The falsification of history certainly has its limits. Following FYROM-anian claims to Greek history, culture, national symbols, heroes and possibly even territory, some nationals in Tirana are now saying that Alexander the Great was Albanian. Yes you heard correctly… Albanian! Some fanatic minds in Albania actually believe this, and they are apparently teaching this falsehood to their younger generations as well.
According to a report today on the katoci.com site, students in Albania are being told via their schoolbooks that they have the same DNA with this legendary Greek hero, while he is presented as being one of their own. According to one of their Geography books, areas in in the north-western region of Greece, including the prefectures of Florina, Kastoria, Grevena, Ioannina, Arta, Preveza, Thesprotia and the northern part of Aitoloakarnania are supposedly Albanian territory!
Specifically, the geography book in question says that "Albanian regions were unfairly annexed to Greece in 1913 by the Council of Ambassadors. The historical developments, forcibly massed transfers of the indigenous Albanian population and the lack of official data complicated the determination of the Albanian regions in Greece and especially the social and economic problems of these areas. These areas are located in north-western Greece, south of FYROM and Albania to the south-east of the Gulf of Arta and consists of areas such as 'Tsamouria', Florina, etc. '.
The falsification of history, has its limits. These idiotic statements have probably been devised by the Tsamides, or Chams of Albania who until this day continue to pump out propaganda against Greeks and still have territorial claims on this country. Don’t they know that Alexander the Great was born in Greece? First of all, the Albanians are a mixture of two peoples called Ghegs and Tosks, and they had not even arrived in this part of the world when Alexander was born. In simple words… they didn’t even have a country when Alexander walked this earth. How in the hell could they even claim that he might possibly be Albanian?
Also, Alexander's father was Macedonian and Alexander's mother was from Epirus, so they were both Greek.
Albanians say that the reason they believe that Alexander the Great is Albanian or Illyrian, which is a term used in the ancient world, is on account of how he has been depicted on statues.
OK... apart from this sounding totally ludicrous... I say that they should get their facts straight.
The Tosk Albanians (Southern Albania) do indeed resemble modern Greeks, but that implies to most countries that boarder with other countries. On the other hand, Gheg Albanians (Northern Albania, Kosovo, Tetovo) are totally and physically different. Also, their language has very few Greek elements that clearly show that they are not even Illyrians (Illyrians were influenced a lot by their Greek neighbours).
So Alexander cannot be either Albanian or Illyrian.
This myth has also been debunked and as far as I am concerned the expansionist ideas of Tsamides for the “Greater Albania” will never come to pass because they are to be laughed at.
I am sure this all involves a few unrepresentative extremist groups who are working towards this cause; because in all reality the vast majority of Albanians in Albania and especially the immigrants who are living in Greece want to live in peace with one another. Certainly there are exceptions, but certainly that is the case of any society.
Case closed.
According to a report today on the katoci.com site, students in Albania are being told via their schoolbooks that they have the same DNA with this legendary Greek hero, while he is presented as being one of their own. According to one of their Geography books, areas in in the north-western region of Greece, including the prefectures of Florina, Kastoria, Grevena, Ioannina, Arta, Preveza, Thesprotia and the northern part of Aitoloakarnania are supposedly Albanian territory!
Specifically, the geography book in question says that "Albanian regions were unfairly annexed to Greece in 1913 by the Council of Ambassadors. The historical developments, forcibly massed transfers of the indigenous Albanian population and the lack of official data complicated the determination of the Albanian regions in Greece and especially the social and economic problems of these areas. These areas are located in north-western Greece, south of FYROM and Albania to the south-east of the Gulf of Arta and consists of areas such as 'Tsamouria', Florina, etc. '.
The falsification of history, has its limits. These idiotic statements have probably been devised by the Tsamides, or Chams of Albania who until this day continue to pump out propaganda against Greeks and still have territorial claims on this country. Don’t they know that Alexander the Great was born in Greece? First of all, the Albanians are a mixture of two peoples called Ghegs and Tosks, and they had not even arrived in this part of the world when Alexander was born. In simple words… they didn’t even have a country when Alexander walked this earth. How in the hell could they even claim that he might possibly be Albanian?
Also, Alexander's father was Macedonian and Alexander's mother was from Epirus, so they were both Greek.
Albanians say that the reason they believe that Alexander the Great is Albanian or Illyrian, which is a term used in the ancient world, is on account of how he has been depicted on statues.
OK... apart from this sounding totally ludicrous... I say that they should get their facts straight.
The Tosk Albanians (Southern Albania) do indeed resemble modern Greeks, but that implies to most countries that boarder with other countries. On the other hand, Gheg Albanians (Northern Albania, Kosovo, Tetovo) are totally and physically different. Also, their language has very few Greek elements that clearly show that they are not even Illyrians (Illyrians were influenced a lot by their Greek neighbours).
So Alexander cannot be either Albanian or Illyrian.
This myth has also been debunked and as far as I am concerned the expansionist ideas of Tsamides for the “Greater Albania” will never come to pass because they are to be laughed at.
I am sure this all involves a few unrepresentative extremist groups who are working towards this cause; because in all reality the vast majority of Albanians in Albania and especially the immigrants who are living in Greece want to live in peace with one another. Certainly there are exceptions, but certainly that is the case of any society.
Case closed.
WHO ARE THE CHAMS – TSAMIDES
According to Wikipedia, the Cham Albanians, or Chams (Albanian: Çamë, Greek: Τσάμηδες Tsámidhes), 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 fuelled 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.
WHAT WAS 1913 TREATY OF LONDON ?
The Treaty of London was signed on 30 May during the London Conference of 1913. It dealt with the territorial adjustments arising out of the conclusion of the First Balkan War. An armistice to end the First Balkan War had been signed on 3 December 1912. The London Peace Conference was attended by those delegates from the Balkan allies (including Greece) who had not signed the previous armistice, as well as Turkey. The first session of the conference began on 16 December 1912, but ended on 23 January 1913, when the Coup of 1913 in the Ottoman Empire took place.
On 30 May 1913, the conference finally closed with the signing of the Treaty of London (1913), which established the independence and territory of Albania, as well as dividing the lands the Balkan League had captured from the Ottoman Empire during the First Balkan War. The combatants were the victorious Balkan League (Serbia, Greece, Kingdom of Bulgaria, and Montenegro) and the defeated Ottoman Empire. Representing the Great Powers were Britain, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
Hostilities had ceased on 2 December 1912. Three principal points were in dispute: the status of the territory of present-day Albania, the vast majority of which had been overrun by Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece the status of the Sanjak of Novi Pazar formally under the protection of Austria-Hungary since the Treaty of Berlin in 1878 the status of the other territories taken by the Allies: Kosovo; Skopje; and Thrace. The Treaty was negotiated in London at an international conference which had opened there in December 1912, following the declaration of independence by Albania on 28 November 1912.
Austria-Hungary and Italy strongly supported the creation of an independent Albania. In part, this was consistent with Austria-Hungary's previous policy of resisting Serb expansion to the Adriatic; Italy had designs on the territory, manifested in 1939. Russia supported Serbia and Montenegro. Germany and Britain remained neutral. The balance of power struck between the members of the Balkan League had been on the assumption that Albania would be among the conquered lands shared between them.
WHAT IS THE IDEA OF THE GREAT ALBANIA?
The term Greater Albania or Ethnic Albania as called by Albanians refers to an irredentist concept of lands outside the borders of the Republic of Albania which are considered part of a greater national homeland by most Albanians based on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in those areas. The term incorporates claims to Kosovo, as well as territories in southern Montenegro, northwestern Greece (Chameria), the western part of the Republic of Macedonia, and the Presevo Valley, Medveda, and Bujanovac in Serbia.
The unification of an even larger area into a unique territory under Albanian authority had been theoretically conceived by the League of Prizren, an organization of the 19th century whose goal was to unify the Albanian inhabited lands (and other regions) into a single autonomous Albanian Vilayet within the Ottoman Empire. However, the concept of a Greater Albania, as in greater than Albania within its 1913 borders, was only ever implemented de facto and de jure under the Italian and Nazi German occupation of the Balkans during World War II.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Albania
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