Cham Albanians

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Cham Albanians (In Albanian: Çamë, in Greek: Τσάμηδες Tsámidhes) are a group of ethnic Albanians traditionally from Çamëria (the Greek region of Epirus) and today live in Albania, Greece and Turkey. They speak the Albanian language and are predominantly Muslim, with a sizable Orthodox Christian minority.

1 Folkloric origins
2 History
3 Current situation
4 See also
5 External links

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Folkloric origins

According to the prominent Albanian academic Eqrem Cabej (1974b) and M. Lambertz (1973), "Jelims". were figures from southern Albanian mythology. These giants were called in Albanian. jelim, def. jelimi, from the Greek word Ελλην (ellin) which means ’Greek’. The current version of the name reached its current form through Slavic transmission. The 'Jelilms' were known to the Saranda region in Southern Albania (northern Epirus). The Chams (of the southern Cameria region) believed themselves to be descended from a race of ancient jelims. A more contemporary source is found in: 'The Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology and Folk Culture', p.131 by Robert Elsie, Hurst 2001.

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History

While the Balkan Wars resulted in Albanian independence, they also resulted in an expansion of the territory of Greece by about 64%. The newly drawn borders left a sizable Albanian minority in Greece and a sizable Greek minority in Albania.

In March 1926 Greece announced that all Greek citizens, including the Chams enjoyed equal rights. In practice, these rights were very selective. The Greek authorities discouraged ethnic Albanians from speaking Albanian outside their homes and did not permit Albanian language schools. In 1936, Ioannis Metaxas came to power and life for the Chams, along with all other ethnic minorities in Greece, became even more difficult. The Chams followed the example of the Albanian state and sided with the Axis forces, and in hopes of a territorial expansion, they welcomed the invasion of Greece. Cham militants were armed with Italian weaponry and committed many atrocities against Greek civilians. In the aftermath of the war, the Greek communist party managed to annex northern Epirus (Greece's WW2 gains) and offer it to the Albanian state (whom they regarded as fellow communists). Following communist defeat, Greek reaction on the Cham Albanian population was severe, as most of the community had its property confescated and got violently expelled to the Albanian state.

Beginning on June 27 1944, and continuing through March 1945, EDES troops lead by General Napoleon Zervas, launched a series of attacks on Muslim Albanian villages and killed roughly 2,771 Chams. The surviving Muslim Chams fled to Albania and settled in villages of southern Albania, where today they number over 100,000. The Greek government then brought Greek, Vlach and Rom populations to settle in the region.

Joseph Jacobs, the head of the US Mission in Albania (1945-1946) wrote:

In March 1945 units of Zervas's dissolved forces carried out a massacre of Chams in the Filiates area, and practically cleared the district of the Albanian minority. According to all the information I have been able to gather on the Cham issue, in the fall of 1944 and during the first months of 1945, the authorities in north-western Greece perpetrated savage brutality by evicting some 25,000 Chams - residents of Chameria - from their homes. They were chased across the border after having been robbed of their land and property. Hundreds of male Chams from the ages of 15 to 70 were interned on the islands of the Aegean Sea. In total 102 mosques were burnt down.

The Orthodox Cham Albanians were not expelled, but were placed under tight restrictions. Speaking Albanian in public was prohibited, and as a result, was reduced to a home language spoken only in private. Since then, Greece has not recognised any minorities, with the notable exception of the Greek Muslim minority, whose recognition was guaranteed under the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

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Current situation

The exiled Muslim Cham Albanians have addressed the issue of their lost properties and requested permission to return to their villages Greece. So far, the Greek government has maintained that the Cham issue is closed. The National Political Organisation "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 10 January 1991, and was registerend with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation in January 1995.

There are currently c. 50,000 Cham Albanians in Greece,the overwhelming majority being Orthodox Christians. They live mostly in and in villages around Preveza, Thesprotia and Ioannina. It should be noted that today Christian Chams are reluctant to identify as such, but refer to themselves as Arvanites. The designation "Cham" usually refers to the Muslim Chams.

Since the early 1990s there has been an influx of Albanian immigrants, estimated in the only official report undertaken (for the Greek Interior Ministry) Statistical Data on Immigrants in Greece at 650-700.000 individuals, of which up to 200.000 are documented as ethnic Greek. Some of these immigrants have settled in Cham villages, although the vast majority have moved to the Greek cities.

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