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Thousands of Albanian Chams on Sunday gathered at the Mavromati Sagiada customs office at the Greek-Albanian boarder (on the Albanian side) claiming that they want their land back. Addressing over 4,000 participants the leader of Albania's Cham party PDIU, Shpetim Idrizi, called on the Albanian government to immediately deal with the issue, while he accused Greece for violating his followers human rights in not allowing Chama Albanians to visit -as he claims- their “ancestral land”.
Before the protest, most of the participants paid homage to the “Genocide Monument” in the area of Sarandë and while there planted an olive tree promising that a greater monument will be constructed some time in the future for what they claim would commemorate the “victims of the genocide” that was committed by Greeks against Albanians.
On the side of the Greek boarder, authorities had beefed up security, while a special forces team was also presented to protect customs officials.
So, who are the Chams, and why are they claiming that they own land in Greece. According to Wikipedia, the Cham Albanians (Τσάμηδες), 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. History states that 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. (Please watch video, in order to understand why they were expelled from Greece).
The Greek government considers the Cham Issue as a closed chapter. According to Wikipedia, the Greek official position Cham Albanians will not be allowed to return in Greece "because they collaborated with the Italian-German invaders during WWII and as such they are war criminals and are punished according to Greek laws".
EVen so, in an attempt to give a solution in 1992 Prime minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis proposed a trade-off in relation to their properties, saying that only in cases:
- when it could be established that Chams had not convicted or participated in crimes against their fellow Greeks and their fleeing from the country was only due to fear.
- if the Albanian government would agree to mutually compensate ethnic Greeks who had lost properties due to persecution during the communist regime in Albania
The Chams are a new headache... as for being a threat. No one knows, but they do have a paramilitary formation called the Liberation Army of Chameria (Albanian: Ushtria Clirimtare e Camerise) in the northern Greek region of Epirus. The organization is reportedly linked to the Kosovo Liberation Army (a highly dangerous organization) and the National Liberation Army, both ethnic Albanian paramilitary organizations in Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia respectively. As of 2001, the Greek police reported that the group consisted of approximately 30-40 Albanians. It has not the official support of the Albanian government.
( In the first video every claim by the Chams, that says they were oppressed by the Greek state are debunked since documents and pictures are presented that clearly show that they sided with the Nazis against Greece. In the second video the organization "Ouranio Toxo" works together with Chams. The organization Ouranio Toxo is apparently funded by George Soros, it is the same organization which also finances and generates hate propaganda against Greece on the issue of FYROM )
References
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