The Cham Issue: Past, Present and Solutions in the Light of European Integration of South East Europe

Abstract

Chameria region begins from South of Albania, Northwest region in Greece. The name Cham has been associated with the people that have lived in the area close to the river with the same name (Thyam). Chams (Cam or Came) and the Greek name Tsamides (Τσάμηδeς). Chameria has been populated mostly by Albanian Muslims including Yanina (Ioanina),the capital of Southern Albania. According to more than 20 diplomats, historians, geographers Greeks, Turks and Europeans have identified Illyrian Macedonians and Epiriotes (Chams), as far as Yanina (Ioanina) as Albanians. Grestner, an Austro-Hungarian Albanalog has stated: There have been two different views on these people. The Greek view is that they are Turk-Albanians. This had to do for the reason that this population belongs partly of Islamic faith. Whereas the other view point considers them Albanians. For this they base it on language and race, where Orthodox and Cham Muslims have been identified, when most of them were converted to Islam. Contentious arguments are brought from both sides in this issue. One side argues that both groups Muslims and Orthodox Cham have been subject to ethnic cleansing, genocide and assimilation imposed by Greek state in different periods. On the other side Greek administrations have not acknowledged such Albanian ethnic identity and their presence. According to them, such population left - due to the fear of being brought to justice. This argument is based on the facts that Cham Muslims collaborated with Germans during WWII. When dealing with this Cham population that belongs to the Christian Orthodox religion have been called Greeks. Indeed such idea would find ground only as much as Albanian catholic would be roman. In the authors’ opinion the main reason for this is the policy of Greece used on the assimilation and division of Chams on religious lines. The policy of all Greek governments has been to ethnically cleanse all Albanian population from the region, (with the exception of short lived Pangallo’s government that tried to solve such issue). Referring to the witnessed reports and many other documents, the persecution and discriminations were a daily occurrence toward Cham Albanians since the annexation of this region to Greece in 1913. The legal perspective would highlight the path to solution. Of course if the Greek administration stops denying and hindering the democratic process in continuance of hiding the Genocide and ethnic cleansing to all others, in Greece.