the south where men, including the Chams, wore shorter ones, up to the knee. The kilt of high society men was made of many folds (about 250 - 300) and later was substituted by slacks and the former one was only used on special occasions.
The common outfit for the women became a kind of oriental silk or cotton baggy pants. They wear the cotton pants daily, whereas the silk ones only on special occasions. Other parts of this outfit were: the silk shirt weaved in their home looms and the vest embroidered with gold or silver thread, which sometimes was completed with a velvet waistcoat on it.
During 1880–1890 the town women mostly wore long skirts or dresses. They were dark red or violet and embroidered with gold thread. Other parts of this outfit were the sleeveless waistcoats, silk shirts with wide sleeves embroidered with such a rare finesse. On special occasions they also put on a half-length coat matching the color of the dress. It was embroidered with various flowery motives. Another beautiful part of the outfit is the silver belt, the silk head kerchief and a great number of jewelry such as earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces etc.
But, there are very few surviving mosques, which were transformed into museums, following the model of the Yugoslav communists
, despite the existence of some Muslims in many localities. Muslim cemeteries are frequently desecrated by modern building works, particularly road building.
At the same time, Cham domestic and administrative buildings, mosques and cultural monuments are slowly covered by vegetation. Pasture lands once used by Chams for their cattle is now converged into forests, because of the depopulation of the region. Thus the geographical and architectural legacy of Cham presence in north western Greece is gradually vanishing.
. Their cuisine includes many kinds of cheese. Lamb is mostly baked with yogurt, differently from other cuisines. This dish has become one of the most popular in Albania.
As with the majority of Mediterranean cuisines, Chams use a lot vegetables and olive oil. The most common appetizers are Trahana and Tarator
, while soups with seafood are part of their cuisine. Chams are well-known in Albania for the different ways of making bread and traditional Turkish
pies, the börek
(called byrek in Albanian).
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
who originally resided in the coastal region of Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...
in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria
Chameria
Chameria is a term used today mostly by Albanians for parts of the coastal region of Epirus in southern Albania and northwestern Greece It was also used by Greeks till the mid of 20th century and is frequently found in Greek literature. Today it is obsolete in Greek, surviving mainly in Greek folk...
. The Chams have their own peculiar cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many specifically Cham elements. Chams played an important role in starting the renaissance of the Albanian culture in the 19th century. The Chams speak their own dialect
Cham Albanian dialect
The Cham Albanian dialect is the dialect of the Albanian language spoken by the Cham Albanians, an ethnic Albanian minority in the Epirus region of northwestern Greece.-Classification:...
of the Albanian language
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
, which is considered one of the two most conservative dialects, the other being Arvanitika
Arvanitika
Arvanitika also known Arvanitic is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece...
.
Following the Italian occupation of Albania
Italian invasion of Albania
The Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom. The conflict was a result of the imperialist policies of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini...
in 1939, the Chams became a prominent propaganda tool for the Italians
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
and irredentist elements among them became more vocal. As a result, on the eve of the Greco-Italian War
Greco-Italian War
The Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...
, the adult male Cham population was deported by the Greek authorities to internment camps. After the occupation of Greece, large parts of the Muslim Cham population collaborated with Italian and German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
forces. This fueled resentment among the local Greek population and in the aftermath of World War II the entire Muslim Cham population had to flee to Albania
Expulsion of Cham Albanians
The expulsion of Cham Albanians from Greece was a forced emigration of thousands of Cham Albanians after the Second World War to Albania, by the Resistance National Republican Greek League forces. The EDES and the Joint Allied Military Mission in the Axis-occupied Greece accused Chams for...
. Most Chams settled in Albania, while others formed émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
communities in Turkey and the United States, and today their descendants continue to live in these countries. Since the fall of Communism in Albania
History of post-Communist Albania
In 1991, the Socialist Party of Albania, with specific social democratic ideology took control of the country through democratic elections. One year later the Democratic Party of Albania won the new elections. After the year 1990, Albania has been seeking a closer relationship with the West...
, Chams have campaigned for right of return
Right of return
The term right of return refers to a principle of international law, codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, giving any person the right to return to, and re-enter, his or her country of origin...
to Greece and restoration of confiscated properties.
Etymology and definition
The name "Cham", together with that of the region, "Chameria", is of uncertain origin. It may derive from the local Greek hydronymHydronym
A hydronym is a proper name of a body of water. Hydronymy is the study of hydronyms and of how bodies of water receive their names and how they are transmitted through history...
Thyamis (Θύαμις in Greek, Kallamas in Albanian), or simply from the fact that as the descendents of Muslim converts the Chams came to be referred to by Greek Orthodox Christians as 'those who attend mosques (Turkish sing. cami = Greek tzami )'. In its original ethnographic and dialectological sense, the term Cham comprises the entire Albanian-speaking population of the Thesprotia
Thesprotia
Thesprotia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the town of Igoumenitsa. It is named after the Thesprotians, an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region in antiquity.-History:...
and Preveza prefecture
Preveza Prefecture
Preveza is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the town of Preveza.-Geography:The regional unit of Preveza is located northwest of the Ambracian Gulf. The Ionian Sea lies to the west. The terrain is mostly hilly. The mountains of Xerovouni are in...
s of Greek Epirus, including both the Muslim and Christian populations.
Chams account for the greatest part of the erstwhile substantial Albanian minority in the wider area of the region of Epirus
Epirus (region)
Epirus is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë in the north to the Ambracian Gulf in the south...
; outside "Chameria" proper, there are only two Albanian-speaking villages further north-east (near Konitsa
Konitsa
Konitsa is a town in Epirus, Greece, near the Albanian border. It lies amphi-theatre shaped on a mountain slope of the Pindos mountain range, overlooking the valley where the river Aoos meets the river Voidomatis. The valley is used for farming. Konitsa is a regional centre for many small Pindos...
in Ioannina prefecture
Ioannina Prefecture
Ioannina is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the city of Ioannina. It is the largest regional unit in Epirus, and one of the largest regional units of Greece.-Geography:...
), whose inhabitants belong to a different Albanian subgroup, that of the Labs. Today, in the Greek context the use of the term has become largely associated with the former Muslim minority.
Ethnic appellations
Cham Albanians are known primarily by the Albanian form of the name Chams (Çam or Çamë) and the Greek name Tsamides (Τσάμηδες). It can be found in English sources also as a hybrid form of both names, Tsams. Prior to 1944, Chams were often called by Greek sources Albanophones (Greek: Αλβανόφωνοι), or simply Albanians of Epirus.In Greece, Muslim Chams were referred to by a number of names by different authors. They were called Albanochams (Αλβανοτσάμηδες, Alvanotsamides), and Turkalbanians
Turkoalbanians
Turkoalbanians or Turkalvanoi is an ethnographic and religious term used in the Greek War of Independence 1821-1830 and thereafter.The term is associated with Muslim Albanians but in specific works is used to mention the Labs , an Albanian warlike tribe that has been converted to Islam and used...
(Τουρκαλβανοί, Tourkalvanoi) or Turkochams (Τουρκοτσάμηδες, Tourkotsamides).
At the same time, the Albanian speaking population in Thesprotia, who is very rarely characterized as Christian Chams, is often referred by Greeks as Arvanites
Arvanites
Arvanites are a population group in Greece who traditionally speak Arvanitika, a dialect of the Albanian language. They settled in Greece during the late Middle Ages and were the dominant population element of some regions of the Peloponnese and Attica until the 19th century...
(Αρβανίτες), which primarily refers to the Albanophone Greeks of southern Greece but is commonly used as for all Albanian-speaking Greek citizens. The local Greek population also calls them Graeco-Chams (Ελληνοτσάμηδες, Elinotsamides), while Muslim Albanians sometimes designate them as Kaur
Giaour
Giaour, Gawur or Ghiaour written gâvur in modern Turkish, is an offensive ethnic slur used by Muslims in Turkey and the Balkans to describe all who are non Muslim, with particular reference to Christians like Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, Serbs and Assyrians...
, which means "infidel" and refers to their religion. This term was used by Muslim Albanians for the non-Muslims during the Ottoman Empire. Orthodox Chams use the appellation "Albanians" (Shqiptar in Albanian) for themselves. Chams in Turkey are known by the name Arnauts (Arnavutlar), which applies to all ethnic Albanians in Turkey.
Distribution
Cham communities now mostly exist in Albania, the United States and Turkey, as a result of their expulsion from their homeland, Chameria in Greece after World War II. A minority still lives in this region.Chameria
Chameria is the name applied by the Albanians to the region formerly inhabited by the Chams, which extends from the Ionian
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...
coast to the Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
mountains in the east, and in the south almost as far as the Preveza
Preveza
Preveza is a town in the region of Epirus, northwestern Greece, located at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the regional unit of Preveza, which is part of the region of Epirus. An immersed tunnel, completed in 2002 which runs between Preveza and Actium, connects the town...
gulf. This area corresponds to a few villages in the southern part of the Saranda district in Albania (the municipalities
Municipalities of Albania
This is a list of municipalities of Albania, sorted by county and by district. Municipalities are the third-level administrative divisions of Albania, under districts and counties. There are two types of municipalities in Albania: municipalities with an urban character are called bashki, and...
of Konispol
Konispol
Konispol is the southernmost town in Albania. It sits one kilometer away from the Albanian-Greek border. The municipality consists of the town Konispol and the village Çiflik.The town's main interests are agriculture and viticulture...
, Xarrë
Xarrë
Xarrë is a municipality in the Sarandë District, Vlorë County, southern Albania. The municipality consists of the villages Xarrë, Mursi, Shkallë and Vrinë....
and Markat
Markat
Markat is a municipality in the Sarandë District, Vlorë County, southern Albania. The municipality consists of the villages Dishat, Vërvë, Shalës, Markat, Ninat and Janjar....
) and to the prefectures of Thesprotia
Thesprotia
Thesprotia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the town of Igoumenitsa. It is named after the Thesprotians, an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region in antiquity.-History:...
and Preveza
Preveza Prefecture
Preveza is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the town of Preveza.-Geography:The regional unit of Preveza is located northwest of the Ambracian Gulf. The Ionian Sea lies to the west. The terrain is mostly hilly. The mountains of Xerovouni are in...
in Greece. This area is part of the larger region of Epirus.
Much of the region is mountainous. Valley farmlands are located the central, southern and the western part of Thesprotia, while the terrain of the Preveza Prefecture is mostly hilly. There are two rivers in the region: the Thyamis and Acheron
Acheron
The Acheron is a river located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. It flows into the Ionian Sea in Ammoudia, near Parga.-In mythology:...
.
The main settlements in which Chams originally resided were: Paramythia
Paramythia
Paramythia is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Souli, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. Population 7,859 .-Name:...
, Filiates
Filiates
Filiates is a town and a municipality in Thesprotia, Greece. It is located in the northernmost part of the prefecture, bordering western Ioannina Prefecture and southern Albania.-Municipality:...
, Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa , is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit Thesprotia. Its original ancient name used to be Titani....
, Parapotamos
Parapotamos
Parapotamos is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Igoumenitsa, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 1,668 . The village of Parapotamos, the former municipality's seat, was home to Cham...
, Sybota
Sybota
Sybota is a genus of Uloborid spiders. They are mostly found in the warmer regions of South America....
,Sagiada
Sagiada
Sagiada is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filiates, of which it is a municipal unit. Its 2001 population was 897 for the village and 2,160 for the municipality. The seat of the municipality...
, Perdika
Perdika
Perdika is a village and a former community in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Igoumenitsa, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 2,272 ....
, and Margariti
Margariti
Margariti is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Igoumenitsa, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 3,032 .-History:...
. Preveza and Ioannina also had significant Cham Albanian communities. The Orthodox Chams originally resided in Fanari
Fanari, Preveza
Fanari is a former municipality in the Preveza peripheral unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Parga, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 8,911 . The seat of the municipality was in Kanallaki.-Subdivisions:The municipal unit Fanari is...
, Louros
Louros
Louros is a town and a former municipality in the Preveza peripheral unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Preveza, of which it is a municipal unit. The seat of the municipality was the small town of Louros . The area of the municipal unit is...
and Thesprotiko
Thesprotiko
Thesprotiko is a village and a former municipality in the Preveza peripheral unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Ziros, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 5,474 . The village was known as Lelova until April 1, 1927 when it adopted...
.
Albania
After the expulsion of the Muslim Chams from Greece, they were spread throughout Albania. The majority of Muslim Chams settled in the outskirts of VlorëVlorë
Vlorë is one of the biggest towns and the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës, with a population of about 94,000 . It is the city where the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on November 28, 1912...
, Durrës
Durrës
Durrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...
and Tirana
Tirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
. Several hundred Chams moved into properties along the Himara coast and to existing villages along the coast such as Borshi, or established entirely new villages, such as Vrina
Vrina, Albania
Vrinë is a village in Xarrë municipality, in Saranda District of Albania. It is the only Orthodox Cham Albanian village in Albania....
, near the Greek border.
Diaspora
Some Chams live in Turkey and the United States. Their number is unknown, but according to some sources, they number 150,000. The first wave of this diaspora left for Turkey during the Greco-Turkish population exchangePopulation exchange between Greece and Turkey
The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey was based upon religious identity, and involved the Greek Orthodox citizens of Turkey and the Muslim citizens of Greece...
of 1923. They have populated the areas of Erenköy
Bagdat Avenue
Bağdat Avenue is a notable high street located on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, Turkey. The street runs approximately from east to west in the Maltepe and Kadıköy districts, almost parallel to the coastline of the Sea of Marmara...
and Kartal
Kartal
Kartal is a district of Istanbul, Turkey located on the Asian side of the city, on the coast of the Marmara Sea between Maltepe and Pendik. The mayor is Altınok Öz . Despite being far from the city centre, Kartal is heavily populated now. . Total land area is 147,000 m² which includes some...
in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, as well as a number of towns in the area of Bursa, especially Mudanya
Mudanya
Mudanya , is a town and district of Bursa Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. It is located on the Gulf of Gemlik, part of the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. As of 1911, it was connected with Bursa by a railway and a carriage road, and with Istanbul by steamers...
. After the Second World War, others settled in Izmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
, Gemlik
Gemlik
Gemlik is a harbor town bordering the Sea of Marmara in Western Turkey, at approximately 29 kilometres from Bursa and not far from Istanbul. Gemlik was called Kios until 1922 when its Greek inhabitants left Asia Minor because of the population exchange. In2004, Gemlik had approximately 70,000...
and Aydin
Aydin
Aydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
. After 1944, another part migrated to the United States of America, where they were mainly concentrated in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, as well as Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
History
Medieval era (up to 1434)
The first undisputed mention of Albanians as an ethnic group in historical records dates from the second half of the 11th century, where they are named as the inhabitants of Arbanon in central Albania.The date of the first presence of Albanians in the region of Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...
is unknown, due to a lack of historical documentation. According to one source, it must predate the 12th century. However, in 1258 when groups of Albanians around Dyrrachion (Durrës
Durrës
Durrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...
) were allied with the Despot of Epirus, Michael II Doukas, there is no evidence of Albanians in Epirus.
Elements of the Albanian population began, in the late 13th and early 14th century, for various reasons, to emigrate to Epirus. In the first decade of the 14th century, some Albanian clans were reported in Epirus and Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
, mainly hired as mercenaries from the Byzantines. A major migration occurred in the 1340s and 1350s when Albanian tribesmen supported the successful Serbian campaign against Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
possessions the region. During this migration period, two short-lived Albanian entities were formed in Epirus: the Despotate of Arta
Despotate of Arta
The Despotate of Arta was a despotate established by Albanian rulers during the 14th century, when Albanian tribes moved into Epirus and founded two short-lived principalities there...
(1358–1416) and the Principality of Zenebishti
Principality of Gjirokastër
The Principality of Gjirokastër was an Albanian principality created by Gjon Zenebishi in 1386, encompassing the area around Gjirokastër...
(1386–1411), while the area of Vagenetia (medieval name of Chameria/Thesprotia) was mainly under the control of Italian rulers: either Venetians
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
or the Despotes of Epirus based in Ioannina. This migration wave formed the basis of the Albanian populations in Greece: in Epirus, the evolution of a distinct dialect would eventually differentiate the Chams from their northern cousins, while those Albanians who settled in southern Greece would become the ancestors of the Arvanites
Arvanites
Arvanites are a population group in Greece who traditionally speak Arvanitika, a dialect of the Albanian language. They settled in Greece during the late Middle Ages and were the dominant population element of some regions of the Peloponnese and Attica until the 19th century...
.
Ottoman rule (1434–1913)
The region of Epirus was conquered by the Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in the early 15th century. From the establishment of Ottoman rule until 1864, the region of Chameria was included in the Eyalet
Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire
The subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire were administrative divisions of the state organisation of the Ottoman Empire. Outside this system were various types of vassal and tributary states....
of Rumelia
Rumelia
Rumelia was an historical region comprising the territories of the Ottoman Empire in Europe...
. It was divided between the sanjaks of Delvina
Sanjak of Delvina
The Sanjak of Delvina was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire which county town was Delvinë but during the 18th century became Gjirokastër, Albania. It was created in the middle of 16th century.- Name :...
and Ioannina
Sanjak of Ioannina
The Sanjak of Ioannina or Sanjak of Jannina, Sanjak of Janina, Sanjak of Yanina, was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire which county town was Ioannina in Epirus.- Administration :...
, which were second order administrative divisions. After 1864, this territory was organized under the Vilayet of Yanya (Ioannina), which was further divided into the sanjaks of Ioannina, Preveza and Gjirokastra. Between 1787 and 1822, Ali Pasha
Ali Pasha
Ali Pasha of Tepelena or of Yannina, surnamed Aslan, "the Lion", or the "Lion of Yannina", Ali Pashë Tepelena was an Ottoman Albanian ruler of the western part of Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territory which was also called Pashalik of Yanina. His court was in Ioannina...
controlled the region, which was incorporated into his Pashalik of Yanina, a de facto independent state under only nominal Ottoman authority.
Islamization (16th–19th century)
Under Ottoman rule, IslamizationIslamization
Islamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...
was widespread amongst Albanians. In central and southern Albania, by the end of the 17th century the urban centers had largely adopted Islam. The growth of an Albanian Muslim elite of Ottoman officials, like pasha
Pasha
Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...
s and bey
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
s, such as the Köprülü family, who played an increasingly important role in Ottoman political and economic life, further strengthened this trend. In northern Chameria the vast majority became Muslims, while south of Acheron and down to Preveza, Albanians remained Orthodox. Muslim Chams were mostly followers of the Bektashi
Bektashi
Bektashi Order or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi order founded in the 13th century by the Persian saint Haji Bektash Veli. In addition to the spiritual teachings of Haji Bektash Veli the order was significantly influenced during its formative period by both the Hurufis as well as the...
order, especially after the 18th century, when the Bektashis made considerable gains in influence in the rugged areas of southern Albania and northern Greece.
The process of Islamization of the Chams started in the 16th century, but it reached major proportions only in the 18th and 19th centuries. According to the population census (defter) of 1538, the population of the region was almost entirely Orthodox, with only a minority, estimated less than 5 per cent, having converted to Islam. The main instigator for the beginning of mass conversions in the region were the draconian measures adopted by the Ottomans after the two failed revolts of the Greek monk Dionysius the Philosopher
Dionysius the Philosopher
Dionysius the Philosopher was a Greek monk who led two farmer revolts against the Ottoman Turks.-Life and career:Dionysius was born in c. 1560 AD in Paramythia, Thesprotia. He was of Greek descent, from Macedonia with Epirotian parentage...
as well as a number of Muslim local farmers, against the Ottomans. In their wake, the Ottoman pashas tripled the taxes owed by the non-Muslim population, as they regarded the Orthodox element a continuous threat of future revolts. Another reason for conversion was the absence of liturgical ceremonies in Chameria, especially in the northern part of the region. According to the French historian Fernand Braudel
Fernand Braudel
Fernand Braudel was a French historian and a leader of the Annales School. His scholarship focused on three main projects, each representing several decades of intense study: The Mediterranean , Civilization and Capitalism , and the unfinished Identity of France...
, in the wider region of what today is Southern Albania and Northwestern Greece, "it lacked the church discipline; in the churches was not performed any religious ceremony, what meant that Christianity did not have deep roots there". This combination resulted in the first wave of conversions in the beginning of the 18th century, by a number of poor farmers. At this time Muslims became the majority in a few villages like Kotsika, near Sagiada. During the entire 18th century, Muslims were still a minority among the Albanian population of the region, and became the majority only in the second half of 19th century. Estimates based on the defter of 1875 show that Muslim Chams had surpassed Orthodox Chams in numbers.
In a number of cases however, only one person, usually the oldest male member of the family, converted into Islam, in order not to pay taxes, while all other members remained Christians. As a result, historians argue that the Cham Albanians were either Christian or Crypto-Christian
Crypto-Christianity
Crypto-Christianity commonly refers to the secret practice of the Christian religion, usually while attempting to camouflage it as another faith or observing the rituals of another religion publicly...
as late as the first half of the 19th century. During the second half though the majority of Chams became fully islamized and Crypto-Christianity ceased to exist. As a result of the social structure of the Ottoman Empire, the Muslims of the region, the vast majority of whom were Albanians, being favored by the Ottoman authorities, were feuding with their Orthodox neighbors.
Albanian National Awakening (1870s–1912)
As Ottoman society was founded on the religion-based millet systemMillet (Ottoman Empire)
Millet is a term for the confessional communities in the Ottoman Empire. It refers to the separate legal courts pertaining to "personal law" under which communities were allowed to rule themselves under their own system...
and not on ethnic groups, schools in Chameria, as elsewhere where Albanians lived, were conducted only in Turkish and Greek. Christian Albanians could attend Greek schools, and Muslim Albanians Turkish schools, but Albanian language schools were highly discouraged. The situation would change only during the National Renaissance of Albania, when a number of local Albanians would establish private, unrecognized Albanian-language schools. In 1870, the despot of Paramythia, Grygorios, translated the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
into Albanian, as his followers could not understand well the Greek language. While, in 1879, the first Albanian school of the region was created in Sagiada by father Stathi Melani. At that time, the region was under the short-lived rule of the League of Prizren
League of Prizren
The League for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nation commonly known as the League of Prizren was an Albanian political organization founded on 10 June 1878 in Prizren, in the Kosovo province of the Ottoman Empire....
.
Abedin Dino
Abedin Dino was a Cham Albanian politician, rilindas, one of the founders of the League of Prizren , and one of the main contributors in the Albanian independence....
, Osman Taka
Osman Taka
Osman Resul Taka was a well-known dancer of his time. After him is named the Dance of Osman Taka. His early life is not clear. He was born in Konispol in one of the most powerful and wealthy families of the town, the Taka family known also for Alush Taka a great patriot. During the mid 19th...
and Thoma Çami
Thoma Çami
Thoma Çami was a Cham Albanian leader and one of the main contributors to the revival of Albanian culture during the National Renaissance of Albania. He was a founder and the first chairman of the organization "Bashkimi", the best-known cultural club of the Albanian National Awakening...
.
Abedin Dino was one of the founders of the League of Prizren
League of Prizren
The League for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nation commonly known as the League of Prizren was an Albanian political organization founded on 10 June 1878 in Prizren, in the Kosovo province of the Ottoman Empire....
(1878) and one of the main contributors in the Albanian independence. He was appointed as the chief representative of the League of Prizren for Chameria, and established a local League branch in Ioannina. When the League was disbanded in 1881, he continued fighting against Ottoman forces in Albania. He was killed by the Ottoman army while on his way to participate in the formation of the League of Peja
League of Peja
The League of Peja was an Albanian political organization established in 1899 in the city of Peć , Kosovo. It was led by Haxhi Zeka, a former member of the League of Prizren and shared the same platform in quest for an autonomous Albanian vilayet within Ottoman Empire.Albanian patriotic circles...
.
Another leader of the Prizren League active at the same time was Osman Taka. When the League of Prizren was formed he was named as the head of the local branch in Preveza. When the Ottoman forces managed to seize the Preveza League in 1886, Osman Taka too was arrested, accused of treason, and sentenced to death. He was executed in Konispol in 1897.
Thoma Çami was one of the main contributors to the revival of Albanian culture during this period. He was a founder and the first chairman of the organization "Bashkimi", the best-known cultural club of the National Renaissance. He also wrote the first scholarly history book for Albanian schools, but died before the declaration of independence.
A large number of Cham delegates took part in the Assembly of Preveza
Assembly of Preveza
The Assembly of Preveza was a meeting of Albanian delegates from 11 to 13 January 1879, in Preveza, Ottoman Empire, aiming to halt the annexation of Epirus by Greece, following the Congress of Berlin....
from 11 to 13 January 1879, aiming to halt the unification of Epirus with Greece, following the Congress of Berlin
Congress of Berlin
The Congress of Berlin was a meeting of the European Great Powers' and the Ottoman Empire's leading statesmen in Berlin in 1878. In the wake of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, the meeting's aim was to reorganize the countries of the Balkans...
. The Assembly was composed mainly from 200 Cham and Lab Albanian leaders, while in the last day of the meeting, it was completed with northern Albanian delegates reaching the town, making the total numbers of delegates 400. The decisions of the Assembly were to create three committees (political; military and diplomatic), so as to prevent the Ottoman Empire from ceding Epirus to Greece. The final demarcation of the border would be done in Preveza by the delegates of Greece and the Ottoman Empire, on 6 February 1897, while the delegates and a part of the population demonstrated against any move of this demarcation inside Epirus. At the end, the two forces reached a conclusion to include in Greece, only Arta
Arta, Greece
Arta is a city with a rich history in northwestern Greece, capital of the peripheral unit of Arta, which is part of Epirus region. The city was known in ancient times as Ambracia . Arta is famous for its old bridge located over the Arachthos River, situated west of downtown...
, leaving the rest of Epirus, under the Vilayet of Yanina of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1909 outlaw activity by Albanian bands was increasing in the region. On one incident in Filiates 15 Greek villagers were ambushed near the town by the band of Muharem Reshet, where one of the captured was burned alive
Execution by burning
Death by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....
. When the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
broke up the majority of Albanian intellectuals initially supported the Ottoman side. However, when the Ottoman defeat was imminent and before the arrival of the Greek army in the region, Muslim Cham and Lab armed units burned a number of Greek villages: 3 in the vicinity of Preveza (Tsouka, Glyky, Potamia), 4 in Thesprotia (Alpohori, Manoliasa, Keramitsa, Fortopia) as well as a number of villages in the regions of Ioannina, Sarande and Delvina. From these actions, many villagers managed to escape to the nearby island of Corfu.
Chams had their own delegates in the Vlora Congress of 1912, when Albanian Independence was proclaimed. Four representatives from Chameria and two representatives of Ioannina took part in the congress, and the six of them were in favor of Independence. They were Jakup Veseli
Jakup Veseli
Jakup Veseli was a leading figure in the Albanian independence movement one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence, representing the region of Çamëria....
from Margariti, Kristo Meksi
Kristo Meksi
Kristo Meksi was an Albanian politician of the early 20th century. He was one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence and also one of the first Albanian diplomats.-Early life:...
and Aristidh Ruci
Aristidh Ruci
Aristidh Ruci was one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence in 1912. He campaigned for the spread of education in Southern Albania and was a founder of the nationalist Labëria Club....
from Ioannina, Rexhep Demi
Rexhep Demi
Rexhep Demi was a leading member of the Albanian independence movement and one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence, representing the region of Çamëria. He was a minister in the Provisional Government of Albania....
from Filiates, Veli Gërra
Veli Gërra
Veli Gërra was a leading member of the Albanian independence movement and one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence, representing the region of Cameria....
from Igoumenitsa, and Azis Tahir Ajdonati
Azis Tahir Ajdonati
Azis Tahir Ajdonati was a leading figure in the Albanian movement of Independence and one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence, representing the region of Çamëria....
from Paramythia.
First years of Greek rule (1913–1923)
Following the defeat of Ottoman forces in the Balkan WarsBalkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
of 1912-1913, an international boundary commission awarded the northern part
Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...
of the region of Epirus to the Principality of Albania
Principality of Albania
The Principality of Albania refers to the short-lived monarchy in Albania, headed by William, Prince of Albania and to the state after the First World War, until the abolition of the monarchy in 1925, when Albania was declared a republic.-Principality:The Principality was established on February...
, and the southern part
Epirus (region)
Epirus is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë in the north to the Ambracian Gulf in the south...
to the Kingdom of Greece
Kingdom of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 in the Convention of London by the Great Powers...
, leaving Greek and Albanian minority areas on both sides of the border. Most of the areas inhabited by Chams, except for a few villages, were assigned to Greece.
After the incorporation of southern Epirus into Greece, Chams had the right to choose between Greek and Turkish nationality, under the 4th provision of the Athens peace treaty. It can be inferred that during the Interwar period the Muslim Cham community did not appear to have a clear-cut understanding of their national affiliation beyond their local religious affiliations. Chams were in fact divided amongst themselves as to where their loyalties lay. In the event, the Chams chose the Greek nationality instead of the Turkish. This convention gave special rights to religious minorities, but not to ethnic minorities, under the third provision.
In accordance with the Greek policy on minorities at the time, Orthodox Cham Albanians were counted together with Greeks, while the Muslim Chams were counted in the census as a religious minority. Although the Albanian government complained that Chams were discriminated against by the Greek authorities, there is little evidence of direct state persecution at this time.
During this period, the Muslim Cham beys lost the political power they enjoyed during Ottoman rule, but retained their economic influence. The Muslim portion of the population was under a sui generis
Sui generis
Sui generis is a Latin expression, literally meaning of its own kind/genus or unique in its characteristics. The expression is often used in analytic philosophy to indicate an idea, an entity, or a reality which cannot be included in a wider concept....
rule of the Greek authorities and the local muftis, who were recognized in these areas. In the region of Epirus there were the muftis of Ioannina, Paramythia, Filiates, Margariti, Igoumenitsa, Parga, Preveza, Sagiada and Thesprotiko.
In the december 1915 legislative elections, which were boycotted by the party led by Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...
, two of the three deputies of Epirus, were elected Muslim Chams: Ali Dino
Ali Dino
Ali Dino , also known as Ali Dino Bey was an Albanian cartoonist and a Member of the Greek Parliament.Dino was born in Preveza, Ottoman Empire in 1889, to Rasih Dino and is the grandson of Abedin Dino, one of the main contributors of the Albanian independence...
and Musli Emin Ramiz.
Population exchange and appropriation of property (1923–1926)
Treaty of Lausanne
The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 July 1923, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The treaty of Lausanne was ratified by the Greek government on 11 February 1924, by the Turkish government on 31...
, according to which the Muslims of Greece would be exchanged
Population exchange between Greece and Turkey
The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey was based upon religious identity, and involved the Greek Orthodox citizens of Turkey and the Muslim citizens of Greece...
with the Orthodox Christians of Turkey, making a unique exception for the Muslims of western Thrace and the Orthodox Christian population of Istanbul. The treaty used religion as the indicator of national affiliation, thus including Muslim Cham Albanians in the population exchange.
Greek officials had two options. The first was to exchange Muslim Chams with Greeks from Turkey, under the population exchange. The second option was to exchange them with a community of the Greek minority in Albania
Greek minority in Albania
About a general view on history, geography, demographics and political issues concerning the region, see Northern Epirus.The Greeks of Albania are ethnic Greeks who live in or originate from areas within modern Albania...
. They approached the Albanian government in 1923, but Albanian officials refused to consider the second scheme.
Muslim Chams were thus to become part of the Greek-Turkish population exchange, but the Albanian state asked for an exemption. The majority of the Muslim Cham community had no idea of their ethnic origin or preferences beyond that of their local religious affiliations and considered themselves simply Muslims.
After pressure by Italian and Albanian delegates which made a strong case that the Chams primarily self-identified as Albanian nationals (a dubious claim), Greece accepted in 1925, two years after the exchange had officially begun, that Muslim Chams were not subject to the exchange. The Greek minister in London, Kaklamanos, promised that "the compulsory exchange shall not be applicable to the Moslem [sic] subjects of Albanian origin". But Muslim Chams had to prove their ethnic origin in order to remain in Greece. According to the Greek decision, which was presented by Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...
to the local administration in Epirus, only those who were born in Albania or whose fathers were born in Albania could stay in Greece, thus excluding the genuine Chams of the Chameria region. On the other hand the Albanian state insisted that the Chams were forced to leave Greece because the Greek authorities were making life "unbearable" for them; but this was merely a ploy to distract world opinion and attention away from the harsh conditions endured by the Greek minority in Albania.
In the meantime, the Greek authorities did send a number of Cham Albanians to Turkey. According to the contemproary Greek political historian Athanasios Pallis, only 1,700 were exempted and the League of Nations estimated that 2,993 Muslim Chams were forced to leave for Turkey, even after their compulsory exchange was prohibited, by declaring themselves as Turks rather than Albanians. In Turkey, Cham Albanians were accommodated in Istanbul and Bursa. The majority of them were from Ioannina and outlying areas and Preveza. About 16,000 Greek refugees
Greek refugees
Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the Greeks from Asia Minor who were evacuated or relocated in Greece following the Treaty of Lausanne and the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey...
from Asia Minor were settled in Epirus, mainly in the same areas.
During this period the Muslim Chams ranked among the biggest land-owners in Greece and there were no problems whatsoever in their relations with either the government or the Greek population. However, they owned vast tracts of land without the accompanying title-deeds. Under the Treaty of Lausanne some of this land was appropriated, on financial terms agreed to with the owners, to meet the needs of the landless refugees from Anatolia and Thrace who were settled in Epirus. This measure was applied across the board and there were no exceptions: as well as the Chams, Greek landowners and monasteries were also required to give up some of their property. The Chams, however, sought compensation not as Greek citizens, but under the terms providing compensation for certain West European nationals whose property had been appropriated. Both Greece and the League of Nations rejected the demand.
Four different laws were passed between 1923 and 1937 that expropriated the properties of Muslim Chams, while leaving those of the Orthodox Chams and the local Greeks intact. Official Greek policy was that properties belonging to either Muslim citizens in Greece, who were exempt from the exchange of populations, or to foreign citizens, be preferentially expropriated. Albanian reports to the League of Nations and the reply by the Greek government reveal that part of the bone of contention concerned the change in the status of the local Albanian landlords. In Ottoman times, the Albanian landlords received revenues from the neighboring villages. But the peasants refused to pay tribute after their land became part of the Greek state and in this case they expropriated from the Albanian overlords what they considered to be their property.
The first law was passed on 15 February 1923, expropriating the lands and second homes of Muslim Chams, in order to give it to Greek refugees and to landless Greek farmers. Compensation was set at below 1914 market price, and not 1923 values. On the other hand, the compensation for the homes would be given by 1923 value. Nevertheless, some Chams were never compensated. As a result of this policy, a number of petitions were addressed to the Ministry of Agriculture or to the officials of the Refugee Settlement Commission from Muslims of Albanian origin in Paramythia, Dragoumi, Filiates, and other parts of the region, but no answer was given. This law was reported even to the League of Nations, but in June 1928 the Albanian petition against Greece was turned down.
Pangalos regime (1926)
Theodoros Pangalos (general)
Major General Theodoros Pangalos was a Greek soldier and politician. A distinguished staff officer and an ardent Venizelist and anti-royalist, Pangalos played a leading role in the September 1922 revolt that deposed King Constantine I and in the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic...
became the head of the dictatorial government. His main priorities in foreign relations were to establish good relations with Albania and to protect the rights of both minorities, Chams in Greece, and Greeks in Albania. For this reason he officially decided that the Albanians of Chameria would not be sent to Turkey after 1926, putting an end to the population exchange. He also decided that refugees from Asia Minor would not settle in Chameria, but rather in Western Thrace
Western Thrace
Western Thrace or simply Thrace is a geographic and historical region of Greece, located between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Epirus, it is often referred to informally as northern Greece...
, as was originally decided.
Pangalos was an Albanian-speaker, and declared himself proud of his half-Albanian identity. His priority in establishing good relations with Albania was soon materialized by four agreements between the two governments, among others addressing the confiscation of Cham properties before 1926, when Greek refugees from Asia Minor were settled in the region. This agreement stated that Chams would be compensated at least as much as foreign citizens or ethnic Greeks. In a public statement he also recognized that Chams were an ethnic minority and promised that Albanian schools would be opened in the region. But after a few months he was overthrown, and his pro-Cham policies were immediately abolished.
Discrimination and normalization (1927–1936)
In August 1926, Theodoros Pangalos was deposed by a counter-coup, and Pavlos KountouriotisPavlos Kountouriotis
Pavlos Kountouriotis was a Greek admiral and naval hero during the Balkan Wars and the first and third President of the Second Hellenic Republic.-Family Background:The Kountouriotes was a prominent Arvanite family from the island of Hydra...
was restored as President of Greece
President of Greece
The President of the Hellenic Republic , colloquially referred to in English as the President of Greece, is the head of state of Greece. The office of the President of the Republic was established after the Greek republic referendum, 1974 and formally by the Constitution of Greece in 1975. The...
. Pangalos' actions had encouraged Albania to be more persistent in pursuing Cham claims. Pangalos' overthrow also meant a backtracking of Greece's official stance on the issue: discrimination against the Chams continued,
On the first elections on 1926, Cham Albanians created their own political party, called the Party of the Chameria founded by an eminent figure of that time, the famous Prevezan cartoonist Ali Dino
Ali Dino
Ali Dino , also known as Ali Dino Bey was an Albanian cartoonist and a Member of the Greek Parliament.Dino was born in Preveza, Ottoman Empire in 1889, to Rasih Dino and is the grandson of Abedin Dino, one of the main contributors of the Albanian independence...
. It managed to gain 1,539 votes from the Preveza and Ioannina prefectures. In the subsequent elections, the party did not gain the support of the local Albanian population and Ali Dino ran under Farmer-Labor ticket, gaining only 67 votes in 1932.
In 1927, the Greek government abolished four of the nine Vakoufs
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
, the muftis of Parga, Preveza, Sagiada and Thesprotiko. Furthermore, beginning in 1927 with the publication of the relevant Presidential Decree, the Greek government implemented a policy depriving Muslim Chams and other minorities of their Greek citizenship if they would leave Greece. According to the 1927 decree, Greek citizens of non-ethnic Greek origin ("allogeneis") could lose their citizenship if they left the country. Such a practice is seen by scholars as a legal exclusion of Chams and other minorities from Greek society, since it made a distinction based on national affiliation, which was effectively set as a criterion above citizenship in Greek legal order.
In 1929, the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
asked Greece to open Albanian-language schools, since they had been officially recognized as an Albanian minority. The official position however of the then Greek prime minister, Eleftherios Venizelos, was that since the region had never had Albanian schools, even under the Ottoman Empire, this issue could not be compared with the rights demanded by the Greek minority in Albania.
Nevertheless, following pressure from the League of Nations and as a result of the agreements signed during Pangalos' regime, Greece officially announced the establishment of four bilingual primary schools in Filiates, Igoumenitsa, Paramythia and Sagiada. All these schools would be Greek, but Albanian would also be taught in the three first classes. An Albanian delegation led by the Albanian ambassador, Mid'hat Bey Frashëri
Mid'hat Bey Frashëri
Mit’hat Frashëri was an Albanian diplomat, writer and politician...
, asked the Greek government for 15 schools, with full teaching in Albanian, in the main towns and villages of Chameria, a request that was immediately rejected by Greek officials. After negotiations, the Albanian government accepted the Greek proposal and an agreement was signed in 1935 that would allow the Greeks of Albania to open new private schools in Himara and Korca, in exchange for the four bilingual schools in Chameria. But once again, the change of the Greek government with the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
of Ioannis Metaxas
Ioannis Metaxas
Ioannis Metaxas was a Greek general, politician, and dictator, serving as Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941...
made this agreement void.
At this time, the Greek government tried to resolve another core issue pertaining to the Cham Albanians, the property dispute. In 1928, the Venizelos government had withdrawn from the Greco-Albanian agreement, signed by Pangalos that would compensate Chams equally with other Greek citizens. Muslim Chams tried to regain their properties under the Law of 1926, which gave them the opportunity to dispute the confiscation of their properties before the courts. Following these actions, Greece passed two laws, in 1930 and 1931, which gave bigger compensations to the Muslim community, but not as much as to other Greek citizens. The first law doubled the promised compensation, and forced the state authorities to give 3/4 of the promised compensation, even if they appealed the decisions in the courts. The second law returned some of the lands that were not settled by Greeks to Cham Albanians. Both laws were implemented on a limited scale, because of the change of the Greek government and the establishment of the dictatorial Metaxas Regime.
During this period, a number of villages were renamed in the region. More than 100 village names were changed in Thesprotia, Preveza and Ioannina. Many other names had already been changed in 1913 when the region came under Greek sovereignty. Villages like Shëndiela in Preveza were translated into Greek Agia Kyriaki (Saint Kyriake), while other toponyms such as Ajdonati or Margëlliç had been immediately renamed with new Greek names (Paramythia and Margariti). The majority of villages and towns of the region got new names, mainly Greek ones, in 1928 and 1929. Another period of Hellenization
Hellenization
Hellenization is a term used to describe the spread of ancient Greek culture, and, to a lesser extent, language. It is mainly used to describe the spread of Hellenistic civilization during the Hellenistic period following the campaigns of Alexander the Great of Macedon...
of toponyms occurred in the 1950s, when the remaining Albanian or Turkish names were finally renamed into Greek, with very few exceptions. Today, only a small number of Albanian toponyms, like Semeriza (from Albanian Shemërizë, meaning Saint Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
), survive from Ottoman times.
In September 1930, the proposal for exchange of the Cham minority with the Greek minority of Albania was renewed, this time by the Albanian
Albanian Kingdom
The Albanian Kingdom was the constitutional monarchal rule in Albania between 1928 and 1939. During this period Albania was a de facto protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy Albania was declared a monarchy by the Constituent Assembly, and Zog I was crowned king...
government. King Zog of Albania
Zog of Albania
Zog I, Skanderbeg III of the Albanians , born Ahmet Muhtar Bey Zogolli, was King of the Albanians from 1928 to 1939. He was previously Prime Minister of Albania and President of Albania .-Background and early political career:...
attempted to reach an agreement with the Greek government on the resolution of all differences between the two countries. The Albanian government believed that a voluntary population exchange of the two minorities would resolve a number of internal problems for both sides and improve Greek-Albanian relations. However, this proposal was rejected by the Greek side, who feared that Albania would forcibly evict its Greek minority from the country, making the exchange involuntary.
Crackdown under the Metaxas regime (1936–1940)
The harshest period of discrimination against Cham Albanians occurred during the dictatorial regime4th of August Regime
The 4th of August Regime , commonly also known as the Metaxas Regime , was an authoritarian regime under the leadership of General Ioannis Metaxas that ruled Greece from 1936 to 1941...
of Ioannis Metaxas, Prime Minister of Greece
Prime Minister of Greece
The Prime Minister of Greece , officially the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic , is the head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Greek cabinet. The current interim Prime Minister is Lucas Papademos, a former Vice President of the European Central Bank, following...
from 1936 to 1941. The nationalistic character of his regime was imposed on all minorities in Greece. As with Slavic-speakers, Vlachs and Roma
Roma people of Greece
The Romani people of Greece are called Arlije/Erlides, Tsiganoi or the more derogatory term Gyftoi.There were between 300,000 and 350,000 Roma in Greece, according to an estimate published by Greek Helsinki Monitor in 1999. The Greek Government estimates place their number between 200,000 and 300,000...
, Albanian-speaking minorities were prohibited from using their own language outside home. Those who used Albanian words in school or in the army, were punished physically or humiliated. Such attitudes have led many parents to discourage their children from learning their mother tongue, so as to avoid similar discrimination and suffering. The Greek language was imposed in the schools and elders who had no knowledge of the language were forced to attend night-schools, in order to learn to read, write and even speak the Greek language.
Greek-Italian War (1940–1941)
At the same time, a negative influence about the position of Cham Albanians came from Albania. Following the Italian invasion of AlbaniaItalian invasion of Albania
The Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom. The conflict was a result of the imperialist policies of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini...
, the Albanian Kingdom
Albania under Italy
The Albanian Kingdom existed as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy. It was practically a union between Italy and Albania, officially led by Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III and its government: Albania was led by Italian governors, after being militarily occupied by Italy, from 1939 until 1943...
had become a protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
of the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
. The Italians, especially governor Francesco Jacomoni, used the Cham issue as a means to rally Albanian support. Although in the event, Albanian enthusiasm for the "liberation of Chameria" was muted, Jacomoni sent repeated over-optimistic reports to Rome on Albanian support.
On June 1940 a Muslim Cham by the name of Daut Hoxha was found headless in the village of Vrina
Vrina, Albania
Vrinë is a village in Xarrë municipality, in Saranda District of Albania. It is the only Orthodox Cham Albanian village in Albania....
in Southern Albania. Daut Hoxha was a notorious bandit killed in a fight over some sheep with two sheperds. Hoxha's death was used as the final excuse from fascist Italy in order to attack Greece. Italian propaganda officially described him as “an Albanian from Chameria animated by great patriotic spirit” murdered by Greek spies inside Albania, declaring the imminent liberation of Chameria. As the possibility of an Italian attack on Greece drew nearer, Jacomoni began arming Albanian irregular bands to use against Greece.
On the eve of the Greco-Italian War
Greco-Italian War
The Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...
, Greek authorities disarmed 1800 Cham conscripts and put them to work on local roads.
The Greco-Italian War
Greco-Italian War
The Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...
started with the Italian military forces
Military history of Italy during World War II
During World War II , the Kingdom of Italy had a varied and tumultuous military history. Defeated in Greece, France, East Africa and North Africa, the Italian invasion of British Somaliland was one of the only successful Italian campaigns of World War II accomplished without German support.In...
launching an invasion of Greece from Albanian territory. As Chams were used as a propaganda theme by Italians, the invasion force of Italy in Epirus was called "Ciamuria [sic] Army Corps". The invasion force included native Albanians, estimated at 2,000-3,500 strong, (among them Chams and Kosovars), in three volunteer battalions attached to the Italian army. Their performance however was distinctly lackluster, as most Albanians, poorly motivated, either deserted or defected. Indeed, the Italian commanders, including Mussolini, would later use the Albanians as scapegoats for the Italian failure. During October 28-November 14 while the Italian army made a short advance and briefly took brief control of part of Thesprotia, bands of Cham Albanians raided several villages and burned a number of towns, including Paramythia
Paramythia
Paramythia is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Souli, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. Population 7,859 .-Name:...
and Filiates
Filiates
Filiates is a town and a municipality in Thesprotia, Greece. It is located in the northernmost part of the prefecture, bordering western Ioannina Prefecture and southern Albania.-Municipality:...
.
In November, as the Greek counter-offensive managed to regain Thesprotia, the Greek authorities seized all Muslim Cham males not called up or with the Italians, and deported them to to island exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
. Until the invasion of Greece
Battle of Greece
The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...
by the German army
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, the Muslim Cham population of the region of Chameria was composed of women, children and the elderly. The adult male Muslim Chams would be restored to their land only after fascist Italy gained control of the region. In 1941, Greece was occupied by German, Italian and Bulgarian
Kingdom of Bulgaria
The Kingdom of Bulgaria was established as an independent state when the Principality of Bulgaria, an Ottoman vassal, officially proclaimed itself independent on October 5, 1908 . This move also formalised the annexation of the Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia, which had been under the control...
armies, who divided the country in three distinct occupation zones.
Occupied Greece and collaboration with the Axis (1941–1944)
Prior to the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, 28 villages in the region were inhabited exclusively by Muslim Chams, and an additional 20 villages had mixed Greek-Cham populations. Fascist Italian
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
as well as Nazi German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
propaganda promised that the region would be part of Great Albania after the end of the war. As a result of this pro-Albanian approach, large parts of the Muslim Cham population actively supported the Axis operations and committed a number of atrocities against the local population in Greece and Albania. Apart from the formation of a Nazi collaborationist local administration and armed battalions, a terrorist organization named Këshilla
Këshilla
Këshilla was a local administration introduced in Thesprotia region in Greece, in 1942, by the Italian occupation forces. Italy's aim was to annex this region under Occupied Albania, but German authorities did not support this action and put it under the control of Athens...
and a paramilitary group called Balli Kombetar Cam were operating in the region, manned by local Muslim Chams. The results were devastating: many Greek as well as Albanian citizens lost their lives and a great number of villages were burned and destroyed. From 29 July-31 August 1943, a combined German and Cham force launched an anti-partisan sweep operation codenamed Augustus. During the subsequent operations, 600 Greek and 50 Albanian citizens were killed and 70 villages were destroyed. On September 27, combined Nazi-Cham forces launched large scale operation in burning and destroying villages north of Paramythia: Eleftherochori, Seliani, Semelika, Aghios Nikolaos, killing 50 Greek villagers in the process. In this operation the Cham contingent numbered 150 men, and, according to German Major Stöckert, "performed very well". In another incident, on 27 September, Cham militias arrested 53 Greek citizens in Paramythia and executed 49 of them
Paramythia executions
The Paramythia executions, also known as the Paramythia massacre was a combined Nazi and Cham Albanian war crime perpetrated by members of the 1st Mountain Division and the Muslim Cham militia in the town of Paramythia and its surrounding region, during the Axis occupation of Greece...
two days later. This action was orchestrated by the brothers Nuri and Mazar Dino (an officer of the Cham militia) in order to get rid of the town's Greek representatives and intellectuals. According to German reports, Cham militias were also part of the firing squad
Execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad, sometimes called fusillading , is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war.Execution by shooting is a fairly old practice...
. On September 30, the Swiss representative of the International Red Cross, Hans-Jakob Bickel, while visiting the area, concluded that Cham bands are completely out of control, terryfing and committing atrocities against the unarmed Greek population.
Collaborationist Cham bands were also active in southern Albania. German General and local commander Hubert Lanz
Hubert Lanz
Karl Hubert Lanz was a German Army officer who rose to the rank of General der Gebirgstruppe during the Second World War, in which he led units in the Eastern Front and in the Balkans. After the war, he was tried and convicted for several atrocities committed by units under his command in the...
decided to initiate armed operations with the code name Horridoh in the region of Konispol
Konispol
Konispol is the southernmost town in Albania. It sits one kilometer away from the Albanian-Greek border. The municipality consists of the town Konispol and the village Çiflik.The town's main interests are agriculture and viticulture...
, in Albania. Albanian nationalist groups participated in these operations, among them a Cham battalion of ca. 1,000 men under the leadership of Nuri Dino. The death toll from these operations, which began on 1 January 1944 in the region of Konispol
Konispol
Konispol is the southernmost town in Albania. It sits one kilometer away from the Albanian-Greek border. The municipality consists of the town Konispol and the village Çiflik.The town's main interests are agriculture and viticulture...
, was 500 Albanians. However, according to British historian Mazower, it seems that, most of the local beys, the majority of whom were part of the nationalist resistance group Balli Kombëtar
Balli Kombëtar
Balli Kombëtar was an Albanian nationalist, anti-communist and anti-monarchy organization established in October 1939. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and Mit’hat Frashëri...
(not to be confused with the collaborationist Balli Kombetar Çam) and the mufti did not support such actions.
Participation in resistance groups (1944-1945)
As the end of World War II drew near, a small number of Muslim Chams became part of the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS), as well as the anti-fascist National Liberation Army of Albania. In the ELAS, a mixed Cham Albanian-Greek battlian named IV "Ali Demi" battalionIV "Ali Demi" battalion
The 4th "Ali Demi" Battalion was a battalion under the 15th Regiment of Greek People's Liberation Army, founded during the Second World War. It comprised both from Cham Albanians and Greeks, of the region of Epirus and was established in May 1944. It consisted of 460 Muslim Albanians and 340...
was formed, named after a Cham Albanian who was killed in Vlora fighting against the Germans. At the time of its creation in 1944, it comprised a total of 460 men. However, the majority of the elites of the Cham community had become corrupted by the occupying forces and the atmosphere against the local Greeks who had suffered under Germans, Italians and Chams, led to an explosive polarization which would have constrained any motivation for joint Greek-Cham resistance.
First expulsion
During the summer of 1944, the head of the local resistance organization, Napoleon ZervasNapoleon Zervas
Napoleon Zervas was a Greek general and resistance leader during World War II. He organized and led the National Republican Greek League , the second most significant , in terms of size and activity, resistance organization against the Axis Occupation of Greece.-Early life and army career:Zervas...
, asked the Cham Albanians to join EDES in its fight against the Nazi occupational forces, but their response was negative. After that and in accordance to orders given specifically to EDES by the Allied forces to push them out of the area, fierce fighting occurred between the two sides. According to British reports, the Cham collaborationist bands managed to flee to Albania with all of their equipment, together with half million stolen cattle as well as 3,000 horses, leaving only the elderly members of the community behind. On 18 June 1944, EDES forces with Allied support launched an attack on Paramythia. After short-term conflict against a combined Cham-German garrison, the town was finally under Allied command. Soon after, violent reprisals were carried out against the town's Muslim community, which was considered responsible for the massacre of September 1943.
Moreover, two attacks took place in July and August with the participation of EDES Tenth Division and the local Greek peasants, eager to gain revenge for the burning of their own homes. According to Cham claims, which are not confirmed by British reports, the most infamous massacre of Albanian Muslims by Greek irregulars occurred on 27 June 1944 in the district of Paramithia, when this forces captured the town, killing approximately 600 Muslim Chams, men women and children, many having been raped and tortured before death. British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
officers described it as "a most disgraceful affair involving an orgy of revenge with the local guerrillas looting and wantonly destroying everything". British Foreign Office reported that "The bishop of Paramythia joined in the searching of houses for booty and came out of one house to find his already heavily laden mule had been meanwhile stripped by some andartes". This day, was announced in Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
in 1994 as The Day of Greek Chauvinist Genocide Against the Albanians of Chameria.
On the other hand Chris Woodhouse, the head of the Allied Military Mission in Greece during the Axis occupation, who was present in the area at the time, officially accepted the full responsibility of the decision for the expulsion of the Chams although he criticized the vendetta way in which this was carried out; including in his "Note on the Chams" military report of 16 October 1945 a brief description of the situation that led to the Paramythia events: "Chams are racially part Turk, part Albanian, part Greek. In 1941-3 they collaborated with Italians, making the organization of guerilla resistance in that area difficult. I never heard of any of them taking part in any resistance against enemy. Zervas encouraged by the Allied Mission under myself, chased them out of their homes in 1944 in order to facilitate operations against the enemy. They mostly took refuge in Albania, where they were not popular either. Their eviction from Greece was bloodily carried out, owing to the usual vendetta spirit, which was fed by many brutalities committed by the Chams in league with the Italians. Zervas' work was completed by an inexcusable massacre of Chams in Philliates in March 1945, carried out by remnants of Zervas' dissolved forces under Zotos. The Chams deserved what they got, but Zervas' methods were pretty bad - or rather, his subordinate officers got out of hand. The result has been in effect a shift of populations, removing an unwanted minority from Greek soil. Perhaps it would be best to leave things at that."(PRO/FO,371/48094)
Involvement in the Greek Civil War, repatriation by ELAS and final expulsion
Towards the end of the Greek occupation, the communist-controlled ELAS, having limited people's support in the Epirus region due to the right-wing EDES dominance in the area and in preparation of taking up the country's control after the German withdrawal from Greece, turned to the Chams for conscription. Seeing the omens several hundred Muslim Chams enlisted in its ranks. With the German withdrawal and the start of the Greek civil war, local ELAS forces with the participation of those Chams volunteers, aided with ELAS forces from the central Greece, attacked EDES in Epirus and succeeded to take the control in the ThesprotiaThesprotia
Thesprotia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the town of Igoumenitsa. It is named after the Thesprotians, an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region in antiquity.-History:...
region in late 1944 forcing EDES to leave in Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
.
As a result of the ELAS victory, in January - February 1945, about four to five thousand Albanians returned to their homes from Albania, mainly in the border areas of Filiates and Sagiada. But after the final defeat of ELAS during the battle of Athens and its capitulation (see Varkiza Agreement), EDES quickly regained control of the region, eager to take revenge for the Cham's participation in the attack against its forces. Led by a former Zerva's officer, Col. Zotos, a loose paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
grouping of former EDES guerrillas and local men went on a rampage. In this second massacre, committed at the town of Filiates, on 13 March, some sixty to seventy Chams were killed. Many of the Cham villages were burned and the remaining inhabitants fled across the border into Albania.
The exact number of Cham Albanians that were expelled in Albania and Turkey, is unknown. Mark Mazower
Mark Mazower
Mark A. Mazower is a British historian. His expertise is Greece, the Balkans and, more generally, 20th century Europe. He is currently a professor of history at Columbia University in New York City.-Career:...
and Victor Roudometof, state that they were about 18,000 in 1944 and 4 to 5 thousands in 1945. while Miranda Vickers says that they were 25,000 that fled into Albania. Chameria Association claims that Cham Albanians that left were 35,000, from whom, 28,000 left to Albania and the rest to Turkey. After the war, only 117 Muslim Cham Albanians were left in Greece.
Postwar situation (1945–1990)
Muslim Chams who fled to Albania were given refugee status by the communist-led Albanian government and were organized under the aegis of the Anti-Fascist Committee of Cham Immigrants (CAFC)Anti-Fascist Committee of Cham Immigrants
The Anti-Fascist Committee of Cham Immigrants was an organization created by Cham Albanians, when they were expelled from Greece, with the help of the newly established communist government of Albania. It was established, during the first wave of refugees, and it aimed to make Greece allow, the...
. The Albanian state gave them homes in specific areas in the south of the country, so as to dilute the local Greek element in the region (known as Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...
to Greeks). In 1946, they formed a congress, where they adopted a memorandum
Memorandum
A memorandum is from the Latin verbal phrase memorandum est, the gerundive form of the verb memoro, "to mention, call to mind, recount, relate", which means "It must be remembered ..."...
accusing Greece for their persecution, and asked the international community to react in order to return to their homeland and to receive reparations. The CAFC claimed that 28,000 Chams were evicted, 2,771 killed and 5,800 houses were looted and burned. During the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
(1946–1949), Albanian authorities recruited a number of the recently expelled Chams in order to support the communist side during the armed conflicts in Greece. It is claimed that the communist regime in Albania initially took a very distrustful view of the Cham community, regarding them as Italian Fascist sympathizers. Many of them were transferred further north, to Fieri
Fieri
Fieri is an international organisation of students and young professionals between the ages of 18 and 39 who are of an Italian descent. Fieri was founded in 1984 by a group of young Italian people who were enrolled in college and post-graduate studies who saw the need to preserve Italian heritage...
and Vlora.
The new post-war Communist government of Albania took the Cham issue to the Paris Peace Conference, demanding the repatriation of the Chams and the return of their property. The following month a delegation of the CAFC was sent to Athens to lodge a protest with the government of George Papandreou
George Papandreou (senior)
Georgios Papandreou was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as Prime Minister of Greece...
. These demands were never answered. The United Nations Assembly in New York did however acknowledge the humanitarian crisis facing the refugees, and gave US$ 1.2 million via the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in 1943, it became part of the United Nations in 1945, was especially active in 1945 and 1946, and largely shut down...
(UNRRA), specifically for refugees from northern Greece. Meanwhile, in 1945–1946, a Greek Special Court on Collaborators found 2,109 Chams guilty of treason in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
and sentenced them to death, while their immovable property was confiscated by the Greek state. No war criminal of Cham origin has ever been brought to trial, however, as these had all managed to flee Greece in the aftermath World War II.
For those Chams of the Orthodox faith who remained in Greece after 1945, their Albanian identity was discouraged as part of a policy of assimilation. The demographic structure of northwestern Greece was meanwhile altered by the introduction of settlers, especially Vlachs
Vlachs
Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Walla, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs...
, from other parts of Greece.
In 1953, the Albanian government gave all Chams the Albanian citizenship and forced them to integrate into Albanian society. Despite this, many older Chams still regard themselves as refugees deprived of their Greek citizenship and claim the right to return to their property in Greece.
Cham politics in post-communist Albania
Following the fall of the Communist regime, the Chameria Political Association was formed in Tirana in 1991. Since its creation, its goal is the collection and recording of personal testimonies and accounts from Chams who left Greece in 1944-45 and are now living in Albania – personal archives, documents and other data - in a bid to preserve the historical memories that the older generation carry with them.Memorial
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....
at the town of Konispol. Albanians pay tribute to the victims every 27 June in Saranda and Konispol. This event is called the "Cham march" (Marshimi çam). In 2006, the biggest Cham March, with around 10,000 people participating, occurred at the Albanian-Greek border. The participants designated themselves as Greek citizens of Albanian ethnicity and expressed the desire for "a peaceful return to their homeland and to the graves of their forefathers"
In March 2004, the Institute of Cham Studies (ICS) was established with a board of 7 members. According to Miranda Vickers, the Institute’s primary aim is to attempt to “fill the huge gap in knowledge about the entire Cham issue”. In the same year, the Chams also created their own political party, the Party for Justice and Integration (PJI), in order to campaign in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
In 2005, a diplomatic incident occurred when the President of Greece, Karolos Papoulias
Karolos Papoulias
-Honours:*Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic *Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav *Knight of the Order of the Elephant- External links :*...
canceled his planned meeting with Albanian counterpart, Alfred Moisiu
Alfred Moisiu
was the fourth President of the Republic of Albania from July 24, 2002 to July 24, 2007. He is the son of Albanian Army general Spiro Moisiu....
, in Saranda, because 200 Chams were demonstrating about the Cham issue. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Albanian authorities did not take adequate measures in order to protect the Greek President "by deterring known extremist elements, who are trying to hinder the smooth development of Greek-Albanian relations". The Albanian president`s office stated that President Moisiu expressed "deep sorrow at this unexplainable decision, which was based upon misinformation, of the small, peaceful and well monitored demonstration".
Recently, a few Chams have managed to find their way back to their families' old homes, and have tried to rebuild them. At the same time, several hundred ethnic Greek minority families from Albania have settled in towns such as Filiates.
Chams in Greece
Orthodox Cham Albanians still live in the region in three prefectures. According to a study by the Euromosaic project of the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, Albanian speaking communities live along the border with Albania in Thesprotia prefecture, the northern part of the Preveza prefecture in the region called Thesprotiko, and a few villages in Ioannina prefecture
Ioannina Prefecture
Ioannina is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the city of Ioannina. It is the largest regional unit in Epirus, and one of the largest regional units of Greece.-Geography:...
. Albanian is still spoken in the region and some of the older inhabitants are Albanian monolinguals. The language is spoken even by young people, because when the local working-age population migrate seeking a job in Athens, or abroad, the children are left with their grandparents, thus creating a continuity of speakers.
Today, the majority of these Orthodox Chams refer to themselves as Arvanites
Arvanites
Arvanites are a population group in Greece who traditionally speak Arvanitika, a dialect of the Albanian language. They settled in Greece during the late Middle Ages and were the dominant population element of some regions of the Peloponnese and Attica until the 19th century...
in Greek (a Greek-identifying group of Albanian origin, living in southern Greece), but self-identify as Shqiptar in their own language, as do the Albanians of Albania. In contrast with Arvanites, some have retained, not only a distinct ethnic and linguistic identity, but also the Albanian national identity.
Chams in Turkey
Muslim Chams in Turkey form the second largest community of Chams, after Albania. This community was established after the two World Wars. After the First World War, Chams were forced to leave for Turkey during the population exchange, and another migration wave followed after the Second World War, when a minority of the Chams expelled from Greece chose Turkey over Albania because of their anti-communist sentiments.The exact number of Muslim Chams in Turkey is unknown, but various estimates conclude that they number between 80,000 to 100,000, from a total population of 500,000 to 1.3 million Albanians that live in Turkey. The Chameria Human Rights Association declares that most of them have been linguistically assimilated, although they maintain Albanian consciousness and regional Cham traditions. A considerable number of Chams in Turkey have changed their surnames to Cam or Cami, which in Turkish means pine, in order to preserve their origin. They are organized within the "Albanian-Turkish Brotherhood Association" , which fights for the rights of Albanians.
Chams in the United States
Chams in the United States are the forth most numerous population of Chams, after Albania, Turkey and Greece. The majority of this community migrated to the United States shortly after their expulsion from Greece, because the Communist government in Albania discriminated and persecuted them. They managed to retain their traditions and language, and created the Cham League in 1973, Chameria Human Rights Association (see below), which later merged and became Albanian American Organization Chameria which aimed to protect their rights.Political positions
Albania demands the repatriation of the Muslim Chams who were expelledExpulsion of Cham Albanians
The expulsion of Cham Albanians from Greece was a forced emigration of thousands of Cham Albanians after the Second World War to Albania, by the Resistance National Republican Greek League forces. The EDES and the Joint Allied Military Mission in the Axis-occupied Greece accused Chams for...
at the end of World War II, and the granting of minority rights. The Chams also demand the restoration of their properties, and reject a financial compensation. Greece on the other hand states that the expulsion of the Chams is a closed chapter in the relations between the two countries. However, Greece agreed to the creation of a bilateral commission, focused solely on the property issue as a technical problem. The commission was formally set up in 1999, but has not yet functioned.
During the 1990s, Albanian diplomacy used the Cham Issue as counter-issue against the one related with the Greek minority in Albania. Chams complain that Albania has not raised the Cham issue as much as it should. It was raised officially only during a visit to Athens of former Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta
Ilir Meta
Ilir Rexhep Meta is an Albanian politician. He is the current Deputy Prime Minister. He was Prime Minister of Albania from 1999 to 2002 and has been Foreign minister twice since then.- Studies :...
at the end of 1999, during his meeting with his Greek counterpart, Kostas Simitis, but it received a negative response. After 2000, there was a growing feeling in Albania, since the Kosovo problem has been to an extend addressed, that the Albanian government should turn its attention to the Cham Issue. On the other hand, the fact that Greece is a member of the European Union and NATO, which Albania wishes to join, is one of the main factors why the Albanian government is reticent about the issue.
The Greek government on the other hand considers the Cham issue as a closed chapter. According to the Greek official position, the Chams would not be allowed to return to Greece because they have collaborated with the Italian-German invaders during the Second World War, and as such they are war criminals and are punished according to Greek laws. In an attempt to give a solution, in 1992 Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis proposed a trade-off in relation to their properties, only for the cases where their owners had certifiably not been convicted or participated in crimes against their fellow Greek citizens. Mitsotakis also proposed that the Albanian government likewise compensate ethnic Greeks who had lost properties due to alleged persecution during the communist regime in Albania. This proposal however was rejected by the Albanian side.
The "Cham Issue" is not been in the agenda of international organizations. Since 1991, delegates of the Cham community have begun an attempt to internationalize the "Cham Issue", but the only official support for this issue has come from Turkey. Meanwhile, in 2006, Members of the Party of Justice and Integration met European MEPs, including the chairwoman of Southwest Europe Committee on the European Parliament, Doris Pack
Doris Pack
Doris Pack is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament . She served as a member of the Bundestag 1974–1983 and 1985–1989. She is a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party...
and introduced their concerns about the Cham Issue. Although this group of MEPs drafted a resolution about this issue, it was never put to a vote.
Citizenship issue
Following their expulsion in 1944, initially only the 2,000 or so Chams who were sentenced to death as collaborators were deprived of their Greek citizenship. The remainder, who represented the vast majority, lost theirs under a special law of 1947. Orthodox Chams remained in Greece and retained the Greek citizenship, but without any minority rights. In 1953 the Albanian government forcefully granted the Albanian citizenship to the Chams, while in Turkey and the United States, the Chams have acquired the respective citizenships.The Chams demand the restoration of the Greek citizenship as a first step towards solving the Cham issue. The restoration of the citizenship, rather that the regaining of the confiscated properties, is reported to be considered as the primary issue. They argue that the removal of their citizenship was a collective punishment, when even the Greek courts have charged only a minority of Chams for alleged crimes. They have demanded dual citizenship, a policy followed by Greece in the case of the Greek minority in Albania.
Property issue
After World War II, the properties of Cham Albanians were put under escrow by the Greek state. In 1953, the Greek parliament passed a law, that considered as "abandoned" the rural immovable properties, whose owner had left Greece without permission or passport. After three years the properties were nationalized. Homes were nationalized in 1959, when a law passed by the Greek parliament considered them abandoned and allowed their conquest by other inhabitants of the region. These two laws nationalized Chams properties, and allowed others to settle in their homes, but the owner was the Greek state.In the 1960s and 1970s an ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
commission for the property alienation in Thesprotia gave by draw the rural properties to farmers with and without land, while homes and urban properties in Igoumenitsa, Paramithia, Margariti, Filiates, Perdika and Sybota were given to homeless people.
Minority issue
Another problem in the Cham issue is the minority status. Chams not only demand their repatriation and minority rights, but they have asked minority rights even for Orthodox Chams residing in Greece. This position is supported even by politicians in Albania. In January 2000, the current Prime Minister of Albania, Sali BerishaSali Berisha
Sali Ram Berisha is an Albanian politician and cardiologist, currently the Prime Minister of Albania and the leader of Democratic Party of Albania ....
, then head of the opposition demanded more rights for the Cham minority in Greece, which includes cultural rights for Albanians living in Greece, such as the opening of an Albanian-language school in the town of Filiates.
Incidents
The Cham issue has become a dispute in both countries, and several diplomatic incidents have occurred. It had been also used by the Albanian organizations of liberation armies (KosovoKosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA was a Kosovar Albanian paramilitary organization which sought the separation of Kosovo from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s....
and National Liberation Army
National Liberation Army
National Liberation Army is the name of several groups:* Albanian National Liberation Army, an Albanian resistance movement during World War II* Armée de Libération Nationale, a liberation movement in the Algerian War of Independence...
), in order to fuel the irredentist dreams of the descendants of the Chams. Moreover, there is a reported paramilitary formation in the northern Greek region of Epirus, called the Liberation Army of Chameria As of 2001, the Greek police reported that the group consisted of approximately 30-40 Albanians. It does not have the official support of the Albanian government.
Organizations
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
, non-governmental associations and the Chameria Institute.
Chameria Association in Albania
The National Political Association "Çamëria" (in Albanian: Shoqëria Politike Atdhetare "Çamëria"), a pressure group advocating the return of the Chams to Greece, receipt of compensation and greater freedom for the Orthodox Chams in Greece, was founded on January 10, 1991. This associations holds a number of activities every year, with the help of the Party for Justice and IntegrationParty for Justice and Integration
Party for Justice and Integration , was a former Albanian political party that tends to represent the Cham Albanians in politics.On 17 February 2011 it is joined to Party for Justice, Integration and Unity.-Statute:...
, as well as other organizations. Annually on June 27, the Cham March is organized in Konispol. This march is held to remember the expulsion of the Chams. One particularly disingenuous endeavor by the organization leaders has been to create unhistorical links in the public mind by presenting the ancient Greek King Pyrrhus of Epirus
Pyrrhus of Epirus
Pyrrhus or Pyrrhos was a Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic era. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house , and later he became king of Epirus and Macedon . He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome...
(4th-3rd cent. B.C.) as an Albanian hero, thus revealing the extreme and irredentist aims of the association.
Chameria Association in the US
Chameria Human Rights Association (Shoqëria për të drejtat e Njeriut, Çamëria) is a Non Governmental Organization, based in Washington, DC, USA, which protects and lobbies for the rights of Chams.
It describes as its mission: the Right of Return
Right of return
The term right of return refers to a principle of international law, codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, giving any person the right to return to, and re-enter, his or her country of origin...
of Chams "to their homes in Greece and live there in peace and prosperity with their Greek brothers"; the Property Rights
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
; Other Legal Rights "ensuring to the Cham people all other legal and minority rights deriving from the Greek Constitution and Laws, the Treaties and laws of the European Union, and other rights originating from international treaties and conventions to which Greece is a party"; and the conservation and propagation of the rich history, culture, language, and other cultural aspects of the Cham people.
Democratic Foundation of Chameria
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, Netherlands. The Democratic Foundation of Chameria (Fondacioni Demokratik Çamëria) was founded in 2006 and aims to resolve the Cham issue, internationalizing the question in peaceful ways. Every year it organizes protests outside the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
, where it intends to bring the Cham issue, if the governments of both countries will not find a solution.
The organization aims to resolve the Cham issue in three directions: "lawfully and peacefully drawing attention to the legal position, the living and working conditions of the inhabitants and former inhabitants of Chameria; entering into negotiations with all types of organisations, both governmental and non-governmental; safeguarding the legal interest of inhabitants and former inhabitants of Chameria by means of legal proceedings, when necessary."
Party for Justice and Unity
The Party for Justice and Unity is a parlamentarian party in Albania which aims to protect and uphold the rights of ethnic minorities inside and outside Albania, especially concerning with the Cham issue. The party was created after the 2009 parliamentary electionsAlbanian parliamentary election, 2009
A parliamentary election was held in Albania on 28 June 2009. Prior to the election, the electoral law was changed to a regional and proportional system...
, in September from two deputies of the new Albanian parliament: the sole representative of Party for Justice and Integration, Dashamir Tahiri and Shpëtim Idrizi
Shpëtim Idrizi
Shpëtim Idrizi is the Albanian leader of the Party for Justice, Integration and Unity. He is currently a deputy in the Albanian Parliament, alongside Dashamir Tahiri, another PJU MP.-References:...
, a Cham MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
of the Socialist Party
Socialist Party of Albania
The Socialist Party of Albania , is a centre-left, social democraticand socially liberal political party in Albania, it is currently the leading opposition party in Albania. It seats 66 MPs in the 2009 Albanian parliament . It achieved power in 1997 after a political crisis and governmental...
. Currently it has 2 MPs in the Albanian parliament, which makes it the forth biggest party in Albania.
Party for Justice and Integration
The party won the plurality of seats in the municipality of Saranda, Delvina, Konispol, Markat, Xarrë and was one of the main parties in big municipalities like Vlora, Fier
Fier
Fieri is a city in southwest Albania, in the district and county of the same name. It is located at , and has a population of 82,297 . Fier is from the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Apollonia.-History :...
, etc, on the last municipal elections in 2007.
Chameria Institute
Its declares as its mission, "to make researches [sic] in the history and culture fields of the cham community as an inherent and important part of the Albanian nation." Also it seeks "to evolve and stimulate public scientific debate and to accomplish studies", "to organize scientific activities and publishes their outputs." Institute of Cham Studies seeks "to create a wide contacts network with analog research centers in Albania and abroad (Balkan, Europe and Northern America) and participating in mutual activities."
Cultural Association "Bilal Xhaferri"
In 1993, a group of journalists and writers of Cham origin, founded in Tirana the Cultural Association “Bilal Xhaferri”Cultural Association “Bilal Xhaferri”
The Bilal Xhaferri Cultural Association , otherwise called Cultural Community of Chameria, is a non-governmental organization centered in Tirana, Albania. This association was founded by a group of journalists, writers, artists and intellectuals, friends of dissident novelist and publicist Bilal...
(Shoqata Kulturore "Bilal Xhaferri"), nicknamed also as "the Cultural Community of Chameria" (Komuniteti Kulturor i Çamërisë). The association is an non-profit organization which aims to keep and promote the values of Cham Albanian culture and tradition. The association has established a publishing house, which publishes books especially about Chams and Chameria. It is named after the well-known dissident writer, Bilal Xhaferri
Bilal Xhaferri
Bilal Xhaferri was an Albanian poet and novelist, and a political dissident against the Albanian communist regime. He was born in Ninat, Konispol in southern Albania, and died in Chicago, USA...
and since its creation has published in Albania, Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia, his hand-written memoirs and stories which were incomplete due to Xhaferri's premature death.
Demographics
According to Cham organizations, the Chams are thought to number 440,000. According to non-Cham sources, however, they are not though to exceed 170,000. The majority of them live in Albania, while other communities live in Greece, Turkey and the USA. Their religion is Islam and Orthodoxy.Historical demographics
The population of the region of Chameria was mainly Albanian and Greek, with smaller minorities. There was a dispute regarding the size of the Albanian population of the region, while in 20th century the term 'Chams' applies only to Muslims. According to 1913 Greek census, in Chameria region were living 25,000 Muslims who had as mother tongue Albanian, in a total population of about 60,000, while in 1923 there were 20,319 Muslim Chams. In Greek census of 1928, there were 17,008 Muslims who had as mother tongue the Albanian language.The only census that counted Orthodox communities of Albanian ethnicity, was a highly unreliable fascist Italian, conducted during World War II (1941). This census found that in the region lived 54,000 Albanians, of whom 26,000 Orthodox and 28,000 Muslim and 20,000 Greeks. After the war, according to Greek censuses where ethno-linguistic groups were counted, Muslim Chams were 113 in 1947 and 127 in 1951.
Current demographics
In 1985, the Albanian population of Epirus, including Chameria and two villages in Konitsa was estimated 30,000. In 2002, according the pro-Albanian author Miranda Vickers, in Chameria, the Orthodox Albanian population was estimated at 40,000. However the term Cham in 20th century applies only to Muslims while both the Albanian (Arvanitika) speaking and bilingual (Greek-Albanian) Orthodox communities of the region are part of the Greek nation. In the region today resides a small number post-1991 Albanian immigrants.Albanian is still spoken by a minority of inhabitants in Igoumenitsa. According to Ethnologue
Ethnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
, Albanian language is spoken by about 10,000 Albanians in Epirus and the village of Lechovo, in Florina
Florina
Florina is a town and municipality in mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. It is also the Metropolitan seat for the region. It lies in the central part of Florina peripheral unit, of which it is the capital. Florina belongs to the periphery of West...
.
The only exact number of Chams in Albania comes from 1991, when Chameria Association held a census, in which were registered about 205,000 Chams.
| Chams in Albania by town (1991) | |
|---|---|
| Place | Number |
| Shkodër Shkodër County Shkodër County is one of the 12 counties of Albania. It consists of the districts Malësi e Madhe, Pukë and Shkodër. The capital of the county of Shkodër is the city of Shkodër.... |
1,150 |
| Krujë Krujë District The District of Krujë is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Durrës County. It has a population of 67,698 , and an area of 333 km². It is in the centre of the country, and its capital is Krujë. The district consists of the following... and Laç Kurbin District The District of Kurbin is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Lezhë County. It has a population of 54,977 , and an area of 273 km². It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Laç. The district consists of the following municipalities:*Fushë-Kuqe*Laç*Mamurras*Milot... |
720 |
| Tirana | 29,700 |
| Lezhë Lezhë District The District of Lezhë is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Lezhë County. It has a population of 77,184 , and an area of 479 km². It is in the north-west of the country, and its capital is Lezhë.... |
35 |
| Durrës Durrës District The District of Durrës is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Durrës County. It has a population of 242,801 , and an area of 433 km². It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Durrës... |
35,000 |
| Kavajë Kavajë District The District of Kavajë is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Tirana County. It has a population of 82,921 , and an area of 414 km². It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Kavajë... |
10,500 |
| Vlorë Vlorë District The District of Vlorë is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Vlorë County. Its population of 151,314 . The district has a land area of 1,609 km². It is in the south-west of the country, and its capital is Vlorë. Its population includes a Greek minority... |
42,300 |
| Fier Fier District The District of Fier is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Fier County. It has a population of 199,442 , and an area of 785 km². It is in the south-west of the country, and its capital is Fier... |
39,800 |
| Sarandë Sarandë District The District of Sarandë is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, found in southern Albania, in the County of Vlorë.The area of the district is 749 square kilometers. The population of the district was 48,474 . According to the census of January 1993, it was 53,700.The centre of the district... |
12,100 |
| Delvinë Delvinë District The District of Delvinë or District of Delvina is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Vlorë County. Its population of 11,985 includes a substantial Greek community. The district has an area of 348 km² . It is in the south of the country, and its capital is Delvinë... |
2,900 |
Religion
Chams living today in Albania are overwhelmingly Muslim, but it is difficult to estimate their current religious affiliation: the former Communist regime had proclaimed the country "the only atheistic state in the world", and even after its fall, the majority of the population self-declared agnostic, or irreligious. Current estimates conclude that this applies to a majority of Albanians, with 65-70 percent of the population not adhering to any religion. Conversely, in Greece and Turkey almost all of Chams adhere to their country's respective prevailing religion.Dialect
Cham Albanians speak the Cham dialect (Çamërisht), which is a subbranch of the Tosk Albanian dialect
Tosk Albanian
Tosk is the southern dialect of the Albanian language. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg is the Shkumbin River. Tosk is the basis of the standard Albanian language.- Tosks :...
. The Cham dialect is the second southernmost dialect of the Albanian language, the other being the Arvanitic dialect
Arvanitika
Arvanitika also known Arvanitic is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece...
of southern Greece, which is also a form of Tosk Albanian. As such, Arvanitika and Cham dialect retain a number of common features.
Albanian linguists say that this dialect is of great interest for the dialectological study and the ethno-linguistic analysis of the Albanian language. Like Arvanitika and the Arbëresh
Arbëresh language
Arbëreshë, also known as Arbërisht, is an ethnolect spoken by the Arbëreshë, the group of Albanian-speaking minorities in Italy.-Classification:...
varieties of Italy, the dialect retains some old features of the Albanian, such as the old consonant clusters /kl/, /gl/, which in standard Albanian are q and gj, and /l/ instead of /j/.
| Cham Albanian | Standard Albanian | Tosk Albanian | Arvanitika | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kljumësht | Qumësht | Qumësht | Kljumsht | Milk |
| Gluhë | Gjuhë | Gjuhë | Gljuhë | Language |
| Gola | Goja | Goja | Gljoja | Mouth |
Linguists say that these features give the Cham dialect a conservative character, which is due to the close proximity and its continuous contacts with the Greek language. They argue that this conservative character, which is reflected in a number of peculiar features of the dialect, is endangered, as are the Albanian toponyms of the region, which are no longer in use, and which have provided valuable material for research into the historical evolution of Albanian.
Literature
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
. This dictionary was the biggest Cham Albanian dictionary of its time, with 1,484 lexemes. According to albanologist Robert Elsie, it is not of any particular literary significance, but is important for our knowledge of the now extinct Suliot-Albanian dialect, a subbranch of the Cham dialect. The dictionary is preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
During the 19th century, Chams started creating bejte
Bejte
Bejtexhinj , is a genre of literature created in Albania in the 18th century that prevailed in different Albanian cities, Kosovo, and other religious centers....
s, which were a new kind of poems, mainly in Southern Albania. The most well-known bejtexhi was Muhamet Kyçyku (Çami)
Muhamet Kyçyku (Çami)
Muhamet Kyçyku , born in Konispol, Ottoman Empire, is one of the most known Albanian bejtexhinjs and is considered as the first poet of the Albanian National Renaissance.-Biography:...
, born in Konispol. He is the only poet in Albania that has written in the Cham dialect and was apparently also the first Albanian author to have written longer poetry. The work for which he is best remembered is a romantic tale in verse form known as Erveheja (Ervehe), originally entitled Ravda ("Garden"), written about 1820. Kyçyku is the first poet of the Albanian National Renaissance.
In the modern period, the best-known Albanian writer is Bilal Xhaferri, who is considered as the most influential dissident under the Communist regime. He was born in Ninat, but was forced to migrate in the United States at an early age because of his anticommunism. He lived and died in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, at 51 years of age, but he contributed to Albanian literature
Albanian literature
The Albanian literature is the literature written by Albanians.-Renaissance:The expansion of the Ottoman Empire pushed many Albanians from their homeland during the period of the Western European Renaissance humanism...
with more than 12 books of novels and poems. Canadian albanologist
Albanology
Albanology is the science that studies Albanian language and culture.The father of Albanology is often considered to be the Austrian Norbert Jokl, while the Croat Milan Šufflay and the Hungarian Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás are also among its famous founders.Among modern important Albanologists...
Robert Elsie considers him "the best Cham Albanian writer and poet."
Media
Krahu i shqiponjës
Krahu i shqiponjës is an Albanian national magazine which first appeared in the democratic post-communist period, in Tirana , in 1995, in progress of Bilal Xhaferri's magazine, which was published in Chicago, USA...
) started publishing in 1974.
The newspaper "Chameria - motherland" is mainly political, and tries to internationalize the Cham issue. In 1991 it became the official newspaper of the National Political Association "Çamëria", and since 2004 it is also the official newspaper of Party for Justice and Integration. The newspaper is published in Albania by a joint editorial board of the organization and the party, while in the United States it is published by Chameria Human Rights Association.
On the other hand, the magazine "Eagle's wind" is primarily a cultural magazine and is no longer published in the US since 1982. The Cultural Organization "Bilal Xhaferri" republished the magazine in Tirana, and since 1994 it is self-described as a monthly "cultural Cham magazine".
Music
Cham Albanians' music has its own features, which makes it differ from that of other Albanian musicMusic of Albania
Albanian music displays a variety of influences. Albanian folk music traditions differ by region, with major stylistic differences between the traditional music of the Ghegs in the north and Tosks in the south. Modern popular music has developed around the centers of Korça, Shkodër and Tirana....
. Cham Albanian folk music can be divided into three main categories: the iso-polyphonic, the polyphonic and the folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
ballads. The characteristics of the last two types are also common among the Greeks and Vlachs of the wider region.
According to German scholar Doris Stockman, Cham music "may give an impact to further explain the inner Albanian relationships, among the vocal practices of the various folk groups in South Balkan, more than it had been done that far, as well as to offer new material to comparative studies concerning the complex of problems of the folk polyphony in Europe".
Iso-polyphony is a form of traditional Albanian polyphonic music. This specific type of Albanian folk music is proclaimed by UNESCO as a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity". Chams sing a different type, called the cham iso-polyphony. Although they border with Lab Albanians
Labëria
Labëria is a region in southern Albania roughly reaching from Vlorë south to the Greek border near Sarandë, incorporating Gjirokastër and extending east to the city of Tepelenë. The people of Labëria are known as Labs, who have their own tradition of songs, dances and costumes....
, their iso-polyphony is influenced more by the Tosk type. The song of Çelo Mezani
Song of Çelo Mezani
The Song of Çelo Mezani is an Albanian polyphonic folk song. It is considered to be the best-known Cham Albanian song. The song increased the awareness in Albania about the Chameria region and its history.-History:...
, a polyphonic folk song narrating and lamenting the death of Cham Albanian revolutionary Çelo Mezani is considered to be the best-known Cham Albanian song.
Dances
Cham Albanian dances are well-known in Albania. The best-known is the Dance of Osman TakaDance of Osman Taka
The Dance of Osman Taka , is a popular traditional dance of Cham Albanians, which has become widely known in Albania and Greece. The Dance is linked with Osman Taka, a Cham Albanian leader, who fought against Ottoman forces...
.
This Dance is linked with Osman Taka, a Cham Albanian leader who fought against Ottoman forces, and who managed to escape from death by amazing Ottoman forces with this dance. It is an old Cham dance, but under this name its known only since the 19th century.
The Dance of Zalongo (called in Albanian as Vallja or Vaji i Zallongut) refers to an event in Albanian and Greek history involving a mass suicide of women from Souli and their children. The name also refers to a popular dance song commemorating the event in both countries. It is inspired by an historical event of December 1803, when a small group of Souliot women and their children were trapped by Ottoman troops in the mountains of Zalongo
Zalongo
Zalongo is a former municipality in the Preveza peripheral unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Preveza, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 5,043 . The seat of the municipality was in Kanali. Nearby is the 18th century Zalongo...
in Epirus. In order to avoid capture and enslavement, the women threw first their children and then themselves off a steep cliff, committing suicide. The song of the dance goes as follows in Albanian:
| The song of the dance in Albanian and English: | |
|---|---|
| English | Albanian |
Mosko afoot, has left her baby in the ground, Hits this woman, this brave woman, Her gun and cannon everything scares. "Look here girls, how close they are!" Even walls became ash, but Dhespo as always stands up, To her girls speaks, with voice and calamity. "Girls, slaves of the Turkish can we be? Follow me, girls, our place is down there!" |
Moskua në këmbë, foshnjën përdhe ka lënë, Qëllon a s’qëllon kjo grua, deli grua, Pushka top gjithçka zhurit. "Vështrojuni një çikë more, si jeni bërë meit!" Edhe muret u bënë hi, po Dhespua përherë në këmbë, Nuseve ç’u thërret, me zë e me gjëmë. “Skllave të turkut bija, a mund të bëhemi ne? Pas meje, mori nuse, vendin e kemi atje!" |
| Dhespo is the wife of Giorgos Botsaris and Mosko Moscho Tzavela Moscho Tzavela was a Souliote heroine of the years before the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, who has been mentioned in modern Greek and Albanian literature.... was the wife of Lambros Tzavelas. |
|
Folklore
In 1889, the Danish ethnographer Holgert Pedersen collected Cham folk tales and published them in Copenhagen nine years later, in the book "On Albanian folklore" (Zur albanesischen Volkskunde). More than 30 Cham folk tales were collected, the majority of whom about bravery and honour. The Chams of the southern Chameria region believe that they are descended from the legendary "jelims", giants from southern Albanian mythology, whose name derives from the SlavicSlavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
transmission of the Greek word Έλλην (ellin) which means "Greek".
Dress
The folk outfits of the region are colorful. The most common men's outfit for Muslims and orthodox was the kilt known as fustanellaFustanella
Fustanella is a traditional skirt-like garment worn by men of many nations in the Balkans, similar to the kilt. In modern times, the fustanella is part of Balkan folk dresses...
, embroidered with silver thread, the doublet
Doublet (clothing)
A doublet is a man's snug-fitting buttoned jacket that is fitted and shaped to the man's body which was worn in Western Europe from the Middle Ages through to the mid-17th century. The doublet was hip length or waist length and worn over the shirt or drawers. Until the end of the 15th century the...
, short shirt with wide sleeves, the fez, the leather clogs with red topknots and white knee socks. Other parts of the outfit were the silver chest ornamental and the holster embroidered with silver thread used to carry a gun or a pistol.
This kind of dress was common for all Albanians, but there was difference in the length in the south where men, including the Chams, wore shorter ones, up to the knee. The kilt of high society men was made of many folds (about 250 - 300) and later was substituted by slacks and the former one was only used on special occasions.
During 1880–1890 the town women mostly wore long skirts or dresses. They were dark red or violet and embroidered with gold thread. Other parts of this outfit were the sleeveless waistcoats, silk shirts with wide sleeves embroidered with such a rare finesse. On special occasions they also put on a half-length coat matching the color of the dress. It was embroidered with various flowery motives. Another beautiful part of the outfit is the silver belt, the silk head kerchief and a great number of jewelry such as earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces etc.
Architecture
The main architectural monuments in the region of Chameria that belonged to Chams were mosques, homes and Muslim cemeteries, as well as old Albanian towers, known in Albanian as Kullas, which have survived, only because they are in the middle of forests scrub land, in old military zones near the Albanian border. The majority of them have been disappeared.But, there are very few surviving mosques, which were transformed into museums, following the model of the Yugoslav communists
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, despite the existence of some Muslims in many localities. Muslim cemeteries are frequently desecrated by modern building works, particularly road building.
At the same time, Cham domestic and administrative buildings, mosques and cultural monuments are slowly covered by vegetation. Pasture lands once used by Chams for their cattle is now converged into forests, because of the depopulation of the region. Thus the geographical and architectural legacy of Cham presence in north western Greece is gradually vanishing.
Cuisine
Cham Albanians cuisine is seen as a mixture of Albanian and Greek cuisine, and maintains the main characteristics of the Mediterranean and the Ottoman cuisineOttoman cuisine
Ottoman cuisine is the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire and its successors in Anatolia, the Balkans, and much of the Middle East.- Description :...
. Their cuisine includes many kinds of cheese. Lamb is mostly baked with yogurt, differently from other cuisines. This dish has become one of the most popular in Albania.
Tarator
Tarator or Taratur , is a traditional Balkan dish. It is a cold soup , popular in the summertime in Albania, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, southeastern Serbia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Armenia and in Cyprus...
, while soups with seafood are part of their cuisine. Chams are well-known in Albania for the different ways of making bread and traditional Turkish
Turkish cuisine
Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbouring cuisines, including that of western Europe...
pies, the börek
Börek
Börek is a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka . It can be filled with cheese, often feta, sirene or kaşar; minced meat, or vegetables...
(called byrek in Albanian).
Notable individuals
- Abedin DinoAbedin DinoAbedin Dino was a Cham Albanian politician, rilindas, one of the founders of the League of Prizren , and one of the main contributors in the Albanian independence....
, founder of the League of Prizren, one of the main contributors in the Albanian independence.
- Ahmed DinoAhmed DinoAhmed Dino was an Albanian military leader and politician.He was born in 1785 in Preveza to the notable Dino family of the town. He was a close friend and ally of Ali Pasha. In Egypt he was one of the highest ranking generals of Muhammad Ali of Egypt during his conquest of Egypt...
, military leader and politician. - Ali DinoAli DinoAli Dino , also known as Ali Dino Bey was an Albanian cartoonist and a Member of the Greek Parliament.Dino was born in Preveza, Ottoman Empire in 1889, to Rasih Dino and is the grandson of Abedin Dino, one of the main contributors of the Albanian independence...
(1890–1938), famous Albanian cartoonist and member of the Hellenic ParliamentHellenic ParliamentThe Hellenic Parliament , also the Parliament of the Hellenes, is the Parliament of Greece, located in the Parliament House , overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece....
. - Rasih DinoRasih DinoRasih Dino was an Albanian politician, diplomat and a figure of the Albanian national movement of the early 20th century.- Life :Rasih Dino was born in 1865 in Preveza to the notable Dino family of the area. His father was Abedin Dino, one of the founders of the League of Prizren...
(1865–1928), diplomat and signatory of AlbaniaAlbaniaAlbania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
to the Treaty of London. - Shahin DinoShahin DinoShahin Dino was an Albanian politician and diplomat in the Ottoman Empire and independent Albania.He was born in Preveza in modern Greece during the 19th century to the notable local Dino family. In 1897 he was one of the local volunteer irregulars who defended Preveza during the Greco-Turkish War...
, deputy of the sanjak of Preveza in the Ottoman Parliament and later Minister of Interior of AlbaniaAlbaniaAlbania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. - Ali DemiAli DemiAli Demi is a Hero of Albania of World War II, born in Filiates, Greece in 1918, and died during a battle with German forces in Vlora, Albania in 1943....
, World War II hero of Albania born in Filiates, Greece in 1918, and died during a battle with Axis forces in Vlora, Albania in 1943. After him was created the first Cham battalion in ELAS army, the battalion "Ali Demi". - Azis Tahir AjdonatiAzis Tahir AjdonatiAzis Tahir Ajdonati was a leading figure in the Albanian movement of Independence and one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence, representing the region of Çamëria....
, from Paramythia, representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence. - Bilal XhaferriBilal XhaferriBilal Xhaferri was an Albanian poet and novelist, and a political dissident against the Albanian communist regime. He was born in Ninat, Konispol in southern Albania, and died in Chicago, USA...
, writer, born in KonispolKonispolKonispol is the southernmost town in Albania. It sits one kilometer away from the Albanian-Greek border. The municipality consists of the town Konispol and the village Çiflik.The town's main interests are agriculture and viticulture...
, AlbaniaAlbaniaAlbania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. - Gjon ZenebishiGjon ZenebishiGjon Zenebishi was an Albanian noblemen and Prince of Gjirokastër.-Rise in power:In 1380, Gjon Zenebishi was appointed Sebastocrator or prefect of Vagenetia near Delvinë. He was also ruler of Pyrgo and Sayada. He submitted to the Turks after the initial invasion and gave them his son as a hostage...
, medieval Albanian lord, and prince of Gjirokastër, born in Vagenetia (i.e. Thesprotia/Chameria) - Hasan TahsiniHasan TahsiniHasan Tahsini also known as Hoxha Tahsin was an Albanian astronomer, mathematician and philosopher. He was the first rector of Istanbul University and one of the founders of the Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights...
, also known as Hoca Tahsin, Hodja Tahsin, Tahsin Efendi, Ahmet Nebil mathematician, philosopher and psychologist. - Jakup VeseliJakup VeseliJakup Veseli was a leading figure in the Albanian independence movement one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence, representing the region of Çamëria....
, from Margariti, representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence. - Muhamet Kyçyku (Çami)Muhamet Kyçyku (Çami)Muhamet Kyçyku , born in Konispol, Ottoman Empire, is one of the most known Albanian bejtexhinjs and is considered as the first poet of the Albanian National Renaissance.-Biography:...
, considered as the first poet of the National Renaissance, one of the best-known bejtexhinjs of Albania. - Osman TakaOsman TakaOsman Resul Taka was a well-known dancer of his time. After him is named the Dance of Osman Taka. His early life is not clear. He was born in Konispol in one of the most powerful and wealthy families of the town, the Taka family known also for Alush Taka a great patriot. During the mid 19th...
, one of the main contributors to the National Renaissance of Albania and a well-known dancer of his time. - Musa DemiMusa DemiMusa Demi was an Albanian revolutionary and writer. He was one of the main proponents of the Albanian National Awakening in the region of Filiates, Paramythia and Igoumenitsa .- Life :...
, revolutionary and important figure of the Albanian National Awakening. - Niazi DemiNiazi DemiNiazi Rustem Demi was an Albanian politician.Niazi Demi was born in 1919 in Filiates, a town of northwestern Greece . He studied in Vlorë and then in Tiranë's high school, graduating in late 1930s. In 1942 he joined the ranks of the Albanian National Liberation Front and in 1943 became political...
, minister of trade of AlbaniaAlbaniaAlbania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. - Rexhep DemiRexhep DemiRexhep Demi was a leading member of the Albanian independence movement and one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence, representing the region of Çamëria. He was a minister in the Provisional Government of Albania....
, from Filiates, representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence. - Aziz ÇamiAziz ÇamiAziz Çami was an Albanian army officer and Balli Kombëtar commander. In 1920 he was a commander in the Vlora War. In the mid 1920s he was exiled after the restoration of monarchy as he was a supporter of Fan Noli and in 1931 he was arrested for an assassination attempt against King Zog I...
, officer of the Albanian army and Balli KombëtarBalli KombëtarBalli Kombëtar was an Albanian nationalist, anti-communist and anti-monarchy organization established in October 1939. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and Mit’hat Frashëri...
commander. - Qamil ÇamiQamil ÇamiQamil Izet Çami was an Albanian rilindas, poet, and teacher. He and other rilindas from his area opened the first Albanian-language school of Filiates in 1908 .-Life:...
, teacher and poet of era of the Albanian National Awakening. - Thoma ÇamiThoma ÇamiThoma Çami was a Cham Albanian leader and one of the main contributors to the revival of Albanian culture during the National Renaissance of Albania. He was a founder and the first chairman of the organization "Bashkimi", the best-known cultural club of the Albanian National Awakening...
, (1852–1909), from Paramythia, founder and chairman of organisation "Bashkimi", the best-known cultural club, of Rilindja Kombetare. - Veli GërraVeli GërraVeli Gërra was a leading member of the Albanian independence movement and one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence, representing the region of Cameria....
, from Igoumenitsa, representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence.
- Teme SejkoTeme SejkoTeme Sejko was an Albanian rear-admiral and commander of the Albanian navy and the naval base of Durrës. In 1961 he was executed for allegedly being the leader of a pro-Soviet group that had been planning a coup d'état against Enver Hoxha by selling the Albanian navy to the Sixth Fleet.-...
, rear-admiral and commander of the Albanian navy.
See also
- Minorities in GreeceMinorities in GreeceIndigenous minorities in Greece are small in size compared to regional standards. The country is largely ethnically homogeneous. This is mainly due to the population exchanges between Greece and neighboring Turkey and Bulgaria , which removed most Muslims and those Christian Slavs who did not...
- Treaty of LondonTreaty of LondonThe Treaty of London may refer to:* Treaty of London , which ceded western France to England, repudiated by the Estates-General in Paris on 19 May 1359* Treaty of London , a non-aggression pact between the major European nations...
- World War II evacuation and expulsionWorld War II evacuation and expulsionForced deportation, mass evacuation and displacement of peoples took place in many of the countries involved in World War II. These were caused both by the direct hostilities between Axis and Allied powers, and the border changes enacted in the pre-war settlement...