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			{{Short description|Sub-group of Albanians}}
	{{About|the dialectological group of Northwestern Greece|an overview of different communities of Albanian origin in Greece|Albanian communities in Greece|other uses of the word Cham|Cham (disambiguation)}}
			{{Redirect|Cham Albanian|the dialect|Cham Albanian dialect}}
			{{For|the Austronesian ethnic group|Chams}}
			{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
	{{Infobox ethnic group		{{Infobox ethnic group
	|group=Cham Albanians		| group = Cham Albanians
			| image =
	|image=]
	|image_caption=] · ] · ]		| image_caption = Unofficial flag of Cham Albanians
			| population = {{circa|170,000<ref name="Victor" />–690,000}}<ref name="Vickers">{{Cite book|last=Vickers|first=Miranda|title=The Cham Issue - Where to Now?|url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/38640/2007_Jan.pdf|publisher=Defence Academy of the United Kingdom|access-date=3 August 2017|pages=1–2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Ahmed|first=Akbar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LpALDgAAQBAJ|title=Journey Into Europe: Islam, Immigration, and Identity|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|year=2018|isbn=9780815727590|page=303}}</ref>
	|poptime=est. 440,000<ref name="Vickers, Miranda 2002">{{citation
			| region1 = {{ALB}}
	|last=Vickers
			| pop1 = 120,000<ref>Antonina Zhelyazkova. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319185818/http://www.imir-bg.org/imir/books/Urgent_anthropology_3.pdf|date=19 March 2009 }}. International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations. Sofia 2004. {{ISBN|978-954-8872-53-9}}, p. 67.</ref>–250,000
	|first=Miranda
			| ref1 = <ref name="Vickers" />
	|title=The Cham Issue - Albanian National & Property Claims in Greece
			| region2 = {{GRE}}
	|url=http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=ISN&fileid=04E09F7D-57A4-6D55-2FC1-E582B9DACFBD&lng=en
			| pop2 = 44 Muslim Chams (1986)<ref name="Ktistakis9" />
	|publisher=Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
			| ref2 =
	|pages=21
			| region3 = {{TUR}}
	}}</ref><ref name = Vickers>{{citation
			| pop3 = 80,000–100,000
	|last=Vickers
			| ref3 = <ref name="Berisha" />
	|first=Miranda
			| region4 = {{USA}}
	|title=The Cham Issue - Where to Now?
			| pop4 = 50,000–70,000
	|url=http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=ISN&fileid=7F40F269-9359-6DF3-7767-24EDF78B6D8C&lng=en
			| ref4 = <ref name="Vickers" /><ref name="Berisha" />
	|publisher=Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
			| rels = ] (majority)<br>] (minority)
	|pages=21
			| langs = ]<sup>a</sup> (])
	}}</ref>
			| footnotes = {{center|a. Also ], ], and ], depending on residing state.}}
	|region1 = ]
	|pop1 = 250,000
	|ref1 = <ref name = Vickers/>
	|region2 = ]
	|pop2 = 40,000
	|ref2 = <ref name = Vickers/>
	|region3 = ]
	|pop3 = 80,000&ndash;100,000
	|ref3 = <ref name = Berisha>{{citation
	|last=Berisha
	|first=Mal
	|title=Diaspora Shqiptare në Turqi
	|publisher=ACCL Publishing
	|pages=13
	}}		}}
	</ref>
			'''Cham Albanians''' or '''Chams''' ({{langx|sq|Çamë}}; {{langx|el|Τσάμηδες}}, {{transl|el|Tsámides}}), are a sub-group of ] who originally resided in the western part of the region of ] in southwestern ] and northwestern ], an area known among Albanians as ]. The Chams have their own particular cultural identity within Albanian sub-groups. A number of Chams contributed to the ] and played an important role in starting the renaissance of the ] in the 19th century. The Chams speak their own ] of the ], the ], which is a Southern ] Albanian dialect and one of the two most conservative ones; the other being ].
	|region4 = ]
	|pop4 = 50,000&ndash;70,000
	|ref4 = <ref name = Vickers/><ref name = Berisha/>
	|rels=], ]
	|langs=]<br /><sup>also ], ] and ], depending on residing state</sup>
	|footnotes = {{reflist}}
	}}
			During the late 1930s Chams suffered from intimidation and persecution under the ] of General ].<ref name="Vickers" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Vickers|first=Miranda|title=The Cham Issue - Where to Now?|url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/38640/2007_Jan.pdf|publisher=Defence Academy of the United Kingdom|access-date=3 August 2017|page=12|quote="The Greeks must accept the historical truth about the confiscation of Cham-owned land, and the intimidation and persecution the Chams suffered under the dictatorship of General Metaxas during the late 1930s."}}</ref> Following the ] in 1939, the Chams became a prominent propaganda tool for the ] and ] elements among them became more vocal. As a result, on the eve of the ], Greek authorities deported the adult male Cham population to ]. After the ], large parts of the Muslim Cham population ] with Italian and ] forces.<ref>{{cite book|last= Meyer|first= Hermann Frank|title=Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg |publisher=Ch. Links Verlag|language=de|year=2008|ref=Meyer|isbn=978-3-86153-447-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Hpr-PK39UkC|page=705|quote=The Albanian minority of the Chams collaborated in large parts with the Italians and the Germans.}}</ref><ref>Russell King, Nicola Mai, Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers, '''', Sussex Academic Press, 2005, {{ISBN|9781903900789}}, p. 67.</ref><ref>M. Mazower (ed.), ''After The War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation and State in Greece, 1943–1960'', Princeton University Press, 1960, {{ISBN|9780691058412}}, p.&nbsp;25.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Victor Roudometof|author2=Roland Robertson|title=Nationalism, Globalization, and Orthodoxy: The Social Origins of Ethnic Conflict in the Balkans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I9p_m7oXQ00C&pg=PA190|year=2001|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location=Westport, Conn. |isbn=978-0-313-31949-5|pages=190–}} "During World War II, the majority of Chams sided with the Axis forces..."</ref> This fueled resentment among the local Greek population and in the aftermath of World War II the entire Muslim Cham population had to ]. Most Chams settled in Albania, while others formed ] communities in Turkey and the United States, and today their descendants continue to live in these countries. Since the ], Chams in Albania have campaigned for ] to Greece and restoration of confiscated properties. According to Laurie Hart, the remaining Orthodox Cham communities in Epirus are nowadays assimilated and entirely identify with the Greek nation.<ref name="Har">{{Cite journal|last1=Hart|first1=Laurie Kain|title=Culture, Civilization, and Demarcation at the Northwest Borders of Greece|doi=10.1525/ae.1999.26.1.196|year=1999|page=196|volume=26|journal=American Ethnologist|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/8520990/Culture-Civilization-And-Demarcation-at-the-Northwest-Borders-of-Greece|quote=Speaking Albanian, for example, is not a predictor with respect to other matters of identity .. There are also long standing Christian Albanian (or Arvanitika speaking) communities both in Epirus and the Florina district of Macedonia with unquestioned identification with the Greek nation. .. The Tschamides were both Christians and Muslims by the late 18th century |access-date=9 September 2017|archive-date=12 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112164523/https://www.scribd.com/doc/8520990/Culture-Civilization-And-Demarcation-at-the-Northwest-Borders-of-Greece|url-status=dead}}</ref> On the other hand, Bugajski includes the Orthodox among Cham Albanians.<ref name="Bugajski">{{cite book|last=Bugajski|first=J.|title=Return of the Balkans: Challenges to European Integration and U.S. Disengagement|publisher=Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College Press|series=Letort papers|year=2013|page=92}}</ref> In Albania, the Cham dialect and other traditions have been preserved, while in Greece linguistic rights and Orthodox Cham heritage have been suppressed in public space and been subject to assimilation policies. As such, the use of Albanian has been relegated to private space within the household.<ref>{{harvnb|Vickers|2007|p=2}} "Whereas in Albania and the diaspora Cham communities have managed to preserve their dialect, traditions and folk songs, in Greece itself those Orthodox Chams, now numbering around 40,000, who were allowed to remain in Greece, have suffered from assimilation and the public suppression of their Albanian heritage and language. As a result, Albanian is only spoken privately in the home."</ref>
	'''Cham Albanians''', or '''Chams''' ({{lang-sq|Çamë}}, {{lang-el|Τσάμηδες}} ''Tsámidhes''), are a sub-group of ] who originally resided in the coastal region of ] in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as ]. The Chams have their own peculiar cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many specifically Cham elements. In return, the Chams have influenced the popular cultures of both Albania and Greece: one of the Cham dances, the '']'', is considered a national dance in both countries, and Chams played an important role in starting the ] in the 19th century. The Chams speak ] of the ], which is considered one of the two most conservative dialects, the other being '']''.
			== Name ==
	The Chams have played an important role in the history of the region. The first presence of Albanian tribes in Epirus (the ancestors of both Chams and ]) is dated before the 12th century, as a result of migratory process during the ]. Several ] existed in Epirus during the ], before the region came under ] control. During the last centuries of Ottoman rule, the majority of the Chams converted to ], while a minority retained their original ] faith. In the 19th century, the Chams played an important role in the struggles for independence of both ] and ]. Following the ] of 1912–1913, the majority of Chameria came under Greek rule. For the ], the Chams were marginalized and discriminated against by the Greek state, who viewed them with distrust. Their properties were confiscated, several thousand were expelled to ], and their cultural identity was suppressed. Throughout the period, the Chams, supported by Albania, campaigned for recognition of ], especially the right to be educated in Albanian. Although some Greek governments reined in the discriminatory practices and guaranteed these rights, they were never implemented as other governments revoked them.
			{{Albanians}}
			=== Etymology and definition ===
	Following the ] in 1939, the Chams became a prominent propaganda theme for the ]. As a result, on the eve of the ], the adult male Cham population was deported by the Greek authorities to ]. After the ], some Cham Albanians collaborated with Italian and ] forces, while approximately the same number participated in the ] and ] resistance movements; the majority however remained uninvolved in the war. Nevertheless, in 1944, the entire Muslim Cham population was ] under the pretext of collaboration. Most of them crossed the border into Albania, while others formed ] communities in Turkey and the United States. Today, their descendants continue to live in these countries, although their religious affiliation has changed considerably in the past decades. At the same time, the Orthodox minority that remained in Greece has suffered from decades of suppression of their heritage and language. Since the ], Chams have campaigned for the ] to their homeland and restoration of their properties which were confiscated. Greece does not recognize the existence of the "]".
			The name ''Cham'', together with that of the region, ''Chameria'', is from an extinct local Slavic *''čamŭ'', itself from the local Greek ] '']'' (Θύαμις in Greek, ''Kalamas'' in Albanian). ] treats ''Cham'' as a direct continuation of ''].''<ref>{{Cite book|last=Galanti|first=Arturo|url=http://asa.archiviostudiadriatici.it/islandora/object/libria:136195#page/45/mode/1up|title=L'Albania: notizie geografiche, etnografiche e storiche|publisher=Societa' Ed. Dante Alighieri|year=1901|location=Rome|page=38|language=Italian|format=PDF}}</ref><ref>Vladimir Orel, ''Albanian Etymological Dictionary'', s.v. "çam" (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 49–50.</ref> A ] attributes the name to Turkish ''cami'' (Greek ''tzami''), literally, 'mosque-goer, mosque attendee' which presumably was used by Orthodox Christians for the descendants of Muslim converts. However, this is unlikely since the word's broader ethnographic and dialectal sense encompasses the entire Albanian-speaking population of the ] and ]s of Greek Epirus, both the Muslim and Christian populations.<ref name="Xhufi" />
			Chams account for the greatest part of the erstwhile substantial Albanian minority in the wider area of the ]; outside Chameria proper, there are only two Albanian-speaking villages further northeast (near ] in ]), whose inhabitants belong to a different Albanian sub-group, that of the ].<ref name="Euromosaic" /> Today, in the Greek context the use of the term has become largely associated with the former Muslim minority.<ref name="Euromosaic" />
	==Name==
	{{Albanians}}
	===Etymology and definition===
	The name "Cham", together with that of the region, "Chameria", is of uncertain origin. It may derive from the local Greek ] ] (Θύαμις in Greek, ''Çam'' in Albanian) or from the ancient ]-] tribe of Sameis.<ref name = Babiniotis>{{citation
	|last=Babiniotis
	|first=George
	|title=Lexicon of the Modern Greek Language
	|edition=2nd
	|year=2002
	|publisher=Lexicology Centre
	|location=Athens
	|language=Greek
	|isbn=960-86190-1-7
	|pages=761
	}}</ref> In its original ethnographic and dialectological sense, the term ''Cham'' comprises the entire Albanian-speaking population of the ] and ]s of Greek Epirus, including both the Muslim and Christian populations.<ref name = Xhufi/>
			=== Ethnic appellations ===
	Chams account for the greatest part of the erstwhile substantial Albanian minority in the wider area of the ]; outside "Chameria" proper, there are only two Albanian-speaking villages further north-east (near ] in ]), whose inhabitants belong to a different Albanian subgroup, that of the ].<ref name = Euromosaic/> Historical Albanian population groups of the region such as the 18th and 19th-century ] also spoke the Cham Albanian dialect.<ref>{{citation
			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''.<ref name="Winnifrith">{{Cite book|last=Winnifrith|first=Tom|title=Badlands, Borderlands: A History of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dkRoAAAAMAAJ|access-date=15 March 2009|year=2002|publisher=Duckworth|location=London, UK|isbn=9780715632017|page=219}}</ref> Prior to 1944, Greek sources often referred to Chams as ''Albanophones'' (Greek: Αλβανόφωνοι)<ref name="Palis">{{Cite journal|last=Pallis|first=A. A.|title=The Greek census of 1928|date=June 1929|journal=The Geographical Journal|volume=73|issue=6|pages=543–548|doi=10.2307/1785338|jstor=1785338|bibcode=1929GeogJ..73..543P }}</ref><ref name="Kretsi" /> or simply ''Albanians of Epirus''.<ref name="Palis" />
	|last=Great Britain Naval Intelligence Division
	|authorlink=Naval Intelligence Handbooks
	|editorn-last=Darby
	|editorn-first=Henry Clifford
	|title=Greece
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=m2YbAAAAMAAJ&q=&pgis=1
	|accessdate=2009-03-16
	|volume=3
	|year=1944
	|publisher=University Press
	|language=English
	|page=32
	|quote=...who belongs to the Cham branch of south Albanian Tosks (see volume I, pp.363-5). In the mid-eighteenth century these people (the Souliotes) were a semi-autonomous community...
	}}</ref><ref name="Jochalas"/> Today, in the Greek context the use of the term has become largely concentrated on the earlier Muslim minority.<ref name="Euromosaic"/>
			In Greece, Muslim Chams were referred to by a number of names by different authors. They were called ''Albanochams'' (Αλβανοτσάμηδες, ''Alvanotsamides''),<ref name="Kretsi" /> and '']'' (Τουρκαλβανοί, ''Tourkalvanoi'')<ref name="Babiniotis">{{Cite book
	===Ethnic appellations===
			|last=Babiniotis|first=George|title=Lexicon of the Modern Greek Language|edition=2nd|year=2002|publisher=Lexicology Centre|location=Athens|language=el|isbn=9789608619012}}</ref> or ''Turkochams'' (Τουρκοτσάμηδες, ''Tourkotsamides'').<ref name="Ktistakis" />
	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''.<ref name = Winnifrith>{{citation
			From the middle of the nineteenth century however, the term ''Turk'' and from the late nineteenth century onwards, derivative terms such as ''Turkalvanoi'' have been used as a pejorative term, phrase and or expression for Muslim Albanian populations by non-Muslim Balkan Peoples.<ref name="Karpat">Karpat, Kemal H. (2001). ''The politicization of Islam: reconstructing identity, state, faith, and community in the late Ottoman state''. Oxford University Press. p. 342. "After 1856, and especially after 1878, the terms Turk and Muslim became practically synonymous in the Balkans. An Albanian who did not know one word of Turkish thus was given the ethnic name of Turk and accepted it, no matter how much he might have preferred to distance himself from the ethnic Turks."</ref><ref name="Megalommatis">Megalommatis, M. Cosmas (1994). ''Turkish-Greek Relations and the Balkans: A Historian's Evaluation of Today's Problems''. Cyprus Foundation. p. 28. "Muslim Albanians have been called "Turkalvanoi" in Greek, and this is pejorative."</ref><ref name="Tzanelli2008">Tzanelli, Rodanthi (2008). ''Nation-building and identity in Europe: The dialogics of reciprocity''. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 62. "Consequently, at the beginning of the 1880s the Greek press openly incited anti-Albanian hatred, associating the Albanian irredentists with Turkish anti-Greek propaganda, and baptizing them Vlachs and 'Turkalbanian brigands' (''Aión''. 10 and 14 July 1880; ''Palingenesía'', 3 April 1881)."</ref><ref name="Nikolopoulou">Nikolopoulou, Kalliopi (2013). ''Tragically Speaking: On the Use and Abuse of Theory for Life''. University of Nebraska Press. p. 299. "Instead of the term "Muslim Albanians", nationalist Greek histories use the more known, but pejorative, term "Turkalbanians".</ref><ref name="Millas">Millas, Iraklis (2006). "Tourkokratia: History and the image of Turks in Greek literature." ''South European Society & Politics''. '''11'''. (1): 50. "The 'timeless' existence of the Other (and the interrelation of the Self with this Other) is secured by the name used to define him or her. Greeks often name as 'Turks' various states and groups—such as the Seljuks, the Ottomans, even the Albanians (Turkalvanoi)".</ref><ref>Mentzel, Peter (2000). "Introduction: Identity, confessionalism, and nationalism." ''Nationalities Papers''. '''28'''. (1): 8. "The attitude of non-Muslim Balkan peoples was similar. In most of the Balkans, Muslims were "Turks" regardless of their ethno-linguistic background. This attitude changed significantly, but not completely, over time."</ref> Amongst the wider Greek-speaking population until the interwar period, the term ''Arvanitis'' (plural: ''''']''''') was used to describe an Albanian speaker regardless of their religious affiliations.<ref name="Baltsiotis2011aa" /> In Epirus today, the term ''Arvanitis'' is still used for an Albanian speaker regardless of their citizenship and religion.<ref name="Baltsiotis2011aa">{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "Until the Interwar period ''Arvanitis'' (plural ''Arvanitēs'') was the term used by Greek speakers to describe an Albanian speaker regardless of his/hers religious background. In official language of that time the term ''Alvanos'' was used instead. The term ''Arvanitis'' coined for an Albanian speaker independently of religion and citizenship survives until today in Epirus (see Lambros Baltsiotis and Léonidas Embirikos, "De la formation d’un ethnonyme. Le terme Arvanitis et son evolution dans l’État hellénique", in G. Grivaud-S. Petmezas (eds.), ''Byzantina et Moderna'', Alexandreia, Athens, 2006, pp. 417–448.</ref>
	|last=Winnifrith
	|first=Tom
	|title=Badlands, Borderlands: A History of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dkRoAAAAMAAJ&q=
	|accessdate=2009-03-15
	|year=2002
	|publisher=Duckworth
	|location=London, United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|isbn=0-7156-3201-9
	|ean=9780715632017
	|pages=219
	}}</ref> Prior to 1944, Chams were often called by Greek sources ''Albanophones'' (Greek: Αλβανόφωνοι),<ref name = Palis>{{citation
	|last=Pallis
	|first=A. A.
	|title=The Greek census of 1928
	|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/1785338
	|year=1929
	|month=June
	|journal=The Geographical Journal
	|volume=73
	|issue=6
	|publisher=Blackwell Publishing
	|language=English
	|pages=543–548
	|doi=10.2307/1785338
	}}</ref><ref name = Kresti/> or simply ''Albanians of Epirus''.<ref name = Palis/>
			At the same time, the Albanian speaking population in Thesprotia, who is very rarely characterized as ''Christian Chams'',<ref name="Kretsi" /> is often referred by Greeks as ''Arvanites'' (Αρβανίτες),<ref name="Euromosaic">{{cite web|title=L'arvanite/albanais en Grèce|url=http://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/albanes/fr/i2/i2.html|publisher=]|location=Brussels|date=2006|access-date=13 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702231255/https://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/albanes/fr/i2/i2.html|archive-date=2 July 2019|url-status=live|df=dmy-all|language=fr}}</ref> 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''),<ref name="Kretsi" /> while Muslim Albanians sometimes designate them as '']'', which means "infidel" and refers to their religion.<ref name="Kretsi" /> This term was used by Muslim Albanians for the non-Muslims during the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="Kretsi" /> The term ] ("he/she who speaks clearly"), the Albanian ethnic endonym which came to prevail after the 18th century, was being used by Christian Albanian-speakers in the region as well, but today is used mostly as a means to differentiate themselves from other groups in the region (Greeks, Vlachs). Greek-speakers use the term "skipetaros" (shqiptar) to refer pejoratively to Orthodox Albanian-speakers in Thesprotia.<ref name="Baltsiotis20">{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2009|pp=18–20}}</ref><ref name=Banfi>{{Cite book
	In Greece, Muslim Chams were referred to by a number of names by different authors. They were called ''Albanochams'' (Αλβανοτσάμηδες, ''Alvanotsamides''),<ref name = Kresti/> and by the ] ''Turkalbanians'' (Τουρκαλβανοί, ''Tourkalvanoi'')<ref name = Babiniotis/> or ''Turkochams'' (Τουρκοτσάμηδες, ''Tourkotsamides''),<ref name = Ktistakis/> which are regarded as derogatory by Cham Albanians.<ref>{{ Citation
	| last1=Özkırımlı		|last1=Banfi
	| first1=Umut		|first1=Emanuele
			|title=Minorités linguistiques en Grèce: Langues cachées, idéologie nationale, religion.
	| last2=Washington
			|publisher=Mercator Program Seminar
	| first2=Spyros A.
			|place=Paris
	| title=Tormented by History: Nationalism in Greece and Turkey
			|page=27
	| publisher=Columbia University Press
			|date=6 June 1994
	| place=New York
			|language=fr
	| page=50
	| pages=520
	| year=2008
	| isbn=0-231-70052-0
	| ean=9780231700528
	}}</ref>		}}</ref>
			Some ] living the region also use a regional self appellation ''Tsamuréńi'' for themselves derived from the words Chameria and Cham.<ref>Koukoudis, Asterios (2003). ''The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora''. Zitros. p. 271. "However, there are groups of Arvanitovlachs, both in Albania and in Greece, who refuse to be defined as Farsariots, preferring other names, often toponymical too. These include.... Tsamoureni (''Tsamuréńi'') (from the area of Çamëria, mainly in Thesprotia)."</ref>
	At the same time, Orthodox Chams are often referred by Greeks as ''']''' (Αρβανίτες),<ref name = Euromosaic>{{cite web
	| url = http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/archive/languages/langmin/euromosaic/el1_fr.html
	| title = "L'arvanite/albanais en Grèce"
	| accessdate = 2009-03-16
	| author = Euromosaic project
	| year = 2006
	| format = html
	| publisher = ]
	| location = Brussels
	| language = French
	}}
	</ref><ref name = Kresti/> 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''),<ref name = Kresti/> while Muslim Albanians sometimes designate them as '']'', which means "infidel" and refers to their religion and not to their ethnicity.<ref name = Kresti/> This term was used by Muslim Albanians for the non-Muslims during the Ottoman Empire.<ref name = Kresti/> Orthodox Chams use the appellation "Albanians" (''Shqiptar'' in Albanian) for themselves.<ref name = Banfi>{{ Citation
	| last1=Banfi
	| first1=Emanuele
	| title="Minorités linguistiques en Grèce: Langues cachées, idéologie nationale, religion."
	| publisher=Mercator Program Seminar
	| place=Paris
	| pages=27
	| year=1994
	| moth=June
	| date=6
	| language=French
	}}</ref>
	Chams in Turkey are known by the name ''Arnauts'' (Arnavutlar), which applies to all ethnic Albanians in Turkey.<ref>{{cite web
	| url = http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Arnaut
	| title = Arnaut
	| accessdate = 2009-03-16
	| author = The Free Dictionary
	| format = html
	| language = English
	}}
	</ref>
			Chams in Turkey are known by the name ''Arnauts'' (Arnavutlar), which applies to all ethnic Albanians in Turkey.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Arnaut|title=Arnaut|access-date=16 March 2009|author=The Free Dictionary}}</ref>
	==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.<ref name=Vickers/>
	===Chameria===		== 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.<ref name=Vickers />
	]
	{{main|Chameria}}
	Chameria is the name applied by the Albanians to the region originally inhabited by the Chams, which extends from the ] coast to the Ioannina mountains in the east, and in the south almost as far as the ] gulf. This area corresponds to a few villages in the southern part of the ] in Albania (the ] of ], ] and ])<ref name = V/> and to the prefectures of ] and ] in Greece.<ref name = V>{{ Citation
	| last1=Vickers
	| first1=Miranda
	| last2=Pettifer
	| first2=James
	| title=Albania: From Anarchy to a Balkan Identity
	| publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers
	| place=London
	| isbn=1-85065-279-1
	| pages=207
	| year=1997
	| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=9IbgsDdeVxsC&pg=PR3&dq=%27%27Albania:+From+Anarchy+to+a+Balkan+Identity
	}}</ref> This area is part of the larger region of Epirus.
			=== Chameria ===
	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 ].
			]
			{{Main|Chameria}}
			Chameria is the name applied by the Albanians to the region formerly inhabited by the Chams, along the ] coast from Konispol to the north to the Acheron valley south. This area corresponds to a few villages in the southern part of the ] in Albania (the ] of ], ] and ])<ref name=V /> and to the regional units of ] and ] in Greece.<ref name=V>{{Cite book|last1=Vickers|first1=Miranda|last2=Pettifer|first2=James|title=Albania: From Anarchy to a Balkan Identity|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|place=London|isbn=9781850652793|page=207|year=1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9IbgsDdeVxsC&pg=PR3}}</ref><ref name=Kokolakis50 /> This area is part of the larger region of Epirus.
	The main settlements in which Chams originally resided were: ],<ref name = Hammond>{{Citation
	| last=Hammond
	| first=NGL
	| authorlink=NGL Hammond
	| title=Epirus: The Geography, the Ancient Remains, the History and Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas
	| publisher=Oxford University Press
	| place=Oxford/New York
	| isbn=0-405-14058-4
	| page=27
	| year=1981
	}}</ref> ],<ref name = Hammond/> ],<ref name = Vickers/> ],<ref>{{cite web
	| url = http://www.parapotamos.gr
	| title = Official site of Parapotamos Municipality
	| accessdate = 2009-03-16
	| publisher = Parapotamos Municipality
	| language = Greek
	}}</ref> ],<ref name = Leake>{{Citation
	| last=Leake
	| first=William Martin
	| authorlink=William Martin Leake
	| title=Travels in Northern Greece
	| publisher=M. Hakkert
	| place=New York, United States of America
	| isbn=1-4021-6771-7
	| ean=9781402167713
	| page=27
	| year=1967
	| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=L7mhzdOwLHcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=
	}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite web
	| url = http://www.sagiada.gr
	| title = Official site of Sagiada Municipality
	| accessdate = 2009-03-16
	| publisher = Sagiada Municipality
	| language = Greek
	}}</ref>],<ref name = Leake/> ]<ref name = Mazower>{{citation
	|last=Mazower
	|first=Mark
	|authorlink=Mark Mazower
	|title=After The War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation and State in Greece, 1943-1960
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=YAszKv6JfQUC&pg=PA25&dq
	|accessdate=2009-03-15
	|edition=illustrated
	|year=2000
	|publisher=Princeton University Press
	|location=Princeton, New Jersey
	|language=English
	|isbn=0-691-05842-3
	|ean=9780691058429
	|page=25-26
	|pages=312
	|chapter=Three Forms of Political Justice, 1944-1945
	}}</ref> and ].<ref name = Kresti/> Preveza and Ioannina also had significant Cham Albanian communities.<ref name = Diplomacy/> The Orthodox Chams originally resided in ],<ref name = Xhufi>{{citation
	|last=Xhufi
	|first=Pëllumb
	|title=Çamët ortodoks
	|year=2006
	|month=February
	|journal=Studime Historike
	|volume=38
	|issue=2
	|publisher=Albanian Academy of Sciences
	|language=Albanian
	}}
	</ref> ]<ref name = Xhufi/> and ].<ref name = Xhufi/><ref name = Euromosaic/>
			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 regional unit is mostly hilly. There are two rivers in the region: the Thyamis and ].
	===Albania===
	After the expulsion of the Muslim Chams from Greece, they were spread throughout Albania. The majority of Muslim Chams settled on the outskirts of ], ] and ]. Several hundred Chams moved into properties along the ] coast and in existing villages along the coast such as ], or established entirely new villages, such as ], near the Greek border.<ref name =Vickers/>
			The main settlements in which Chams originally resided were: ],<ref name=Hammond>{{Cite book|last=Hammond|first=NGL|author-link=NGL Hammond|title=Epirus: The Geography, the Ancient Remains, the History and Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas|publisher=Oxford University Press|place=Oxford/New York|isbn=9780405140587|page=27|year=1981}}</ref> ],<ref name=Hammond /> ],<ref name="Vickers" /> ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parapotamos.gr|title=Official site of Parapotamos Municipality|access-date=16 March 2009|publisher=Parapotamos Municipality|language=el|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518142255/http://www.parapotamos.gr/|archive-date=18 May 2009}}</ref> ],<ref name=Leake>{{Cite book|last=Leake|first=William Martin|author-link=William Martin Leake|title=Travels in Northern Greece|publisher=M. Hakkert|place=New York, United States of America|isbn=9781402167713|page=27|year=1967|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L7mhzdOwLHcC}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sagiada.gr|title=Official site of Sagiada Municipality|access-date=16 March 2009|publisher=Sagiada Municipality|language=el}}</ref> ],<ref name=Leake /> and ].<ref name="Kretsi" /> Preveza and Ioannina also had significant Cham Albanian communities.<ref name=Diplomacy>{{Cite book|last=Yildirim|first=Onur|title=Diplomacy and Displacement: Reconsidering the Turco-Greek Exchange of Populations, 1922–1934|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=St9ltGnWWnIC|access-date=31 March 2009|year=2006|publisher=CRC Press|page=121|place=], Turkey|isbn=9780415979825}}</ref> The Orthodox Chams originally resided in ],<ref name=Xhufi>{{Cite journal|last=Xhufi|first=Pëllumb|title=Çamët ortodoks|date=February 2006|journal=Studime Historike|volume=38|issue=2|publisher=Albanian Academy of Sciences|language=sq}}</ref> ]<ref name="Xhufi" /> and ].<ref name="Xhufi" />
	===Diaspora===
	Some Chams live in Turkey and the United States. Their number is unknown, but according to some sources, they number 150,000.<ref name =Vickers/> The first wave of this diaspora left for Turkey during the ] of 1923. They have populated the areas of ] and ] in ],<ref name = Fabbe>{{citation
	|last=Fabbe
	|first=Kristin
	|title=Defining Minorities and Identities - Religious Categorization and State-Making Strategies in Greece and Turkey
	|url=http://web.mit.edu/polisci/students/kfabbe/fabbe%202007.pdf
	|year=2007
	|month=October
	|day=18
	|publisher=Presentation at: The Graduate Student Pre-Conference in Turkish and Turkic Studies University of Washington
	|language=English
	|pages=49
	|place=Washington, United States of America
	}}</ref> as well as a number of towns in the area of ], especially ].<ref name = Diplomacy/> After the Second World War, others settled in ], ] and ].<ref name = Berisha/> After 1944, another part migrated to the United States of America,<ref name = Vickers/> where they were mainly concentrated in ], as well as ] and ].<ref name = bollati>{{cite news
	| first = Sali
	| last = Bollati
	| author = Vehbi Bajrami
	| title = Interview with the head of Chameria organization / Bollati: Chameria today
	| agency = Iliria Newspapaer
	| location = New York, United States of America
	| date = June 2005
	| language = Albanian / English
	}}</ref>
			The Albanian speaking exclave of Chameria, in the beginning of the 20th century, was located along the Ionian coast, and apart from Konispol, its northernmost part, it included the western part of Thesprotia prefecture and the northern part of Preveza.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "During the beginning of the 20th Century, the northwestern part of the Greek region of Epirus was mostly populated by an Albanian-speaking population, known under the ethnonyme "Chams" . The Chams are a distinct ethno-cultural group which consisted of two integral religious groups: Orthodox Christians and Sunni Muslims. This group lived in a geographically wide area, expanding to the north of what is today the Preveza prefecture, the western part of which is known as Fanari , covering the western part of what is today the prefecture of Thesprotia, and including a relatively small part of the region which today constitutes Albanian territory. These Albanian speaking areas were known under the name Chamouria .... Applying linguistic principles, the whole area constituted an Albanian speaking enclave, isolated at least in strict geographical terms, with a continuum of Albanian language in today’s Albania and adjoining areas, ''i.e'', Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia. In the north-eastern part of that area, east to the city of Filiat(i) within Greek territory, a Greek speaking area began growing and expanding eastwards to today’s Albanian territory and up to the coast of Albania.... The Albanian speaking area was quite compact and well marked by the local geography, as the Greek speaking communities were settled at the eastern mountainous areas. Chamouria and Prevezaniko were also symbolically distinguished as the land where the ''Arvanitēs'' lived. We can rather confidently argue that Muslim and Christian Chams of the plains made up a distinct "ethno-economic" group. However, there was a particular pattern in the settlements of religious groups inside the area of Chamouria annexed to Greece: most Muslim villages were located at the center of the area, while the large majority of the Christian Orthodox Albanian speaking villages were to the south and the east of the area. Although the ''langue-vehiculaire'' of the area was Albanian, a much higher status was attributed to the Greek language, even among the Muslims themselves. Thus, during the late Ottoman era, besides the official Ottoman Turkish, Greek functioned as a second, semi-official language, accepted by the Ottoman Administration. This characteristic can be followed partly from public documents of the era."</ref> In terms of modern Greek administration, the Albanian exclave included the provinces of Thyamis and Margariti and the westernmost villages of the provinces of Paramythia and Filiates. In Preveza prefecture, it included the northern regions such as the Fanari plain, the surroundings of Parga and villages of the upper Acheron valley, with two settlements of the latter region located in ].<ref name=Kokolakis50>Μιχάλης Κοκολάκης (2003). . EIE-ΚΝΕ. pp. 50–51: "Ακόμη νοτιότερα και στο εσωτερικό της ελληνόφωνης ζώνης, παράλληλα με τις ακτές του Ιονίου, σχηματίζεται ο μεγάλος αλβανόφωνος θύλακας της Τσαμουριάς, που στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος του (με εξαίρεση την περιοχή της Κονίσπολης) πέρασε στην Ελλάδα με βάση το Πρωτόκολλο της Φλωρεντίας (1913). Στο θύλακα αυτό υπάγονταν από το σημερινό νομό Θεσπρωτίας οι επαρχίες Θυάμιδος και Μαργαριτίου και τα δυτικότερα χωριά των δύο επαρχιών Παραμυθιάς και Φιλιατών. Αλβανόφωνα ήταν και τα βόρεια τμήματα του σημερινού νομού της Πρέβεζας, όπως ο κάμπος του Φαναριού, η ενδοχώρα της Πάργας και τα παλιά παρασουλιώτικα χωριά του Ανω Αχέροντα (Ζερμή, Κρανιά, Παπαδάτες, Ρουσάτσα, Δερβίζιανα, Μουσιωτίτσα -τα δύο τελευταία υπάγονται διοικητικά στα Γιάννενα). Χωρίς να ταυτίζεται με το σύνολο του αλβανόφωνου πληθυσμού, η ομάδα των Μουσουλμάνων Τσάμηδων ήταν σημαντικό συστατικό του στοιχείο."</ref>
	==History==
	{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed noprint" | style="background:Snow; color:black"
			=== Albania ===
	! style="width:500%; background:Tan; color:black; bold" colspan="2"| Timeline of Cham history
			]
			After the expulsion of the Muslim Chams from Greece, they were spread throughout Albania. The majority of Muslim Chams settled in the outskirts of ], ] and ]. Several hundred Chams moved into properties along the ] coast and to existing villages along the coast such as ], or established entirely new villages, such as ], near the Greek border.<ref name =Vickers />
			=== Diaspora ===
			Some Chams live in Turkey and the United States. The number of Chams in diaspora was estimated by Miranda Vickers in 2007 at 400,000.<ref name =Vickers /> The first wave of this diaspora left for Turkey during the ] of 1923. They have populated the areas of ] and ] in ],<ref name=Fabbe>{{harvnb|Fabbe|2007|p=49}}</ref> as well as a number of towns in the area of ], especially ].<ref name=Diplomacy /> After the Second World War, others settled in ], ] and ].<ref name=Berisha /> After 1944, another part migrated to ],<ref name="Vickers" /> where they were mainly concentrated in ], as well as ] and ].<ref name=bollati>{{Cite news|first=Sali|last=Bollati|author2=Vehbi Bajrami|title=Interview with the head of Chameria organization / Bollati: Chameria today|agency=Iliria Newspaper|location=New York, United States of America|date=June 2005|language=sq, en}}</ref>
			== History ==
			{{Prose|section|date=July 2015}}
			{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed noprint" style="background:Snow; color:black"
			! style="width:500%; background:Tan; color:black;" colspan="2"| Timeline of Cham history
			|- style="text-align:center; background:BurlyWood;"
			| style="width:40px; "| '''Chronology'''|| style="background:BurlyWood; text-align:center;"|'''Events'''
	|-		|-
			| '''1210'''|| Albanians mentioned in Western sources, opposite ].
	| style="width:40px; background:BurlyWood" align=center| '''Chronology'''|| style=background:BurlyWood align=center | '''Events'''
	|-		|-
	| '''11th century'''|| Albanians are recorded to live in the mountains of Epirus.
			| '''1358'''|| The Despotate of Arta is established by Peter Losha, an Albanian chieftain.
	|-		|-
			| '''1380''' || John Zenevisi, forms the Principality of Gjirokastër, which incorporates the northern part of the Chameria region.
	| '''14th century'''|| A major wave of Albanian migration into Epirus occurs.
	|-
	| '''1358'''|| The Despotates of Arta and of Angelocastron are established by Peter Losha and Gjin Bua Shpata, two Albanian nobles.
	|-
	| '''1380''' || Gjon Zenebishi, born in Vagenetia, forms the Principality of Gjirokastër, which incorporates the northern part of the Chameria region.
	|-		|-
	| '''1414''' || The region falls under Ottoman and Venetian control.		| '''1414''' || The region falls under Ottoman and Venetian control.
	|-
	| '''1443''' || ], the national hero of Albania, unites the Albanian tribes and controls Chameria for a few years.
	|-
	| '''Late 15th century''' || Following the death of Skanderbeg, the Ottoman Empire expels the Venetians entirely and rules the region for four centuries.
	|-		|-
	| '''16th century''' || The process of Islamization begins among the Albanians, but initially makes little headway.		| '''16th century''' || The process of Islamization begins among the Albanians, but initially makes little headway.
	|-		|-
	| '''1622'''|| A group of Cham Albanians, the ], form a confederation in the mountains of Souli, resisting Ottoman troops.		| '''1622'''|| A group of Albanian origin, the ], form a confederation in the mountains of Souli, resisting Ottoman troops.
	|-		|-
	| '''18th and 19th centuries''' || Widespread Islamization of the population occurs, and the majority of Albanians become Muslims by the late 19th century.		| '''18th and 19th centuries''' || Widespread Islamization of the population occurs, and the majority of Albanians become Muslims by the late 19th century.
	|-		|-
	| '''1792–1803''' || ], who had incorporated all of Epirus into his ], declares war on the Souliotes. The Souliotes are able to resist for nine years, but are eventually defeated and evicted from Souli. The survivors of the population are evacuated to the ].		| '''1792–1803''' || ], who had incorporated all of Epirus into his ], declares war on the Souliotes. The Souliotes are able to resist for nine years, but are eventually defeated and evicted from Souli. The survivors of the population are evacuated to the ].
	|-		|-
			| '''1821–1829''' || The ]. Revolutionary General of the Greek Army, ], was ordered by the provisional Greek government to convince the Muslim Chams to join the Greek cause but without success.<ref>{{cite web|last=Βόγλη|first=Ελπίδα|title=Τα κριτήρια της ελληνικής ιθαγένειας κατά την περίοδο της Επανάστασης|url=http://www.cup.gr/Downloads/PDF/BOGLH_CH1.pdf|publisher=Πανεπιστημιακές Εκδόσεις Κρήτης|access-date=3 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514022514/http://www.cup.gr/Downloads/PDF/BOGLH_CH1.pdf|archive-date=14 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
	| '''1821–1829''' || The ]. The Souliotes play an important role in the liberation of Greece, with their most famous leader, ], dying in ] in 1823 while fighting against the Ottoman army.
	|-		|-
	| '''1870''' || The despot of Paramythia, Grigorios, translates the ] in Albanian, as his flock could not understand the Greek language well.		| '''1827''' || The former bishop of Paramythia, ], translates the ] into Albanian, as his flock could not understand the 1st century Greek of the New Testament well.
	|-		|-
	| '''1878'''|| The ] begins. A separatist Albanian movement, the ], is established, and names Abedin Dino and Osman Taka as leaders of the local branches in Chameria.		| '''1878'''|| The ] begins. A separatist Albanian movement, the ], is established, and names ] as leader of the local branch in ].
	|-		|-
	| '''1879''' || Father Stathi Melani opens the first Albanian-language school of the region in Sagiada.		| '''1879''' || Father Stathi Melani opens the first Albanian-language school of the region in Sagiada.
	|-		|-
	| '''1912–1913'''|| The ]. Epirus is conquered by the Greek army. Albania declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire, asking for sovereignty over the whole region of Epirus. Six Cham delegates from Chameria and Ioannina sign the declaration. The ] gives the majority of Chameria to the ], with only a few villages going to Albania.		| '''1912–1913'''|| The ]. Epirus is annexed by Greece. Albania declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire, asking for sovereignty over the whole region of Epirus. Six Cham delegates from Chameria and Ioannina sign the declaration. The ] gives the majority of Chameria to the ], with only a few villages going to Albania.
	|-		|-
	| '''1922'''|| Although officially excluded from the ], about seven thousand Cham Albanians are forced to leave Chameria. 16,000 ] are settled in the region.		| '''1922'''|| During the ], a few thousands of Cham Albanians leave Chameria. 16,000 ] are settled in the region until 1926, when later they were moved on to other parts of Greece.<ref name=Psomiades />
	|-		|-
	| '''1926'''|| Albanians are officially recognized as a minority, and are promised compensation for their land and Albanian-language schools.		| '''1926'''|| Albanians are officially recognized as a minority, and are promised compensation for their land and Albanian-language schools.
	|-		|-
	| '''1927'''|| The new Greek government passes a law that deprives minorities, including Chams, from citizenship, rescinding the earlier concessions.		| '''1927'''|| The new Greek government passes a law that deprives minorities, including Chams, from citizenship if they would leave Greece for some time, rescinding the earlier concessions.
	|-		|-
	| '''1928'''|| More than 100 village names are changed from Albanian to Greek in the prefectures of Thesprotia, Preveza and Ioannina.		| '''1928'''|| More than 100 village names are changed to Greek in the prefectures of Thesprotia, Preveza and Ioannina.
	|-		|-
	| '''1935'''|| Albania and Greece sign an agreement that would allow the creation of Albanian-language schools for the Chams. This agreement too was nullified as a ] took power in Greece.		| '''1935'''|| Albania and Greece sign an agreement that would allow the creation of Albanian-language schools for the Chams. This agreement too was nullified as a ] took power in Greece.
	|-		|-
			| '''1936'''|| The Greek state creates a new prefecture called Thesprotia, from parts of Ioannina and Preveza prefectures, as to exercise better control over the Cham Muslim minority.
	| '''1939'''|| Following the ] in March, Albanian conscripts in the Greek Army are disarmed and put to construction work, while others are sent to ] in the Aegean Islands.
			|-
			| '''1939'''|| Following the ] in March, Albanian conscripts in the Greek Army are disarmed and put to construction work, while others are sent to ] in the Aegean Islands.
	|-		|-
	| '''1940'''|| Italy ] Greece, but is repelled. In April 1941, the German Army ] Greece.		| '''1940'''|| Italy ] Greece, but is repelled. In April 1941, the German Army ] Greece.
	|-		|-
	| '''1941–1944'''|| The ]. Several hundred Muslim Chams form the collaborating ] organization, but others join the Resistance in both Albania and in Greece. Cham military units are formed by the National Anti-Fascist Liberation Army of Albania and the ].		| '''1941–1944'''|| The ]. The majority of the Muslim Cham elites actively ]. A minor part joined the Resistance in both Albania and in Greece (from May 1944) at the end of the war without significant contribution.{{sfn|Kretsi|2002|p=182}}
	|-		|-
	| '''1944–1945''' || Following the withdrawal of German forces, the majority of the Muslim Chams are expelled as collaborators into Albania by the forces of the right-wing ].		| '''1944–1945''' || Following the withdrawal of German forces, the majority of the Muslim Chams fled or were expelled into Albania by the forces of the right-wing ].
	|-		|-
	| '''1946'''|| The Chams are organized as refugees in Albania, and petition unsuccessfully for return to their homeland.		| '''1946'''|| The Chams are organized as refugees in Albania, and petition unsuccessfully for return to their homeland.
Line 336:		Line 141:
	| '''1991'''|| The National Political Association "Çamëria", a pressure group advocating the return of the Chams to Greece, is established.		| '''1991'''|| The National Political Association "Çamëria", a pressure group advocating the return of the Chams to Greece, is established.
	|-		|-
	| '''1994'''|| Albania passes a law declaring the 27th of June ''The Day of Greek Chauvinist Genocide Against the Albanians of Chameria''.		| '''1994'''|| Albania passes a law declaring 27 June ''The Day of Greek Chauvinist Genocide Against the Albanians of Chameria''.
	|-		|-
	| '''1999'''|| Albania and Greece agree to create a bilateral commission, focusing only about the property issue as a technical problem. It has not yet functioned.		| '''1999'''|| Albania and Greece agree to create a bilateral commission, focusing only about the property issue as a technical problem. It has not yet functioned.
	|-		|-
	| '''2004'''|| Chams create the Party for Justice and Integration to represent their interests in Albanian politics.		| '''2004'''|| Chams create the ''Party for Justice and Integration'' to represent their interests in Albanian politics.
	|-		|-
			| '''2011'''|| Chams create the ], as two Cham political parties were merged.
	|}		|}
	===Medieval history===
	====Early presence (up to 14th century)====
	{{also|Origin of the Albanians}}
			=== Medieval era (up to 1434) ===
	The chronology of the first presence of Albanians in the region is unknown, due to the scarcity of historical documentation, but it must date before the 12th century.<ref name = Arnakis/> The first undisputed mention of Albanians as an ethnic group in Byzantine sources dates from the second half of the 11th century, where they are named as the inhabitants of Arbanon in central Albania,<ref name = fine2>{{cite book | first1 = John Van Antwerp | last1 = Fine| title = The Early Medieval Balkans | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C |publisher = University of Michigan Press | year = 1991| isbn = 0-472-08149-7| ean = 9780472081493| pages = 336}}</ref> but it is thought that by that time they lived in Epirus too.<ref name = Arnakis>{{citation
			{{See also|Origin of the Albanians}}
	|last=Arnakis
			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 ] in central Albania.<ref name=fine2>{{Cite book|first1=John Van Antwerp|last1=Fine|title=The Early Medieval Balkans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=1991|isbn=9780472081493}}</ref> During this time, the earliest mention of Albanians within the region of Epirus is recorded in a Venetian document of 1210 as inhabiting the area opposite the island of Corfu.<ref name=Giakoumis /> Nevertheless, significant movements of Albanian populations in the region are not mentioned prior to 1337.<ref name=Giakoumis>Giakoumis, Konstantinos (2003). "" ''Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies''. '''27'''. (1): 176. "The presence of Albanians in the Epeirote lands from the beginning of the thirteenth century is also attested by two documentary sources: the first is a Venetian document of 1210, which states that the continent facing the island of Corfu is inhabited by Albanians."; p.177.</ref> Groups of Albanians moved into Thessaly and the Peloponnese as early as 1268 as mercenaries of ].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lopasic|first1=Alexander|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BDywCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA90|title=Perspectives On Albania|date=1992|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-349-22050-2|editor1-last=Winnifrith|editor1-first=Tom|pages=90|chapter=Cultural Values of the Albanians in the Diaspora}}</ref>
	|first=George C.
	|title=History of Modern Hellinism: The beginnings and its changes.
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?lr=&id=ldUQAAAAIAAJ&dq=
	|year=1962
	|journal=Speculum
	|volume=37
	|publisher=Mediaeval Academy of America
	|language=Greek, English
	|page=94
	|quote=The descent of Albanian immigrants took place much later, but, in any event, prior to the twelfth century as far as northern Greece is concerned.
	}}</ref>
			Elements of the Albanian population began, in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, for various reasons, to emigrate to Epirus. In the first decade of the 14th century, some Albanian clans were reported in Epirus and ], mainly hired as mercenaries from the Byzantines.<ref name=Ellis>{{Cite journal|author1=Steven G. Ellis|author2=Lud'a Klusáková|title=Imagining frontiers, contesting identities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3zXFCs9EfEYC&q=epirus|year=2007|journal=Speculum|volume=37|publisher=Edizioni Plus|isbn=9788884924667}}</ref> A major migration occurred in the 1340s and 1350s<ref name="ODB">{{Cite book|editor-first=Alexander|editor-last=Kazhdan|title=Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|title-link=Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1991|isbn=9780195046526|pages=52–53}}</ref> when Albanian tribesmen supported the successful ] campaign against ] possessions the region.<ref name=Fine>{{Cite book|last=Fine|first=John Van Antwerp|title=The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDFVUDmAIqIC|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=1994|isbn=9780472082605|quote=The rugged mountains of the region helped ] to prepare the defense of his lands against the Crusader attack. He maintained good relations with the Albanian and Vlach chieftains in the area, and their men provided able troops for his army....large-scale migration of Albanians from the mountains of Albania occurred. This migration, particularly heavy in Epirus and Thessaly, carried them all over Greece, and many came to settle in Attica and the Peloponnesus as well.}}</ref> During this migration period, two short-lived Albanian entities were formed in Epirus: the ] (1358–1416) and the ] (1386–1411). While the area of Vagenetia (medieval name of Chameria/Thesprotia) was mainly under the control of Italian rulers: either ] or the Despotes of Epirus based in Ioannina. That time, representatives of Vagenetia, together with a delegation from Ioannina, asked the Serb ruler ] to protect them from the Albanian threat.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nicol|first1=Donald MacGillivray|title=Late Byzantine Period (1204–1479)|journal=Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization|year=1997|pages=198–237|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Ekdotike Athenon|isbn=9789602133712|quote=They sent a deputation of their leading citizens, together with some from the province of Vagenetia (in Thesprotia), to Symeon to beg him to help them preserve their freedom from the Albanians.}}</ref> Both Albanian entities were annexed and in 1419, many Albanians fled from Epirus and moved to ].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nicol|first1=Donald MacGillivray|title=Late Byzantine Period (1204–1479)|journal=Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization|year=1997|pages=198–237|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ|access-date=11 March 2015|publisher=Ekdotike Athenon|isbn=9789602133712|quote=...finally capture Dryinoupolis and Argyrokastron in 1419. Many of the Albanians fled, to take refuge in the Morea}}</ref> Those tribes that settled in southern Greece would become the ancestors of the ].<ref name=Fine />
	This southward migratory process of Albanian tribes, which began during the late 10th and 11th centuries, would continue: Epirus at the time had a mixed population, with ] and Greeks living and cultivating the fertile lowlands, while the mountains were inhabited by Albanian and Vlach ]s.<ref>{{citation
	|last=Jovan
	|first=Cvijic
	|title=The Geographical Distribution of the Balkan Peoples
	|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/207466
	|year=1918
	|month=May
	|journal=Geographical Review
	|volume=5
	|issue=5
	|publisher=American Geographical Society
	|language=English
	|page=345-361
	|quote=But even in this region and in Epirus at the end of the tenth and the beginning of the eleventh century the valleys and plains were inhabited by the Greeks and Slavs, while the Albanians and the Arumani occupied only the mountains.
	}}</ref> The number of Albanians increased over the next centuries under the rule of the ],<ref name = Fine/> but the first major documented migration occurs in the 14th century,<ref name = "ODB">{{cite book | first = Alexander (Ed.) | last = Kazhdan | title = ] | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1991 | isbn = 978-0-19-504652-6 | pages = 52–53}}</ref> when Albanian tribesmen supported the successful ] campaign against the ] possessions in ] and Epirus.<ref name = Fine>{{cite book |last=Fine |first=John Van Antwerp |title=The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QDFVUDmAIqIC | publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1994 | isbn=978-0-472-08260-5 | quote = The rugged mountains of the region helped ] to prepare the defense of his lands against the Crusader attack. He maintained good relations with the Albanian and Vlach chieftains in the area, and their men provided able troops for his army....large-scale migration of Albanians from the mountains of Albania occurred. This migration, particularly heavy in Epirus and Thessaly, carried them all over Greece, and many came to settle in Attica and the Peloponnesus as well.}}</ref> 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,<ref name = duka>{{cite book | first = Ferit| last = Duka| title = Society and Economy in Ottoman Çameria: Kazas of Ajdonat and Mazrak (Second Half of the 16th Century) | journal = Historical Studies | volume = 1 | issue = 2 | year = 2007 | month = February | pages = 25–39}}</ref> while those Albanians who settled in southern Greece would become the ancestors of the ].<ref name = Fine/>
	====Medieval states (1358–1434)====		=== Ottoman rule (1434–1913) ===
			{{See also|Ottoman Albania|Ottoman Greece}}
	]
	{{main|Despotate of Arta|Principality of Gjirokastër|Despotate of Epirus}}
			The region of Epirus was conquered by the ] in the early 15th century. Cham Albanians weren't the only Albanian-speaking population in the region even though they constituted a significant component of the Albanian-speaking population in the part of Epirus, which was incorporated in Greece after 1912. Besides Cham Albanians which lived in ], Albanian-speaking communities lived in the northern part of ] (the ] plan ({{langx|sq|Frar}} and the hinterland of ]) and the Parasouliotic villages Zermi, Krania, Papadates, Rousatsa as well as Derviziana and Mousiotitsa, which are part of ] prefecture.<ref name="Kokolakis2003">{{harvnb|Kokolakis|2003|p=51|ps=:Ακόμη νοτιότερα και στο εσωτερικό της ελληνόφωνης ζώνης, παράλληλα με τις ακτές του Ιονίου, σχηματίζεται ο μεγάλος αλβανόφωνος θύλακας της Τσαμουριάς, που στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος του (με εξαίρεση την περιοχή της Κονίσπολης) πέρασε στην Ελλάδα με βάση το Πρωτόκολλο της Φλωρεντίας (1913). Στο θύλακα αυτό υπάγονταν από το σημερινό νομό Θεσπρωτίας οι επαρχίες Θυάμιδος και Μαργαριτίου και τα δυτικότερα χωριά των δύο επαρχιών Παραμυθιάς και Φιλιατών. Αλβανόφωνα ήταν και τα βόρεια τμήματα του σημερινού νομού της Πρέβεζας, όπως ο κάμπος του Φαναριού, η ενδοχώρα της Πάργας και τα παλιά παρασουλιώτικα χωριά του Ανω Αχέροντα (Ζερμή, Κρανιά, Παπαδάτες, Ρουσάτσα, Δερβίζιανα, Μουσιωτίτσα -τα δύο τελευταία υπάγονται διοικητικά στα Γιάννενα). Χωρίς να ταυτίζεται με το σύνολο του αλβανόφωνου πληθυσμού, η ομάδα των Μουσουλμάνων Τσάμηδων ήταν σημαντικό συστατικό του στοιχείο}}</ref> There were also other Albanian groups which in the 19th century had become Greek-speaking as attested by primary accounts about them older than the 19th century and toponyms of Albanian origin in specific regions. These areas included the settlements along the ] river valley, the region to the northeast of ], the region south of the Fanari plain in Preveza and partly the area extending to the south ] mountain range.{{sfn|Kokolakis|2003|p=48}}
	In the summer of 1358, ], the last despot of Epirus of the Orsini dynasty, was defeated in battle against Albanian chieftains near the river ] in ]. Following the approval of the Serbian Tsar, these chieftains established two new states in ] and ] (]).
			From the establishment of Ottoman rule until 1864, the region of Chameria was included in the ] of ]. It was divided between the sanjaks of ] and ], which were second order administrative divisions.<ref name="historia" /> After 1864, this territory was organized under the ] (Ioannina), which was further divided into the sanjaks of Ioannina, Preveza and Gjirokastra.<ref name=Stat>{{Cite book|last=Kokolakis|first=Michalis|script-title=el:Η ΤΟΥΡΚΙΚΗ ΣΤΑΤΙΣΤΙΚΗ ΤΗΣ ΗΠΕΙΡΟΥ ΣΤΟ ΣΑΛΝΑΜΕ ΤΟΥ 1895|url=http://helios-eie.ekt.gr/EIE/bitstream/10442/7682/1/N02.018.09.pdf|access-date=18 March 2009|year=2004|publisher=Institute of Modern Greek Studies|location=Athens, Greece|language=el|pages=261–312}}</ref> Between 1787 and 1822, ] controlled the region, which was incorporated into his ], a ''de facto'' independent state under only nominal Ottoman authority.<ref name=Fleming>{{Cite book|last=Fleming|first =Katherine Elizabeth|title=The Muslim Bonaparte: Diplomacy and Orientalism in Ali Pasha's Greece|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZqbA6Jk0uUC|year=1999|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9780691001944}}</ref>
	At its peak in 1367–1403, the ] reached from the Acheron River and the southern border of the ''Vagnetia'' region (the medieval name of Thesprotia or Chameria) in the north to the ] in the south, adjoining with the Principality of ] (in ], modern Gjirokastër) and the Despotate of Epirus (centered around in Ioannina).<ref name = ODB/> After the death of ] in 1399, the Despotate of Arta declined. Aside from the conflicts with the rulers of Ioannina, Gjin’s successor, ], had to deal with the encroachment of the ] and of Count ] of ]. Meanwhile despot ] of Ioannina called in support of his war against the Albanian nobles, the Ottoman forces leading to increasing incursions of the Ottomans in the region. After the death of Essau in 1411, the throne was offered to his nephew ]. Not long after killing Muriq Shpata in battle in 1415, Carlo advanced on Arta. In 1416 he defeated Muriq's brother and successor ], annexed the Despotate of Arta and united most of Epirus under a single ruler again.<ref name = Fine/>
			Under Ottoman rule, ] was widespread amongst Albanians. Until the end of the 16th century, Chams were still predominantly Christian,{{sfn|Malcolm|2020|p=94}} but 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 ]s and ]s, such as the ], who played an increasingly important role in Ottoman political and economic life, further strengthened this trend.<ref name="historia" /> In northern Chameria the vast majority became Muslims, while south of Acheron and down to Preveza, Albanians remained Orthodox.<ref name=v2002>{{harvnb|Vickers|2002|p=21}}</ref> Muslim Chams were mostly followers of the ] order,<ref name=Fabbe /> especially after the 18th century,<ref name=Olsi /> when the Bektashis made considerable gains in influence in the rugged areas of southern ] and neighbouring ] in ].<ref name="See Hasluk 1927">See Hasluk, 'Christianity and Islam under the Sultans', London, 1927.{{full citation needed|date=October 2022}}</ref><ref name=Olsi>{{Cite book|last=Jazexhi|first=Olsi|title=The Bektashi Order of Dervishes|url=http://www.geocities.com/djalosh/bektashi.pdf|year=2007|page=11|place=Algiers, Algeria|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410043435/http://www.geocities.com/djalosh/bektashi.pdf|archive-date=10 April 2008}}</ref> The Chams have their own peculiar cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many specifically Cham elements.<ref name="See Hasluk 1927" /> Although the Chams were primarily of Albanian origin, the ] of Epirus also shared the same route of identity construction.<ref name="See Hasluk 1927" /><ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "It’s worth mentioning that the Greek speaking Muslim communities, which were the majority population at Yanina and Paramythia, and of substantial numbers in Parga and probably Preveza, shared the same route of identity construction, with no evident differentiation between them and their Albanian speaking co-habitants."</ref> Albanian Chams did not face any dilemma over their ethnic identity or relations with other Albanian socio-cultural and dialectal subdivisions.<ref name="See Hasluk 1927" /><ref>Loshi, Xhevat (1999). "Albanian". In Hinrichs, Uwe, & Uwe Büttner (eds). ''Handbuch der Südosteuropa-Linguistik''. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 285.</ref> In general religion, and not ethnicity, defined each community in Ottoman society.<ref name=Stoppel>{{citation
	The second ] was the ], which incorporated parts of northern Vagenetia and the nearby regions, ruled by Gjon Zenebishti. In 1380, Gjon Zenebishi was appointed ''sebastokrator'' (prefect) of Vagenetia and was also made governor of the towns of Pyrgos and Sagiada, under the sovereignty of the Despot of Epirus. In 1414 Zenebishi was defeated by the Turks and fled to the Venetian-held island of ], where he died in 1418.<ref name = Fine/>
			|author1=Nußberger Angelika
			|author2=Wolfgang Stoppel
			|title=Minderheitenschutz im östlichen Europa (Albanien)
			|year=2001
			|publisher=Universität Köln
			|language=de
			|url=http://www.uni-koeln.de/jur-fak/ostrecht/minderheitenschutz/Vortraege/Albanien/Albanien_Stoppel.pdf
			|page=8
			|quote="alle Orthodoxe Christen unisono als Griechen galten, wahrend "Turk" fur Muslimen stand..." (...all Orthodox Christians were considered as "Greeks", while in the same fashion Muslims as "Turks")
			|access-date=23 April 2015
			|archive-date=3 March 2016
			|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193825/http://www.uni-koeln.de/jur-fak/ostrecht/minderheitenschutz/Vortraege/Albanien/Albanien_Stoppel.pdf
			|url-status=dead
			}}</ref> Under this context the Muslim communities in Ottoman Epirus were classified as "Turks", while the Orthodox as "Greeks" regardless of their ethnic origin,<ref name=Stoppel /><ref>Poulton, Hugh (2000). "The Muslim experience in the Balkan states, 1919–1991." ''Nationalities Papers''. '''28'''. (1): 47–48. "While the Christian population hence faced a threat of ethnic assimilation arising out of the nature of the ''millet'' system itself, Muslim populations in the Ottoman Empire clearly faced a parallel threat of Turkification. It is important to note, however, that the Ottoman state recognised no official differentiation by language or ethnicity among its Muslim citizens: the modem notion of being a "Turk" was until the end of the nineteenth century alien to the Ottoman elites, who regarded themselves as "Ottomans" rather than "Turkish." In fact the term "Turk" had the connotation of being an uneducated peasant. Ottoman Turkish, the language of state, was not the vernacular of the mass of the Turkish-speaking population, and along with being a Muslim, knowledge of it was a requirement of high office in the Ottoman state.'° Ethnicity per se was not a factor in this respect and many Grand Vezirs and high officials were originally from Albanian, Muslim Slav, or other Ottoman Muslim populations. Indeed when the ''dervişme'' system—whereby the subject Christian populations had to give up a number of their most able sons, who were then educated and raised as Muslims to run the Empire in both civilian and military capacities—was still in operation (it fell into abeyance in the seventeenth century and had disappeared by the eighteenth) the state officials were necessarily from non-Turkish Christian backgrounds. In spite of this, however, vernacular Turkish became widespread as the mother tongue among the Muslim populations (and even the Christian populations) of Anatolia, although this process was less pronounced in the Balkans."</ref> though some exceptions existed.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. It is quite characteristic that it was in 1880, when the British Valentine Chirol visited the Christian "Albanian" village of Tourkopalouko (today Kypseli, at the northwest part of the Preveza prefecture), that his confidence for his Greek friends in Yanina "was first shaken". He was surprised that no one in the village spoke or understood any other language than Albanian although his friends "had assured me that south Kalamas there were no Albanian communities" (V. Chirol, "Twixt Greek and Turk, or Jottings during a journey through Thessaly, Macedonia and Epirus, in the Autumn of 1880", ''Blackwood’s Edinbrurgh Magazine'', n. 785, March 1881, p. 313).</ref><ref>Elias G Skoulidas (22 February 2011). ''''(doc). European Society of Modern Greek studies. p. 7. Retrieved 18 April 2015. "Nikolaos Konemenos takes a different approach, by not denying his Albanian identity, although he participated in Greek public life. He accepts this identity and embodies it, without excluding the other identity: ''κι εγώ είμαι φυσικός Αρβανίτης, επειδή κατάγομαι από τα' χωριά της Λάκκας (Τσαμουριά) και είμαι απόγονος ενός καπετάν Γιώργη Κονεμένου 'λ που εμίλειε τα' αρβανίτικα κι όπου ταις αρχαίς του προπερασμένου αιώνος''... ''είχε καταιβεί κι είχε αποκατασταθεί στην Πρέβεζα''.... The spelling mistakes in this passage are a good indicator of what is happening."</ref>
			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 five 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 ] as well as a number of Muslim local farmers, against the Ottomans.<ref name=Isufi>{{Cite journal|last=Isufi|first=Hajredin|title=Aspects of Islamization in Çamëri|url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=b94feb32-b25c-4e88-9d77-b12a0e32f417&articleId=d2d06066-aaf4-48d5-b113-1c84c63e9c85|year=2004|journal=Historical Studies|volume=3|issue=4|publisher=Institute of History|language=sq|pages=17–32|place=Tirana, Albania}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Isufi /> According to the French historian ], in the wider region of which today is Southern Albania and Northwestern Greece, "it lacked the church discipline; in the churches was not performed any religious ceremony, which meant that Christianity did not have deep roots there".<ref>Isufi (2004) citing: {{Cite book|last=Braudel|first=Fernand|author-link=Fernand Braudel|title=Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip Second|year=1977|volume=I|publisher=Harper Collins|page=1418|edition=2|place=California, United States of America|isbn=9780060905675|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mediterraneanthe02brau}}</ref> 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. The wars of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries between Russia and the Ottoman Empire negatively impacted upon the region.<ref name=Giakoumis2010 /> Increased conversions followed, often forced, such as those of 25 villages in 1739 which are located in current day Thesprotia prefecture.<ref name=Giakoumis2010>Giakoumis, Konstantinos (2010). "The Orthodox Church in Albania Under the Ottoman Rule 15th–19th Century." In Oliver Jens Schmitt (ed.). ''Religion und Kultur im albanischsprachigen Südosteuropa''. Peter Lang. p. 85. "In the 18th century Islamization increased and a large number of inhabitants of Labëri, Filiates, Pogon and Kurvelesh converted."; p. 86. "In 1739, twenty five villages in Thesprotia were forced to convert to Islam en masse. It has also been noted that conversions intensified after the wars of Russia with the Porte (1710–1711, 1768–1774, 1787–1792, 1806–1812)."</ref> 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 the 19th century. Estimates based on the ''defter'' of 1875 show that Muslim Chams had surpassed Orthodox Chams in numbers.<ref name=Isufi />
	===Ottoman rule (1434–1913)===
	{{Also|Ottoman Albania|Ottoman Greece}}
			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 ] 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.<ref name=Isufi /> 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.<ref name="v2002" />
	The region of Epirus was conquered by the ] in the early 15th century. In 1443, the northernmost part of Epirus was briefly conquered by ] as part of his revolt against the Ottoman Empire, but on his death it fell to Venice. By the late 15th century however, the Ottomans had definitively ] the Venetians from almost the whole area.<ref name = Fine/><ref name = historia/> After the Ottoman conquest of the region, a number of Albanians were converted to Islam, while others maintained their Orthodox faith. Cham Albanians played an important role in both the Greek War of Independence and in the ].<ref name = Vickers/>
			==== Albanian National Awakening (1870s–1912) ====
	From the establishment of the Ottoman rule until 1864, the region of Chameria was included in the ] of ]. It was divided between the ]s of Delvina and Ioannina, which were second order administrative divisions.<ref name = historia/> After 1864, this territory was organized under the ] of Yanaya (Ioannina), which was further divided into the sanjaks of Ioannina, Preveza and Gjirokastra.<ref name = Stat>{{citation
			{{Main|Albanian National Awakening}}
	|last=Kokolakis
			As Ottoman society was founded on the religion-based ] 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Somel|first=Selçuk Akşin|title=The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 1839–1908: Islamization, Autocracy, and Discipline|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0JqPscM-kcYC|access-date=18 March 2009|year=2001|isbn=9789004119031|publisher=BRILL|location=Istanbul, Turkey|page=414}}</ref> Nationalist sentiments during the late Ottoman era was weak in the region with Muslim Albanian Chams referring to themselves as ''Myslyman''(Muslims) or ''Turks'' while local Orthodox Albanian speaking Christians referred to themselves as ''Kaur'' (i.e ''infidels'') and did not find the term offensive.<ref>Tsoutsoumpis: p. 122: "However, until the eve of the Balkan Wars and indeed long after the incorporation of the area in Greece national feeling was weak among the peasantry. Although nationalist feeling might have been weak among the local peasantry, local societies were seldom free from strife."</ref> During the Albanian National Awakening a number of local Albanians would establish private, unrecognized Albanian-language schools. In 1870, the despot of Paramythia, Grygorios, translated the ] into Albanian, as his followers could not understand well the Greek language.<ref name="Spyros">{{Cite book|last=Mouselimis|first=Spyros|script-title=el:Ιστορικοί περίπατοι ανά τη Θεσπρωτία|year=1976|location=Thessaloniki, Greece|language=el|page=128}}</ref>{{verify source|date=February 2017}} 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 ].<ref name="historia" />{{verify source|date=February 2017}}
	|first=Michalis
	|title=Η ΤΟΥΡΚΙΚΗ ΣΤΑΤΙΣΤΙΚΗ ΤΗΣ ΗΠΕΙΡΟΥ ΣΤΟ ΣΑΛΝΑΜΕ ΤΟΥ 1895
			Some Chams also played an important role in the National Renaissance of Albania (''Rilindja Kombëtare''). Several Chams were heads of cultural clubs and patriotic organizations, which aimed at the establishment of an independent Albanian state.<ref name="v2002" /> Amongst them, the most distinguished personalities during the last years before independence were ], ] and ].<ref name="historia" />
	|url=http://helios-eie.ekt.gr/EIE/bitstream/10442/7682/1/N02.018.09.pdf
	|accessdate=2009-03-18
	|year=2004
	|publisher=Institute of Modern Greek Studies
	|location=Athens, Greece
	|language=Greek
	|pages=261-312
	}}</ref> Between 1787 and 1822, ] controlled the region, which was incorporated into his ], a ''de facto'' independent state under only nominal Ottoman authority.<ref name = Fleming/>
			Abedin Dino was one of the founders of the ] (1878) and one of the main contributors in the ].<ref name="historia" /> 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 ].<ref name="historia" />
	====Albanian language and identity====
	As Ottoman society was founded on the religion-based ] and not on ethnic groups, schools in Chameria, as elsewhere where Albanians lived, were only in Turkish and Greek. Christian Albanians could learn in Greek schools, while Muslim Albanians in Turkish schools, but in every case, Albanian language schools were prohibited.<ref>{{citation
	|last=Somel
	|first=Selçuk Akşin
	|title=The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 1839-1908: Islamization, Autocracy, and Discipline
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=0JqPscM-kcYC
	|accessdate=2009-03-18
	|year=2001
	|isbn=90-04-11903-5
	|ean=9789004119031
	|publisher=BRILL
	|location=Istanbul, Turkey
	|language=English
	|page=414
	}}</ref> 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 ] into Albanian, as his followers could not understand well the Greek language.<ref name = Spyros>{{citation
	|last=Mouselimis
	|first=Spyros
	|title=Ιστορικοί περίπατοι ανά τη Θεσπρωτία
	|accessdate=2009-03-18
	|year=1976
	|location=Thessaloniki, Greece
	|language=Greek
	|pages=128}}</ref> 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 ].<ref name = historia/>
			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.<ref name="historia" />{{verify source|date=February 2017}}
	====Islamization (16th–19th century)====
	{{Also|Islam in Albania}}
	Under Ottoman rule, ] was widespread amongst Albanians. In central and southern Albania, by the end of the seventeenth century the urban centers had largely adopted Islam. The growth of an Albanian Muslim elite of Ottoman officials, like ]s and ]s, such as the ], who played an increasingly important role in Ottoman political and economic life, further strengthened this trend.<ref name = historia/> In northern Chameria the vast majority became Muslims, while south of Acheron and down to Preveza, Albanians remained Orthodox.<ref name="Vickers, Miranda 2002"/> Muslim Chams were mostly followers of the ] order,<ref name = Fabbe/> especially after the 18th century,<ref name = Olsi/> when the Bektashis made considerable gains in influence in the rugged areas of southern Albania and northern Greece.<ref name = Olsi>{{citation
	|last=Jazexhi
	|first=Olsi
	|title=The Bektashi Order of Dervishes
	|url=www.geocities.com/djalosh/bektashi.pdf
	|year=2007
	|language=English
	|page=11
	|place=Algeris, Algeria
	}}</ref>
			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.<ref name="historia" />{{verify source|date=February 2017}}
	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 ], who had led an army made of Orthodox Albanians and Greeks, as well as a number of Muslim local farmers, against the Ottomans.<ref name = Isufi>{{citation
	|last=Isufi
	|first=Hajredin
	|title=Aspects of Islamization in Çamëri
	|url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=b94feb32-b25c-4e88-9d77-b12a0e32f417&articleId=d2d06066-aaf4-48d5-b113-1c84c63e9c85
	|year=2004
	|journal=Historical Studies
	|volume=3
	|issue=4
	|publisher=Institute of History
	|language=Albanian
	|pages=17-32
	|place=Tirana, Albania
	}}</ref> 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.<ref name = Isufi/> According to the French historian ], 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".<ref>Isufi (2004) citing: ({{citation
	|last=Braudel
	|first=Fernand
	|authorlink=Fernand Braudel
	|title=Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip Second
	|year=1977
	|volume=I
	|publisher=Harper Collins
	|language=English
	|page=1418
	|edition=2
	|place=California, United States of America
	|isbn=978-0-06-090567-5
	}}</ref> 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.<ref name = Isufi/>
			Albanian intervention occurred when after the ], parts of Chameria, were to be ceded by the Ottoman Empire to the ]. Even before negotiations started, the Ottoman side used a number of Albanian national figures for delaying purposes and appointed ], as Ottoman foreign minister.<ref>Kondis, 1976, p. 24: "Just before the start of the Berlin Conference the Porte, in order to use Albanian unrest for delaying purposes, appointed a member of the Albanian League, Abded Din Pasha Dino, a big landlord from Epirus, as foreign minister. In secret directives Abded Din Pasha promised to the Albanian League the support of the Porte in its conflict with Greece."</ref> Moreover, Abedin Dino managed to gather various Albanian personalities in Preveza, from all over Albania and Epirus,<ref>Skoulidas p. 152: "Μεγάλη υπήρξε και η κινητοποίηση του Abeddin bey Dino, ο οποίος συγκέντρωσε στην Πρέβεζα αλβανούς ηγέτες από ολόκληρο τον αλβανικό και τον ηπειρωτικό χώρο, οι οποίοι διαμαρτύρονταν για την ενδεχόμενη προσάρτηση της Ηπείρου στην Ελλάδα. Υπήρξαν ελληνικές εκτιμήσεις, με τη συνδρομή του ιταλού υποπρόξενου Corti, ότι ο Abeddin βρισκόταν στα όρια της χρεοκοπίας και ότι θα μπορούσε να εξαγοραστεί με 100 χιλιάδες φράγκα, όμως οι σχετικές κινήσεις δεν προχώρησαν υπό το πνεύμα μήπως υπάρξουν επιπλοκές στις διαπραγματεύσεις, τις οποίες οι ελληνικές θεωρήσεις"</ref> who believed that the Ottomans will provide full support to the Albanian movement and were against annexation of Epirus to Greece.<ref>{{cite book|author=William Norton Medlicott|title=Bismarck, Gladstone, and the Concert of Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A_cqAAAAIAAJ|year=1956|publisher=University of London, Athlone Press|page=77|isbn=9780837105673}}</ref><ref>Kondis, 1976, p. 24</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Jelavich|first=Barbara|title=History of the Balkans: Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qR4EeOrTm-0C&pg=PA365|series=The Joint Committee on Eastern Europe Publication Series|year=1989|publisher=]|isbn=0-521-27458-3|page=365}}</ref><ref name="stavro">{{cite book|last=Skendi|first=Stavro|title=The Albanian national awakening, 1878–1912|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LCKFAAAAIAAJ&q=Preveza|year=1967|publisher=]|page=70|isbn=9780691650029}}</ref> They also organized a ] there in January 1879<ref name="historia">Anamali, Skënder and Prifti, Kristaq. Historia e popullit shqiptar në katër vëllime. Botimet Toena, 2002, {{ISBN|99927-1-622-3}}.</ref> and on 28 February 1879, signed a petition with a threat to take arms to prevent an annexation of Preveza to Greece.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gawrych|first= George|title=The crescent and the eagle: Ottoman rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874–1913|publisher=I.B.Tauris|year=2006|pages=54|isbn=1-84511-287-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPOtzk-unJgC&pg=PA68}}</ref> As a result of the unrest created, led by ], another Albanian national figure, the local Ottoman governor was recalled.<ref name="Kurumu1998">{{cite book|last=Ortayli|first=İlber|title=Belleten|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b6FpAAAAMAAJ|volume=62|year=1998|publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu|page=153}}</ref> Abedin Dino was also recalled from Preveza, while the recently arrived Albanians left the city and returned to their homelands.<ref>Skoulidas, 2001, p. 157: "Η Υψηλή Πύλη, για άγνωστους λόγους που ενδεχομένως σχετίζονταν με την σημαντική κινητοποίηση και παρουσία Αλβανών στην Πρέβεζα που θα μπορούσε να καταστεί επικίνδυνη για τα συμφέροντα της, ανακάλεσε τον Abeddiii bey Dino στην Κων/λη και στη θέση του έστειλε τον Costali Pasha, προκαλώντας τη δυσαρέσκεια του Vessel bey Dino, του καδή της Πρέβεζας και άλλων αλβανών προκρίτων, οι οποίοι στη συνέχεια αποχώρησαν στις ιδιαίτερες πατρίδες τους..."</ref>
	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 population of Chameria was either Christian or ] 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.<ref name = Isufi/>
			In January 1907 a secret agreement was signed between ], a prominent leader of the then Albanian national movement, and the Greek government which concerned the possibility of an alliance against the Ottoman Empire. According to this, the two sides agreed that the future Greek-Albanian boundary should be located on the Acroceraunian mountains, thus leaving Chameria to Greece.<ref>Kondis, Basil (1976). ''Greece and Albania, 1908–1914''. pp. 33–34.</ref><ref>Pitouli-Kitsou, Hristina (1997). '''' (Thesis). National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. p. 168.</ref> As part of the agreement, Kemal in exchange asked the Greek authorities to support the Albanian movement and the Greek side agreed, provided that no armed Albanian activity will emerge south of the Acroceraunians.<ref>Pitouli-Kitsou. ''Οι Ελληνοαλβανικές Σχέσεις''. 1997. p. 168. "Ο Ισμαήλ Κεμάλ υπογράμμιζε ότι για να επιβάλει στη σύσκεψη την άποψη του να μην επεκταθεί το κίνημα τους πέραν της Κάτω Αλβανίας, και ταυτόχρονα για να υποδείξει τον τρόπο δράσης που έπρεπε να ακολουθήσουν οι αρχηγοί σε περίπτωση που θα συμμετείχαν σ' αυτό με δική τους πρωτοβουλία και οι Νότιοι Αλβανοί, θα έπρεπε να αποφασίσει η κυβέρνηση την παροχή έκτακτης βοήθειας και να του κοινοποιήσει τις οριστικές αποφάσεις της για την προώθηση του προγράμματος της συνεννόησης, ώστε να ενισχυθεί το κύρος του μεταξύ των συμπατριωτών του. Ειδικότερα δε ο Ισμαήλ Κεμάλ ζητούσε να χρηματοδοτηθεί ο Μουχαρέμ Ρουσήτ, ώστε να μην οργανώσει κίνημα στην περιοχή, όπου κατοικούσαν οι Τσάμηδες, επειδή σ' αυτήν ήταν ο μόνος ικανός για κάτι τέτοιο. Η ελληνική κυβέρνηση, ενήμερη πλέον για την έκταση που είχε πάρει η επαναστατική δράση στο βιλαέτι Ιωαννίνων, πληροφόρησε τον Κεμάλ αρχικά στις 6 Ιουλίου, ότι ήταν διατεθειμένη να βοηθήσει το αλβανικό κίνημα μόνο προς βορράν των Ακροκεραυνίων, και εφόσον οι επαναστάτες θα επι ζητούσαν την εκπλήρωση εθνικών στόχων, εναρμονισμένων με το πρόγραμμα των εθνοτήτων. Την άποψη αυτή φαινόταν να συμμερίζονται μερικοί επαναστάτες αρχηγοί του Κοσσυφοπεδίου. Αντίθετα, προς νότον των Ακροκεραυνίων, η κυβέρνηση δεν θα αναγνώριζε καμιά αλβανική ενέργεια. Απέκρουε γι' αυτόν το λόγο κάθε συνεννόηση του Κεμάλ με τους Τσάμηδες, δεχόταν όμως να συνεργασθεί αυτός, αν χρειαζόταν, με τους επαναστάτες στηνπεριοχή του Αυλώνα."</ref> Kemal's reasons for closer ties with Greece during this time was to thwart Bulgarian ambitions in the wider Balkans region and gain support for Albanian independence.<ref>Blumi, Isa (2013). ''Ottoman refugees, 1878–1939: Migration in a post-imperial world''. A&C Black. p. 82; p. 195. "As late as 1907 Ismail Qemali advocated the creation of "''una liga Greco-Albanese''" in an effort to thwart Bulgarian domination in Macedonia. ASAME Serie P Politica 1891–1916, Busta 665, no.365/108, Consul to Foreign Minister, dated Athens, 26 April 1907."</ref>
	====Pashalik of Janina (1787–1822)====
	]
	{{main|Pashalik of Janina}}
			When the Ottoman defeat was imminent and before the arrival of the Greek army in the region, Muslim Cham and ] 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.<ref>P. J. Ruches. a survey of oral epic poetry from southern Albania, with original texts. Argonaut, 1967, p. 99-100 " The Labs and Cams... implements. Sacked and put to the torch before the arrival of the Greek army...being evacuated to Corfu, the ragged inhabitants of Nivitsa mourned".</ref> The local Orthodox Albanian speaking population did not share the national ideas of their Muslim Albanian speaking neighbours, whereas instead they remained Greek-oriented and identified themselves as Greeks.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "The Albanian-speaking, Orthodox population did not share the national ideas of their Muslim neighbors and remained Greek-oriented, identifying themselves as Greeks."</ref>
	In 1787, ], a Muslim Albanian brigand, was awarded the ] of ] in reward for his support of the Sultan ]'s war against ]. Shortly afterwards, he seized control of Ioannina and Chameria. As a practically independent ruler, for the next 33 years, Ali expanded his influence through Albania and most of ].
			Throughout this period the Albanian speaking zones in Thesprotia and adjacent areas that later became part of Albania was considered a nuisance for both the Greek state and Christians of Epirus who self identified as Greeks.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "Prior to this period, Chamouria was already a nuisance both for the Greek state and the Christians of Epirus who identified themselves as Greeks."</ref> The non-Greek linguistic factor posed a hindrance to Greek territorial ambitions.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "As the less ambitious Greek irredentists' target in 1912 was to include all the areas up to a line including Korçë-Gjirokastër-Himarë within the frontiers of the expanded Greek state, the aim was to obscure the fact that the Christian, or even the Muslim population, didn’t speak Greek but Albanian."</ref> Tackling this issue was undertaken through two policies. The first was that Greek historians and politicians attempted through concerted efforts to conceal the existence of the Albanian language within the region.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "Concealing the existence of the Albanian language appeared as a concept as soon as the possibility of Greek expansion into Epirus appeared.... The first policy was to take measures to hide the language(s) the population spoke, as we have seen in the case of "Southern Epirus"."</ref> The second was to present the argument that the language spoken by the local population had no relation upon their national affiliations.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "The second was to put forth the argument that the language used by the population had no relation to their national affiliation."</ref> According to the prevalent ideology in Greece at the time, every Orthodox Christian was considered Greek, whereas after 1913, especially the area of Southern Albania deemed "Northern Epirus" by Greece, Muslims were considered Albanians.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "Under the prevalent ideology in Greece at the time every Orthodox Christian was considered Greek, and conversely after 1913, when the territory which from then onwards was called "Northern Epirus" in Greece was ceded to Albania, every Muslim of that area was considered Albanian."</ref> With the incorporation of the area within Greece, these discursive policies alongside the practical were continued.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "The existence of a region (Chamouria) whose population was roughly half Muslim and almost entirely Albanian speaking was considered a serious problem for the Greek state, which had to be confronted both practically and discursively."</ref> This was due to the sizable Albanian Muslim population being considered a real problem for the Greek state and hence any pro-Albanian movement eventuating had to be eliminated by all means.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "The existence of a region (Chamouria) whose population was roughly half Muslim and almost entirely Albanian speaking was considered a serious problem for the Greek state, which had to be confronted both practically and discursively. Every pro-Albanian movement in these areas had to be eliminated by all means."</ref>
	The first defeat Ali Pasha suffered was at the hand of the inhabitants of the villages of ]. These were a group of Orthodox Chams, the ], who had managed to gain a sort of independence, through a military confederacy, without paying the taxes to the pasha.<ref name = Fleming>{{cite book |last=Fleming | first =Katherine Elizabeth |title=The Muslim Bonaparte: Diplomacy and Orientalism in Ali Pasha's Greece | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zZqbA6Jk0uUC | year=1999 | publisher=Princeton University Press | isbn=978-0-691-00194-4}}</ref> In 1792 Ali declared war against them, the reason being their persistent refusal to acknowledge his authority, rather than the uncollected taxes.<ref name = Clogg>{{citation
	|last=Clogg
	|first=Richard
	|authorlink=Richard Clogg
	|title=The Movement for Greek Independence, 1770-1821: A Collection of Documents
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=BWJoAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1
	|accessdate=2009-03-15
	|year=1976
	|publisher=]
	|location=New York, United States of America
	|language=English
	|isbn=0-06-491216-7
	|ean=9780064912167
	|page=232
	}}</ref> In this war they managed to prevail over Ali's troops several times and to retain their independence until 1803, when they were forced by Ali Pasha to leave from Souli.<ref name = Clogg/> However, when Ali Pasha's rowing power came under attack from the Sultan's army, he forged an alliance with the Souliotes under ], mostly because of their common ethnicity.<ref name = Fleming/> In January 1822 however, Ottoman agents assassinated Ali Pasha and sent his head to the Sultan.<ref name = historia/>
			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 ] from Margariti, ] and ] from Ioannina, ] from Filiates, ] from Igoumenitsa, and ] from Paramythia.<ref name="Vlora" /> The Muslim Cham communities in the regions of Paramythia, Margariti and Preveza, according to information gathered by the Greek foreign ministry during 1908 to 1911, were supporters of the Ottoman administration and shared an Ottoman national identity, while still being sympathizers of the Albanian national movement to a certain degree.<ref>Pitouli-Kitsou. ''Οι Ελληνοαλβανικές Σχέσεις''. 1997. p. 121. "Ειδικότερα για τους Τσάμηδες στις υποδιοικήσεις Παραμθιάς, Μαργαριτίου και Πρέβεζας, στο ελληνικό Υπουργείο είχε σχηματισθεί η εντύπωση ότι κατά το διάστημα 1908–1911 αυτοί έτρεφαν αρκετές συμπάθειες για το εθνικό αλβανικό Κίνημα, αλλά ότι, καιροσκόποι και εφεκτικοί απέναντι στην οθωμανική Διοίκηση στην πλειονότητα τους, με στοιχειώδη αλβανική συνείδηση, έκλιναν προς τον Τουρκισμό ή είχαν καθαρά τουρκικά αισθήματα. Για το γεγονός αυτό προβαλλόταν εκ μέρους των Ελλήνων η εξήγηση ότι οι Τσάμηδες είχαν ασπασθεί σχετικά πρόσφατα τον ισλαμισμό, όχι όμως και τον μπεκτασισμό, σε αντίθεση προς τους άλλους μωαμεθανούς της Ηπείρου, για τους οποίους δεν είχαν ευνοϊκές διαθέσεις."</ref> Especially in the Sanjak of Preveza, Muslim Albanians embraced ideas regarding the Albanian national movement of the time. Amongst them large landowners and state employees who came from other places were hostile to the local Greek population and persecuted them. Also though unknown in numbers, the proportion of Muslim Albanians over a prolonged period increased within this area, due to official Ottoman resettlement policy regarding geo-strategic interests and concerns.<ref>Pitouli-Kitsou. ''Οι Ελληνοαλβανικές Σχέσεις''. 1997. p. 122. "Ειδικότερα στο σαντζακι της Πρέβεζας όσοι έτειναν να ασπασθούν τις εθνικές αλβανικές ιδέες, αν και ήταν οπαδοί του Ισμαήλ Κεμάλ, δεν συνεργάζονταν με τους ' Ελληνες και καταδίωκαν τους χριστιανούς, συμπράττοντας με τους Τούρκους, ιδίως οι μεγαλοϊδιοκτήτες ή οι κρατικοί υπάλληλοι που προέρχονταν από άλλα μέρη. Ο αριθμός των Τουρκαλβανών στο σαντζακι αυτό εξάλλου αυξανόταν, άγνωστο σε ποιο ποσοστό, καθώς η τουρκική Διοίκηση συνέχιζε την τακτική της εγκατάστασης άλλων, που είχε εγκαινιάσει από παλαιότερα."</ref><ref>Şeker, Nesim (2013). '''' European Journal of Turkish Studies.</ref>
	====Greek Independence (1821–1829)====
	{{main|Greek War of Independence|Souliotes}}
	]
	Orthodox Chams and especially the Souliotes were one of the main contributors to the war that achieved the Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire, liberating a number of regions, under the command of ] and ].<ref name = Hammond/><ref>{{citation
	|last=Clogg
	|first=Richard
	|title=Minorities in Greece: Aspects of a Plural Society
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=231XALxmFFsC
	|accessdate=2009-03-15
	|year=2002
	|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers
	|location=London, United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|isbn=1-85065-706-8
	|ean=9781850657064
	|pages=203
	}}</ref><ref name = PN>{{citation
	|last1=Pettifer
	|first1=James
	|last2=Nazarko
	|first2=Mentor
	|title=After Strengthening Religious Tolerance for a Secure Civil Society in Albania and the Southern Balkans
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=wMhg8VwMs7QC
	|accessdate=2009-03-15
	|year=2007
	|publisher=IOS Press
	|location=Amsterdam, Netherlands
	|language=English
	|isbn=1-58603-779-X
	|ean=9781586037796
	|pages=139
	}}</ref><ref name = Clair/>
			=== Modern history ===
	The two most distinguished Souliotes of the independence struggle were Kitsos Tzavelas and Markos Botsaris. Tzavelas was born in Souli in 1800. He distinguished himself during the ] and was responsible for liberating part of ]. After independence, Tzavelas became a supporter of ] and eventually a leader in the ] in the period of King ]. Accused of planning a revolt against the King in 1834, Tzavelas was imprisoned by the Regency Council headed by ], along with other politicians of the Russian Party.<ref name = Clair>{{citation
	|last=Clair
	|first=William St.
	|authorlink=William St. Clair Tisdall
	|title=That Greece Might Still be Free: The Philhellenes in the War of Independence
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NphFnF2RRKUC
	|accessdate=2009-03-15
	|year=1972
	|publisher=Open Book Publishers
	|location=Cambridge, United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|isbn=1-906924-00-7
	|ean=9781906924003
	|pages=412
	}}</ref>
			==== Balkan Wars, World War I and first years of Greek rule (1913–1923) ====
	Tzavelas' compatriot and rival, Markos Botsaris, joined the Greek patriotic society known as the '']'' in 1814, and in 1820, with other Souliotes, made common cause with the Greeks against the Ottoman Empire. On the outbreak of the Greek revolt, he distinguished himself as a partisan leader in the fighting in western Central Greece, and was conspicuous in the defense of ] during the ] of the town (1822-1823). On the night of 21 August 1823, at ], he led the celebrated ] of 350 Souliotes on 4000 Muslim Albanians who formed the vanguard of the army with which Mustai Pasha was advancing to reinforce the besiegers. Botsaris managed to take Mustai Pasha prisoner during the raid, but he was shot in the head while leaving the encampment.<ref name = Clair/><ref name = BDJ>{{citation
	|last1=Gandon
	|first1=John
	|last2=Graham-Bell
	|first2=Geoffrey
	|editor-last=De Jongh
	|editor-first=Brian
	|title=The Companion Guide to Mainland Greece
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=bko8u2MQA5oC
	|edition=3rd revised
	|accessdate=2009-03-15
	|year=2000
	|publisher=Companion Guides
	|location=Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|isbn=1-900639-35-1
	|ean=9781900639354
	|pages=559
	}}</ref>
			With the onset of the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), Muslim Chams were uneager to fight as part of the Ottoman army.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "Muslim Chams were not eager to fight on the side of the Ottoman army during the Balkan Wars"</ref> Nonetheless, most of the Lab and Cham beys formed irregular armed groups that fought against the Greek units, burning a number of villages in the regions of Paramythia, Fanari and Filiates. On the other hand some beys in Margariti were not willing to fight and were ready to accept Greek rule due to the general anarchy in the Ottoman Empire.<ref>Pitouli-Kitsou. ''Οι Ελληνοαλβανικές Σχέσεις''. 1997. p. 212: "Μεταξύ των Αλβανών μπέηδων της Ηπείρου, οι περισσότεροι Λιάπηδες και Τσάμηδες, που είχαν έντονα ανθελληνικά αισθήματα, είχαν ήδη σχηματίσει άτακτα σώματα και πολεμούσαν εναντίον του ελληνικού στρατού και των ελληνικών σωμάτων, καίγοντας χωριά στις περιοχές Παραμυθιάς και Φαναριού. Ορισμένοι μπέηδες, αντίθετα, στα διαμερίσματα Δελβίνου, Αργυροκάστρου, Χείμαρρος και Μαργαριτίου φαίνονταν έτοιμοι να αποδεχθούν την ελληνική κυριαρχία, για να απαλλαγούν και από την αναρχία που συνεπαγόταν η σκιώδης τουρκική εξουσία"; p. 360: "Αλβανοί μουσουλμάνοι από το σαντζάκι Ρεσαδιέ, μετά την κατάληψη του από τον ελληνικό στρατό, διέφυγαν προς τον Αυλώνα. Πολλοί από αυτούς είχαν πολεμήσει με τους Τούρκους εναντίον των Ελλήνων, και είχαν πυρπολήσει αρκετά χωριά στα τμήματα Φιλιατών και Παραμυθιάς. Εκεί, πριν από την οριστική εγκατάσταση των ελληνικών αρχών, είχαν γίνει εναντίον τους και ορισμένες αντεκδικήσεις από τους χριστιανούς, καθώς και συγκρούσεις μεταξύ αλβανικών και ελληνικών σωμάτων."</ref> Local Christians were enlisted as part of the Greek forces. Within a few days after the Greek army secured control of the region, a Greek ] paramilitary under commanders Deligiannakis and Spiros Fotis, killed 75 Cham notables of Paramythia who were gathered to pledge allegiance to the Greek state.<ref name="Dorlhiac2023" /> Occurrences of atrocities perpetrated by Greek forces within the region were recorded mainly by the Albanian side, whereas those events were noted only indirectly, though clearly by Greek government officials.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "While there is no Greek source describing the behavior of the Greek army against the Muslim population after they seized the area, there are several relevant descriptions in Albanian sources. There are only indirect (but clear) references to atrocities committed by the Greek army.... in the spirit of the times, offensive acts such as defilement of mosques and, obviously, looting, would most certainly have taken place.... For example see ''HAMFA'', The Vice-governor of Paramythia to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 30.03.1917 (1917/A/4X(16)).... The lieutenant of the Greek Army Dimitrios (Takis) Botsaris, after a looting incident during the First Balkan War, pronounces an order that "from this time on every one who will dare to disturb any Christian property will be strictly punished" (see K.D. Sterghiopoulos..., ''op.cit''., pp. 173–174). In pronouncing the order in this manner he left Muslim properties without protection. Botsaris, coming from Souli, was a direct descendant of the Botsaris' family and was fluent in Albanian. He was appointed as lieutenant in charge of a Volunteers' company consisting of persons originating from Epirus and fighting mostly in South Western Epirus."</ref> A few months later, more Cham notables were murdered by Greek authorities. In their internal correspondence, Italian diplomats in the region noted that this was a tactic employed to end Cham Albanian influence in the region by eliminating the elite class which had the role of dissemination of Albanian national ideology in the broader population.<ref name="Dorlhiac2023">{{harvnb|Dorlhiac|2023|p=62}}</ref>
	====National Renaissance of Albania (1870s–1912)====
	{{main|National Renaissance of Albania}}
	]
	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.<ref name="Vickers, Miranda 2002"/> Amongst them, the most distinguished personalities during the last years before independence were ], ] and ].<ref name =historia/>
			Following the defeat of Ottoman forces in the ] of 1912–1913, an international boundary commission awarded the ] of the region of Epirus to the ], and the ] to the ], 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Clogg|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Clogg|title=Concise History of Greece|url=https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00clog_0|url-access=registration|access-date=31 March 2009|edition=Second|year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=|place=], ]|isbn=9780521004794}}</ref> After the end of the Balkan Wars, Greek authorities suspected that a local anti-Greek movement was possible, supported by the Provisional Government of Albania and Italy, and decided to disarm the population. Moreover, Albanian representatives accused Greece of assassinations and persecution of Cham representatives. These accusations were rejected by the Greek government.<ref>Pitouli-Kitsou. ''Οι Ελληνοαλβανικές Σχέσεις''. 1997. p. 360-361: "Μετά το τέλος του πολέμου στην περιοχή επικρατούσε έκρυθμη κατάσταση, και οι ελληνικές αρχές είχαν υπόνοιες για την οργάνωση σ' αυτήν, μελλοντικά, κάποιου κινήματος, μετά από συνεννόηση πιθανώς των Τσάμηδων με τους Ιταλούς εκπροσώπους και την κυβέρνηση του Αυλώνα, η οποία διατηρούσε δίκτυο κατασκοπείας των κινήσεων του ελληνικού στρατού. Κανένα αξιόλογο κίνημα δεν διοργανώθηκε όμως στο τμήμα Ρεσαδιέ, μετά τη διενέργεια του αφοπλισμού . Βέβαιο είναι, ότι οι Τσάμηδες, που βρίσκονταν στον Αυλώνα, μαζί με πρόσφυγες από την Κορυτσά και το Αργυρόκαστρο, πήραν μέρος σε συλλαλητήριο, που έγινε στην πόλη στις 22 Μαΐου με την παρότρυνση των προξένων των δύο Αδριατικών Δυνάμεων, για να διαμαρτυρηθούν "κατά της περικοπής των συνόρων της Αλβανίας υπέρ της Ελλάδος", που θα είχε ως αποτέλεσμα να περιέλθει το σαντζάκι Ρεσαδιέ στην Ελλάδα. Οι ίδιοι απηύθυναν τέλος αναφορά προς τον ' Αγγλο Υπουργό Εξωτερικών, με την οποία κατήγγειλαν φόνους και διώξεις των Αλβανών προκρίτων από τα ελληνικά σώματα και τις ελληνικές αρχές. Την αναφορά αυτή διέψευσε λίγο αργότερα η ελληνική κυβέρνηση με συγκεκριμένα στοιχεία."</ref> In the ], due to the general boycott declared by the party of ], two of the three deputies of Preveza electoral periphery were Muslim Chams: ] and Musli Emin Ramiz.<ref>Dēmosthenēs Ch Dōdos. . Savvalas, 2005</ref> Persecution of Chams continued during World War I at a smaller scale than in the Balkan Wars. Many villages mainly in the former ]s of Filiates and Paramythia were burnt down.<ref name="Dorlhiac2023" />
	Abedin Dino was one of the founders of the ] (1878) and one of the main contributors in the ].<ref name =historia/> 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 ].<ref name =historia/>
			After the final 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Peace Treaty Between Greece and the Ottoman Empire|volume=26|year=1985|journal=Balkan Studies|publisher=University of California|page=26|place=], ], United States}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gr/NR/rdonlyres/737F6B22-0C13-4870-B2A0-3BE59561DAA2/0/1913_athens_convention.doc|title=1913 Athens Peace Convention (Limited preview)|access-date=16 March 2009|author=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece|year=2006|format=doc|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece|location=Athens, Greece|language=en, el|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319183934/http://www.mfa.gr/NR/rdonlyres/737F6B22-0C13-4870-B2A0-3BE59561DAA2/0/1913_athens_convention.doc|archive-date=19 March 2009}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Victor">{{Cite book|last=Roudometof|first=Victor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xoww453NVQMC|title=Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian question|publisher=]|year=2002|isbn=9780275976484|place=], ], United States of America|page=182}}</ref> Chams were in fact divided amongst themselves as to where their loyalties lay.<ref name=Fabbe /> In the event, the Chams chose the Greek nationality instead of the Turkish. This convention gave special rights to ], but not to ], under the third provision.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dinstein|first=Yoram|title=Israel Year Book on Human Rights, 1995|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFuStivk_NYC|access-date=31 March 2009|year=1996|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|page=456|place=], ]|isbn=9789041100269}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Ktistakis" /> 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.<ref name=Victorp179>{{Cite book|last=Roudometof|first=Victor|title=Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian question|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xoww453NVQMC|access-date=31 March 2009|year=2002|publisher=]|page=179|place=], ], United States of America|isbn=9780275976484}}</ref>
	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.<ref name =historia/>
			During this period, the Muslim Cham beys lost the political power they enjoyed during Ottoman rule, but manage to briefly retain their economic influence.<ref name=Mazower>{{Cite book|last=Mazower|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Mazower|title=After The War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation and State in Greece, 1943–1960|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YAszKv6JfQUC&pg=PA25|access-date=15 March 2009|edition=illustrated|year=2000|publisher=]|location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=9780691058429|pages=25–26|chapter=Three Forms of Political Justice, 1944-1945}}</ref> The Muslim portion of the population was under a '']'' rule of the Greek authorities and the local ], who were recognized in these areas.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Potz|first1=Richard|last2=Wieshaider|first2=Wolfgang|title=Islam and the European Union|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRCcJ_eQKu4C&q=Islam+and+the+European+Union|access-date=31 March 2009|year=2004|publisher=Peeters Publishers|pages=102–103|place=], ]|isbn=9789042914452}}</ref> In the region of Epirus there were the muftis of Ioannina, Paramythia, Filiates, Margariti, Igoumenitsa, Parga, Preveza, Sagiada and Thesprotiko.<ref name=Manta>{{Cite book|last=Manta|first=Eleftheria|title=ΟΙ ΜΟΥΣΟΥΛΜΑΝΟΙ ΤΣΑΜΗΔΕΣ ΤΗΣ ΗΠΕΙΡΟΥ (1923–2000) |year=2004|publisher=Ίδρυμα Μελετών Χερσονήσου του Αίμου|language=el|page=225|place=], Greece|isbn=9780521004794}}</ref> Soon with the outbreak of WWI, Greek authorities imposed significant restrictions on land rights of Cham Albanian property owners. Additionally, a new tax system which targeted large estates of Muslim landowners was employed and massive grain expropriation was used again Cham properties to support Greek war effort. This led to starvation and dozen of deaths in the region. A military report of the Italian general commissioner to the Italian Ministry of Defence notes that from July 1917 onward the rule of the Greek authorities in Epirus had forced more than 3,000 Chams to seek refuge towards Istanbul and Anatolia.<ref name="Dorlhiac63">{{harvnb|Dorlhiac|2023|p=63}}</ref>
	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.<ref name =historia/>
			==== Population exchange and appropriation of property (1923–1926) ====
	Chams had their own delegates in the 1912 Vlora congress, where the 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 ] from Margariti, ] and ] from Ioannina, ] from Filiates, ] from Igoumenitsa, and ] from Paramythia.<ref name = Vlora/>
			] in 1915, by Fred Boissonas]]
			At the conclusion of the ], Greece and Turkey signed the ], according to which the Muslims of Greece would be ] 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Haddad|first=Emma|title=The Refugee in International Society: Between Sovereigns|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=htrDOkSpWh0C|year=2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=121|place=Cambridge, UK|isbn=9780521868884}}</ref>
			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 ]. They approached the Albanian government in 1923, but Albanian officials refused to consider the second scheme.<ref name=Fabbe /> In January 1923, the Greek representative of the population exchange committee regarding the Muslim Chams declared officially that Greece "has no intention to proceed to an exchange of Muslims of Albanian origin".<ref>Manta, Eleftheria (2009). "". Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. '''4'''. (29): 2. "On 19 January 1923 the Greek delegation which had participated in the negotiations in Lausanne had declared, through Dimitrios Caclamanos, official representative of Greece at the negotiations, that "Greece has no intention to proceed to an exchange of Muslims of Albanian origin."</ref>
	===Modern history===
	====First years of Greek rule (1913–1923)====
	].]]
	Following the defeat of Ottoman forces in the region and the ] of 1912-1913, an international boundary commission gave the ] of the region of Epirus to the ], and the ] to the ], leaving Greek and Albanian minority areas on either side of the border. Most of the Cham-populated border area to the far northwest, except for a few Cham villages assigned to Albania, came under the Greek half.<ref>{{citation
	|last=Clogg
	|first=Richard
	|authorlink=Richard Clogg
	|title=Concise History of Greece
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=H5pyUIY4THYC&pg=PP1&dq=
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|edition=Second
	|year=2002
	|publisher=Cambridge University Press
	|language=English
	|page=67
	|pages=291
	|place=], ]
	|isbn=0-521-00479-9
	|ean=9780521004794
	}}</ref>
			Muslim Chams nevertheless were to become part of the Greek-Turkish population exchange, yet the Albanian state asked for an exemption.<ref name=Victor /> 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.<ref name =Victor /><ref name=Fabbe /> Though by the time of the population exchange, the Muslim Cham population had been nationalized and constituted a "de facto Albanian national minority".{{sfn|Baltsiotis|2011}} As such, Greek officials viewed the Muslim Chams as a population that were hostile to Greece’s national interest of security and territory. In doing so, the Greek state insisted on the Muslim Chams migration to Turkey by both handing down ultimatums and utilizing harassment tactics that were undertaken by local paramilitary groups to pursue that aim.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "The presence of a population considered hostile to national interests near the frontier caused anxiety to Greek officials which was exacerbated by a militaristic perception of security and territory. The central Greek state was eager to push the "hostile" population to migrate to Turkey. To that end it utilized harassment tactics which were carried out by local paramilitary groups. This was a practice that was well known and had been adopted as early as the period of the Balkan Wars. In other cases it just forced people to leave the country, after handing down ultimatums."</ref>
	After the annexation of Southern Epirus by Greece, Chams had the right to choose between Greek and Turkish nationality, under the 4th provision of the Athens peace treaty.<ref>{{citation
	|title=Peace Treaty Between Greece and the Ottoman Empire
	|volume=26
	|year=1985
	|journal=Balkan Studies
	|publisher=University of California
	|language=English
	|pages=26
	|place=], ], United States
	}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
	| url = http://www.mfa.gr/NR/rdonlyres/737F6B22-0C13-4870-B2A0-3BE59561DAA2/0/1913_athens_convention.doc
	| title = 1913 Athens Peace Convention (Limited preview)
	| accessdate = 2009-03-16
	| author = Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece
	| year = 2006
	| format = doc
	| publisher = Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece
	| location = Athens, Greece
	| language = English, Greek
	}}</ref> The Chams chose the Greek nationality instead of the Turkish. This convention gave special rights to ], but not to ], under the third provision.<ref>{{citation
	|last=Dinstein
	|first=Yoram
	|title=Israel Year Book on Human Rights, 1995
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=nFuStivk_NYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=1996
	|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
	|language=English
	|page=456
	|pages=492
	|place=], ]
	|isbn=90-411-0026-1
	|ean=9789041100269
	}}</ref>
			In May 1924 however, a delegation of the League of Nations visited the area to investigate the issue of exchangeability. The delegation met groups of Albanian Cham Muslims from various villages in the area that had been chosen by Greek authorities and local muftis.<ref>Manta. ''The Cams of Albania''. 2009. p. 2. "For the implementation of the decision the Mixed Commission appointed a special three-member delegation, which was assigned the task of local investigation of the issue. The delegation visited Epirus in May of that same year, where they met groups of people from the villages of the region, people who had been chosen by the Greek authorities and by the Μuftis."</ref> The local muftis were supportive of the Greek administration.<ref>Tsitselikis.''Old and New Islam in Greece''. 2012. p. 370. "In 1913, the Moufti of Paramythia, Hafiz signed a memorandum declaring their wish to join Greece rather than Albania at a time the latter was in the process of gaining its independence. In March 1917, the Moufti of Paramythia expressed his gratitude and loyalty to the Prime Minister Lambrou and King Constantine. In 1934, the Moufti of Paramythia, Hasan Abdul, similarly denounced Albanian propaganda in his region."</ref> Later, the delegation concluded that the vast majority of the Cham community declared that they were of Turkish origin and wished to be included in the exchange.<ref>Manta. ''The Cams of Albania''. 2009. p. 2-3. "Their conclusions were that the vast majority of Muslims residing in Epirus declared that they were of Turkish origin and wished to be included in the exchange."</ref> One year later, a second commission in general confirmed the conclusions of the first one.<ref>Manta. ''The Cams of Albania''. 2009. p. 3. "According to the conclusions of the Greek authorities, at that time the Çams of Epirus did not yet have a clearly developed ethnic consciousness. Perhaps they felt themselves more Muslim than Albanians or Turks; it was religion that played the prime role in their self-determination. This also explains the general confusion which initially prevailed amongst them regarding what their position should ultimately be, i.e. if they should take part in the exchange and depart for Turkey or remain in the regions where they were living. The conclusions that the three-member delegation arrived at, together with the incessant disagreements and mutual recriminations exchanged between the Greek and the Albanian sides, ultimately led to the Council of the League of Nations September 1924 decision. This called for the treatment of the whole matter as an issue connected with the implementation of the Treaty on the Protection of Minorities and required the gathering of more information. Thus, the three neutral members of the Mixed Commission decided to visit Epirus in order to examine the situation from up close, a visit which took place in June, 1925. In the end what the three members ascertained through meetings they had with various representatives of the Çams did not differ essentially from the conclusions which the three-member delegation had come to a year earlier"</ref>
	The Albanian language was prohibited from public life and only Greek was taught in schools.<ref name = Kresti/> Orthodox Cham Albanians were not counted as a different ethnic group than the Greeks, while the Muslim Chams were counted in the census only as a religious minority.<ref name = Ktistakis/> Muslim Chams were discriminated by Greek authorities, and they did not have the right to vote, despite being Greek citizens.<ref name = Diplomacy>{{citation
	|last=Yildirim
	|first=Onur
	|title=Diplomacy and Displacement: Reconsidering the Turco-Greek Exchange of Populations, 1922-1934
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=St9ltGnWWnIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2006
	|publisher=CRC Press
	|language=English
	|page=121
	|pages=309
	|place=], Turkey
	|isbn=0-415-97982-X
	|ean=9780415979825
	}}</ref>
			After pressure by Italian and Albanian delegates which made a case that the Chams primarily self-identified as Albanian nationals, Greece accepted in 1925, two years after the exchange had officially begun, that Muslim Chams were not subject to the exchange.<ref name=Fabbe /> The Greek minister in London, Kaklamanos, promised that "the compulsory exchange shall not be applicable to the Moslem {{sic}} subjects of Albanian origin".<ref name="Ktistakis" /><ref name=Diplomacy /> But Muslim Chams had to prove their ethnic origin in order to remain in Greece.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tsitselikis|first=Konstantinos|title=The Protection of National Minorities by Their Kin-state|editor=European Commission for Democracy through Law|chapter=Exchange of population: A paradigm of legal perversion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bROQZazNy-C|year=2002|publisher=Council of Europe|page=141|place=], ]|isbn=9789287150820}}</ref> According to the Greek decision, which was presented by ] 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.<ref name="Ktistakis" /> 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.<ref name=Grigorova />
	In this period, Muslim Cham beys lost the political power they enjoyed during the reign of the Ottoman Empire, but they retained their economic influence.<ref name = Mazower/> The Muslim portion of the population was under a '']'' rule of the Greek authorities and the local ], who were recognized in these areas.<ref>{{citation
	|last1=Potz
	|first1=Richard
	|last2=Wieshaider
	|first2=Wolfgang
	|title=Islam and the European Union
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=wRCcJ_eQKu4C&dq=Islam+and+the+European+Union&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=Yu_qjBgYey&sig=vXxqoFkkXsCOFwCSlYfr_ibVJic&ei=e42NSamxKdKT_gaCjNHIDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2004
	|publisher=Peeters Publishers
	|language=English
	|page=102-103
	|pages=262
	|place=], ]
	|isbn=90-429-1445-9
	|ean=9789042914452
	}}</ref> In the region of Epirus there were the muftis of Ioannina, Paramythia, Filiates, Margariti, Igoumenitsa, Parga, Preveza, Sagiada and Thesprotiko.<ref name = Manta>{{citation
	|last=Manta
	|first=Eleftheria
	|title=ΟΙ ΜΟΥΣΟΥΛΜΑΝΟΙ ΤΣΑΜΗΔΕΣ ΤΗΣ ΗΠΕΙΡΟΥ (1923-2000)
	|year=2004
	|publisher=Ίδρυμα Μελετών Χερσονήσου του Αίμου
	|language=Greek
	|pages=225
	|place=], Greece
	|isbn=0-521-00479-9
	}}</ref>
			In the meantime, the Greek authorities did send a number of Cham Albanians to Turkey. According to the contemporary 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=James|first=Alice|title=Memories of Anatolia: generating Greek refugee identity|journal=Balcanologica|volume=V|issue=1–2|url=http://balkanologie.revues.org/index720.html|date=December 2001|publisher=Federation of Journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Revues)|language=en, fr|place=], France}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pallis|first=Athanasios A.|title=Exchange of Populations in the Balkans|journal=The Anglo-Hellenic League|year=1925|place=], UK}}</ref><ref name=king>{{Cite book|last1=Mai|first1=Nicola|last2=Schwandner-Sievers|first2=Stephanie|editor-first=King|editor-last=Russell|title=The New Albanian Migration|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05Mw4-b9oN0C|access-date=31 March 2009|year=2005|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|page=87|place=], UK|isbn=9781903900789}}</ref> In Turkey, Cham Albanians were accommodated in Istanbul and Bursa. The majority of them were from Ioannina and outlying areas and Preveza.<ref name=Diplomacy /> About 16,000 ] from Asia Minor were settled in Epirus,<ref name=Petzopoulos /> mainly in the same areas.
	====Population exchange and appropriation of property (1923–1926)====
	The real problems between the Greek state and the Cham citizens came only after the ] of 1919–1922.<ref name = Victor/> At the conclusion of the war, Greece and Turkey signed the ], which included a ]. The treaty used religion as the indicator of national affiliation, thus including all Muslims, even Albanians, in the population exchange. Under this treaty Muslims of Greece would have been exchanged with Christians of Turkey, with an exception of Muslims of Thrace and Christians of Instanbul.<ref>{{citation
	|last=Haddad
	|first=Emma
	|title=The Refugee in International Society: Between Sovereigns
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=htrDOkSpWh0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=
	|year=2008
	|publisher=Cambridge University Press
	|language=English
	|page=121
	|pages=235
	|place=Cambridge, United Kingdom
	|isbn=0-521-86888-2
	|ean=9780521868884
	}}</ref>
			The members of the Muslim Cham community 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.<ref name=Grigorova />
	The Greek government saw this as the perfect opportunity to get rid of Muslim Albanians, as Orthodox Chams could be easily assimilated.<ref name = Petzopoulos/> Greek officials had two options. The first was to exchange Muslim Chams with Greeks from Turkey, under the population exchange, and the second one was to exchange them with a community of the ]. They approached the Albanian government in 1923, but Albanian officials refused to consider the second scheme.<ref name = Fabbe/>
	Only after the pressure of the Italian and Albanian diplomacy, did Greece, in 1925, two years after the exchange had officially began, accept 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 subjects of Albanian origin".<ref name = Ktistakis/><ref name = Diplomacy/> But Muslim Chams had to prove their ethnic origin in order to remain in Greece.<ref>{{citation
	|last=Tsitselikis
	|first=Konstantinos
	|title=The Protection of National Minorities by Their Kin-state
	|editor=European Commission for Democracy through Law
	|chapter=Exchange of population: A paradigm of legal perversion
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=bROQZazNy-UC&printsec=frontcover&dq=
	|year=2002
	|publisher=Council of Europe
	|language=English
	|page=141
	|pages=420
	|place=], ]
	|isbn=92-871-5082-6
	|ean=9789287150820
	}}</ref> Under the Greek decision, which was presented by ] 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.<ref name = Ktistakis/>
			Four different laws were passed between 1923 and 1937 that expropriated the properties of Muslim Chams, while leaving those of local Orthodox Albanian speakers and Greeks intact.<ref name="Ktistakis" /> 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.<ref name=Kritikos /> Albanian reports to the League of Nations and the reply by the Greek government reveal that part of the dispute concerned changes to the status of local Albanian landlords. During the Ottoman era, revenues were received by Albanian landlords from nearby villages. After these lands became part of the Greek state, local peasants expropriated from Albanian landlords what they considered was their property and refused to pay such taxes.<ref name=Victor /> While the majority of the Muslim Cham population consisted of middle sized land owners with land that varied in fertility, production and size.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "Besides beys, it seems that the majority of the Muslim population consisted of middle sized estate owners. The land they owned varied in size, fertility and production."</ref> There were other Muslim Chams though who were more limited financially and in land.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "Although there is no sufficient written proof to support the idea, it’s almost certain that families owning very small parcels of land, or just a few small fields and a small number of sheep, were not an exception and were also present in villages.... According to a 1936 document, at the Muslim village of Liopsi there are 170 families. More than one hundred of them "prosper" as they own land at the Chamouria plain, the rest of them being "poor and driven to desperation", The Local Authorities Inspector , Jianina 30.07.1936, HAMFA, 1936, 21.1. At the document it is underlined that at the neighboring village of Kotsika 150 persons left to Turkey during 1926–1927, reducing the current (at 1936) population to 450. One can suppose that the emigrants were coming from the "poor" families, although further research should be undertaken."</ref>
	Although they were not officially part of the exchange, Greek authorities forcibly sent a number of Cham Albanians to Turkey. Reports compiled by ] representatives charged that local Greek authorities were intentionally making life unbearable for the Cham Muslims in order to force them out of Greece.<ref name = Fabbe/> The exact number is unknown, since no official statistical data have been presented and because during 1923-1925, the number of exchanged Chams was not counted.<ref name = Diplomacy/> 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 to Turkey, even after their compulsory exchange was prohibited, by declaring themselves as Turks rather than Albanians.<ref name = Victor>{{citation
	|last=Roudometof
	|first=Victor
	|title=Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian question
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Xoww453NVQMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2002
	|publisher=]
	|language=English
	|page=179
	|pages=265
	|place=], ], United States of America
	|isbn=0-275-97648-3
	|ean=9780275976484
	}}</ref><ref>{{citation
	|last=James
	|first=Alice
	|title=Memories of Anatolia : generating Greek refugee identity
	|journal=Balcanologica
	|volume=V
	|issue=1-2
	|url=http://balkanologie.revues.org/index720.html
	|year=2001
	|month=December
	|publisher=Federation of Journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences (REVUES)
	|language=English, ]
	|place=], France
	}}</ref><ref>{{citation
	|last=Pallis
	|first=Athanasios A.
	|title=Exchange of Populations in the Balkans
	|journal=The Anglo-Hellenic League
	|year=1925
	|publisher=The Anglo-Hellenic League
	|language=English
	|place=], United Kingdom
	}}</ref><ref name = king>{{citation
	|last1=Mai
	|first1=Nicola
	|last2=Schwandner-Sievers
	|first2=Stephanie
	|editor-first=King
	|editor-last=Russell
	|title=The New Albanian Migration
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=05Mw4-b9oN0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2005
	|publisher=Sussex Academic Press
	|language=English
	|page=87
	|pages=218
	|place=], United Kingdom
	|ean=9781903900789
	}}</ref> Prior to 1925, historian Miranda Vickers estimates that another 5,000 Chams had been forced to leave their homeland.<ref name="Vickers, Miranda 2002"/> In Turkey, Cham Albanians were accommodated in Istanbul and Bursa. The majority of them were from Ioannina and outlying areas and Preveza.<ref name = Diplomacy/> About 16,000 ] from Asia Minor were settled in Epirus,<ref name = Petzopoulos/> mainly in the same areas.<ref>See also: {{citation
	|author=Misplaced Pages contributors
	|title=Greek refugees
	|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/search/?title=Greek_refugees&oldid=279609625#List_of_settlements
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|date=31 March 2009
	|publisher=Misplaced Pages, The 💕
	|language=English
	}}</ref>
			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.<ref name="Ktistakis" /> 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.<ref name=Kritikos>{{Cite journal|last=Kritikos|first=Georgios|title=The Agricultural Settlement of Refugees: A Source of Productive Work and Stability in Greece, 1923–1930|url=http://www.arts.yorku.ca/hist/tgallant/documents/kritikosrefugeesandagriculture.pdf|access-date=31 March 2009|year=2005|publisher=Department of History, ]|journal=Agricultural History|volume=79|issue=3|pages=321–346|place=], ], United States of America|doi=10.1525/ah.2005.79.3.321|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716175124/http://www.arts.yorku.ca/hist/tgallant/documents/kritikosrefugeesandagriculture.pdf|archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref> This law was reported even to the League of Nations, but in June 1928 the Albanian petition against Greece was turned down.<ref name=Victor /><ref name="Ktistakis" /> The Albanian government responded to these events with accusations of discrimination during 1925–1928. While the Greek side stated that the same expropriation policy was implemented nationwide for all Greek citizens.<ref name="Manta. 2009. p. 4">Manta. ''The Cams of Albania''. 2009. p. 4.</ref>
	The population exchange between Greece and Turkey did not effect only those Albanians who were sent to Turkey. The major problem after 1923 was the expropriation of the lands of the Muslim community in order to settle Greek refugees from Asia Minor. 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.<ref name = Ktistakis/> 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.<ref name = Kritikos/>
			However, during the period of 1922–1926, the Greek government used the settling of Greek refugees as a tool for applying pressure on Muslim Chams to leave Greece.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. " Two years earlier, Greek refugees from Asia Minor had been settled in the area. These newcomers were used as a tool for applying more pressure against Muslims for them to decide to leave Greece."</ref> These refugees in accordance with Greek law of the time took advantage of land expropriations and settled in the houses of Cham Muslims, which made some sell their land and become landless.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "The newcomers took advantage of the land expropriations, and settled in the houses of Muslims. These actions were in accordance with legal provisions applicable to the whole territory of Greece. It is highly probable, therefore, that some Muslims, pressed by the legislation relating to expropriation and the presence of refugees who presented a threat to them, sold their estates and remained landless."</ref> There were also government restrictions on the right to lease, sell or cultivate land due to Muslim Chams being classified as "exchangeable" which led to the gradual financial devastation of the Muslim Cham population.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "The restrictions imposed on the right to sell, rent or even cultivate land, due to the consideration of Muslims as "exchangeable", gradually led to the financial devastation of the Muslim population."</ref> Due to the fluidity of the situation, there were some Muslim Chams who sold their properties to the incoming refugees with a view of proceeding with a migration to Turkey, due to the exchange, while the League of Nations sought to be informed of those developments.<ref>{{harvnb|Ktistakis|2006|p=14}}. "Η δεύτερη Αναφορά, εκείνη "των Μωαμεθανών κατοίκων των χωριών Γαρδίκι και Δραγούμη", αφορούσε την κατάληψη σπιτιών και κτημάτων από πρόσφυγες. Σύμφωνα με την ελληνική εκδοχή, οι Τσάμηδες είχαν πουλήσει τα σπίτια τους ελπίζοντας σε ανταλλαγή. Όταν όμως δεν αναχώρησαν, ζήτησαν την ακύρωση των πωλήσεων. Για τα κτήματα ζήτησαν και έλαβαν από τους πρόσφυγες το 1/3 της παραγωγής. Η Τριμελής Επιτροπή της Κοινωνίας των Εθνών θεώρησε ικανοποιητική την ελληνική εξήγηση αν και ζήτησε να κρατηθεί ενήμερη των εξελίξεων." </ref> As such, in 1925 the Greek government by means of a special operation was still trying to persuade Muslim Chams to leave the country.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "For instance, as late as February 1925, the General Administration of Epirus undertook the task of carrying out a special operation with the purpose of persuading them to leave the country."</ref> It was only by 1926, when the Muslim Chams were decided by the Greek government not to be exchanged that most of these refugees were resettled to other parts of Greece.<ref name=Psomiades /><ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "The great majority of the refugees were resettled when it was decided that the Muslim population would not be exchanged."</ref> Thereafter, only a limited number of Asia Minor Greek refugees remained in the region and were resettled throughout settlements within the provinces of Filiates, Margariti and Paramythia.<ref>Manta. ''The Cams of Albania''. 2009. p. 4. "In reply to all accusations the Greek side clarified that the expropriation was of general character and implemented in the same way for all citizens of the state. Not only was there no special discrimination against the properties of the Çams, but the government took care to implement the measure more leniently in their case and, especially in Epirus, to limit the influx and establishment of refugees. In any case, according to the 1928 census, in all of Epirus there resided only a total of 8,179 refugees, of whom 323 were in the province of Paramythia, 720 in Filiates and 275 in the province of Margariti, numbers that cannot support the Albanian accusations on privileged treatment of refugees to the detriment of the Albanians"</ref> After 1926, with the relocation of the refugees to other parts of Greece, the Greek government took careful discretion in Greek Epirus to implement its land reform and expropriations toward the Muslim Cham population so as to prevent discrimination occurring against them regarding the matter.<ref name="Manta. 2009. p. 4" /> In 1928, the Albanians took their concerns regarding property ownership, expropriations and restitution, issues over minimal socio-political representation and military recruitment. The League of Nations in its findings relegated the matter of property restitution or (re)-compensation of expropriated lands to bilateral negotiations. The League of Nations also stipulated that it would not deal with other raised Albanian concerns, as they had been subject to past reports and discussions. In sum, the League of Nations decision regarding the Greek position relating to the Muslim Chams was considered a clear vindication.<ref>Manta. ''The Cams of Albania''. 2009. p. 5.</ref>
	The first relevant 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.<ref name = Ktistakis/>
			], the British ambassador at Athens in 1945, in a letter to the British Foreign Secretary ] in April 1945 mention that the Greeks can blame Cham Albanians for the murder of the Italian General ] which was the pretext for the Italian ] at 1923.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Robert Elsie|author2=Bejtullah D. Destani|author3=Rudina Jasini|title=The Cham Albanians of Greece: A Documentary History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4IK9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA360|date=18 December 2012|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-78076-000-1|page=360}}</ref>
	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.<ref name = Kritikos>{{citation
	|last=Kritikos
	|first=Georgios
	|title=The Agricultural Settlement of Refugees: A Source of Productive Work and Stability in Greece, 1923-1930
	|url=http://www.arts.yorku.ca/hist/tgallant/documents/kritikosrefugeesandagriculture.pdf
	|format=pdf
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2005
	|publisher=Department of History , ]
	|language=English
	|journal=Agricultural History
	|volume=79
	|issue=3
	|page=321-346
	|pages=421
	|place=], ], United States of America
	|doi=10.1525/ah.2005.79.3.321
	}}</ref> This law was reported even to the League of Nations, but its commission was satisfied by the Greek responses to the issues.<ref name = Ktistakis/>
	====Pangalos regime (1926)====		==== Pangalos regime (1926) ====
	]		]]]
	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, ] 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 the minorities, either Chams in Greece, or Greeks in Albania. For this reason he officially decided that Albanians of Chameria would not be deported to Turkey after 1926, putting an end to the population exchange. Also, he decided that refugees would not settle in Chameria, but rather in ], as was originally decided.<ref name = Psomiades>{{citation		An unexpected turn in Chams' fate occurred when an Arvanite general, known for his pro-Albanian feelings, became prime minister of Greece. On 24 June 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, ] 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 ], as was originally decided.<ref name=Psomiades>{{Cite journal|last=Psomiades|first=Haris|title=The Diplomacy of Theodoros Pangalos 1925–1926|year=1972|journal=Balkan Studies|volume=13|issue=1|language=en, el|pages=1–16|place=Athens, Greece}}</ref>
	|last=Psomiades
	|first=Haris
	|title=The Diplomacy of Theodoros Pangalos 1925-1926
	|year=1972
	|journal=Balkan Studies
	|volume=13
	|issue=1
	|publisher=Balkan Studies
	|language=English, Greek
	|pages=1–16
	|place=Athens, Greece
	}}</ref>
			Pangalos was an Albanian-speaker, and declared himself proud of his half-Albanian identity.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kentrotis|first=Kyriakos D.|title=Diegriechich-albanichen Beziehungen|year=1984|chapter=Die Frage des muslimanichen Tehamen|language=de|pages=288–295}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Manta /> In a public statement he also recognized that Chams were an ethnic minority and promised that Albanian schools would be opened in the region.<ref name=Psomiades /><ref name=Hart>{{Cite journal|last=Hart|first=Laurie Kain|title=Culture, Civilization, and Demarcation at the Northwest Borders of Greece|year=1999|journal=American Ethnologist|volume=26|issue=1|pages=196–220|doi=10.1525/ae.1999.26.1.196|jstor=647505}}</ref> But after a few months he was overthrown, and his pro-Cham policies were immediately abolished.<ref name=Psomiades />
	Pangalos was an Albanian-speaker, and declared himself proud of his half-Albanian identity.<ref>{{citation
	|last=Kentrotis
	|first=Kyriakos D.
	|title=Diegriechich-albanichen Beziehungen
	|year=1984
	|chapter=Die Frage des muslimanichen Tehamen
	|language=German
	|pages=288–295
	}}</ref> 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.<ref name = Manta/> In a public statement he also recognized that Chams were an ethnic minority and promised that Albanian schools would be opened in the region.<ref name = Psomiades/><ref name = Hart>{{citation
	|last=Hart
	|first=Laurie Kain
	|title=Culture, Civilization, and Demarcation at the Northwest Borders of Greece
	|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/647505
	|year=1999
	|month=February
	|journal=American Ethnologist
	|volume=26
	|issue=1
	|publisher=Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association
	|language=English
	|pages=196–220
	|place=New York, United States of America
	|accessed=29/11/2008
	|doi=10.1525/ae.1999.26.1.196}}</ref> But, after a few months he was overthrown, and his pro-Cham policies were immediately abolished.<ref name = Psomiades/>
	====Discrimination and normalization (1927–1936)====		==== Discrimination and normalization (1927–1936) ====
	In August 1926, Theodoros Pangalos was deposed by a counter-coup, and ] was restored as ]. Before being ousted, General Pangalos had acknowledged the Chams as an ethnic minority within Greece, an action that had made Albanian diplomacy more persistent on pursuing the Cham claims.<ref name = Isufi/> Pangalos overthrow also meant a backtracking of Greece's official stance on the issue: discrimination against the Chams continued,<ref name = Kresti/> and in 1927, the Greek government abolished four of the nine ], the muftis of Parga, Preveza, Sagiada and Thesprotiko.<ref name = Manta/>		In August 1926, Theodoros Pangalos was deposed by a counter-coup, and ] was restored as ]. Pangalos' actions had encouraged Albania to be more persistent in pursuing Cham claims.<ref name=Isufi /> Pangalos' overthrow also meant a backtracking of Greece's official stance on the issue: discrimination against the Chams continued,<ref name="Kretsi" />
			{{Main|Party of the Chameria}}
	{{quote box2 |width=30em | bgcolor=#c6dbf7 |align=right |halign=left | quote="A person of non-Greek ethnic origin, who has left Greece with no intention to return, may be declared as having lost the Greek citizenship. This also applies to an ''allogenis'', born and domiciled abroad. His/her children living abroad may be declared as having lost their Greek citizenship if both their parents and their surviving parent have lost it as well. Decision on these matters is reached by the Interior Minister, with the concurring opinion of the Citizenship Council." |source= — Presidential decree on citizenship of 1927 <ref>{{citation
	|last=Kostopoulos
	|first=Tasos
	|title=The dark side of the new Greek history: The deprivation of citizenship (1926-2003)
	|year=2003
	|journal=Synhrona themata
	|volume=83
	|publisher=Synchrona themata
	|language=Greek
	|pages=53–57
	|place=Athens, Greece
	}}</ref>}}
	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. Since then, and until as recently as 1998, the Greek government made a clear distinction between Greeks and non-Greeks in the ]s. According to the 1927 decree, Greek citizens of non-ethnic Greek origin ("''allogenis''") could loose their citizenship if they left the country.<ref name = Tsitselikis/> 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.<ref name = Tsitselikis>{{citation
	|last=Tsitselikis
	|first=Konstandinos
	|title=Citizenship in Greece: Present challenges and future changes
	|url=http://www.antigone.gr/GREECE_DCE_web.pdf
	|accessdate=2009-03-17
	|year=2004
	|publisher=University of Macedonia
	|location=Thessaloniki, Greece
	|language=English
	|page=9
	|pages=21
	}}</ref>
			On the first elections in 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 ]. It managed to gain 1,539 votes from the Preveza and Ioannina prefectures.<ref name=m /> 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.<ref name=m>Mavrogordatos, George Th. ''Stillborn republic: social coalitions and party strategies in Greece, 1922–1936''. University of California Press. California, 1983.</ref>
	In 1929, the ] 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.<ref name = Hart/>
			In 1927, the Greek government abolished four of the nine ], the muftis of Parga, Preveza, Sagiada and Thesprotiko.<ref name=Manta /> 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.<ref name=Tsitselikis /> 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.<ref name=Tsitselikis>{{Cite book|last=Tsitselikis|first=Konstandinos|title=Citizenship in Greece: Present challenges and future changes|url=http://www.antigone.gr/GREECE_DCE_web.pdf|access-date=17 March 2009|year=2004|publisher=University of Macedonia|location=Thessaloniki, Greece|page=9|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319183933/http://www.antigone.gr/GREECE_DCE_web.pdf|archive-date=19 March 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>
	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.<ref name = Meta>{{citation
	|last=Meta
	|first=Beqir
	|title=Kosova and Çamëria in the First Half of the XXth Century – A Comparative Look
	|url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=69f46825-a62f-4145-81ba-8602acba92bf&articleId=3682c72a-ffd0-4f72-bd54-e67f02cbd307
	|year=2005
	|journal=Historical Studies
	|volume=3
	|issue=4
	|publisher=Albanian Institute of History
	|language=Albanian
	|pages=20
	|page=53-72
	|place=Tirana, Albania
	}}</ref> 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, ], 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.<ref>{{citation
	|last=Halili
	|first=Rigels
	|title=The issue of Epirus in political writings of Mid'hat bey Frashëri
	|url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=e89e2e39-164b-4bd4-9632-b0ebc2cce969&articleId=bf820577-5234-45c6-a9f8-6e833d97eaa4
	|year=2007
	|journal=Nationalities Affairs
	|issue=31
	|publisher=Albanian Institute of History
	|language=English
	|pages=275–286
	|place=Warsaw, Poland
	}}</ref> 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 ] of ] made this agreement void.<ref name = Meta/>
			In 1929, the ] 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.<ref name=Hart />
	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.<ref name = Hart/> 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 in a limited scale only, because of the change of the Greek government and the establishment of the dictatorial ].<ref name = Ktistakis/>
			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.<ref name=Meta>{{Cite journal|last=Meta
	During this period, a number of villages were renamed in the region. More than 100 village names were changed in Thesprotia, Preveza and Ioannina.<ref name = Stat/><ref>For a more detailed view on settlement renames see </ref> 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'' (]), while other toponyms such as ''Ajdonati'' or ''Margëlliç'' had been immediately renamed with new Greek names (''Paramythia'' and ''Margariti'').<ref name = Stat/> The majority of villages and towns of the region got new names, mainly Greek ones, in 1928 and 1929. Another period of '']'' of toponyms occurred in the 1950s, when the remaining Albanian or Turkish names were finally renamed into Greek, with very few exceptions.<ref name = Stat/> Today, only a small number of Albanian toponyms, like ''Semeriza'' (from Albanian ''Shemërizë'', meaning ]), survive from Ottoman times.<ref name = Xhufi/>
			|first=Beqir|title=Kosova and Çamëria in the First Half of the XXth Century – A Comparative Look|url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=69f46825-a62f-4145-81ba-8602acba92bf&articleId=3682c72a-ffd0-4f72-bd54-e67f02cbd307|year=2005|journal=Historical Studies
			|volume=3|issue=4|publisher=Albanian Institute of History|language=sq|page=20|place=Tirana, Albania}}</ref> 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, ], 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Halili|first=Rigels|title=The issue of Epirus in political writings of Mid'hat bey Frashëri|url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=e89e2e39-164b-4bd4-9632-b0ebc2cce969&articleId=bf820577-5234-45c6-a9f8-6e833d97eaa4|year=2007|journal=Nationalities Affairs|issue=31|publisher=Albanian Institute of History|pages=275–286|place=Warsaw, Poland}}</ref> 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 ] of ] made this agreement void.<ref name=Meta />
			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.<ref name=Hart /> 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 ].<ref name="Ktistakis" /> At that time, members of the Cham community suffered from discrimination due to severe expropriations of their lands.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "A concrete description of the lives of the Muslims is clearly referred to in a special report drawn by K. Stylianopoulos, the "Inspector" in charge of Minority issues, who was directly appointed by the Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos and was accountable to him. The report relates to us in graphic terms that " ''persecutions and heavier confiscations, even led to the decision of classifying as chiftlik the town of Paramythia and in that way small properties and gardens had been expropriated against the Constitution and the Agrarian law; not a single stremma was left to them for cultivation and for sustaining their families, nor were the rents of their properties paid to them regularly (some of them being even lower than a stamp duty). They were not permitted to sell or buy land, and were forced to evaluate their fields at ridiculously low prices (as low as 3 drahmi per stremma), , only to be imprisoned for taxes not paid for land already confiscated or expropriated''..... Report, 15 October 1930, ''Archive of Eleftherios Venizelos'', Minorities, f. 58/173/4573. See the more detailed report on illegal real estate expropriations and confiscations and the financial results upon the Muslim population at the documents contacted by the General Inspector of the Central Department (of the Ministry of Agriculture) to his Ministry, dated 13. 01. 1932 and 7 August 1932 (''HAMFA'', 1935, f. A/4/9/2), where he underlines that even plots of 2–3 stremmata had been expropriated."</ref>
	In September 1930, the proposal for exchange of the Cham minority with the Greek minority of Albania was renewed, this time initiated by ]. King ] 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 non-voluntary.<ref>{{citation
	|last1=M. V.
	|first1=Sakellariou
	|title=Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?hl=el&id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ&dq=Epirus+4000&q=%22September+1930%22&pgis=1#search_anchor
	|year=1997
	|publisher=Ekdotike Athenon
	|language=English
	|pages=388
	|isbn=960-213-371-6
	|place=Athens, Greece
	|quotation="The Albanians believed that a voluntarily exchange of the Greeks of Northern Epirus for the Muslims of Chameria...Northern Epirus."}}</ref><ref>{{citation
	|last1=Hetaireia Makedonikōn Spoudōn. Hidryma Meletōn Cheresonēsou tou Haimou
	|title=Balkan studies
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=01NpAAAAMAAJ&q=%22that+a+voluntary+exchange+of+the+Greeks&dq=%22that+a+voluntary+exchange+of+the+Greeks&hl=el&pgis=1
	|year=1995
	|publisher=Institute for Balkan Studies, Society for Macedonian Studies
	|language=English
	|page=88
	|volume=36
	|place=Thessaloniki, Greece}}</ref>
			During this period, a number of villages were renamed in the region. More than 100 village names were changed in Thesprotia, Preveza and Ioannina.<ref name=Stat /><ref>For a more detailed view on settlement renames see </ref> 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'' (]), while other toponyms such as ''Ajdonati'' or ''Margëlliç'' had been immediately renamed with new Greek names (''Paramythia'' and ''Margariti'').<ref name=Stat /> The majority of villages and towns of the region got new names, mainly Greek ones, in 1928 and 1929. Another period of '']'' of toponyms occurred in the 1950s, when the remaining Albanian or Turkish names were finally renamed into Greek, with very few exceptions.<ref name=Stat /> Today, only a small number of Albanian toponyms, like ''Semeriza'' (from Albanian ''Shemërizë'', meaning ]), survive from Ottoman times.<ref name="Xhufi" />
	====Crackdown under the Metaxas regime (1936–1940)====
	The harshest period of discrimination of Cham Albanians occurred during the ] of Ioannis Metaxas, ] from 1936 to 1941.<ref name = Mazower/> The nationalistic character of his regime was imposed on all minorities in Greece. As ], ] and ], Albanian-speaking minorities were prohibited from using their own language outside home.<ref name = Tsitsipis>{{citation
	|last1=Tsitsipis
	|first1=Lukas D.
	|last2=Elmendorf
	|first2=William W.
	|title=Language Shift among the Albanian Speakers of Greece
	|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/30027674
	|year=1983
	|journal=Anthropological Linguistics
	|volume=25
	|issue=3
	|publisher=The Trustees of Indiana University
	|language=English
	|pages=288-308
	|place=Indiana, United States of America
	|quotation=Metaxas' linguistic totalitarianism as part of his political platform is well remembered by senior Arvanitika informants. They mention that he introduced open discrimination against the Arvanitika language and punished its use at school or in the army.
	}}</ref> Those who used Albanian words in school or in the army, were punished physically or humiliated.<ref name = Tsitsipis/><ref name = GHM>Greek Helsinki Monitor (1995): "Report: The Arvanites". </ref> Such attitudes have led many parents to discourage their children from learning their mother tongue so as to avoid similar discrimination and suffering.<ref name = GHM/> 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.<ref name = Tsitsipis/>
			In September 1930, the proposal for exchange of the Cham minority with the Greek minority of Albania was renewed, this time by the ] government. King ] 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=M. V.|first1=Sakellariou|title=Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ&q=%22September+1930%22|year=1997|publisher=Ekdotike Athenon|isbn=9789602133712|place=Athens, Greece|quote="The Albanians believed that a voluntarily exchange of the Greeks of Northern Epirus for the Muslims of Chameria...Northern Epirus."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hetaireia Makedonikōn Spoudōn. Hidryma Meletōn Cheresonēsou tou Haimou|title=Balkan studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01NpAAAAMAAJ&q=%22that+a+voluntary+exchange+of+the+Greeks|year=1995|publisher=Institute for Balkan Studies, Society for Macedonian Studies|page=88|volume=36|place=Thessaloniki, Greece}}</ref>
	On the core issue of properties, the government led by Metaxas, not only did not compensate the local population for prior confiscations, but adopted a new law, which reduced the properties of Muslim Chams. The final law that nationalized the entire property of Chams and other Albanian nationals in Greece was passed in 1937. This law confiscated all properties of Albanians in Greece, except the primary homes and the small farms inside the villages, while the compensations provided for were delayed, something which was seen as a provocation, by Chams.<ref name = Ktistakis/>
			The Venizelos government (1928–1932), despite the former Greek-Albanian crisis, took measures to intensify the improvement of the Cham communities both on economic and social basis. In 1931 a law was passed that allowed direct payment of reimbursement through the granting of analogous bonds and the direct return of improperly expropriated urban properties. A number of Cham families responded to these favorable regulations. Moreover, the Albanian government accepted the Greek proposal for the payment of indemnifications in bonds, allowing that way the promulgation of the relevant legislation and thus enabling the process of paying indemnification to the Albanian citizens. Thus, in 1935, according to Greek diplomatic reports, most of the Albanian demands that concerned the Cham communities appeared to be settled.<ref>Manta. ''The Cams of Albania''. 2009. p. 5. "Despite the crisis in relations between Athens and Tirana and the broader problems this caused, the Venizelos government (1928–32) seemed determined to intensify efforts for the improvement of the Çams' situation on the economic and social levels. The first issue that had to be dealt with was definitely the land one and the government made efforts to settle the issue of reimbursement, for this constituted a permanent source of grievances for the Albanian population. Thus, by mid 1931 a law was passed which provided for the direct payment of reimbursement to Greek citizens through their granting of analogous bonds and the direct return of improperly expropriated urban properties. Indeed, some Albanian families began to respond to these new favorable regulations and to accept the reimbursement determined by the state. On the other hand, the Albanian state accepted the Greek proposal for the payment of indemnification in bonds, thus freeing the way for the promulgation of the relevant legislation on 15 June 1933 and the hastening of the process of paying indemnification to the Albanian citizens. According to information from the Greek embassy in Tirana, by the middle of 1935 a great number of Albanian demands had been satisfied and consequently one of the most chronic problems for Greek-Albanian relations seemed at least to be coursing towards settlement".</ref> In April 1930, the League of Nations heard claims by small property Muslim Cham landowners that illegal expropriations occurred within the region, while Greek authorities stated that the region had been exempted from those land reform laws. In June 1930, the Greek government passed a special law that properties within Thesprotia were exempt from the Agrarian land laws which satisfied the League of Nations regarding the matter.<ref>{{harvnb|Ktistakis|2006|p=14}}. "Τον Απρίλιο του 1930 έφθασαν στην Κοινωνία των Εθνών καταγγελίες μικροϊδιοκτητών Τσάμηδων για παράνομες απαλλοτριώσεις σε κτήματα στην Τσαμουριά κάτω των 30 εκταρίων που προέβλεπε ο αγροτικός νόμος του 1926. Η ελληνική αντιπροσωπεία απάντησε ότι ο αγροτικός νόμος προέβλεπε εξαιρέσεις για την περιοχή της Ηπείρου και οι ίδιοι ισχυρισμοί είχαν απορριφθεί από το Συμβούλιο της Επικρατείας. Πάντως, τον Ιούνιο του 1930 ψηφίζεται ειδικός νόμος για τα απαλλοτριωθέντα κτήματα στην Τσαμουριά και η αρμόδια τριμελής επιτροπή της Κοινωνίας των Εθνών έμεινε ικανοποιημένη." </ref> During this time though, there were ongoing efforts by Greek authorities to prompt the dislocation of the Muslim Cham population by means of hard-line policies and migration to Turkey, while discouraging or even forbidding it to Albania.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "Various documents indicate that the Greek Authorities either prompted dislocation, or, as one document vividly puts it, "all of our services, but most of all the Sub-prefecture and the Gendarmerie of Filiati and Igoumenitsa are working hardly to reinforce the flow". Practical incentives were provided to individuals and most of all to families wanting to migrate to Turkey. Another mechanism that was used in some cases was the demographic disruption of Muslim communities targeting the disassociation of the social web of the communities with a view to put additional pressure to emigrate. This migration flow presents a ''prima facie'' controversial acknowledgment in consideration of the fact that we have mentioned that an Albanian national minority was called into being: The great majority of the emigrants chose to leave for Turkey and not Albania. However, a closer reading of the relevant documents indicates that the Greek Authorities were unofficially encouraging (legal) migration to Turkey while discouraging, or even forbidding, migration to Albania. One more fact that should not be underestimated is that there was an underground migration to Albania, which was not documented in the reports of Local Authorities to the Centre (since, for instance, no passports were issued) and only indirectly referred to in Greek sources. However, this migration is testified to by the relevant Albanian bibliography which includes the testimonies of members of the community. This underground migration of individuals and families to Albania continued until 1940."</ref> The Muslim Chams by the 1930s were viewed in Greece as a hostile population and unable to be integrated within the socio-political structures of the state.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "In the 1930s it was obvious that the Chams were viewed as a hostile population and "a lost cause for "Hellenism"</ref>
	At the same time, a negative influence about the position of Cham Albanians came from their motherland. Following the ], the ] had become a ] of the ]. 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. As the possibility of an Italian attack on Greece drew nearer, he began arming Albanian irregular bands to use against Greece.<ref name = Fischer>{{cite book | last=Fischer | first=Bernd Jürgen | title=Albania at War, 1939-1945 | publisher= C. Hurst & Co. Publishers | year=1999 | isbn=978-1-85065-531-2 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=P-MiG9ngCp8C | pages=75–76}}</ref>
			==== Repression under the Metaxas regime (1936–1940) ====
	On the eve of the ], Greek authorities disarmed 1800 Cham conscripts and put them to work on local roads. On the following month they seized all Albanian males not called up and deported them to ] or to island ].<ref name = Mazower/><ref name = Petrov>{{citation
			The harshest period of discrimination against Cham Albanians occurred during the ] of Ioannis Metaxas, ] from 1936 to 1941.<ref name=Mazower /><ref name="Tsoutsoumpis127" /><ref name="Vickers5">{{harvnb|Vickers|2002|p=5}}</ref> The nationalistic character of his regime was imposed on all minorities in Greece. As with ], ] and ], Albanian-speaking minorities were prohibited from using their own language outside home.<ref name=Tsitsipis>{{Cite journal|last1=Tsitsipis|first1=Lukas D.|last2=Elmendorf|first2=William W.|title=Language Shift among the Albanian Speakers of Greece|year=1983
	|last1=Petrov
			|journal=Anthropological Linguistics|volume=25|issue=3|publisher=The Trustees of Indiana University|pages=288–308|place=Indiana, United States of America|quote=Metaxas' linguistic totalitarianism as part of his political platform is well remembered by senior Arvanitika informants. They mention that he introduced open discrimination against the Arvanitika language and punished its use at school or in the army.|jstor=30027674}}</ref> Those who used Albanian words in school or in the army, were punished physically or humiliated.<ref name=Tsitsipis /> 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.<ref name=Tsitsipis /> Meanwhile, either due to the absence of Greek or for reasons of demographic importance, Greek education was expanded with the establishment of kindergartens in some Orthodox Albanian speaking villages.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "Parallel measures were taken at the same time regarding the language in Christian Albanian speaking villages. The most important and easily confirmed measure consisted of opening kindergartens in villages selected either by the absence of knowledge of Greek or by their demographic importance. According to a 1931 document, these villages included Aghia, Anthoussa, Eleftheri, Kanallaki, Narkissos, Psakka, Aghios Vlassios, Kastri (Dagh) and Draghani."</ref>
	|first1=Bisser
	|title=The Problem of Collaboration in Post-war Greece 1944-46
	|url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=d7cec498-3635-40d9-8a1f-9f2e8ace10d2&articleId=d2e9bfd3-5ede-431e-a262-84603eae7687
	|year=2005
	|journal=Balkan Studies
	|volume=25
	|issue=3
	|language=English
	|pages=15-36
	|publisher=University of California
	|place=], ], United States
	|quotation=Chams recruited in the army, and replaced their active service by labour service. Some time later the authorities rounded up all men, who had not been mobilized and sent them to camps and islands.}}</ref> Until the invasion of Greece by the German army, the Muslim Cham population of the region of Chameria was composed of women, child and the elderly. The Muslim Chams would be restored to their land only after fascist Italy got control of the region.
			In 1936, the Greek state created a new prefecture called ], from parts of ] and ] prefectures, as to exercise better control over the Cham Muslim minority.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "Finally, so as to exercise better control over the minority, the Greek state created in late 1936 a new prefecture, that of Thesprotia, consisting of areas that previously belonged to the Prefectures of Ioannina (Yanina) and Preveza, embodying all the Muslim population.... According to the suggestion of the General Administration of Epirus to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (24 October 1936), the presence of Albanian Muslims and the difficulties in "administrating" them from a far away capital calls for the creation of a new prefecture (''HAMFA'', 1937, A4/9)."</ref> The colonization of the area with Greeks and the confiscation of Cham property increased and Albanian place names were replaced with Greek ones.<ref name="Vickers5" /> In villages where both Muslim Chams and Christians lived, Muslim heads of the local administration were replaced with Christian ones. During the same period harassment by the local police towards Chams became more and more frequent.<ref name="Tsoutsoumpis127">{{harvnb|Tsoutsoumpis|2015|p=127}}</ref>
	===Second World War and expulsion===
	{{main|Expulsion of Cham Albanians}}
	====Occupied Greece (1940–1944)====
	]
	The ] started with the ] launching an invasion of Greece from Albanian territory. The invasion force included several hundred native Albanian and Chams in ] 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.<ref name = Fischer/> The initial Greco-Italian conflict continued into 1941, when the forces of ] ]. Despite the assistance of a British expeditionary force, the country was occupied by German, Italian and ] armies, who divided the country in three distinct ].
			=== Second World War and expulsion ===
	Under these circumstances,<ref name = Mazower/> several hundred Muslim Chams, under the leadership of the influential Dino family, collaborated with the ]s, as part of the '']'' organization and the local administration of '']''.<ref name = king/> These armed bands took part alongside the German army in burning villages and killing Albanians and Greeks of the region.<ref name = Kresti/> But the local beys, the muftis and the majority of the population did not support such actions.<ref name = Mazower/><ref name = Kresti/>
			{{See also|Chamerian conflict}}
			==== Greek-Italian War (1940–1941) ====
	On the other hand, several hundred Muslim Chams became part of the ] (ELAS),<ref name = Kresti/> as well as ].<ref name = historia/> In the ELAS, Chams formed the ], named after a Cham Albanian who was killed in Vlora fighting against the Germans. At the time of its creation in 1944, it comprised 460 Muslim Albanians and 340 Orthodox Albanians and Greeks.<ref name = Kresti/> One year earlier, the National Anti-Fascist Liberation Army of Albania had likewise formed the ], in which about five hundred Chams were conscripted.<ref name = historia/>
			At the same time, a negative influence about the position of Cham Albanians came from Albania. Following the ], the ] had become a ] of the ]. 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.<ref name=Fischer />
			In June 1940 a Muslim Cham by the name of Daut Hoxha was found headless in the village of ] in Southern Albania. Daut Hoxha was a notorious bandit killed in a fight over some sheep with two sheperds.<ref>Mario Cervi, Eric Mosbacher. . Doubleday. 1971, p. 21 "Hoggia was an illiterate cattle-drover and notorious brigand who had been sought by the Greek authorities for twenty years: the 'celebrated partiot' had an exceptional vivid police record."</ref><ref>Owen Pearson. . I.B.Tauris, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-84511-104-5}}, p. 18 "He was in fact a notorious bandit sought by the Greek police for murders that he had committed many years before, but was killed in fight with two sheperds after a quarrel over some sheep".</ref><ref>P. J. Ruches . Argonaut, 1965, p. 142-144 "his ingrained 'faith' permitted him to slit the throat or shoot a Christian Greek and an Albanian Moslem with equal facility".</ref><ref>MacGregor Knox. . Cambridge University Press, 1986. {{ISBN|978-0-521-33835-6}},"In June unknown assailants had decapidated an obscure, Albanian bandit and sheep stealer, Daut Hodja."</ref><ref>Martin L. Van Creveld. . Cambridge University Press, 1973. {{ISBN|978-0-521-20143-8}}, "the headless corpse of Daut Hoxha, cattle thief,..."</ref><ref>Bernard Newman. . Ayer Publishing, 1972. {{ISBN|978-0-8369-2963-8}}, "Then a certain Albanian brigand, Daut Hoggia..."</ref><ref>. Museum Tusculanum Press, 1998. {{ISBN|978-87-7289-450-8}}, "Thereafter a deceased Albanian sheep-thief, became the focus of attention. The thief -Daut Hoxha-..."</ref><ref>Curt Riess. "Daut Hohxa, a bandit described by Italians as an Albanian patriot."</ref><ref>Reynolds And Eleanor Packard. . Kessinger Publishing, 2005. {{ISBN|978-1-4179-8528-9}}, "a local drunkard and bandit, Daut Hoggia..."</ref> 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.<ref>P. J. Ruches . Argonaut, 1965, p. 142–144." the death of an Albanian brigand...This was the cause celebre Musolini chose to trumpet around the world to justify the move he was soon to make."</ref> As the possibility of an Italian attack on Greece drew nearer, Jacomoni began arming Albanian irregular bands to use against Greece.<ref name=Fischer>{{Cite book|last=Fischer|first=Bernd Jürgen|title=Albania at War, 1939–1945|publisher= C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|year=1999|isbn=978-1-85065-531-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-MiG9ngCp8C|pages=75–76}}</ref>
	====Expulsion (1944–1945)====
	]
	During the summer of 1944, when the German withdrawal was imminent, the right-wing head of the ] (EDES), ], asked the Cham Albanians to fight against ]. After their negative response, EDES forced many Chams to leave their homes.<ref name = Mazower/> According to the Greek historian Kosmas Antonopoulos, Zervas, was himself of Cham origin, being a descendant of the Souliotes, a community that had become assimilated into the Greek nation more than a century earlier.<ref>{{citation
	|last=Αντωνόπολος
	|first=Κοσμάς Εμμανουήλ
	|title=Εθνική Αντίστασις 1941-1945
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?lr=&hl=el&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&id=48GyAAAAIAAJ&dq=%CE%BD%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%AD%CF%89%CE%BD+%CE%B6%CE%AD%CF%81%CE%B2%CE%B1%CF%82%2B%CF%83%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%BB%CE%B9%CF%8E%CF%84%CE%B5%CF%82&q=%CE%BD%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%AD%CF%89%CE%BD+%CE%B6%CE%AD%CF%81%CE%B2%CE%B1%CF%82&pgis=1#search_anchor
	|volume=3
	|accessdate=2009-03-25
	|year=1964
	|quote=Ο Ναπολέων Ζέρβας ήτο απόγονος των Σουλιωτών Ζερβαίων
	|language=Greek
	|pages=1829
	}}</ref> Beyond the expulsion, as a result of the atrocities that occurred more then 2,000 of them were killed and others died during their exodus to Albania.<ref name = Kresti/>
			At the beginning of ], when Greece announced its full mobilisation prior to the Italian invasion, Cham Albanians requested to be included in said mobilisation; in response, Greece included them in the mobilisation but had them work in construction rather than give them arms, which alienated the Albanians.<ref name="Conflict areas in the Balkans">{{cite book|first1=Aytaç|last1=Gizem Bilgin|title=Conflict areas in the Balkans|date=2020|publisher=Lexington Books|location=Lanham|isbn=9781498599207|page=116|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_v_DwAAQBAJ}}</ref> Cham Albanian community leaders were arrested and forced into exile by Greek authorities on the same day that Italy invaded Greece, giving the community indubitable proof that the Greek state held a negative perception towards the Chams and leaving their community without leadership, which probably influenced their behaviour towards the Greeks in the following months. When the Greek army reoccupied the area during the early stages of the Italian invasion, they exiled nearly the entire male population - specifically all males older than 14 - to camps on the islands of ], ] and ], which left the Cham Albanian women, children and elderly defenseless and unguarded, resulting in murders, rapes and robberies. The Greek forces turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by local Greeks against Chams.{{sfn|Baltsiotis|2011|loc=}}<ref name="Conflict areas in the Balkans" />
	Two attacks took place in July and August, with the participation of EDES 10th Division and local Greek peasants whose villages had been burned down by Cham collaborators. Many of the Cham villages were burned and the remaining inhabitants (some 18,000 to 35,000) fled across the border into Albania.<ref name = Vickers/><ref name = Mazower/><ref name = Kresti/><ref name = Victor/> In the context of the emerging ], this operation was also meant to enlarge the coastal area north of Parga under EDES, and hence British, control. British historian ] describes it as ], which was accompanied by much destruction and plundering.<ref name = Mazower/> British officers described it as "a most disgraceful affair" involving "an orgy of revenge" with the local guerrillas '"looting and wantonly destroying everything". The British ] 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 '']''".<ref name = Mazower/>
			On the eve of the ], Greek authorities disarmed 1800 Cham conscripts and put them to work on local roads.<ref name=Mazower /> The Greco-Italian War started with the ] 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".<ref name=Army /> Part of the Chams supported the Italy's attack on Greece.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ethnologia Balkanica|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ebpDLhkVWcC|year=2002|volume=6|quote=Very soon numerous voluntary Albanians fled to the Italian lines and parts of the Albanian population of Chameria supported Mussolini's attack against Greece.}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Army>{{Cite book|last1=Jowett|first1=Stephen|last2=Andrew|title=The Italian Army 1940–45: (1) Europe 1940–43|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=1-85532-864-X|pages=6–7|year=2001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=25duk2H3LbQC&q=italian+army+albanian}}</ref><ref>P. J. Ruches . Argonaut, 1965, p. 147</ref> 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.<ref name=Fischer /> During 28 October – 14 November 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 ] and ].<ref name="Kretsi">{{cite book|last=Kretsi|first=Georgia|title=Verfolgung und Gedächtnis in Albanien: eine Analyse postsozialistischer Erinnerungsstrategien|series=Balkanologische Veröffentlichungen|volume=44|location=Wiesbaden|publisher=Harrassowitz|year=2007|isbn=978-3-447-05544-4|page=283|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VZVLxO37_vQC&pg=PA284}}</ref>
	In contrast with EDES, the left-wing ELAS was opposed to the idea of ] against the Chams, as several hundred Muslim Chams had enlisted in its ranks. Furthermore, ELAS enjoyed good relations with the communist-led resistance in Albania.<ref name = Mazower/> When ELAS briefly gained control of the Thesprotia region in late 1944, about four to five thousand Albanians were able to return to their homes. After the ] however, EDES forces again expelled them. During this process, led by a former officer of Zervas', Col. Zotos, a loose paramilitary grouping of former guerrillas and locals went on a rampage, in an attempt to force all Albanians of the region to leave. In the worst massacre, in the town of Filiates on 13 March, some sixty to seventy Chams were killed. Overall, some 300 Muslim Chams were murdered, while Orthodox Chams were allowed to stay in Greece.<ref name = Mazower/> The property of all Muslim Chams (whether they had collaborated with the Nazis or not) was confiscated in order to permit Greeks to settle in the area. After the war, only 117 Muslim Chams were left in Greece.<ref name="Vickers, Miranda 2002">{{citation
	|last=Vickers
	|first=Miranda
	|title=The Cham Issue - Albanian National & Property Claims in Greece
	|url=http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=ISN&fileid=04E09F7D-57A4-6D55-2FC1-E582B9DACFBD&lng=en
	|format=.pdf
	|series=ARAG Balkan Series
	|accessdate=2009-03-16
	|year=2002
	|publisher=Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
	|location=Swindon, United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|isbn=978-1-903584-76-0 {{Please check ISBN}} <!--bad checksum-->
	|pages=21
	}}
	</ref>
			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 island ]<ref name=Mazower /><ref name=Petrov>{{Cite journal|last1=Petrov|first1=Bisser|title=The Problem of Collaboration in Post-war Greece 1944–46|url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=d7cec498-3635-40d9-8a1f-9f2e8ace10d2&articleId=d2e9bfd3-5ede-431e-a262-84603eae7687|year=2005|journal=Balkan Studies|volume=25|issue=3|pages=15–36|publisher=University of California|place=], ], United States|quote=Chams recruited in the army, and replaced their active service by labour service. Some time later the authorities rounded up all men, who had not been mobilized and sent them to camps and islands.}}</ref> for security reasons.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ethnologia Balkanica|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ebpDLhkVWcC|year=2002|volume=6| quote=Cham support for the Italian army was paid back by the Greeks. Most of the male population were interned "for security reasons".}}</ref>
	====Postwar situation (1945–1990)====
			Until the ] by the ], 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 ] armies, who divided the country in three distinct ].
	]
	Muslim Chams that fled in Albania, were given the status of refugees by the ]-led Albanian government and were organized under the aegis of the Cham Anti-Fascist Committee (CAFC). In 1946, they formed a congress, where they adopted a ] 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.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/><ref>{{cite web
	| author= Cham Anti-Fascist Commitee
	| title = Document of the Committee of Chams in exile, on Greek persecution of the Chams, submitted to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in 1946
	| url = http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts20_2/AH1946.html
	| publisher = Cham Anti-Fascist Commitee
	| location = Tirana, Albania
	| language = Albanian, English
	| format = html
	| year = 1946
	| accessdate = 2009-03-31
	}}</ref>
			==== Occupied Greece and collaboration with the Axis (1941–1944) ====
	The new post-war ] of Albania took the Cham issue to the ], 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 ]. These demands were never answered. The ] in New York did however acknowledge the humanitarian crisis facing the refugees, and gave ] 1.2 million via the ] (UNRRA), specifically for refugees from northern Greece.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/>
			{{Main|Axis-Cham Albanian collaboration}}
			=====Italian occupation=====
	Meanwhile, in 1945-1946, a Greek Special Court on Collaborators sentenced to death 2,109 Chams '']'', while their immovable property was confiscated by the Greek state.<ref name = Ktistakis/> No criminal of Cham origin was ever brought to trial<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/>
			Prior to the outbreak of ], 28 villages in the region were inhabited exclusively by Muslim Chams, and an additional 20 villages had mixed Greek-Cham populations.<ref>Hermann Frank Meyer. ''Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg '' Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. {{ISBN|978-3-86153-447-1}}, p. 152</ref> Germany was against the annexation of the region to Albania that time.<ref>Manta. ''The Cams of Albania''. 2009. p. 7: "Greek Thesprotia was not included amongst the territories annexed to Albania and remained under the control of the High Command of Athens because of the German reaction. It seems that, amongst other factors which worked against such an annexation was the fact that, in contrast to Kosovo, the inhabitants of Epirus were by a vast majority Greeks, which could not justify any administrative reorganization in that region."</ref> Nevertheless, ] as well as ] propaganda promised that the region would be part of ] after the end of the war.<ref name=Meyer152>Meyer, p. 152: "Aufgrund des Versrpechens dass ein Teil des Epirus eines Tages zu Albanien gehoren werde, kollaborierten nicht wenige Tsamides mit den Italienern", p. 464: "setzten die deutschen Versprechungen... die sogenannte Tsamouria, nach Kriegsende in "ein freies, selbstandiges Albanien" eingegliedert werde."</ref> After the defeat of Greece, the establishment of the Italian occupation authorities in Epirus was completed up until middle May 1941<ref>Manta. ''The Cams of Albania''. 2009. p. 7: "Up until the middle of May that year their establishment in Paramythia and other Epirote cities and the organization of their services, were completed."</ref> and the following month the first armed units consisting of Cham Albanians were active in the region.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Theodoros|first1=Sabatakakis|title=Οι Βρετανικές Υπηρεσίες κατά την Περίοδο του Δευτέρου Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου στην Ελλάδα |url=http://www.didaktorika.gr/eadd/handle/10442/17487?locale=en|website=didaktorika.gr|year=2003|publisher=Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences|access-date=10 May 2015|page=30|doi=10.12681/eadd/17487|hdl=10442/hedi/17487|quote=...τον Ιούνιο του 1941, ξεκίνησαν τη δράση τους οι πρώτες ένοπλες συμμορίες Αλβανών τσάμηδων στην Ήπειρο...}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Meyer152 /><ref>Hermann Frank Meyer. ''Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg '' Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. {{ISBN|978-3-86153-447-1}}, p. 702</ref> Apart from the formation of an Axis collaborationist local administration and armed battalions, a paramilitary organization named '']'' and a paramilitary group called ''Balli Kombëtar Çam''<ref name="Kretsi" /> were operating in the region, manned by local Muslim Chams.<ref>Hermann Frank Meyer. ''Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg '' Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. {{ISBN|978-3-86153-447-1}}, p. 152, 464.</ref> The results were devastating: many Greek, but even some Muslim Albanian and Orthodox Albanian speakers (Arvanites) lost their lives and a great number of villages were burned and destroyed.<ref>{{harvnb|Kretsi|2002|p=179}}. "It is difficult however, to make final statements on Cham participation in this systematic persecution of the Christian population in the region, especially as there is evidence that the arbitrary rule of the Dino clan was directed even against some Muslims and Albanian-speaking Christians (Arbanits) (Isufi 2002: 2 19—254)."</ref> Assassinations of Greek officials,{{sfn|Kretsi|2002|p=178}} Albanian community leaders and other notables from both communities followed<ref>Giorgos Margarites (2005). ''Anepithymetoi sympatriotes. Stoicheia gia ten katastrophe ton meionoteton tes Elladas''. Bibliorama. Athens. pp. 155–156, 160.</ref> that perpetuated a cycle of revenge and retribution that worsened communal relations.{{sfn|Baltsiotis|2011}}
			====German occupation====
	For those Chams of the Orthodox faith who remained in Greece after 1945, their Albanian identity was suppressed as a deeply repressive policy of assimilation ensued and, as before World War II, the Albanian language was not allowed to be spoken in public, nor taught in the schools. While, the demographic structure of northwest Greece was altered by the introduction of settlers, especially ], from other parts of Greece.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/>
			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.<ref>Hermann Frank Meyer. ''Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg'' Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. {{ISBN|978-3-86153-447-1}}, p. 204, 476.</ref> On 27 September, 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".<ref>Hermann Frank Meyer. ''Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg'' Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. {{ISBN|978-3-86153-447-1}}, p. 469</ref> In another incident, on 27 September, Cham militias arrested 53 Greek citizens in Paramythia and ] 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 ].<ref>Hermann Frank Meyer. ''Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg'' Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. {{ISBN|978-3-86153-447-1}}, p. 469-471</ref> On 30 September, the Swiss representative of the ], 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.<ref>Hermann Frank Meyer. ''Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg'' Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. {{ISBN|978-3-86153-447-1}}, p. 498</ref>
			After the capitulation of Fascist Italy, in September 1943, the local British mission proposed an alliance to the Chams and to fight together the Germans, but this proposal was rejected.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kondis|first1=Basil|title=The Developments of the Northern Epirus Question|journal=Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization|year=1997|page=401|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ|access-date=10 May 2015|publisher=Ekdotike Athenon|isbn=9789602133712|quote=After the capitulation of Italy in September 1943, the British mission in Epirus tried to arrive at an understanding with the Chams in the hope of persuading them to turn against the Germans. The Chams refused}}</ref> Collaborationist Cham bands were also active in southern Albania. German General and local commander ] decided to initiate armed operations with the code name ''Horridoh'' in the region of ], in Albania. Albanian nationalist groups participated in these operations, among them a Cham battalion of c. 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 ], was 500 Albanians.<ref>Hermann Frank Meyer. Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. {{ISBN|978-3-86153-447-1}}, p. 539</ref> Whereas, it appears that, most of the local beys, the majority of whom were part of the nationalist resistance group ]<ref name =Vickers /> (not to be confused with the collaborationist Balli Kombëtar Çam)<ref name="Kretsi" /> and the mufti did not support such actions.<ref name="Kretsi" /><ref name=Mazower />
	In 1953, the Albanian government gave all Chams the Albanian citizenship and they were forced to integrate into Albanian society. Despite this many Chams still regard themselves as refugees deprived of their Greek citizenship and claim the right to return to their property in Greece.<ref name =Vickers/>
			==== First expulsion ====
	==Current situation==
			{{main| Expulsion of Cham Albanians}}
	===Cham identity and politics in post-communist Albania===
			During the summer of 1944, the head of the local resistance organization, ], asked the Cham Albanians to join ] in its fight against the left-wing ], but their response was negative.<ref name=Mazower /> 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.<ref name=Mazower /> 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.<ref name="books.google.com">Hermann Frank Meyer. : Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. (in German) {{ISBN|978-3-86153-447-1}}, p. 620</ref> 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,<ref name=v2002 /> which was considered responsible for ].<ref name="books.google.com" />
	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.<ref name = Vickers/>
			Moreover, two attacks took place in July and August with the participation of EDES Tenth Division and the local Greek ], eager to gain revenge for the burning of their own homes.<ref name=Mazower /> According to Cham claims, which are not confirmed by British reports,<ref name="books.google.com" /> the most infamous massacre of Albanian Muslims by Greek irregulars occurred on 27 June 1944 in the district of ], when this forces captured the town, killing approximately 600 Muslim Chams, men women and children, many having been raped and tortured before death.<ref name=v2002 /> ] officers described it as "''a most disgraceful affair'' involving ''an orgy of revenge'' with the local guerrillas ''looting and wantonly destroying everything''". British ] 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 ]''".<ref name=Mazower />
	]
	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 ] at the town of Konispol.<ref>{{cite web
	| url = http://www.qpz.gov.al/doc.jsp?doc=docs/Ligj%20Nr%207839%20Dat%C3%AB%2030-06-1994.htm
	| title = Law Nr.7839, datë 30.6.1994, "For declaring 27th June in the national calendar as 'The Day of Genocide Against Albanians of Chameria from Greek Chauvinism' and the to built a memorial in Konispol"
	| accessdate = 2009-03-31
	| author = Albanian Parliament
	| year = 1994
	| format = html
	| publisher = Center of Official Publication website
	| location = Tirana, Albania
	| language = Albanian
	}}
	</ref> Albanians pay tribute to the victims every 27 June in ] 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 (and Albanian) citizens and expressed the desire for "a peaceful return to their homeland and to the graves of their forefathers" <ref name = Vickers/>
			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).<ref name=v2002 /> During this time, small numbers of Muslim Roma from Filiates also fled to Albania alongside the Muslim Chams.<ref name=Baltsiotis2015 /> They settled in village of Shkallë, near ], where due to immigration in recent years, some have resettled in Greece.<ref name=Baltsiotis2015>Lambros Baltsiotis (2015). "Balkan Roma immigrants in Greece: An initial approach to the traits of a migration flow." ''International Journal of Language, Translation and Intercultural Communication''. '''1'''. (1): 5. "In general terms, it seems that previous ties of any kind with Greece facilitate not only the migration but also a more permanent way of living in the country. This is the case with the Muslim Roma of Filiati in Thesprotia who, following the expulsion of the Muslim Albanian Chams from Greece in 1944–1945, were settled in the village of Shkallë, Sarandë in Albania. The majority of the families, more than fifteen, gradually settled in Greece."</ref>
	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.<ref name = Vickers/>
			==== Resistance, Greek Civil War, repatriation by ELAS and final expulsion ====
	In 2005, a ] occurred when the President of Greece, ] canceled his planned meeting with Albanian counterpart, ], in Saranda, because 200 Chams were demonstrating about the Cham issue. The ] 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 ]". 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".<ref name = Vickers/>
			As the end of World War II drew near, a small number of Muslim Chams became part of the ] (ELAS),<ref name="Kretsi" /> as well as the anti-fascist ] of Albania.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Eriksonas|first=Linas|author2=Leos Müller|title=Statehood before and beyond ethnicity: minor states in Northern and Eastern Europe, 1600–2000|publisher=P.I.E.-Peter Lang|year=2005|edition=vol 33|page=308|isbn=9780820466460|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AcAtAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Army%2C+the+%22}}</ref> In the ELAS, a mixed Cham Albanian-Greek battalion named ] 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 consisted of 460 men, some of whom were Chams.<ref name="Kretsi" /> 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.{{sfn|Kretsi|2002|p=182}}
			Although there is no evidence of contribution against the Axis, Cham units in the ELAS participated in the first phase of the ] fighting against the EDES.<ref>{{harvnb|Kretsi|2002|p=182}}. "They did not have the opportunity, however, to make any significant contributions in fight against the Germans. Likewise, the Cham partisans quoted above could describe the battles against EDES, but non-against the Germans. Admittedly these fighting units were formed at the end of the war and therefore could no longer exert any broad influence on the Cham population"</ref> Having limited support in Epirus 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. 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 ] region in late 1944.<ref name=Mazower /> As a result of this short-term ELAS victory, in January–February 1945, about four to five thousand Chams 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 ]), EDES veterans and local communities were eager to take revenge for the Cham's participation.<ref name=Mazower /> Led by an EDES veteran, Col. Zotos, a loose ] 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 ] were burned and the remaining inhabitants fled across the border into Albania.
	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.<ref name = Vickers/>
			The exact number of Cham Albanians that were expelled in Albania and Turkey, is unknown. ] and Victor Roudometof, state that they were about 18,000.<ref name=Mazower /><ref>Victor Roudometof, Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict. {{ISBN|0-275-97648-3}}. p. 158</ref> while Miranda Vickers says that they were 25,000 that fled into Albania.<ref name="v2002" /> Chameria Association claims that Cham Albanians that left were 35,000, from whom, 28,000 left to Albania and the rest to Turkey.<ref name="Document">"Document of the Committee of Cham Albanians in exile, on Greek persecution of the Chams, submitted to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in 1946". {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617224752/http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts20_2/AH1946.html|date=17 June 2010}}</ref> After the war, only 117 Muslim Cham Albanians were left in Greece.<ref name="v2002" /> Violence by the EDES groups was much more limited compared to incidents perpetrated against German populations that time throughout Europe, in particular by the advancing ]. EDES managed to secure control of the region after the initial conflicts.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Γκότοβος|first1=Αθανάσιος|title=Ετερότητα και σύγκρουση: ταυτότητες στην κατοχική Θεσπρωτία και ο ρόλος της Μουσουλμανικής μειονότητας|date=2013|publisher=University of Ioannina, Dodoni Journal|page=65|url=http://195.251.197.191/ojs/index.php/ppp/article/view/39|quote=Σε σύγκριση πάντως με τα αιματηρά επεισόδια με θύματα (εθνοτικά) Γερμανούς... επειδή τελικά ο Ζέρβας μπόρεσε να επιβάλει την αναγκαία πειθαρχία για την περιφρούρηση του συγκεντρωμένου σε διάφορα ασφαλή σημεία άμαχου μουσουλμανικού πληθυσμού|access-date=1 November 2016|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217082138/http://195.251.197.191/ojs/index.php/ppp/article/view/39|url-status=dead}}</ref>
	===Chams in Greece===
	Orthodox Cham Albanians still live in the region in three prefectures.<ref name = Vickers/><ref name = Euromosaic/><ref name = Kresti/><ref name = Banfi/> According to a study by the Euromosaic project of the ], they 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 ].<ref name = Euromosaic/>
			=== Postwar situation (1945–1990) ===
	Throughout the Cold War, their Albanian identity was suppressed by a deeply repressive policy of assimilation. As before World War II, the Albanian language was not allowed to be spoken in public, nor taught in the schools. As a result, Albanian is only spoken privately at home, and the assimilation of Orthodox Albanians gathered momentum and they have struggled ever since to maintain their identity.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/><ref name = Vickers/> Albanian however is still spoken in the region and some of the older inhabitants are Albanian monolinguals.<ref name = Foss/> 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.<ref name = Foss>{{Citation
			{{Main| Anti-Fascist Committee of Cham Immigrants}}
	|last=Foss
			Muslim Chams who fled to Albania were given refugee status by the ]-led Albanian government and were organized under the aegis of 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 ] to Greeks).<ref name=Winnifrith />
	|first=Arthur
	|title=Epirus
	|publisher=Faber
	|isbn=0-571-10488-6
	|ean=9780571104888
	|page=224
	|ages=240
	|year=1978
	|place=Botston, United States of America
	}}</ref>
			In 1946, they formed a congress, where they adopted a ] 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.<ref name=v2002 /><ref>{{cite web|publisher=Cham Anti-Fascist Committee|title=Document of the Committee of Chams in exile, on Greek persecution of the Chams, submitted to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in 1946|url=http://www.albanianhistory.net/1946_Cham-Albanians/index.html|location=Tirana, Albania|language=sq, en|year=1946|access-date=31 March 2009}}</ref>
	On the other hand, the Greek authorities, out of mistrust towards the remaining Albanians, despite their Orthodox denomination, have furthered a demographic shift in the region, by introducing settlers, chiefly Vlachs.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/> Today, the majority of these Orthodox Chams are called Arvanites (a Greek-identifying group of Albanian origin, living in southern Greece) by others, but self-identify as ''Shqiptar'', which means Albanians. In contrast with Arvanites, they have retained, not only a distinct ethnic identity, but also the Albanian national identity.<ref name = Banfi/>
			The new post-war ] of Albania took the Cham issue to the ], 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 ]. These demands were never answered. The ] in New York did however acknowledge the humanitarian crisis facing the refugees, and gave ] 1.2 million via the ] (UNRRA), specifically for refugees from northern Greece.<ref name=v2002 /> Meanwhile, in 1945–1946, a Greek Special Court on Collaborators found 2,109 Chams guilty of treason '']'' and sentenced them to death, while their immovable property was confiscated by the Greek state.<ref name="Ktistakis" /> 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.<ref name=v2002 />
	===Chams in Turkey===
	Muslim Chams in Turkey form the second largest community of Chams, after Albania.<ref name = Vickers/> This community was established after the two World Wars. After the ], Chams were forced to leave for Turkey during the population exchange,<ref name = Fabbe/><ref name = Victor/><ref name = king/> 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.<ref name = Berisha>{{citation
			For those Albanian speaking communities in Thepsrotia who remained in Greece after 1945, their Albanian identity was discouraged as part of a policy of assimilation.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} The abandoned Cham villages were repopulated by adjacent Greek and ]-speaking communities.<ref name=v2002 /><ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "The process of extinguishing any signs of previous minority existence occurred both in real and symbolic ways. The villages of Muslim Chams were repopulated by Greek speaking populations from the adjacent mountainous areas and Vlachs, immediately after their expulsion."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kretsi|2002|p=187}}. "The social component of the respective redistribution or property transfers is evident. At the point where the "national" redistribution halted in the prewar period, the "hellenization" of property was taken up once and for all after the war. The economic mobilization of loyal majority groups (i.e., Vlachs along the entire northern Greek border) for the purposes of national homogenization was more often than not carried out to the disadvantage of minorities. In this case it was combined with a strategic purpose, namely the "national stabilization" of the border region and the guarantee of ideological and thus military loyalty to the central state. This becomes evident in a series of laws giving a social or populist character to the expropriation of the Chams and explicitly concerned with supporting border settlers: Athanasakos (n. d.:70 f.) names: 1. N.Δ. 2536/1953 "on the resettlement of the border regions and the enforcement of these populations" art. 6. and 2. N. Δ. 2180/1952 "on the compulsory expropriation of lands for the restitution of the landless farmers and cattle-breeders" which were completed and modified later. According to the aforementioned, the financial revenue office took possession of the properties. In coordination with the direction for agriculture and under the Committee for the expropriations they were bestowed on persons entitled to a share. According to the same author, these persons received title-deeds in the 1960s to 1970s by buying them for the amounts defined by the Committee. The owners of urban properties received acts of concession."</ref><ref>Koukoudis. ''The Vlachs''. 2003. p.293. "After the Axis Occupation and the Civil War, most of them gradually rehabilitated in villages and towns in the prefecture of Thesprotia and Preveza in the gaps left by the departed local Moslem Albanians, the ''Çams'', and also in various villages in the Pogoni and Kourenda areas in Ioannina prefecture. Their most important settlements in villages and towns in Thesprotia and Preveza prefectures are in Sayada, Asproklissi, Igoumenitsa, Agios Vlassios (Souvlassi), Parapotamos (Varfani), Plataria, Myli (Skefari), Paramythia, Ambelia (Vrestas), Rahoula (Tsifliki), Xirolofos (Zeleso), Karvounari, Skandalo, Hoika, Perdika (Arpitsa), Milokokkia, Katavothra (Ligorati), Margariti, Kaloudiki, Morfi (Morfati), Dzara, Parga, and their largest settlement, Themelo (Tabania) in Preveza prefecture."</ref>
	|last=Berisha
	|first=Mal
			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.<ref name =Vickers />
	|title=Diaspora Shqiptare në Turqi
	|accessdate=2009-03-16
			==== Under the People's Republic of Albania ====
	|year=2000
			]
	|month=November
			During the People's Republic of Albania (1944–1985) the country was governed by ]. The 40-year period of Hoxha's regime was characterized by the use of Stalinist methods to destroy associates who threatened his power. The regime was increasingly conspicuous towards the Cham community. It believed that they were of questionable loyalty and could easily become agents of a foreign power. This view was probably based because they were Greek citizens and their elites were traditionally rich landlords, while collaboration with the Axis and anti-communism were also significant factors that contributed to this.{{sfn|Kretsi|2007|p=57}} At the end of 1945, numerous Cham Albanians were imprisoned by the authorities of the People's Republic of Albania, while they were branded as "''war criminals''", "''collaborators of the occupation forces''" and "''murderers of the Greeks''". Although the representatives of the community protested against these developments, this resulted in further arrests and exiles of Cham Albanians.{{sfn|Kretsi|2007|p=58}} Thus, the communist regime in Albania took a very distrustful view of the Cham community. Many of them were transferred further north, away from the southern border region.{{sfn|Kretsi|2007|p=58}}<ref name="Grigorova">{{cite web|url=http://www.balkans.gr/CAMS%201995.pdf|title=Comparative Balkan Parliamentarism|last=Grigorova – Mincheva|first=Lyubov|year=1995|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120014408/http://www.balkans.gr/CAMS%201995.pdf}}</ref>
	|publisher=ACCL Publishing
	|location=New York
			In 1949, during the ] (1946–1949), the leadership of the People's Republic of Albania tried to mobilize the Cham community in order to fight with the communists.<ref>Charles R. Shrader. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-275-96544-0}}, p. 188.</ref> After their negative response they were labelled "reactionaries" and suffered a certain degree of persecution within Albania. Moreover, the Cham issue was neglected by the local regime.{{sfn|Kretsi|2002|p=185}} In 1947 the regime revealed a conspiracy in which 85 Chams were allegedly part in the creation of an armed nationalist group named "Balli Kombëtar".{{sfn|Kretsi|2007|p=58}} In 1960 another anti-communist conspiracy was uncovered under ], a Cham admiral of the Albanian navy from Konispol. The alleged perpetrators, among them also 29 Chams, were accused as agents of "American, Yugoslav and Greek separatists". As a result, Sejko was executed and several of his relatives persecuted, while other members of the Cham community were imprisoned.{{sfn|Kretsi|2007|p=63}}
	|language=Albanian
	|pages=13
			== Current situation ==
	}}
	</ref>
			=== 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.<ref name="Vickers" />
			]
			In 1994, Albania passed a law that declared 27 June, the anniversary of the Paramythia massacre of 1944, as the ''Day of Greek Chauvinist Genocide Against the Albanians of Chameria'' and built a ] at the town of Konispol.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qpz.gov.al/doc.jsp?doc=docs/Ligj%20Nr%207839%20Dat%C3%AB%2030-06-1994.htm|title=Law Nr.7839, datë 30.6.1994, "For declaring 27th June in the national calendar as 'The Day of Genocide Against Albanians of Chameria from Greek Chauvinism' and to build a memorial in Konispol"|access-date=31 March 2009|author=Albanian Parliament|year=1994|publisher=Center of Official Publication website|location=Tirana, Albania|language=sq|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220091623/http://www.qpz.gov.al/doc.jsp?doc=docs%2FLigj%20Nr%207839%20Dat%C3%AB%2030-06-1994.htm|archive-date=20 February 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> This decision has not received any international recognition.<ref>{{harvnb|Kouzas|2013|p=134}}: "Η μνήμη της γενοκτονίας, όμως, είναι ένα εσωτερικό θέμα της Αλβανίας και δεν έχει διαστάσεις διεθνούς αναγνώρισης." </ref> A number of Cham Albanian supporters pay tribute to the victims every 27 June in ] 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"<ref name="Vickers" />
			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.<ref name="Vickers" />
			In 2005, a ] occurred when the President of Greece, ] canceled his planned meeting with Albanian counterpart, ], in Saranda, because 200 Chams were demonstrating about the Cham issue. The ] 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 ]". 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".<ref name="Vickers" />
			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.<ref name="Vickers" />
			=== In Greece ===
			==== Muslims ====
			The Greek census of 1951 counted a total of 127 Muslim Albanian Chams in Epirus.{{sfn|Ktistakis|2006|p=8}} In more recent years (1986) 44 members of this community are found in Thesprotia, located in the settlements of Sybota, Kodra and Polyneri (previously Koutsi).<ref name=Ktistakis9>{{harvnb|Ktistakis|2006|p=9|ps.= Σύμφωνα με μία πρόσφατη πηγή28, σήμερα στο νομό Θεσπρωτίας διαμένουν 44 Τσάμηδες οι περισσότεροι των οποίων έχουν γεννηθεί (στην Ελλάδα) μετά το 1948 και συγκεκριμένα: 7 άτομα στα Σύβοτα (πρώην Μούρτος), 12 στον Αργυρότοπο (συνοικισμός Πολυνέρι, πρώην Κούτσι) και 25 στη Μαζαρακιά (συνοικισμός «Κόντρα»)}} (citing Krapsitis V., 1986: Οι Μουσουλμάνοι Τσάμηδες της Θεσπρωτίας (The Muslim Chams of Thesprotia), Athens, 1986, p. 181.</ref> Moreover, until recently the Muslim community in Polyneri was the only one in Epirus to have an imam.{{sfn|Baltsiotis|2011}} The village mosque was the last within the area before being blown up by a local Christian in 1972.{{sfn|Baltsiotis|2011}} The number of Muslim Chams remaining in the area after World War II included also people who converted to Orthodoxy and were assimilated into the local population in order to preserve their properties and themselves.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "A few hundred Muslims stayed behind. 127 of them were counted in the 1951 census, while the rest, whose number remains unknown and in need of research, converted to Christianity and intermarried with Greeks..... Except for two small communities that mostly avoided conversion, namely Kodra and Koutsi (actual Polyneri), the majority of others were baptized. Isolated family members that stayed behind were included in the Greek society, and joined the towns of the area or left for other parts of Greece (author’s field research in the area, 1996–2008)."</ref><ref>Sarah Green (2005). ''Notes from the Balkans: Locating Marginality and Ambiguity on the Greek-Albanian border''. Princeton University Press. pp. 74–75. "Over time, and with some difficulty, I began to understand that the particular part of Thesprotia being referred to was the borderland area, and that the 'terrible people' were not all the peoples associated with Thesprotia but more specifically peoples known as the Tsamides –though they were rarely explicitly named as such in the Pogoni area. One of the few people who did explicitly refer to them was Spiros, the man from Despotiko on the southern Kasidiaris (next to the Thesprotia border) who had willingly fought with the communists during the civil war. He blamed widespread negative attitudes toward the Tsamides on two things: first, that in the past they were perceived to be 'Turks' in the same way as Albanian speaking Muslims had been perceived to be 'Turks'; and second, there had been particularly intense propaganda against them during the two wars –propaganda that had led to large numbers of Tsamides' being summarily killed by EDES forces under General Zervas. Zervas believed they had helped the Italian and later German forces when they invaded Greece, and thus ordered a campaign against them in retribution. Spiros went on to recall that two young men from Despotiko had rescued one endangered Tsamis boy after they came across him when they were in Thesprotia to buy oil. They brought him back to the village with them, and Spiros had baptized him in a barrel (many Tsamides were Muslim) in the local monastery. In the end, the boy had grown up, married in the village, and stayed there."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kretsi|2002|p=186}}. "In the census of 1951 there were only 127 Muslims left of a minority that once had 20,000 members. A few of them could merge into the Greek population by converting to Christianity and changing their names and marital practices. After the expulsion, two families of Lopësi found shelter in Sagiáda and some of their descendants still live there today under new names and being Christians. Another inhabitant of Lopësi, then a child, is living in nearby Asproklissi..... The eye-witness Arhimandritēs (n. d.: 93) writes about a gendarmerie officer and member of the EDES named Siaperas who married a very prosperous Muslim widow whose children had converted to Christianity. One interviewee, an Albanian Cham woman, told me that her uncle stayed in Greece, "''he married a Christian, he changed his name, he took the name Spiro. Because it is like that, he changed it, and is still there in loannina, with his children''". A Greek man from Sagiáda also stated that at this time many people married and in saving the women also were able to take over their lands."</ref>
			==== Christian Orthodox ====
			According to a study by the Euromosaic project of the ], 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 ].<ref name="Euromosaic" /> In northern Preveza prefecture, those communities also include the region of ],<ref>Οδηγός Περιφέρειας Ηπείρου (10 December 2007). " {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418152706/http://cultureportalweb.uoi.gr/cultureportalweb/article.php?article_id=503&topic_id=111&level=4&belongs=110&area_id=39&lang=gr|date=18 April 2015 }}". ''cultureportalweb''. Retrieved 18 April 2015.</ref> in villages such as ]<ref>Georgoulas, Sokratis D.(1964). '' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127064844/http://cultureportalweb.uoi.gr/cultureportalweb/upload_files/1197894290_548_ATT00117.pdf|date=27 November 2013 }}''. Κέντρων Ερεύνης της Ελληνικής Λαογραφίας. pp. 2, 15.</ref> and Agia.<ref>Tsitsipis, Lukas (1981). ''Language change and language death in Albanian speech communities in Greece: A sociolinguistic study''. (Thesis). University of Wisconsin. Ann Arbor. 124. "The Epirus Albanian speaking villages use a dialect of Tosk Albanian, and they are among the most isolated areas in Greece. In the Epiriotic village of Aghiá I was able to spot even a few monolingual Albanian speakers."</ref> In 1978, some of the older inhabitants in these communities were Albanian monolinguals.<ref name=Foss>{{Cite book|last=Foss|first=Arthur|title=Epirus|publisher=Faber|isbn=9780571104888|page=224|year=1978|place=Botston, United States of America}} "There are still many Greek Orthodox villagers in Threspotia who speak Albanian among themselves. They are scattered north from Paramithia to the Kalamas River and beyond, and westward to the Margariti Plain. Some of the older people can only speak Albanian, nor is the language dying out. As more and more couples in early married life travel away to Athens or Germany for work, their children remain at home and are brought up by their Albania-speaking grandparents. It is still sometimes possible to distinguish between Greek- and Albanian-speaking peasant women. Nearly all of them wear traditional black clothes with a black scarf round their neck heads. Greek-speaking women tie their scarves at the back of their necks, while those who speak primarily Albanian wear their scarves in a distinctive style fastened at the side of the head."</ref>
			According to Hart, today these Orthodox Albanian speaking communities refer to themselves as ] in the Greek language and self-identify as Greeks, like the Arvanite communities in southern Greece.<ref name="Har" /> On the other hand, Bugajski includes the Orthodox among Cham Albanians.<ref name="Bugajski" /> They refer to their language in Greek as ''Arvanitika'' and when conversing in Albanian as ''Shqip''.<ref>Moraitis, Thanassis. "". ''thanassis moraitis: official website''. Retrieved 18 April 2015. "Οι Αρβανίτες αυτοί είναι σε εδαφική συνέχεια με την Αλβανία, με την παρεμβολή του ελληνόφωνου Βούρκου (Vurg) εντός της Αλβανίας, και η Αλβανική που μιλιέται εκεί ακόμα, η Τσάμικη, είναι η νοτιότερη υποδιάλεκτος του κεντρικού κορμού της Αλβανικής, αλλά έμεινε ουσιαστικά εκτός του εθνικού χώρου όπου κωδικοποιήθηκε η Αλβανική ως επίσημη γλώσσα του κράτους..... Οι αλβανόφωνοι χριστιανοί θεωρούν τους εαυτούς τους Έλληνες. Στα Ελληνικά αποκαλούν τη γλώσσα τους "Αρβανίτικα", όπως εξ άλλου όλοι οι Αρβανίτες της Ελλάδας, στα Αρβανίτικα όμως την ονομάζουν "Σκιπ""..... "The Albanian idiom still spoken there, Çamërisht, is the southernmost sub-dialect of the main body of the Albanian language, but has remained outside the national space where standard Albanian has been standardized as official language of the state..... Ethnic Albanophone Christians perceive themselves as national Greeks. When speaking Greek, members of this group call their idiom Arvanitic, just as all other Arvanites of Greece; yet, when conversing in their own idiom, they call it "Shqip"."</ref><ref>Tsitsipis. ''Language change and language death''. 1981. p. 2. "The term Shqip is generally used to refer to the language spoken in Albania. Shqip also appears in the speech of the few monolinguals in certain regions of Greek Epirus, north-western Greece, while the majority of the bilingual population in the Epirotic enclaves use the term Arvanitika to refer to the language when talking in Greek, and Shqip when talking in Albanian (see Çabej 1976:61–69, and Hamp 1972: 1626–1627 for the etymological observations and further references)."</ref> In contrast with the Arvanites, some have retained a distinct linguistic<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "The Albanian language, and the Christian population who spoke it- and still do- had to be concealed also, since the language was perceived as an additional threat to the ''Greekness'' of the land. It could only be used as a proof of their link with the Muslims, thus creating a continuum of non-Greekness."</ref> and ethnic identity, but also an Albanian national identity.<ref name=Banfi /> In the presence of foreigners there is a stronger reluctance amongst Orthodox Albanian speakers to speak Albanian, compared to the Arvanites in other parts of Greece.<ref>Adrian Ahmedaja (2004). "On the question of methods for studying ethnic minorities' music in the case of Greece's Arvanites and Alvanoi." in Ursula Hemetek (ed.). Manifold Identities: Studies on Music and Minorities. Cambridge Scholars Press. p. 59. "Among the Alvanoi the reluctance to declare themselves as Albanians and to speak to foreigners in Albanian was even stronger than among the Arvanites. I would like to mention just one example. After several attempts we managed to get the permission to record a wedding in Igoumenitsa. The participants were people from Mavrudi, a village near Igoumenitsa. They spoke to us only German or English, but to each other Albanian. There were many songs in Greek which I knew because they are sung on the other side of the border, in Albanian. I should say the same about a great part of the dance music. After a few hours, we heard a very well known bridal song in Albanian. When I asked some wedding guests what this kind of song was, they answered: You know, this is an old song in Albanian. There have been some Albanians in this area, but there aren’t any more, only some old people". Actually it was a young man singing the song, as can he heard in audio example 5.9. The lyrics are about the bride’s dance during the wedding. The bride (swallow" in the song) has to dance slowly – slowly as it can be understood in the title of the song Dallëndushe vogël-o, dale, dale (Small swallow, slow – slow) (CD 12)."</ref> A reluctance has been also noticed for those who still see themselves as ''Chams'' to declare themselves as such.<ref>Sarah Green (2005). ''Notes from the Balkans: Locating Marginality and Ambiguity on the Greek-Albanian border''. Princeton University Press. pp. 74–75. "In short, there was a continual production of ambiguity in Epirus about these people, and an assertion that a final conclusion about the Tsamides was impossible. The few people I meet in Thesprotia who agreed that they were Tsamides were singularly reluctant to discuss anything to do with differences between themselves and anyone else. One older man said, 'Who told you I’m a Tsamis? I’m no different from anyone else.' That was as far as the conversation went. Another man, Having heard me speaking to some people in a Kafeneio in Thesprotia on the subject, followed me out of the shop as I left, to explain to me why people would not talk about Tsamides; he did not was to speak to me about it in the hearing of others: They had a bad reputation, you see. They were accused of being thieves and armatoloi. But you can see for yourself, there not much to live on around here. If some of them did act that way, it was because they had to, to survive. But there were good people too, you know; in any population, you get good people and bad people. My grandfather and my father after him were barrel makers, they were honest men. They made barrels for oil and tsipouro. I’m sorry that people have not been able to help you do your work. It’s just very difficult; it’s a difficult subject. This man went on to explain that his father was also involved in distilling tsipouro, and he proceeded to draw a still for me in my notebook, to explain the process of making this spirit. But he would not talk about any more about Tsamides and certainly never referred to himself as being Tsamis."</ref> Tom Winnifrith on short stays in the area (early 1990s) found it difficult to find Albanian speakers in urban areas<ref>Winnifrith, Tom (1995). " {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710205629/http://www.farsarotul.org/nl17_1.htm|date=10 July 2015 }}". '']''. Retrieved 18 April 2015. "I tried unsuccessfully in 1994 to find Albanian speakers in Filiates, Paramithia and Margariti. The coastal villages near Igoumenitsa have been turned into tourist resorts. There may be Albanian speakers in villages inland, but as in the case with the Albanian speakers in Attica and Boeotia the language is dying fast. It receives no kind of encouragement. Albanian speakers in Greece would of course be almost entirely Orthodox."</ref> and concluded in later years that Albanian is not longer spoken at all in the region.<ref>Winnifrith, Tom (2002). ''Badlands, Borderlands: A History of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania''. Duckworth. pp. 25–26, 53. "Some Orthodox speakers remained, but the language was not encouraged or even allowed, and by the end of the twentieth century it had virtually disappeared..... And so with spurious confidence Greek historians insist that the inscriptions prove that the Epirots of 360, given Greek names by their fathers and grandfathers at the turn of the century, prove the continuity of Greek speech in Southern Albania since their grandfathers whose names they might bear would have been living in the time of Thucydides. Try telling the same story to some present-day inhabitants of places like Margariti and Filiates in Southern Epirus. They have impeccable names, they speak only Greek, but their grandparents undoubtedly spoke Albanian."</ref> Amongst some Orthodox Albanian-speakers of the area, like the residents of ] village near Igoumentisa, there has been a revival in folklore, in particular in the performance of "Arvanitic wedding".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://katoci.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/blog-post_28.html|title=Σε αρβανιτοχώρι της Θεσπρωτίας αναβίωσαν τον αρβανίτικο γάμο! In an Arvanite village, Arvanite customs have reappeared !|work=Katopsi|access-date=18 April 2015}}</ref>
			=== In Turkey ===
			Muslim Chams in Turkey form the second largest community of Chams, after Albania.<ref name="Vickers" /> This community was established after the two World Wars. After the ], Chams were forced to leave for Turkey during the population exchange,<ref name=Victor /><ref name=Fabbe /><ref name=king /> 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.<ref name=Berisha>{{Cite book|last=Berisha|first=Mal|title=Diaspora Shqiptare në Turqi|date=November 2000|publisher=ACCL Publishing|location=New York|language=sq|page=13}}</ref> From 1913 to 1944, about 85,000 Albanians, most of whom were Chams, emigrated to Turkey.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Turan|first1=Sibel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_v_DwAAQBAJ|title=A Problem between Albania and Greece: Cham Albanians|last2=Şenbaş|first2=Demet|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2020|page=115|isbn=978-1-4985-9920-7 }}</ref>
			The exact number of Muslim Chams in Turkey is unknown, but various estimates conclude that they number between 80,000 and 100,000,<ref name=Berisha /> from a total population of 500,000 to 6 million of full or partial Albanian descent that live in Turkey.<ref>{{cite news|title=Türkiyedeki Kürtlerin Sayısı!|newspaper=Milliyet|date=6 June 2008|access-date=7 June 2008|language=tr|url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/default.aspx?aType=SonDakika&Kategori=yasam&ArticleID=873452&Date=07.06.2008&ver=16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yenigun|first=Cuneyt|title=GCC Model: Conflict Management for the "Greater Albania"|url=https://sablon.sdu.edu.tr/dergi/sosbilder/dosyalar/27/OS_16.pdf|journal=SDU Faculty of Arts and Sciences Journal of Social Sciences|page=184|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927134953/https://sablon.sdu.edu.tr/dergi/sosbilder/dosyalar/27/OS_16.pdf|archive-date=27 September 2015 }}</ref> The Chameria Human Rights Association declares that most of them have been linguistically assimilated, although they maintain Albanian consciousness and regional Cham traditions.<ref name=bollati /> 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.<ref name=Berisha /> They are organized within the "Albanian-Turkish Brotherhood Association" ({{langx|sq|Shoqëria e Vllazërisë Shqiptaro-Turke}}, {{langx|tr|Türk-Arnavut Kardeşliği Derneği}}), which fights for the rights of Albanians.<ref name=Berisha />
			=== In the United States ===
			{{See also| Albanian American}}
			Chams in the United States are the fourth most numerous population of Chams, after Albania, Turkey and Greece.<ref name="Vickers" /> 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.<ref name="Vickers" /> They managed to retain their traditions and language,<ref name="Vickers" /> and created the Cham League in 1973, Chameria Human Rights Association ], which later merged and became Albanian American Organization Chameria which aimed to protect their rights.<ref name=CHRA /><ref name=AAOC>http://chameriaorganization.blogspot.com {{User-generated source|date=August 2022}}</ref>
			== Cham issue ==
			{{Main|Cham issue}}
			=== Political positions ===
			Albania demands the repatriation of the Muslim Chams who were ] 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.<ref name="v2002" /> 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{{When|date=September 2017}} functioned.<ref name="v2002" />
			During the 1990s, Albanian diplomacy used the Cham issue as counter-issue against the one related with the Greek minority in Albania.<ref name="Victor" /> Chams complain that Albania has not raised the Cham issue as much as it should.<ref name="Vickers" /> It was raised officially only during a visit to Athens of former ] ] at the end of 1999, during his meeting with his Greek counterpart, ], but it received a negative response.<ref name=v2002 /> After 2000, there was a growing feeling in Albania, since the Kosovo problem has been to an extent addressed, that the Albanian government should turn its attention to the Cham issue.<ref name=Victor /> On the other hand, that Greece is a member of the European Union and ], which Albania wishes to join, is one of the main factors why the Albanian government is reticent about the issue.<ref name="Vickers" />
	The exact number of Muslim Chams in Turkey is unknown, but various estimates conclude that they number between 80,000 to 100,000,<ref name = Berisha/> from a total population of 500,000 to 1.3 million Albanians that live in Turkey.<ref>{{cite news |title=Türkiyedeki Kürtlerin Sayısı! |publisher=Milliyet |date=2008-06-06 |accessdate=2008-06-07 |language=Turkish |url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/default.aspx?aType=SonDakika&Kategori=yasam&ArticleID=873452&Date=07.06.2008&ver=16}}</ref> The Chameria Human Rights Association declares that most of them have been linguistically assimilated, although they maintain Albanian consciousness and regional Cham traditions.<ref name = bollati/> 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.<ref name = Berisha/> They are organized within the "Albanian-Turkish Brotherhood Association" ({{lang-sq|Shoqëria e Vllazërisë Shqiptaro-Turke}}, {{lang-tr|Türk-Arnavut Kardeşliği Derneği}}), which fights for the rights of Albanians.<ref name = Berisha/>
			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.<ref name="v2002" /> In an attempt to give a solution, in 1992 Prime Minister ] 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.<ref name="king" /> This proposal however was rejected by the Albanian side.
	===Chams in the United States===
	Chams in the United States are the forth most numerous population of Chams, after Albania, Turkey and Greece.<ref name = Vickers/> 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.<ref name = Vickers/> They managed to retain their traditions and language,<ref name = Vickers/> and have created the Chameria Human Rights Association ], which aims to protect their rights.<ref name = CHRA/>
			The Cham issue has been linked with the issue of the War Law, in the context of World War II and especially the war between Greece and Albania. Their exodus is connected with similar World War II events following the defeat of the Axis: such as the exodus of the ] populations of ], ], ] ] and ].{{sfn|Kouzas|2013|p=119}}
	==Cham Issue==
			The case of the properties who are under sequestration, taking into account that the stance of war against Albania was revoked by the Greek government in 1987, is seen by some Greek law experts and the Albanian government as in force and thus preventing restitution or expropriation as they are interpreted as "enemy property".<ref>Tsitselikis, Konstantinos (2012). ''Old and New Islam in Greece: From historical minorities to immigrant newcomers''. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 312–313. "In the aftermath of the events of 1944–1945, Cham real estate was considered as abandoned and gradually confiscated or put at the disposal of landless peasants and refugees. On the ground, the situation until the early 1950s was out of control. Legally, the real estate was supposed to pass to state ownership as set forth by Act 1539/1938 (article 54). But in practice, the abandoned and devastated plots, fields, and houses were occupied by inhabitants of the nearby villages or by the new settlers. The situation soon became chaotic and the local police were unable to establish order. Finally, LDs 2180/1952, 2185/1952 (FEK A 217), and LD 2781/1954 (FEK A 45) regulated the transfer of ownership, and LD 2536/1953 (FEK A 225) legalized the resettlement of the empty Cham villages by newcomers from other places in Greece. According to article 17 of the LD 3958/1959 (FEKA 133), the residents of the mountainous areas of Filiates and Paramythia as well as those of 'Greek descent' originating from Northern Epirus were allowed to settle in the 'abandoned Muslim plots of Thesprotia'. The policy of national homogenization remained incomplete, however, until the 1970s, when the Hellenization of the former Muslim property was completed. This guaranteed the population’s loyalty to the state and minimized Greece’s Muslim population. As mentioned earlier, numerous Muslims of Greece chose to obtain foreign citizenship in order to be exempt from the population exchange or for other reasons. Some Chams acquired Albanian citizenship, although they could remain in Greece as citizens of 'Albanian origin'. After 1945, those who held Albanian citizenship faced expropriation of their property as its legal status was that of 'enemy property', since Albania was a conquered territory of fascist Italy and a nemesis of Greece during World War II. Thus, Albanian real estate was sequestrated according to Act 2636/1940 (FEK A 379) and Act 13/1944 (FEK A 11), which, in theory, should not have affected ownership per se. Much of this real estate remains sequestrated to this day and is registered at the Office of Sequestration based in Athens. According to article 38 of the LD 1138/1949 (FEK A 257) amending Act 2636/1940, sequestration can be abolished by joint decision of the Ministers of Interior, Economy, Justice, and the Prime Minister. Income gained by the sequestrated real estate is kept in special accounts at the Bank of Greece. It is worth noting that inhabitants of Albania (Albanian citizens) of Greek origin were exempt from sequestration or expropriation (Ministerial Decision, Minister of the Finance, 144862/3574/17.6.1947, FEK B 93). This reading of the category 'of origin', reflects the ideological nature of policies aimed at ethnicizing land ownership. According to several court decisions, the Albanian property would remain under sequestration until the removal of the state of war between the two countries. However, even though the Greek government declared the state of war with Albania to be over in 1987, the sequestration of Albanian estates was continued, as the declaration was not legally ratified. Such measures do not comply with legal standards set by international instruments banning discrimination on grounds of ethnicity (ICCPR, ECHR etc.). Meanwhile, LD 2180/1952 on 'the compulsory expropriation of lands for the restitution of the landless farmers and cattle-breeders' authorized special committees to take possession of the properties and then bestow them on persons entitled to a share. In practice, such persons were squatters tolerated by the authorities during the Civil War or later. These persons received title deeds in the late 1950s until the 1970s."</ref> Under the Greek law it is not certain if the case of the Cham properties can be classified as such.{{sfn|Kouzas|2013|p=119}} Nevertheless the restitution of these properties can be legally blocked due to ''activity against the state'', which appears to be according to Greek law experts a significant factor in this case.{{sfn|Ktistakis|2006|p=53}}{{sfn|Kouzas|2013|p=121}} The confiscated properties of those who collaborated with the Axis cannot raise any legal issue. The same appears to be the case of the abandoned properties which were expropriated in the 1950s.{{sfn|Ktistakis|2006|p=53}}
	{{main|Cham issue}}
	===Political positions===
	The "Cham issue" has been raised by Albania since the 1990s. It involves the repatriation of the Muslim Chams who were ] 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.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/> 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.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/>
	Chams complain that Albania has not raised the Cham issue as much as it should.<ref name = Vickers/> It was raised officially only during a visit to Athens of former ] ] at the end of 1999, during his meeting with his Greek counterpart, ], but it received a negative response.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/> The fact that Greece is a member of the European Union and ], which Albania wishes to join, is one of the main factors why the Albanian government is reticent about the issue.<ref name = Vickers/>		The "Cham Issue" has not been a part of the agenda for international organizations.<ref name="Vickers" /> 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.<ref name=v2002 /> 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, ] 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.<ref name="Vickers" />
			In September 2016 the ] ] mentioned the Cham issue as an "existing one" between Albania and Greece, alongside other matters that the two countries needed to resolve.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eu-commissioner-caught-in-between-albania-greece-hot-topic-09-29-2016|title=Greece Accuses Hahn of Backing Albania over Chams|date=29 September 2016}}</ref>
	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".<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/> In an attempt to give a solution, in 1992 Prime Minister ] 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.<ref name = king/> This proposal however was rejected.
			=== 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.<ref name="Ktistakis" /> Orthodox Albanian speakers within the region remained in Greece and retained the Greek citizenship, but without any minority rights.<ref name="Vickers" /> 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.<ref name=v2002 />
	The Cham Issue has not been in the agenda of international organizations.<ref name = Vickers/> 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.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/> Meanwhile, in 2006, Members of the Party of Justice and Integration met European MEPs, including the chairwoman of Southwest Europe Commitee on the European Parliament, ] and introduced their concerns about the Cham Issue. Although this group of MEPs drafted a resolution about this issue, it was never put into vote, for unknown reasons.<ref name = Vickers/>
			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.<ref name="Vickers" /> They argue that the removal of their citizenship was a collective punishment, when even the Greek courts have charged a minority of Chams for alleged crimes.<ref name=Muhedini>Interview of Tahir Muhedini, president of Party for Justice and Integration, in "Standard" newspaper, February 2009</ref> They have demanded dual citizenship,<ref name="Vickers" /> a policy followed by Greece in the case of the Greek minority in Albania.<ref name=Muhedini />
	===Citizenship issue===
	Following their expulsion in 1944, initially only the 1,930 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.<ref name = Ktistakis/> Orthodox Chams remained in Greece and retained the Greek citizenship, but without any minority rights.<ref name = Vickers/> 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.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/>
			=== Property issue ===
	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.<ref name = Vickers/> 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.<ref name = Muhedini>Interview of Tahir Muhedini, president of Party for Justice and Integration, in "Standard" newspaper, February 2009</ref> They have asked the Greek government to have a dual citizenship,<ref name = Vickers/> a policy followed by Greece in the case of the Greek minority in Albania.<ref name = Muhedini/>
			{{See also|Right to return}}
			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.<ref name="Ktistakis" /> 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.<ref name="Ktistakis" />
			In the 1960s and 1970s an ] 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.<ref name="Ktistakis" />
	===Property issue===		=== Minority issue ===
			The Chams are not a recognized minority by both global and peripheral international organizations, such as the ] and the ]. The decisions of the Cham representatives in general do not have any legal dimension or commitment in international politics.{{sfn|Kouzas|2013|p=119}}
	{{also|Right to return}}
	After the World War II, Cham Albanian`s properties 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.<ref name = Ktistakis/> After three years the properties were nationalized. While 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 ownership was under the Greek state.<ref name = Ktistakis/>
	In the decades of `60-s and `70-s an ] 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.<ref name = Ktistakis/>
			Cham organizations ask for their repatriation and minority rights. They have also asked for minority rights for the Orthodox Albanian speakers residing in Greece.<ref name=v2002 /> This position is supported even by politicians in Albania. In January 2000, the current Prime Minister 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.<ref name=v2002 />
	===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.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/> This position is supported even by politicians in Albania. In January 2000, the current Prime Minister 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.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/>
	===Incidents===		=== Incidents ===
	{{main|Liberation Army of Chameria}}		{{Main|Liberation Army of Chameria}}
			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 (] and ]), in order to fuel the irredentist dreams of the descendants of the Chams.<ref name=Victor /> Moreover, there is a reported paramilitary formation in the northern Greek region of Epirus, called the Liberation Army of Chameria<ref name="Vickers" /><ref>{{citation|journal=Problimatismoi|url=http://www.elesme.gr/elesmegr/periodika/t14/t14_5.htm|title="Η ΝΕΑ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΜΕΤΑΝΑΣΤΕΥΤΙΚΗ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ ΚΑΙ ΤΑ ΕΘΝΙΚΑ ΜΑΣ ΣΥΜΦΕΡΟΝΤΑ" (The New Greek Migration Policy and Our Ethnic Interest)|access-date=31 March 2009|last=Laggaris|first=Panagiotis|issue=14|date=November 2003|publisher=Hellenic Institute of Strategic Studies|location=Athens, Greece|language=el|archive-date=12 May 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030512234829/http://www.elesme.gr/elesmegr/periodika/t14/t14_5.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Vickers" />
	The Cham issue has become a dispute in both countries, and several diplomatic incidents have occurred. While, there is a reported paramilitary formation in the northern Greek region of Epirus, called the Liberation Army of Chameria<ref name = Vickers/><ref>{{cite
	| journal = Problimatismoi
	| url = http://www.elesme.gr/elesmegr/periodika/t14/t14_5.htm
	| title = "Η ΝΕΑ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΜΕΤΑΝΑΣΤΕΥΤΙΚΗ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ ΚΑΙ ΤΑ ΕΘΝΙΚΑ ΜΑΣ ΣΥΜΦΕΡΟΝΤΑ"
	| accessdate = 2009-03-31
	| last = Laggaris
	| first = Panagiotis
	| issue = 14
	| year = 2003
	| mont = November
	| format = html
	| publisher = Hellenic Institute of Strategic Studies
	| location = Athens, Greece
	| language = Greek
	}}</ref> 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.<ref name = Vickers/>
	==Organizations==		== Organizations ==
	]
	Chams have created a number of organizations, such as ], ] and the Chameria Institute.		Chams have created a number of organizations, such as ], ] and the Chameria Institute.
	===Chameria Association in Albania===		=== Chameria Association in Albania ===
			{{Main|National Political Association "Çamëria"}}
			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 Albanian speakers in Greece, was founded on 10 January 1991.<ref name="Vickers" /> This associations holds a number of activities every year, with the help of the ], as well as other organizations. Annually on 27 June, the Cham March is organized in Konispol. This march is held to remember the expulsion of the Chams.<ref name=pdi>{{cite web|url=http://www.pdi-al.com| title=Official site of the Party for Justice and Integration|access-date=31 March 2009|author=Party For Justice and Integration|year=2009|location=Tirana, Albania|language=sq, en|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307045431/http://www.pdi-al.com/|archive-date=7 March 2009}}</ref> One particularly disingenuous endeavor by the organization leaders has been to create unhistorical links in the public mind by presenting the ancient Greek King ] (4th–3rd century BC) as an Albanian hero, thus revealing the extreme and irredentist aims of the association.<ref name=Grigorova />
	{{main|National Political Association "Çamëria"}}		=== Chameria Association in the US ===
			{{Main|Chameria Human Rights Association}}
	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. <ref name = Vickers/> This associations holds a number of activities every year, with the help of the ], as well as other organizations. Annually on June 27th, the Cham March is organized in Konispol. This march is held to remember the expulsion of the Chams.<ref name = pdi>{{cite web
			Chameria Human Rights Association (''Shoqëria për të drejtat e Njeriut, Çamëria'') is a non-governmental organization, based in ], United States, which protects and lobbies for the rights of Chams.
	| url = http://www.pdi-al.com
	| title = Official site of the Party for Justice and Integration
	| accessdate = 2009-03-31
	| author = Party For Justice and Integration
	| year = 2009
	| format = html
	| location = Tirana, Albania
	| language = Albanian, English
	}}</ref>
			It describes as its mission: the ] of Chams "to their homes in Greece and live there in peace and prosperity with their Greek brothers"; the ]; 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.<ref name=CHRA>{{cite web|url=http://www.chameriaassociation.org/enmis.html|title=Official site of the Chameria Human Rights Association|access-date=31 March 2009|author=Chameria Human Rights Association|year=2009|location=Tirana, Albania|language=sq, en|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203160539/http://www.chameriaassociation.org/enmis.html|archive-date=3 December 2008}}</ref>
	===Chameria Association in the US===
	{{main|Chameria Human Rights Association}}
	]
	Chameria Human Rights Association (''Shoqëria për të drejtat e Njeriut, Çamëria'') is a Non Governmental Organization, based in ], USA, which protects and lobbies for the rights of Chams.
			=== Democratic Foundation of Chameria ===
	It describes as its mission: the ] of Chams "to their homes in Greece and live there in peace and prosperity with their Greek brothers"; the ]; 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.<ref name = CHRA>{{cite web
			{{Main|Democratic Foundation of Chameria}}
	| url = http://www.chameriaassociation.org/enmis.html
			Another organization of Cham Albanians is based in ], 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 ], where it intends to bring the Cham issue, if the governments of both countries will not find a solution.<ref name=Hague />
	| title = Official site of the Chameria Human Rights Association
	| accessdate = 2009-03-31
	| author = Chameria Human Rights Association
	| year = 2009
	| format = html
	| location = Tirana, Albania
	| language = Albanian, English
	}}</ref>
			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."<ref name=Hague>{{cite web|url=http://cameria.eu|title=Official website of the Democratic Foundation of Chameria|access-date=16 April 2009|author=Democratic Foundation of Chameria|year=2009|location=The Hague, Netherlands|archive-date=7 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507065059/http://www.cameria.eu/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
	===Democratic Foundation of Chameria===
	Another organization of Cham Albanians is based in ], 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 ], where it intends to bring the Cham issue, if the governments of both countries will not find a solution.<ref name = Hague/>
			=== Party for Justice and Unity ===
	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."<ref name = Hague>{{cite web |url = http://cameria.eu/ | title=Official website of the Democratic Foundation of Chameria | accessdate = 2009-04-16
			{{Main|Party for Justice and Unity}}
	| author = Democratic Foundation of Chameria
	| year = 2009
	| format = html
	| location = The Hague, Nethernlands
	| language = English}}</ref>
			The Party for Justice and Unity is a ] 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 ], in September from two deputies of the new Albanian parliament: the sole representative of Party for Justice and Integration, Dashamir Tahiri and ], a Cham ] of the ].<ref></ref> Currently it has 2 MPs in the Albanian parliament, which makes it the fourth biggest party in Albania.
	===Party for Justice and Integration===
	{{main|Party for Justice and Integration}}
	]
	In 2004, in Albania was formed the Party for Justice and Integration (''Partia për Drejtësi dhe Integrim''), which would represent the Chams in politics. 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.<ref name = Vickers/>
			=== Party for Justice and Integration ===
	The party won the plurality of seats in the municipality of Saranda, ], Konispol, Markat, Xarrë and was one of the main parties in big municipalities like Vlora, ], etc, on the last municipal elections in 2007.<ref>{{cite web
			{{Main|Party for Justice and Integration}}
	| url = http://www.cec.org.al
			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.<ref name="Vickers" />
	| title = Official site of the Central Commision of Elections
	| accessdate = 2009-03-31
	| author = Central Commision of Elections
	| year = 2009
	| format = html
	| location = Tirana, Albania
	| language = Albanian, English
	}}</ref>
			The party won the plurality of seats in the municipality of Saranda, ], Konispol, Markat, Xarrë and was one of the main parties in big municipalities like Vlora, ], etc, on the last municipal elections in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cec.org.al|title=Official site of the Central Commission of Elections|access-date=31 March 2009|author=Central Commission of Elections|year=2009|location=Tirana, Albania|language=sq, en}}</ref>
	===Chameria Institute===
	]
	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. <ref name = Vickers/>
			=== Chameria Institute ===
	Its declares as its mission, "to make researches 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."<ref>{{cite web
			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.<ref name="Vickers" />
	| url = http://www.cameriainstitute.org
	| title = Official site of the Institute of Cham Studies
	| accessdate = 2009-03-31
	| author = Institute of Cham Studies
	| year = 2009
	| format = html
	| location = Tirana, Albania
	| language = Albanian, English
	}}</ref>
			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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cameriainstitute.org| title=Official site of the Institute of Cham Studies|access-date=31 March 2009|publisher=Institute of Cham Studies|year=2009|location=Tirana, Albania|language=sq, en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008081501/http://cameriainstitute.org/|archive-date=8 October 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
	===Cultural Association "Bilal Xhaferri"===
	In 1993, a group of journalists and writers of Cham origin, founded in Tirana the Cultural Association "Bilal Xhaferri" (''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, ] 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.<ref name = Biberaj/><ref name = Krahu>{{cite web
	| url = http://krahuishqiponjes.blogspot.com
	| title = Official site of the magazine "Krahu i Shqiponjës"
	| accessdate = 2009-03-31
	| author = magazine "Krahu i Shqiponjës"
	| year = 2009
	| publisher = Cultural Association "Bilal Xhaferri"
	| format = html
	| location = Tirana, Albania
	| language = Albanian, English
	}}</ref>
			=== Cultural Association "Bilal Xhaferri" ===
	==Demographics==
			{{Main|Cultural Association "Bilal Xhaferri"}}
	Today, Cham Albanians are thought to number 440,000.<ref name="Vickers, Miranda 2002"/><ref name = Vickers>{{citation
			In 1993, a group of journalists and writers of Cham origin, founded in Tirana the ] (''Shoqata Kulturore "Bilal Xhaferri"''), nicknamed also as "the ]" (''Komuniteti Kulturor i Çamërisë''). The association is a 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, ] 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.<ref name=Biberaj /><ref name=Krahu>{{cite web|url=http://krahuishqiponjes.blogspot.com|title=Official site of the magazine "Krahu i Shqiponjës"|access-date=31 March 2009|author=magazine "Krahu i Shqiponjës"|year=2009|publisher=Cultural Association "Bilal Xhaferri"|location=Tirana, Albania|language=sq, en}}</ref>
	|last=Vickers
	|first=Miranda
	|title=The Cham Issue - Where to Now?
	|url=http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=ISN&fileid=7F40F269-9359-6DF3-7767-24EDF78B6D8C&lng=en
	|format=.pdf
	|series=ARAG Balkan Series
	|accessdate=2009-03-16
	|year=2007
	|publisher=Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
	|location=Swindon, United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|isbn=978-1-905962-01-3
	|pages=21
	}}</ref> The majority of them live in Albania, while other communities live in Greece, Turkey and the USA. Their religion is Islam and Orthodoxy.
			== Demographics ==
	===Historical demographics===
			According to Miranda Vickers, the Chams number approximately 690,000.<ref name="v2002" />{{sfn|Vickers|2007|p=2}} According to Cham organizations, the descendants of the "original Chams" number 170,000.<ref name="Victor" /> Many of them live in Albania, while other communities live in Greece, Turkey and the USA. Their religions are Islam and Orthodox Christianity.
	The population of the region of Chameria were mainly Albanian and Greek, with smaller minorities. There is a dispute regarding the size of the Albanian population of the region. In Greek censuses, only Muslims of the region were counted as Albanians. According to 1913 Greek census, in Chameria region were living 25,000 Muslims<ref name = Petzopoulos>{{citation
	|last=Pentzopoulos
	|first=Dimitris
	|title=The Balkan Exchange of Minorities and Its Impact on Greece
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lAWKstorJAEC&printsec=
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2002
	|month=October
	|date=7
	|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers
	|location=London, United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|isbn=1-85065-674-6
	|ean=9781850656746
	|pages=300
	|page=128
	}}</ref> 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. <ref name = Ktistakis/>
			=== Historical demographics ===
	The only census that counted Orthodox population of the region of Albanian ethnicity, was made by ] Italy in 1941, but Greek authors claim that the way it was accomplished was exaggerated. This census found that in the region lived 54,000 Albanians, of whom 26,000 Orthodox and 28,000 Muslim and 20,000 Greeks.<ref name = Ktistakis>{{citation
			The population of the region of Chameria was mainly Albanian and Greek, with smaller minorities. In the early 19th century, Greek scholar and secretary of the local Ottoman Albanian ruler ], ], stated that Chameria was inhabited by both Greeks and Albanians. The later were divided between Christians and Muslims, while Greeks were the dominant element of Chameria.<ref>Kallivretakis, Leonidas (1995). "." In Nikolakopoulos, Ilias, Kouloubis Theodoros A. & Thanos M. Veremis (eds). ''Ο Ελληνισμός της Αλβανίας ''. University of Athens. p. 12: "δίδασκε ο Αθανάσιος Ψαλίδας στις αρχές του 19ου αιώνα και συνέχιζε: "Κατοικείται από Γραικούς και Αλβανούς· οι πρώτοι είναι περισσότεροι", ενώ διέκρινε τους δεύτερους σε Αλβανούς Χριστιανούς και Αλβανούς Μουσουλμάνους"</ref> There was a dispute regarding the size of the Albanian population of the region, while in the 20th century some believe the term ''Cham'' applies only to Muslims.<ref name="Har" /> According to a contemporary ] estimate from '']'' in 1912, there was a global total of 1,500,000 ], of which 200,000 were Chams.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q64b1bltcWIC|title=Oriental World|publisher=New Armenia Publishing Company|year=1912|pages=294–297}}</ref> According to 1913 Greek census, in Chameria region were living 25,000 Muslims<ref name="Petzopoulos">{{Cite book|last=Pentzopoulos|first=Dimitris|title=The Balkan Exchange of Minorities and Its Impact on Greece|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lAWKstorJAEC|access-date=31 March 2009|date=7 October 2002|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|location=London, UK|isbn=9781850656746|page=128}}</ref> whose mother tongue was 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.<ref name="Ktistakis" /> During the interwar period, the numbers of Albanian speakers in official Greek censuses varied and fluctuated, due to political motives and manipulation.<ref>{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "In the official censuses of the Greek State in the Interwar period there is major manipulation involving the numbers of the Albanian speakers in the whole of the Greek territory.... The issue here is not the underestimation of the numbers of speakers as such, but the vanishing and reappearing of linguistic groups according to political motives, the crucial one being the "stabilization" of the total number of Albanian speakers in Greece."</ref>
	|last=Ktistakis
	|first=Giorgos
	|title=Περιουσίες Αλβανών και Τσάμηδων στην Ελλάδα: Aρση του εμπολέμου και διεθνής προστασία των δικαιωμάτων του ανθρώπου'
	|url=http://www.kemo.gr/doc.php?fld=doc&doc=43.pdf
	|format=.pdf
	|series=Minorities in Balkans
	|accessdate=2009-03-24
	|year=2006
	|month=February
	|publisher=Center of Studying of Minority Groups
	|location=Athens, Greece
	|language=Greek
	|pages=53
	}}</ref> After the war, according to Greek censuses where ethno-linguistic groups were counted, Muslim Chams were 113 in 1947 and 127 in 1951.
			An estimation by Italian occupational forces during World War II (1941) included also Orthodox communities of Albanian ethnicity. According to this in the region lived 54,000 Albanians, of whom were 26,000 Orthodox and 28,000 Muslim and 20,000 Greeks.<ref name=Ktistakis>{{Cite book|last=Ktistakis|first=Giorgos|title=Περιουσίες Αλβανών και Τσάμηδων στην Ελλάδα: Aρση του εμπολέμου και διεθνής προστασία των δικαιωμάτων του ανθρώπου'|trans-title=Properties of Albanians and Chams in Greece: Nullification of the State of War and international protection of human rights|url=http://www.kemo.gr/doc.php?fld=doc&doc=43.pdf|series=Minorities in Balkans|access-date=24 March 2009|date=February 2006|publisher=Center of Studying of Minority Groups|location=Athens, Greece|language=el|page=53}}</ref> After the war, according to Greek censuses where ethno-linguistic groups were counted, Muslim Chams were 113 in 1947 and 127 in 1951. In the same Greek census of 1951, 7,357 Orthodox Albanian-speakers were counted within the whole of Epirus.<ref name="Baltsiotis2011a">{{harvnb|Baltsiotis|2011}}. "The Orthodox Albanian-speakers' "return" to Southern Greece and Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace also present at this time, at the 1951 census (7,357 are counted in Epirus)."</ref>
	{{Table
	|type=class="wikitable"
	|title=Chams in Greece (1913&ndash;1951)
	|hdrs=Year!!Muslim<br />Chams!!Orthodox<br />Chams!!Total<br />population!!Source
	|row1=1913{{!!}}25,000{{!!}}---{{!!}}Unknown{{!!}}Greek census<ref name = Petzopoulos/>
	|row2=1923{{!!}}20,319{{!!}}---{{!!}}Unknown{{!!}}Greek census<ref name = Ktistakis/>
	|row3=1925{{!!}}25,000{{!!}}22,000{{!!}}47,000{{!!}}Albanian government<ref name = Ktistakis/><ref name = historia/>
	|row4=1928{{!!}}17,008{{!!}}---{{!!}}Unknown{{!!}}Greek census<ref name = Ktistakis/>
	|row5=1938{{!!}}17,311{{!!}}---{{!!}}Unknown{{!!}}Greek government<ref name = Ktistakis/>
	|row6=1940{{!!}}21,000-22,000{{!!}}---{{!!}}Unknown{{!!}}Estimation on Greek census<ref name = Ktistakis/>
	|row7=1941{{!!}}28,000{{!!}}26,000{{!!}}54,000{{!!}}Italian census<ref name = Ktistakis/>
	|row8=1947{{!!}}113{{!!}}---{{!!}}Unknown{{!!}}Greek census<ref name = Ktistakis/>
	|row9=1951{{!!}}127{{!!}}---{{!!}}Unknown{{!!}}Greek census<ref name = Ktistakis/>}}
			{| class="wikitable"
	===Current demographics===
			|+ Chams in Greece (1913–1951)
	The exact number of Albanians still residing in the Chameria region is uncertain, since the Greek government does not include ethnic and linguistic categories in any official census. In 2002, in Chameria, the Orthodox Albanian population was estimated at 40,000, the majority of them being descendants of the Orthodox Chams who were allowed to remain in Greece, but also including a sizeable minority of recent, post-1991 immigrants.<ref name = "Vickers, Miranda 2002"/> In 1985, the Albanian population of Epirus, including Chameria and two villages in Konitsa was estimated 30,000.<ref>{{citation
			! Year!!Muslim<br>Chams!!Orthodox<br>Chams!!Total<br>population!!Source
	|last=Ciampi
			|-
	|first=Gabriele
			| 1913 || 25,000 || – || Unknown || Greek census<ref name="Petzopoulos" />
	|title=Le sedi dei Greci Arvaniti
			|-
	|year=1985
			| 1923 || 20,319 || – || Unknown || Greek census<ref name="Ktistakis" />
	|publisher=Rivista Geografica Italiana
			|-
	|location=], ]
			| 1925 || 25,000 || 22,000 || 47,000 || Albanian government<ref name="Ktistakis" /><ref name=historia />
	|language=]
			|-
	|pages=29
			| 1928 || 17,008 || – || Unknown || Greek census<ref name="Ktistakis" />
	|volume=92
			|-
	|issue=2
			| 1938 || 17,311 || – || Unknown || Greek government<ref name="Ktistakis" />
	}}</ref> While the total population of Thesprotia, Preveza and Ioannina prefectures is 275,086.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.statistics.gr/gr_tables/S1101_SAP_09_TB_DC_01_10_Y.pdf 2001|title=Census data|accessdate=2009-01-07|work=Census|language=Greek|publisher=Greek Statistic Agency|year=2001}}</ref>
			|-
			| 1940 || 21,000–22,000 || – || Unknown || Estimation on Greek census<ref name="Ktistakis" />
			|-
			| 1941 || 28,000 || 26,000 || Unknown || Italian estimation (by Axis occupational forces during World War Two)<ref name="Ktistakis" />
			|-
			| 1947 || 113 || – || Unknown || Greek census<ref name="Ktistakis" />
			|-
			| 1951 || 127 || – || Unknown || Greek census.<ref name="Ktistakis" /> 7,357 Orthodox Albanian-speakers were also counted within the whole of Epirus.<ref name="Baltsiotis2011a" />
			|}
			=== Current demographics ===
	Albanian is still spoken by a minority of inhabitants in Igoumenitsa.<ref name = P>{{citation
			In 1985, the Albanian population of Epirus, including Chameria and two villages in Konitsa was estimated 30,000.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ciampi
	|last1=Vickers
			|first=Gabriele|title=Le sedi dei Greci Arvaniti |year=1985|publisher=Rivista Geografica Italiana|location=Rome, Italy|language=it|page=29|volume=92|issue=2}}</ref> In 2002, according to author Miranda Vickers, in Chameria, the Orthodox Albanian population was estimated at 40,000. However, some scholars claim the term ''Cham'' in the 20th century applied only to Muslims, while both the Orthodox Albanian (Arvanitika) speaking and bilingual (Greek-Albanian) communities of the region identify with the Greek state and are part of the Greek nation.<ref name="Har" /><ref name="Gallagher8">{{cite book|last=Gallagher|first=Tom|title=The Balkans in the new millennium: In the shadow of war and peace|year=2005|location=London|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134273041|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCctDvyjL6oC&pg=PA83|pages=8}}</ref> In the region today resides a small number post-1991 Albanian immigrants.<ref name=v2002 />
	|first1=Miranda
	|last2=Petiffer
			Albanian is still spoken by a minority of inhabitants in Igoumenitsa.<ref name=P>{{Cite book|last1=Vickers|first1=Miranda|last2=Petiffer|first2=James|title=The Albanian Question: Reshaping the Balkans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yuh2NebIN3oC|access-date=31 March 2009|year=2007|publisher=I.B. Tauris|location=London, UK|isbn=9781860649745|page=238}}</ref> According to ], Albanian language is spoken by about 10,000 Albanians in Epirus and the village of Lechovo, in ].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Gordon|first1=Raymond G.|last2=Gordon Jr.|first2=Raymond G.|last3=Grimes|first3=Barbara F.|title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=als|access-date=31 March 2009|year=2005|publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) International|edition=15|location=], ], US|isbn=9781556711596|page=789}}</ref>
	|first2=James
	|title=The Albanian Question: Reshaping the Balkans
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yuh2NebIN3oC
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2007
	|publisher=I.B. Tauris
	|location=London, United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|isbn=1-86064-974-2
	|ean=9781860649745
	|page=238
	|pages=312
	}}</ref> According to ], Albanian language is spoken by about 10,000 Albanians in Epirus and the village of Lechovo, in ].<ref>{{citation
	|last1=Gordon
	|first1=Raymond G.
	|last2=Gordon, Jr.
	|first2=Raymond G.
	|last3=Grimes
	|first3=Barbara F.
	|title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World
	|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=als
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2005
	|publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) International
	|edition=15
	|location=], ], United States of America
	|language=English
	|isbn=1-55671-159-X
	|ean=9781556711596
	|page=789
	|pages=966
	}}</ref>
	Estimations conclude that Muslim Chams today number at 400,000, the majority of whom live in Albania,<ref name = Vickers/> where they numbered ca. 250,000 in 2007,<ref name = Vickers/> while in Turkey they are 80,000 to 100,000,<ref name = Berisha/> and the rest live in the United States.<ref name = Vickers/> 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.<ref name="Vickers, Miranda 2002"/>		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.<ref name="v2002" />
	{|class='wikitable collapsible collapsed' align="centre" border="1"		{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
	!colspan="2" |Chams in Albania by town (1991)<ref name="Vickers, Miranda 2002"/>
	|-		|-
			! colspan="2" | Chams in Albania by town (1991)<ref name="v2002" />
	!Place
	!Number
	|-		|-
			! Place
	|]
			! Number
	|1,150
	|-		|-
			| ]
	|] and ]
			| 1,150
	|720
	|-		|-
	|]		| ] and ]
			| 720
	|29,700
	|-		|-
	|]		| ]
			| 29,700
	|35
	|-		|-
	|]		| ]
	|35,000		| 35
	|-		|-
	|]		| ]
	|10,500		| 35,000
	|-		|-
	|]		| ]
	|42,300		| 10,500
	|-		|-
	|]		| ]
	|39,800		| 42,300
	|-		|-
	|]		| ]
	|12,100		| 39,800
	|-		|-
	|]		| ]
	|2,900		| 12,100
	|-		|-
			| ]
			| 2,900
	|}		|}
			], dedicated to the ] during 1944–1945.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 July 2024 |title=President Begaj honors the victims of Greek 'ethnic cleansing' against Albanians in Chameria |url=https://top-channel.tv/english/president-begaj-honors-the-victims-of-greek-ethnic-cleansing-against-albanians-in-chameria/ |publisher=]}}</ref>]]
	===Religion===
	{{also|Religion in Albania}}
	Nowadays, 90% of Chams are of Muslim descent, while the rest, living in Greece, are of Orthodox Christian descent.<ref name="Vickers, Miranda 2002"/><ref name = Vickers/> Chams living 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 ] 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.<ref name = Albanie>L'Albanie en 2005 - </ref><ref name = Zuckerman>Zuckerman, Phil. "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns," chapter in The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, ed. by Michael Martin, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK (2005) </ref><ref>Goring, Rosemary (ed). Larousse Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions (Larousse: 1994); pg. 581-584. Table: "Population Distribution of Major Beliefs" </ref> Conversely, in Greece and Turkey almost all of Chams adhere to their country's respective prevailing religion.<ref name = Manta/><ref name = Berisha/>
	==Dialect==		=== Religion ===
			{{See also|Religion in Albania}}
	]
			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 ] 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 per cent of the population not adhering to any religion.<ref name=Albanie> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303221342/http://www.membres.lycos.fr/instantanesdalbanie/image/dossierdepresse.pdf|date=3 March 2009 }}</ref><ref name="Zuckerman">Zuckerman, Phil. "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns," chapter in The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, ed. by Michael Martin, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK (2005) </ref><ref>Goring, Rosemary (ed). Larousse Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions (Larousse: 1994); pg. 581–584. Table: "Population Distribution of Major Beliefs" </ref> Conversely, in Greece and Turkey almost all of Chams adhere to their country's respective prevailing religion.<ref name=Berisha /><ref name=Manta />
	{{main|Cham Albanian dialect}}
	Cham Albanians speak the '''Cham dialect''' (''Çamërisht''), which is a subbranch of the ].<ref>{{citation
	|last1=Newmark
	|first1=Leonard
	|last2=Hubbard
	|first2=Philip
	|last3=Prifti
	|first3=Peter R.
	|title=Standard Albanian: A Reference Grammar for Students
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=hqlYbhnII3QC
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=1982
	|publisher=Stanford University Press
	|location=], California, United States of America
	|language=English
	|isbn=0-8047-1129-1
	|ean=9780804711296
	|page=226
	|pages=347
	}}</ref> The Cham dialect is the second southernmost dialect of the Albanian language, the other being the ] of southern Greece, which is also a form of Tosk Albanian. As such, ''Arvanitika'' and Cham dialect retain a number of common features.<ref name = Euromosaic/>
			== Language ==
	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 ] 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/.<ref name = Shkurtaj>{{citation
			]
	|last=Shkurtaj
			{{Main|Cham Albanian dialect}}
	|first=Gjovalin
			Cham Albanians speak the '''Cham dialect''' (''Çamërisht''), which is a sub-branch of the ].<ref>{{Cite book
	|editor=Bashkim Kuçuku
			|last1=Newmark|first1=Leonard|last2=Hubbard|first2=Philip|last3=Prifti|first3=Peter R.|title=Standard Albanian: A Reference Grammar for Students|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hqlYbhnII3QC|access-date=31 March 2009|year=1982|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=], US|isbn=9780804711296|page=226}}</ref> The Cham dialect is one of the southernmost dialects of the Albanian language, the other one in Greece being the ] of southern Greece, which is also a form of Tosk Albanian. As such, ''Arvanitika'' and Cham dialect retain a number of common features.<ref name="Euromosaic" />
	|title=The Cham Issue and the European Integration
	|chapter=The dialectological and ethno-linguistic values of the language of Chameria
			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 ] varieties of Italy, the dialect retains some old features of the Albanian, such as the old consonant clusters {{IPA|/kl/}}, {{IPA|/ɡl/}}, which in standard Albanian are ''q'' and ''gj'', and {{IPA|/l/}} instead of {{IPA|/j/}}.<ref name=Shkurtaj>{{Cite book|last=Shkurtaj
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
			|first=Gjovalin|editor=Bashkim Kuçuku|title=The Cham Issue and the European Integration|chapter=The dialectological and ethno-linguistic values of the language of Chameria|year=2005|publisher="Arbëria" Publishing House|location=Tirana, Albania|language=en, sq|isbn=9789994368822|pages=242–245}}</ref>
	|year=2005
	|publisher="Arbëria" Publishing House
	|location=Tirana, Albania
	|language=English, Albanian
	|isbn=99943-688-2-6
	|page=242-245
	|pages=255
	}}</ref>
	{|class="wikitable"		{|class="wikitable"
	|-		|-
	!Cham Albanian		! Cham Albanian
	!Standard Albanian		! Standard (Tosk) Albanian
			! Arvanitika
	!Tosk Albanian
			! English
	!Arvanitika
	!English
	|-		|-
	|Kljumësht		| Kljumësht
	|Qumësht		| Qumësht
			| Kljumsht
	|Qumësht
			| Milk
	|Kljumsht
	|Milk
	|-		|-
	|Gluhë		| Gluhë
	|Gjuhë		| Gjuhë
			| Gljuhë
	|Gjuhë
			| Language
	|Gljuhë
	|Language
	|-		|-
	|Gola		| Gola
	|Goja		| Goja
			| Gljoja
	|Goja
			| Mouth
	|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.<ref name = Shkurtaj/>		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.<ref name=Shkurtaj />
	==Literature and Media==		== Literature and media ==
	===Literature===		=== Literature ===
	{{main|Albanian literature}}{{see also|Bejte|Markos Botsaris|Bilal Xhaferri|Muhamet Kyçyku (Çami)}}		{{Main|Albanian literature}}{{See also|Bejte|Markos Botsaris|Bilal Xhaferri|Muhamet Kyçyku (Çami)}}
	]		]
	The first Albanian-language book written in the region of Chameria was the Greek-Albanian dictionary by Markos Botsaris, a Suliot of Epirus. This dictionary was the biggest Albanian dictionary of its time, which 1,484 Albanian lexemes.<ref name = Jochalas>{{citation		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 ]. This dictionary was the biggest Cham Albanian dictionary of its time, with 1,484 lexemes.<ref name=Jochalas>{{Cite book|last=Jochalas|first=Titos P.|title=Το Ελληνο-αλβανικόν λεξικόν του Μάρκου Μπότσαρη : φιλολογική έκδοσις εκ του αυτογράφου |year=1980|publisher=]|location=Athens, Greece|language=el}}</ref> 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,<ref name="elsie2">{{Cite book|last=Elsie|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Elsie
			|title=Dictionary of Albanian Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eXEhAAAAMAAJ|access-date=31 March 2009|year=1986|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=London, UK|isbn=9780313251863|page=17}}</ref> a sub-branch of the Cham dialect.<ref name=Jochalas /> The dictionary is preserved at the '']'' in ].<ref name="elsie2" />
	|last=Jochalas
	|first=Titos P.
	|title=Το Ελληνο-αλβανικόν λεξικόν του Μάρκου Μπότσαρη : φιλολογική έκδοσις εκ του αυτογράφου
	|year=1980
	|publisher=]
	|location=Athens, Greece
	|language=Greek
	}}</ref> 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,<ref name = elsie2>{{citation
	|last=Elsie
	|first=Robert
	|authorlink=Robert Elsie
	|title=Dictionary of Albanian Literature
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=eXEhAAAAMAAJ&dq=
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=1986
	|publisher=Greenwood Press
	|location=London, United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|isbn=0-313-25186-X
	|ean=9780313251863
	|page=17
	|pages=171
	}}</ref> a subbranch of the Cham dialect.<ref name = Jochalas/> The dictionary is preserved at the '']'' in ].<ref name = elsie2/>
	During the 19th century, Chams started creating ]s, which were a new kind of poems, mainly in Southern Albania. The most well-known '']'' was ], 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.<ref name = Elsie>{{citation		During the 19th century, Chams started creating ]s, which were a new kind of poems, mainly in Southern Albania. The most well-known '']'' was ], 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.<ref name=Elsie>{{Cite book|last=Elsie|first=Robert|editor=Centre for Albanian Studies|title=Albanian Literature: A short history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ox3Wx1Nl_2MC&q=Albanian+Literature:+A+short+history&pg=PP1|access-date=31 March 2009|year=2005|publisher=I.B.Tauris|location=London, UK|isbn=9781845110314|page=41}}</ref>
	|last=Elsie
	|first=Robert
	|editor=Centre for Albanian Studies
	|title=Albanian Literature: A short history
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ox3Wx1Nl_2MC&pg=PP1&dq=Albanian+Literature:+A+short+history
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2005
	|publisher=I.B.Tauris
	|location=London, United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|isbn=1-84511-031-5
	|ean=9781845110314
	|page=41
	|pages=291
	}}</ref>
	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 ], at 51&nbsp;years of age, but he contributed to ] with more than 12 books of novels and poems. ] ] Robert Elsie considers him "the best Cham Albanian writer and poet."<ref name = Elsie/>		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 ]. He lived and died in ], at 51&nbsp;years of age, but he contributed to ] with more than 12 books of novels and poems. ] ] Robert Elsie considers him "the best Cham Albanian writer and poet."<ref name=Elsie />
	===Media===		=== Media ===
			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.<ref name=Biberaj /> 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,<ref name=bollati /> while the magazine "Eagle's wing" ('']'') started publishing in 1974.<ref name=Biberaj>{{Cite book|last=Biberaj|first=Elez|title=Albania in Transition: The Rocky Road to Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0OOAAAAMAAJ|access-date=31 March 2009|year=1998|publisher=Westview Press|location=], US|isbn=9780813336886|page=288}}</ref>
	].]]
	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&ndash;1990 period.<ref name = Biberaj/> 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,<ref name = bollati/> while the magazine "Eagle's wind" (''Krahu i Shqiponjës'') started publishing in 1974.<ref name = Biberaj>{{citation
	|last=Biberaj
	|first=Elez
	|title=Albania in Transition: The Rocky Road to Democracy
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=L0OOAAAAMAAJ&q=
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=1998
	|publisher=Westview Press
	|location=], ], United States of America
	|language=English
	|isbn=0-8133-3688-0
	|ean=9780813336886
	|page=288
	|pages=377
	}}</ref>
	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.<ref name = pdi/>		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.<ref name=pdi />
	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".<ref name = Biberaj/><ref name = Krahu/>		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".<ref name=Biberaj /><ref name=Krahu />
	==Traditions==		== Traditions ==
	===Music===		=== Music ===
	Cham Albanians have their own features, which differ from other groups of ]. Cham Albanian folk music is divided in three main categories: the ], the ] and the ] ] of the region. The characteristics of the last two types are common among the Greeks and Vlachs of the wider region.<ref>{{citation		Cham Albanians' music has its own features, which makes it differ from that of other ]. Cham Albanian folk music can be divided into three main categories: the ], the ] and the ] ].
	|last=Plantenga
	|first=Bart
	|title=Yodel-ay-ee-oooo: The Secret History of Yodeling Around the World.
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3BzBBq48O6AC&hl
	|accessdate=2009-03-15
	|year=2004
	|publisher=Routledge
	|location=], United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|isbn=0-415-93990-9
	|ean=9780691058429
	|page=86-87
	|pages=342
	}}</ref>
	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".<ref name = tole>		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".<ref name=tole>{{Cite book|last=Tole|first=Vasil S.|title=Folklori Muzikor-Polifonia Shqiptare|trans-title=Albanian Folk Polyphony|url=http://vasiltole.com/English/Index-EN.html|access-date=31 March 2009|year=1999|location=Tirana, Albania|language=sq|isbn=9992700327|page=198|publisher=Shtëpia Botuese e Librit Universitar}}</ref>
	{{citation
	|last=Tole
	|first=Vasil S.
	|title=Folklori Muzikor-Polifonia Shqiptare
	|url=http://vasiltole.com/English/Index-EN.html
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=1999
	|publisher=SHBLU
	|location=Tirana, Albania
	|language=Albanian
	|isbn=99927-0-176-5
	|pages=198
	}}</ref>
	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 ], their iso-polyphony is influenced more by the ] type.<ref name = tole /><ref name = tole2>{{citation		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 ], their iso-polyphony is influenced more by the ] type.<ref name=tole /><ref name=tole2>{{Cite book|last=Tole|first=Vasil S.|title=Enciklopedia e muzikës popullore shqiptare |url=http://vasiltole.com/English/Index-EN.html|access-date=31 March 2009|year=2001|publisher=ILAR|volume=3|location=Tirana, Albania|language=sq|page=198|quote=On the general classification of our folk music, cham iso-polyphony is ranked with the tosk iso-polyphony, with two and three voices.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dojaka|first=Abaz|title="Dasma çame" |journal=Studime Historike |issue=2|year=1966|publisher=Institute of History, Albanian Academy of Sciences|place=Tirana, Albania|language=sq}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Kruta|first=Beniamin|title=Polifonia dy zërëshe e Shqipërisë së Jugut |language=sq|year=1991|publisher=Institute of Popular Culture, Albanian Academy of Sciences|place=Tirana, Albania}}</ref> The ], 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.<ref name="euvoices">{{Cite book|last=Ahmedaja|first=Ardian|author2=]|title=European voices: Multipart singing in the Balkans and the Mediterranean|publisher=Böhlau Verlag Wien|year=2008|volume=1|pages=241–2|isbn=9783205780908|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iga91qAoeDYC&pg=PA239}}</ref>
	|last=Tole
	|first=Vasil S.
	|title=Enciklopedia e muzikës popullore shqiptare
	|url=http://vasiltole.com/English/Index-EN.html
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2001
	|publisher=ILAR
	|volume=3
	|location=Tirana, Albania
	|language=Albanian
	|pages=198
	|quote=On the general classification of our folk music, cham iso-polyphony is ranked with the tosk iso-polyphony, with two and three voices.
	}}</ref><ref>{{cite
	|last=Dojaka
	|first=Abaz
	|title="Dasma çame"
	|journal=Studime Historike
	|issue=2
	|year=1966
	|publisher=Institute of History, Albanian Academy of Sciences
	|place=Tirana, Albania
	|language=Albanian
	}}</ref><ref>{{cite
	|last=Kruta
	|first=Beniamin
	|title=Polifonia dy zërëshe e Shqipërisë së Jugut
	|language=Albanian
	|year=1991
	|publisher=Institute of Popular Culture, Albanian Academy of Sciences
	|place=Tirana, Albania
	}}</ref>
	===Dances===		=== Dances ===
	{{main|Tsamiko|Dance of Zalongo|Dance of Osman Taka}}		{{Main|Dance of Osman Taka}}
	Cham Albanian dances are well-known in Albania and Greece and are considered today as traditional dances in both countries. The best-known is '']'', the ] and the ].		Cham Albanian dances are well-known in Albania. The best-known is the ].
			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.<ref name="Jaffe">{{Cite book|last=Jaffé|first=Nigel Allenby|title=Folk Dance of Europe|year=1990|publisher=Folk Dance Enterprises|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YQSCAAAAMAAJ|access-date=31 March 2009|location=London, UK|series=European Folk Dances|isbn=9780946247141|pages=207–208}}</ref>
			{{Main|Dance of Zalongo}}
	Traditionally, ''Tsamiko'' is danced only by men, but in modern times, both men and women take part. It is a national dance of Albania and one of the two national dances of Greece.<ref>{{citation
			The Dance of Zalongo (Albanian: ''Vallja e Zallongut'') refers to an event in history involving a mass suicide of women from Souli and their children. The name also refers to a popular dance song commemorating the event.<ref>{{cite book|author=Royal Society of Canada|title=Mémoires de la Société Royale du Canada|location=Ottawa, Canada|publisher=Royal Society of Canada|year=1943|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NGUYAQAAIAAJ|page=100}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=International Folk Music Council|title=Journal of the International Folk Music Council, Volumes 6–10|location=Cambridge, England|publisher=Published for the International Folk Music Council by W. Hefner & Sons|year=1954|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FZArAQAAIAAJ|page=39}}.</ref> 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 ] in Epirus.<ref>Sakellariou (1997), pp. 250–251.</ref> In order to avoid capture and enslavement, the women threw first their children and then themselves off a steep cliff, committing suicide.<ref>Royal Society of Canada (1943), p. 100; JSTOR (Organization) (1954), p. 39; Papaspyrou-Karadēmētriou, Lada-Minōtou, and Ethniko Historiko Mouseio (1994), p. 47; Pritchett (1996), p. 103.</ref> The song of the dance goes as follows in Albanian:<ref name="Rrapaj, Fatos1983">Mero Rrapaj, Fatos (1983). ''Këngë popullore nga Çamëria ''. Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë, Instituti i Kulturës Popullore. p. 451. "Kjo është "Vallja e Zallongut". Siç dihet, pjesa me e madhe e suljotëve (që s’mundi të hidhej në Korfuz me Foto Xhavellën), e nisur për në Pargë, ndeshet në fillimet e vitit 1804 me forcat e Ali Pashës. Mjaft prej tyre nuk pranojnë të dorëzohen dhe vazhdojnë luftën gjersa shfarosen, ndërsa një grup grash suljote për të mos renë në duar të armikut, në çastin e fundit, dredhin e këndojnë këtë valle lamtumirë, dhe njëra pas tjetrës me fëmijët në krahë hidhen në greminë nga shkëdmbenjt e Zallongut, duke u bërë copë-copë. "</ref>
	|last1=Schiel
	|firs1=Rolf
	|last2=Schiel
	|first2=Margret
	|title=Volkstänze aus Griechenland
	|year=2004
	|publisher=Romiosini
	|location=], ]
	|language=]
	|isbn=3-923728-14-X
	|ean=9783923728145
	|pages=172
	}}</ref> The dance follows a strict and slow tempo with emphasis put not on the steps, but in the "attitude, style and grace" of the dancer.<ref name = Jaffe>{{citation
	|last=Jaffé
	|first=Nigel Allenby
	|title=Folk Dance of Europe
	|year=1990
	|publisher=Folk Dance Enterprises
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=YQSCAAAAMAAJ&q
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|location=London, United Kingdom
	|series=European Folk Dances
	|language=English
	|isbn=0-946247-14-5
	|ean=9780946247141
	|page=207-208
	|pages=344
	}}</ref>
	]
	The ''Dance of Zalongo'' refers to an event during the war between the Souliotes and Ali Pasha, when the villages of Souli were being evacuated by the defeated population. A group of 22 Souliot women and their children were trapped by Muslim troops in the mountains of ] in Epirus, on 16 December 1803. In order to avoid capture and enslavement, they threw first their children and then themselves off a steep cliff, committing suicide. According to tradition they did this while dancing and singing, jumping down one after the other. This event created this popular dance song about the event, which is danced throughout the two countries today.<ref name = Grove>{{citation
	|last=Grove
	|first=George
	|authorlink=George Grove
	|editorn-last=Blom
	|editorn-first=Eric
	|editorn-link=Eric Blom
	|title=Dictionary of music and musicians
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=eJErAAAAMAAJ&q=
	|accessdate=2009-03-16
	|edition=5
	|volume=7
	|year=1954
	|publisher=St. Martin's Press
	|location=New York
	|language=English
	}}</ref>
			{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
	The ''Dance of Osman Taka'' 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.<ref name = Jaffe/>
			|-
			!colspan="2" |The song of the dance in Albanian and English:<ref name="Rrapaj, Fatos1983" />
			|-
			!Albanian
			!English
			|-
			|<poem>
			Lamtumirë, o Sul, i shkretë,
			se po ndahemi per jetë.
			Lamtumirë, o Sul i shkretë,
			se na do t’ikim për jetë.
			Ne po vdesim për liri,
	These dances are one of the main elements of Cham Albanian identity, although they are equally popular among other Albanians as well as Greeks.<ref>{{citation
			se nuk duam skllavëri.
	|last1=Nitsiakos
			Lamtumirë, ju male e fusha,
	|first1=Vassilis
			na e punoi Pilo Gusha,
	|last2=Manos
			I pabesi faqezi,
	|first2=Ioannis
			s’pati turp, as perëndi.
	|last3=Agelopoulos
	|first3=Georgios
	|last4=Angelidou
	|first4=Aliki
	|last5=Dalkavoukis
	|first5=Vassilis
	|title=Balkan Border Crossings
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=M0NjLLVK18cC
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=1990
	|publisher=LIT Verlag, Berlin-Hamburg-Münster
	|location=], Germany
	|language=English
	|isbn=3-8258-0918-8
	|ean=9783825809188
	|page=371-377
	|pages=556
	}}</ref>
			Lamtumirë, o fusha e male,
	===Folklore===
			ne vdesim pa frikë fare.
	]
			Jemi bila shqipëtare,
	The majority of the traditional Cham songs pay tribute to medieval lords and the wars against Ali Pasha. They often have common subjects with regional Greek folklore, like the the ], and the wife of Ali Pasha, Eufrosini.<ref name = Elsie/><ref>{{cite web
			vdesim duke hedhur valle.
	|title=Eufrozini (translated by Robert Elsie)
			Lamtumirë, o Sul i shkretë,
	|url=http://www.albanianliterature.net/oral_lit2/OL2-03.html
			lamtumir' për gjithë jetë.
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
			</poem>
	|language=English
			|<poem>
	}}</ref> 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'').<ref>{{citation
			Goodbye, oh desolate Souli,
	|last=Pedersen
			for we part ways for life.
	|first=Holgert
			Goodbye, oh desolate Souli,
	|authorlink=Holger Pedersen (linguist)
			because we will leave forever.
	|title=Zur albanesischen Volkskunde
	|year=1898
	|publisher=E. Möller
	|location=], ]
	|language=], Albanian
	}}</ref> More than 30 Cham folk tales were collected, the majority of whom about bravery and honour.<ref>{{citation
	|last=Aliu
	|first=Kadri
	|title=Perla të folklorit kombëtar të pavlerësuara
	|year=1993
	|issue=224
	|journal=Çamëria - Vatra amtare
	|publisher=Shoqëria Politike Atdhetare "Çamëria"
	|location=Tirana, Albania
	|language=Albanian
	}}</ref> Other folktales have been published in English in 1928, in the book "Tricks of Women & Other Albanian Tales".<ref>{{citation
	|last1=Cooper
	|first1=Paul Fenimore
	|authorlink1=Paul Fenimore Cooper
	|last2=Dozon
	|first2=Auguste
	|last3=Pedersen
	|first3=Holger
	|authorlink3=Holger Pedersen (linguist)
	|title=Tricks of Women, & Other Albanian Tales
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=9xqCAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=1928
	|publisher=W. Morrow & Company
	|location=New York, United States of America
	|language=English
	|pages=204
	}}</ref> The Chams of the southern Chameria region believe that they are descended from the legendary "jelims", giants from southern ], whose name derives from the ] transmission of the Greek word Έλλην (''ellin'') which means "Greek".<ref>{{citation
	|last=Elsie
	|first=Robert
	|title=A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=N_IXHrXIsYkC
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2000
	|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2001
	|location=London, United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|isbn=0-8147-2214-8
	|ean=0814722148
	|page=131
	|pages=357
	}}</ref> A peculiar characteristic of Albanian mythology is the "cult of the snake", which was particularly widespread amongst Chams. The snakes are thought as protector of the house and as a benefaction.<ref>{{citation
	|last=Hyseni
	|first=Shyqyri
	|title=Kulte tradicionale shqiptare
	|journal=Studime Albanologjike
	|year=2006
	|issue=36
	|publisher=Institute of Albanology, Albanian Academy of Sciences
	|location=Tirana, Albania
	|language=Albanian
	|pages=349–361
	}}</ref>
			But we will die for freedom,
	==Lifestyle==
			because we do not want slavery.
	]
			Goodbye, oh mountains and valleys,
	===Dress===
			this was done by Pelios Gousis,
			The wicked scoundrel,
			had no shame, no god.
			Goodbye, oh valleys and mountains,
	The folk outfits of the region are colorful. The most common men's outfit for Muslims and orthodox was the kilt known as ], embroidered with silver thread, the ], short shirt with wide sleeves, the ], the leather ] 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.<ref name = Jonuzi>Jonuzi, Afërdita "Ethnographic phenomenon of the Chameria region", chapter on the book "The cham issue and the European Integration", ISBN 99943-688-2-6, p.245-247</ref>
			We die without fear at all.
			It’s because we are Albanians,
			we die by dancing.
			Goodbye, oh desolate Souli,
			goodbye for all eternity.
			</poem>
			|}
			=== Folklore ===
	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 (about 250 - 300) and later was substituted by slacks and the former one was only used on special occasions.<ref name = Jonuzi/>
			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'').<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pedersen|first=Holgert|author-link=Holger Pedersen (linguist)|title=Zur albanesischen Volkskunde|year=1898|publisher=E. Möller|location=], ]|language=da, sq}}</ref> More than 30 Cham folk tales were collected, the majority of which about bravery and honor.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Aliu|first=Kadri|title=Perla të folklorit kombëtar të pavlerësuara |year=1993|issue=224|journal=Çamëria – Vatra Amtare|publisher=Shoqëria Politike Atdhetare "Çamëria"|location=Tirana, Albania|language=sq}}</ref> The Chams of the southern Chameria region believe that they are descended from the legendary "jelims", giants from southern ], whose name derives from the ] transmission of the Greek word Έλλην (''ellin'') which means "Greek".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Elsie|first=Robert|title=A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N_IXHrXIsYkC|access-date=31 March 2009|year=2000|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2001|location=London, UK|isbn= 0814722148|page=131}}</ref>
	]
	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. <ref name = Jonuzi/>
			== Lifestyle ==
	During 1880&ndash;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.<ref name = Jonuzi/> 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.<ref name = Jonuzi/>
			=== Dress ===
			The folk outfits of the region are colorful. The most common men's outfit for Muslims and orthodox was the kilt known as ], embroidered with silver thread, the ], short shirt with wide sleeves, the ], the leather ] 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.<ref name="Jonuzi">Jonuzi, Afërdita "Ethnographic phenomenon of the Chameria region", chapter on the book "The cham issue and the European Integration", {{ISBN|978-99943-688-2-2}}, p.245-247</ref>
			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.<ref name="Jonuzi" />
	===Architecture===
	]		]
			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.<ref name="Jonuzi" />
	The main architectural monuments in the region of Chameria that belonged to Chams were ], 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.<ref name = Heritage/>
			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.<ref name="Jonuzi" /> 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.<ref name="Jonuzi" />
	But, there are very few surviving mosques, which were transformed into museums, following the model of the ], despite the existence of some Muslims in many ]. Muslim cemeteries are frequently desecrated by modern building works, particularly road building.<ref name = Heritage>{{citation
	|last1=Pettifer
	|first1=James
	|last2=Vickers
	|first2=Miranda
	|title=The Challenge to Preserve the Cham Heritage
	|year=2004
	|month=November
	|journal=Shekulli
	|place=Tirana, Albania
	|publisher=Spektër group
	|language=Albanian
	}}</ref>
			=== Architecture ===
	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 occupation in north western Greece is gradually vanishing.<ref name = Vickers/>
			The main architectural monuments in the region of Chameria that belonged to Chams were ], 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.<ref name=Heritage />
	===Cuisine===
	{{main|Albanian cuisine}}
	Cham Albanians cuisine is seen as a mixture of ] and ], and maintains the main characteristics of the ] and the ]. Being in the seacoast, Chams have held as one of the main dishes, baked fish with olive oil and garlic. <ref name = Jonuzi/> Their cuisine use different kinds of cheese and ]. ] is mostly baked, with yogurt, differently from other cuisines. This dish has become one of the most preferred in Albania.<ref name = Jonuzi/>
	]]]
	As the majority of Mediterranean cuisines, Chams prefer vegetables and they use a lot of oil. Deserts used by Chams, are mostly influenced by the Ottoman cuisine, with ], ], being the most-preferred. '']'' (Pie with milk) and ''byrek sheqeri'' (Pie with sugar) are widely used by Chams<ref name = Jonuzi/> and the majority of the inhabitants of Epirus.<ref>{{cite web
	| url = http://www.e-konitsa.gr/a/content/view/246/103
	| title = Deserts of Konitsa
	| accessdate = 2009-03-31
	| publisher = Konitsa Municipality
	| language = Greek
	}}</ref> The last two, are integral parts of the Albanian cuisine and the Greek one. The most used appetizers are ] and ], while soups with seafood are part of their cuisine. Chams are well-known in Albania for the different ways of making bread and traditional Albanian ], the ]s.<ref name = Jonuzi/>
			But, there are very few surviving mosques, which were transformed into museums, following the model of the ], despite the existence of some Muslims in many ]. Muslim cemeteries are frequently desecrated by modern building works, particularly road building.<ref name=Heritage>{{Cite journal|last1=Pettifer|first1=James|last2=Vickers|first2=Miranda|title=The Challenge to Preserve the Cham Heritage|date=November 2004|journal=Shekulli|place=Tirana, Albania|publisher=Spektër group|language=sq}}</ref>
	==Notable individuals==
			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.<ref name="Vickers" />
	*], founder of the League of Prizren, one of the main contributors in the Albanian independence.<ref name =historia>Anamali, Skënder and Prifti, Kristaq. ''Historia e popullit shqiptar në katër vëllime''. Botimet Toena, 2002, ISBN 99927-1-622-3.</ref>
			=== Cuisine ===
	*], WW 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".<ref name = Kresti>{{citation
			{{Main|Albanian cuisine}}
	|last=Kretsi
			Cham Albanians cuisine is seen as a mixture of ] and ], and maintains the main characteristics of the ] and the ]. Their cuisine includes many kinds of cheese. ] is mostly baked with yogurt, differently from other cuisines. This dish has become one of the most popular in Albania.<ref name="Jonuzi" />
	|first=Georgia
			]]]
	|title=The Secret Past of the Greek-Albanian Borderlands. Cham Muslim Albanians: Perspectives on a Conflict over Historical Accountability and Current Rights
			As with the majority of Mediterranean cuisines, Chams use a lot of vegetables and olive oil. The most common appetizers are ] and ], while seafood soups are part of their cuisine. Chams are well-known in Albania for the different ways of making bread and traditional ] ], the ] (called byrek in Albanian).<ref name="Jonuzi" />
	|url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=0a13424e-93c0-4bd9-bca0-0315150024fa&articleId=26cecc06-5ff1-44ed-956d-2a52d572b54a
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2002
	|issue=6
	|journal=Ethnologia Balkanica
	|editorfirst=Roth
	|editorlast=Klaus
	|publisher=Waxmann Verlag
	|location=], Germany
	|language=English
	|issn=1111-0411
	|isbn=3-8258-0575-3 {{Please check ISBN}} <!--bad checksum-->
	|page=171-195
	|pages=256
	}}</ref>
			== Notable individuals ==
	*], from Ioannina, representative of Janina in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence.<ref name = Vlora/>
			* ], founder of the ], one of the main contributors in the ].<ref name="historia" />
			* ], military leader and politician.
			* ] (1890–1938), famous Albanian cartoonist and member of the ].
			* ] (1865–1928), diplomat and signatory of ] to the ].
			* ], deputy of the ] in the ] and later Minister of Interior of ].
			* ], World War II hero of Albania born in ], ] in 1918, and died during a battle with Axis forces in ], ] in 1943. After him was created the first Cham battalion in ELAS army, the battalion "Ali Demi".{{sfn|Kretsi|2002|p=}}
			* ], from ], representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence.<ref name="Vlora">{{Cite book|last=Vlora|first=Ekrem|author-link=Eqerem bej Vlora|title=Kujtime |year=2001|publisher=Shtëpia e librit & Komunikimit|location=Tirana, Albania|language=sq|isbn=9789992766163}}</ref>
			* ], writer, born in ], ].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Elsie|first1=Robert|last2=Hutchings|first2=Raymond|title=Historical Dictionary of Albania|year=2003|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=], US|isbn=9780810848726}}</ref>
			* ], also known as Hoca Tahsin, Hodja Tahsin, Tahsin Efendi, Ahmet Nebil mathematician, philosopher and psychologist.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brock|first=Adrian C.|author-link=Alphonse de Beauchamp|title=Internationalizing the History of Psychology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DzboV5lVs_gC|access-date=31 March 2009|year=2006|publisher=]|location=New York, US|page=260|isbn=9780814799444}}</ref>
			* ], from ], representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence<ref name="Vlora" />
			* ], considered as the first poet of the National Renaissance, one of the best-known bejtexhinjs of Albania<ref name=Elsie />
			* ], one of the main contributors to the National Renaissance of Albania and a well-known dancer of his time.<ref name="historia" />
			* ], revolutionary and important figure of the ]
			* ], minister of trade of ].
			* ], from ], representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence<ref name="Vlora" />
			* ] ,(1919–1961) born in ], he was an ] politician. He was high-ranking member of the ] and representative of ] at ].
			* ], officer of the ] and ] commander.
			* ], teacher and poet of era of the ].
			* ], (1852–1909), from ], founder and chairman of organisation "Bashkimi", the best-known cultural club, of Rilindja Kombëtare<ref name="historia" />
			* ], from ], representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence<ref name="Vlora" />
			* ], ] and commander of the ] .
			* ] (Died in 1943 ]) was an Italian sporting director of Albanian origin, born in ]. He was one of the founders and first chairman of the football club ] (1908–1909). His ancestors escaped the ] conquest, joining the ]. They moved away from ], in the region of ], and precisely from the current area of ], and preserved their origin as being from Paramythia with the surname Paramithiotti.
			* ], (15 August 1860 – 12 December 1939), was an ] painter, sculptor, architect, photographer, ], composer and engineer during the ] in the nineteenth century. He is widely regarded as a precursor of both ] and ] in ]. His father Arsen Idromeno was a Cham Albanian from ].
			== See also ==
	*], from Paramythia, representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence.<ref name = Vlora>{{citation
			* ]
	|last=Vlora
			* ]
	|first=Ekrem
			* ]
	|authorlink=Eqerem bej Vlora
			* ]
	|title=Kujtime
	|year=2001
	|publisher=Shtëpia e librit & Komunikimit
	|location=Tirana, Albania
	|language=Albanian
	|isbn=99927-661-6-6
	|ean=9789992766163
	}}</ref>
			== References ==
	*], writer, born in Konispol, Albania.<ref>{{citation
			{{Reflist}}
	|last1=Elsie
	|first1=Robert
	|last2=Hutchings
	|first2=Raymond
	|title=Historical Dictionary of Albania
	|year=2003
	|publisher=Scarecrow Press
	|location=], ], United States of America
	|language=English
	|isbn=0-8108-4872-4
	|ean=9780810848726
	|pages=584
	}}</ref>
	*Diamandis Zervas, Souliot leader, and main contributor against the Ali Pasha's conflicts.<ref>{{citation
	|last1=de Malherbe
	|first1=Raoul
	|title=L\'Orient. 1718-1845: Histoire, politique, religion, moeurs, etc.
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=xk8aaUqrZx0C&printsec=frontcover
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=2001
	|origyear=1884
	|publisher=Adamant Media Corporation
	|volume=2
	|location=Boston, United States of America
	|language=French
	|isbn=0-543-95853-1
	|ean=9780543958532
	|pages=726
	|page=458
	}}</ref>
	*Dimos Zervas, leader of the Zervas Souliot clan and main contributor against the Ali Pasha's conflicts.<ref>{{citation
	|last=de Beauchamp
	|first=Alphonse
	|authorlink=Alphonse de Beauchamp
	|title=The Life of Ali Pacha, of Jannina: Late Vizier of Epirus, Surnamed Aslan, Or the Lion
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=xk8aaUqrZx0C&printsec=frontcover
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
	|year=1823
	|publisher=L. Relfe
	|location=London, United Kingdom
	|language=English
	|pages=368
	|page=108-134
	}}</ref>
			== Bibliography ==
	*], medieval Albanian lord, and prince of Gjirokastër, born in ''Vagenetia'' (i.e. Thesprotia/Chameria)<ref name = historia/>
			=== History ===
			* {{cite journal|last=Baltsiotis|first=Lambros|title=The Muslim Chams of Northwestern Greece: The grounds for the expulsion of a "non-existent" minority community|journal=European Journal of Turkish Studies. Social Sciences on Contemporary Turkey|year=2011|issue=12|publisher=European Journal of Turkish Studies|doi=10.4000/ejts.4444|s2cid=142733144|doi-access=free}}
			* {{cite thesis|last=Baltsiotis|first=Lambros|year=2009|title=The Muslim Chams from their entry into the Greek state until the start of the Greco-Italian war (1913-1940): the story of a community from millet to nation |publisher=University of Panteion|url=https://www.didaktorika.gr/eadd/handle/10442/48195}}
			* {{cite book|last=Kokolakis|first=Mihalis|title=Το ύστερο Γιαννιώτικο Πασαλίκι: χώρος, διοίκηση και πληθυσμός στην τουρκοκρατούμενη Ηπειρο (1820–1913) &#91;The late Pashalik of Ioannina: Space, administration and population in Ottoman ruled Epirus (1820–1913)&#93;|year=2003|location=Athens|publisher=EIE-ΚΝΕ|url=http://helios-eie.ekt.gr/EIE/handle/10442/8080|isbn=960-7916-11-5}}
			* {{Cite conference|last=Fabbe|first=Kristin|title=Defining Minorities and Identities – Religious Categorization and State-Making Strategies in Greece and Turkey|date=18 October 2007|conference=The Graduate Student Pre-Conference in Turkish and Turkic Studies, University of Washington|location=Seattle, Washington|url-status=dead|url=http://web.mit.edu/polisci/students/kfabbe/fabbe%202007.pdf|archive-date=2008-06-10|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080610150646/http://web.mit.edu/polisci/students/kfabbe/fabbe%202007.pdf}}
			* {{Cite book|last=Fine|first=John Van Antwerp|title=The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDFVUDmAIqIC|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=1994|isbn=9780472082605}}
			* {{Cite book|last=Fleming|first =Katherine Elizabeth|title=The Muslim Bonaparte: Diplomacy and Orientalism in Ali Pasha's Greece|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZqbA6Jk0uUC|year=1999|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9780691001944}}
			* {{cite journal|last=Kretsi|first=Georgia|title=The Secret Past of the Greek-Albanian Borderlands. Cham Muslim Albanians: Perspectives on a Conflict over Historical Accountability and Current Rights|journal= Ethnologia Balkanica|issue=6|pages=171–195|year=2002|publisher=Waxmann Verlag|location=], Germany|oclc=41714232|url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=0a13424e-93c0-4bd9-bca0-0315150024fa&articleId=26cecc06-5ff1-44ed-956d-2a52d572b54a|access-date=31 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310072204/http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=0a13424e-93c0-4bd9-bca0-0315150024fa&articleId=26cecc06-5ff1-44ed-956d-2a52d572b54a|archive-date=2012-03-10}}
			* {{cite book|last1=Malcolm|first1=Noel|title=Rebels, Believers, Survivors: Studies in the History of the Albanians|date=2020|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0192599223|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0FXwDwAAQBAJ}}
			* {{cite journal|last1=Manta|first1=Eleftheria|title=The Cams of Albania and the Greek State (1923–1945)|journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs|year=2009|volume=4|issue=29|url=https://www.academia.edu/7570145|access-date=10 May 2015}}
			* {{Cite book|last=Mazower|first=Mark|title=After The War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation and State in Greece, 1943–1960|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YAszKv6JfQUC|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2000|isbn=9780691058429}}
			* {{Cite book|last= Meyer|first= Hermann Frank|title=Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg |publisher=Ch. Links Verlag|language=de|year=2008|ref=Meyer|isbn=9783861534471|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Hpr-PK39UkC}}
			* {{cite journal|last1=Tsoutsoumpis|first1=Spyros|title=Violence, resistance and collaboration in a Greek borderland: the case of the Muslim Chams of Epirus "Qualestoria" n. 2, dicembre 2015|journal=Qualestoria|date=December 2015|pages=119–138|url=https://www.academia.edu/24269752|access-date=14 June 2016}}
			* {{Cite book|last=Roudometof|first=Victor|title=Collective memory, national identity, and ethnic conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian question|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xoww453NVQMC|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2002|isbn=9780275976484}}
			* {{Cite book|last=Yildirim|first=Onur|title=Diplomacy and Displacement: Reconsidering the Turco-Greek Exchange of Populations, 1922-1934|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=St9ltGnWWnIC|publisher=CRC Press|year=2006|isbn=9780415979825}}
			* {{cite book|last1=Psimuli|first1=Vaso Dh.|title=Suli dhe suljotët |date=2016|publisher=Toena|isbn=9789928205728}}
			* {{cite thesis|last=Osswald|first=Brendan|year=2011|title=L'Epire du treizième au quinzième siècle : autonomie et hétérogénéité d'une région balkanique|publisher=Université Toulouse le Mirail - Toulouse II|url=https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00671182 }}
			* {{cite journal|last1=Anemodoura|first1=Maria|title=Πολιτικές και οικονομικές δομές στην επικράτεια του Αλή πασά Τεπεντελενλή. Από τον "Ανατολικό Δεσποτισμό" έως τη νεωτερικότητα|journal=Pergamos - Library and Information Center of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens|date=2020|url=https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/object/2931136|access-date=21 July 2023|language=en}}
			* {{cite book|last=Doxiadis|first=Evdoxios|title=State, Nationalism, and the Jewish Communities of Modern Greece|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|year=2018|isbn=9781474263474|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7KNWDwAAQBAJ}}
			* {{cite book|last1=Dorlhiac|first1=Renaud|editor1-last=Horel|editor1-first=Catherine|editor2-last=Severin-Barboutie|editor2-first=Bettina|title=Population Displacements and Multiple Mobilities in the Late Ottoman Empire|date=2023|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004543690|url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004543690/BP000013.xml|chapter=Muslims of Epirus, Muslims of Empire? The Cham Issue in Relation to Albanian, Greek and Turkish National Projects (1908–25)}}
			=== Post-war politics and current situation ===
	*Hasan Tahsini, also known as Hoca Tahsin, Hodja Tahsin, Tahsin Efendi, Ahmet Nebil mathematician, philosopher and psychologist.<ref>{{citation
			* {{Cite journal|url=http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts20_2/AH1946.html|title=Document of the Committee of Cham Albanians in exile, on Greek persecution of the Chams, submitted to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in 1946|access-date=18 March 2009|journal=Texts and Documents of Albanian History|publisher=Elsie, Robert|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617224752/http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts20_2/AH1946.html|archive-date=17 June 2010}}
	|last=Brock
			* {{Cite web|url=http://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/albanes/fr/i2/i2.html|title=L'arvanite/albanais en Grèce|access-date=18 March 2009|language=fr|work=L'étude Euromosaic|year=2006}}
	|first=Adrian C.
			* {{cite web|last1=Kouzas|first1=Ioannis, Michail|title=The Greek-Albanian Relations (1990–2010): The Bilateral Relations under the Influence of two Issues: The Greek Minority in Albania and the Issue of the Chams|year=2013|url=http://www.didaktorika.gr/eadd/handle/10442/33128?locale=en|publisher=]|doi=10.12681/eadd/33128|access-date=2 May 2015|doi-access=free}}
	|authorlink=Alphonse de Beauchamp
			* {{Cite web|url=http://www.da.mod.uk/Research-Publications/the-cham-issue-albanian-national-property-claims-in-greece-1131/category/66|title=The Cham Issue – Albanian National & Property Claims in Greece|access-date=18 March 2009|last=Vickers|first=Miranda|year=2002|archive-date=18 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018041503/http://www.da.mod.uk/Research-Publications/the-cham-issue-albanian-national-property-claims-in-greece-1131/category/66|url-status=dead}}
	|title=Internationalizing the History of Psychology
			* {{Cite web|url=http://www.da.mod.uk/Research-Publications/the-cham-issue-where-to-now-1029/category/66|title=The Cham Issue – Where to Now?|access-date=18 March 2009|last=Vickers|first=Miranda|year=2007|archive-date=8 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208124842/http://www.da.mod.uk/Research-Publications/the-cham-issue-where-to-now-1029/category/66|url-status=dead}}
	|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=DzboV5lVs_gC
			* {{cite web|url=http://kms1.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ISN/111787/ipublicationdocument_singledocument/4c536356-fe1d-4409-b352-0b01de1447b3/en/2010_01_%24Balkan%2BSeries%2B0110%2BWEB.pdf|title=The Greek Minority in Albania – Current Tensions|last=Vickers|first=Miranda|date=February 2010|publisher=Defence Academy of the United Kingdom|page=3|access-date=4 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706231759/http://kms1.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ISN/111787/ipublicationdocument_singledocument/4c536356-fe1d-4409-b352-0b01de1447b3/en/2010_01_$Balkan+Series+0110+WEB.pdf|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}
	|accessdate=2009-03-31
			* {{Cite book|last=Vickers|first=Miranda|title=The Cham Issue – Albanian National & Property Claims in Greece|url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/38679/2002_Apr_2.pdf|publisher=Defence Academy of the United Kingdom}}
	|year=2006
	|publisher=New York University Press
	|location=New York, United States of America
	|language=English
	|pages=260
	|page=78-79
	|isbn=0-8147-9944-2
	|ean=9780814799444
	}}</ref>
			=== News ===
	*], from Margariti, representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence.<ref name = Vlora/>
			* {{Cite news|title=Chams still pressing for return of Greek citizenship and property|publisher=]|date=19 September 2002|url=http://www.rferl.org/features/2002/09/19092002180204.asp}}
			* {{Cite news|title=Albania protest halts Greek visit|work=BBC News|publisher=]|date=1 November 2005|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4397470.stm|access-date=31 December 2009}}
			== Further reading ==
	*], Orthodox Cham, Souliot leader, and main contributor in the Greek War of Independence. <ref name = Hammond/><ref name = PN/><ref name = Clair/><ref name = BDJ/>
			* {{cite book|author1=Elsie, Robert|author2=Bejtullah Destani|title=The Cham Albanians of Greece. A Documentary History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4IK9AgAAQBAJ&q=%27%27The+Cham+Albanians+of+Greece.+A+Documentary+History&pg=PP1|year=2013|publisher=IB Tauris|isbn=9781780760001|access-date=9 May 2015}}
			== External links ==
	*], from Ioannina, representative of Janina in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence.<ref name = Vlora/>
			{{Commons category|Cham Albanians}}
			*
			*
			*
			*
	*], Orthodox Cham, Souliot leader, and main contributor in the Greek War of Independence. The first one that has wrotten in the Cham Albanian dialect.<ref name = Hammond/><ref name = PN/><ref name = Clair/><ref name = BDJ/>
	*Mazar and Nuri Dino, collaborationists with Nazi Germany in Chameria, members of the Balli Kombëtar organization.<ref name = historia/>
	*], considered as the first poet of the National Renaissance, one of the best-known bejtexhinjs of Albania.<ref name = Elsie/>
	*], one of the main contributors to the National Renaissance of Albania and a well-known dancer of his time.<ref name = historia/>
	*], from Filiates, representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence.<ref name = Vlora/>
	*Thoma Çami, (1852-1909), from Paramythia, founder and chairman of organisation "Bashkimi", the best-known cultural club, of Rilindja Kombetare.<ref name = historia/>
	*], from Igoumenitsa, representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence.<ref name = Vlora/>
	{{hide in print|
	==See also==
	*]
	*]
	*]
	{{Cham Albanians}}		{{Cham Albanians}}
			{{Authority control}}
	}}
	==Notes==
	{{reflist|2}}
	==Further reading==
	=== History ===
	* {{cite web | last= Fabbe | first=Kristin | title=Defining Minorities and Identities - Religious Categorization and State-Making Strategies in Greece and Turkey | url=http://web.mit.edu/polisci/students/kfabbe/fabbe%202007.pdf | year=2007}}
	* {{cite book |last=Fine |first=John Van Antwerp |title=The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QDFVUDmAIqIC | publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1994 | isbn=978-0-472-08260-5}}
	* {{cite book |last=Fleming | first =Katherine Elizabeth |title=The Muslim Bonaparte: Diplomacy and Orientalism in Ali Pasha's Greece | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zZqbA6Jk0uUC | year=1999 | publisher=Princeton University Press | isbn=978-0-691-00194-4}}
	* {{cite book | last=Mazower | first=Mark |title=After The War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation and State in Greece, 1943-1960 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=YAszKv6JfQUC | publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2000 | isbn=978-0-691-05842-9 }}
	* {{cite book |last=Roudometof | first=Victor | title=Collective memory, national identity, and ethnic conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian question | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Xoww453NVQMC | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2002 | isbn=978-0-275-97648-4 }}
	* {{cite book |last=Yildirim | first=Onur |title=Diplomacy and Displacement: Reconsidering the Turco-Greek Exchange of Populations, 1922-1934 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=St9ltGnWWnIC | publisher=CRC Press | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-415-97982-5}}
	===Post-war politics and current situation===
	* {{cite web |url=http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts20_2/AH1946.html |title=Document of the Committee of Cham Albanians in exile, on Greek persecution of the Chams, submitted to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in 1946 |accessdate=2009-03-18 |work=Texts and Documents of Albanian History |publisher=Elsie, Robert }}
	* {{cite web |url=http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/archive/languages/langmin/euromosaic/el1_fr.html |title=L'arvanite/albanais en Grèce |accessdate=2009-03-18 |language=French |work=L'étude Euromosaic |date=2006 }}
	* {{cite web |url=http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/arag/document-listings/balkan/G109 |title=The Cham Issue - Albanian National & Property Claims in Greece |accessdate=2009-03-18 |last=Vickers |first=Miranda |year=2002 }}
	* {{cite web |url=http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/arag/document-listings/balkan/07(01)MV.pdf |title=The Cham Issue - Where to Now? |accessdate=2009-03-18 |last=Vickers |first=Miranda |year=2007 }}
	===News===
	* {{cite news | title=Chams still pressing for return of Greek citizenship and property | agency =
	] |date=19 September 2002 |url=http://www.rferl.org/features/2002/09/19092002180204.asp }}
	* {{cite news | title=Albania protest halts Greek visit | agency=] |date=1 November 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4397470.stm }}
	{{hide in print|
	==External links==
	*
	*
	*
	*
	}}
	]
	]
	]
			]
	]
			]
	]
	]
	]
	]
	]
	]
	]
	]
	]

---

Latest revision as of 10:41, 23 December 2024

Sub-group of Albanians "Cham Albanian" redirects here. For the dialect, see Cham Albanian dialect. For the Austronesian ethnic group, see Chams.

Ethnic group

Cham Albanians

Total population
c. 170,000–690,000
Regions with significant populations
Albania	120,000–250,000
Greece	44 Muslim Chams (1986)
Turkey	80,000–100,000
United States	50,000–70,000
Languages
Albanian (Cham Albanian dialect)
Religion
Islam (majority) Orthodox Christianity (minority)
a. Also Greek, Turkish, and English, depending on residing state.

Cham Albanians or Chams (Albanian: Çamë; Greek: Τσάμηδες, Tsámides), are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the western part of the region of Epirus in southwestern Albania and northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. The Chams have their own particular cultural identity within Albanian sub-groups. A number of Chams contributed to the Albanian national identity and 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, the Cham Albanian dialect, which is a Southern Tosk Albanian dialect and one of the two most conservative ones; the other being Arvanitika.

During the late 1930s Chams suffered from intimidation and persecution under the dictatorship of General Metaxas. 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, Greek authorities deported the adult male Cham population 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 in Albania have campaigned for right of return to Greece and restoration of confiscated properties. According to Laurie Hart, the remaining Orthodox Cham communities in Epirus are nowadays assimilated and entirely identify with the Greek nation. On the other hand, Bugajski includes the Orthodox among Cham Albanians. In Albania, the Cham dialect and other traditions have been preserved, while in Greece linguistic rights and Orthodox Cham heritage have been suppressed in public space and been subject to assimilation policies. As such, the use of Albanian has been relegated to private space within the household.

Name

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v t e

Etymology and definition

The name Cham, together with that of the region, Chameria, is from an extinct local Slavic *čamŭ, itself from the local Greek hydronym Thyamis (Θύαμις in Greek, Kalamas in Albanian). Çabej treats Cham as a direct continuation of Thyamis. A folk etymology attributes the name to Turkish cami (Greek tzami), literally, 'mosque-goer, mosque attendee' which presumably was used by Orthodox Christians for the descendants of Muslim converts. However, this is unlikely since the word's broader ethnographic and dialectal sense encompasses the entire Albanian-speaking population of the Thesprotia and Preveza regional units of Greek Epirus, both the Muslim and Christian populations.

Chams account for the greatest part of the erstwhile substantial Albanian minority in the wider area of the Epirus region; outside Chameria proper, there are only two Albanian-speaking villages further northeast (near Konitsa in Ioannina regional unit), whose inhabitants belong to a different Albanian sub-group, 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, Greek sources often referred to Chams as 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 (Τουρκαλβανοί, Tourkalvanoi) or Turkochams (Τουρκοτσάμηδες, Tourkotsamides). From the middle of the nineteenth century however, the term Turk and from the late nineteenth century onwards, derivative terms such as Turkalvanoi have been used as a pejorative term, phrase and or expression for Muslim Albanian populations by non-Muslim Balkan Peoples. Amongst the wider Greek-speaking population until the interwar period, the term Arvanitis (plural: Arvanites) was used to describe an Albanian speaker regardless of their religious affiliations. In Epirus today, the term Arvanitis is still used for an Albanian speaker regardless of their citizenship and religion.

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. The term shqiptar ("he/she who speaks clearly"), the Albanian ethnic endonym which came to prevail after the 18th century, was being used by Christian Albanian-speakers in the region as well, but today is used mostly as a means to differentiate themselves from other groups in the region (Greeks, Vlachs). Greek-speakers use the term "skipetaros" (shqiptar) to refer pejoratively to Orthodox Albanian-speakers in Thesprotia.

Some Aromanians living the region also use a regional self appellation Tsamuréńi for themselves derived from the words Chameria and Cham.

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

Main article: Chameria

Chameria is the name applied by the Albanians to the region formerly inhabited by the Chams, along the Ionian coast from Konispol to the north to the Acheron valley south. 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 regional units 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 regional unit 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, Syvota, Sagiada, Perdika, and Margariti. Preveza and Ioannina also had significant Cham Albanian communities. The Orthodox Chams originally resided in Fanari, Louros and Thesprotiko.

The Albanian speaking exclave of Chameria, in the beginning of the 20th century, was located along the Ionian coast, and apart from Konispol, its northernmost part, it included the western part of Thesprotia prefecture and the northern part of Preveza. In terms of modern Greek administration, the Albanian exclave included the provinces of Thyamis and Margariti and the westernmost villages of the provinces of Paramythia and Filiates. In Preveza prefecture, it included the northern regions such as the Fanari plain, the surroundings of Parga and villages of the upper Acheron valley, with two settlements of the latter region located in Ioannina prefecture.

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 Vlorë, 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.

Diaspora

Some Chams live in Turkey and the United States. The number of Chams in diaspora was estimated by Miranda Vickers in 2007 at 400,000. The first wave of this diaspora left for Turkey during the Greco-Turkish population exchange 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 İzmir, Gemlik and Aydın. 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 City.

History

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Timeline of Cham history
Chronology	Events
1210	Albanians mentioned in Western sources, opposite Corfu.
1358	The Despotate of Arta is established by Peter Losha, an Albanian chieftain.
1380	John Zenevisi, forms the Principality of Gjirokastër, which incorporates the northern part of the Chameria region.
1414	The region falls under Ottoman and Venetian control.
16th century	The process of Islamization begins among the Albanians, but initially makes little headway.
1622	A group of Albanian origin, the Souliotes, form a confederation in the mountains of Souli, resisting Ottoman troops.
18th and 19th centuries	Widespread Islamization of the population occurs, and the majority of Albanians become Muslims by the late 19th century.
1792–1803	Ali Pasha, who had incorporated all of Epirus into his pashalik, declares war on the Souliotes. The Souliotes are able to resist for nine years, but are eventually defeated and evicted from Souli. The survivors of the population are evacuated to the Ionian islands.
1821–1829	The Greek War of Independence. Revolutionary General of the Greek Army, Markos Botsaris, was ordered by the provisional Greek government to convince the Muslim Chams to join the Greek cause but without success.
1827	The former bishop of Paramythia, Grigorios, translates the New Testament into Albanian, as his flock could not understand the 1st century Greek of the New Testament well.
1878	The Albanian National Awakening begins. A separatist Albanian movement, the League of Prizren, is established, and names Abedin Dino as leader of the local branch in Chameria.
1879	Father Stathi Melani opens the first Albanian-language school of the region in Sagiada.
1912–1913	The Balkan Wars. Epirus is annexed by Greece. Albania declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire, asking for sovereignty over the whole region of Epirus. Six Cham delegates from Chameria and Ioannina sign the declaration. The Treaty of London gives the majority of Chameria to the Kingdom of Greece, with only a few villages going to Albania.
1922	During the Greek-Turkish population exchange, a few thousands of Cham Albanians leave Chameria. 16,000 Greek refugees are settled in the region until 1926, when later they were moved on to other parts of Greece.
1926	Albanians are officially recognized as a minority, and are promised compensation for their land and Albanian-language schools.
1927	The new Greek government passes a law that deprives minorities, including Chams, from citizenship if they would leave Greece for some time, rescinding the earlier concessions.
1928	More than 100 village names are changed to Greek in the prefectures of Thesprotia, Preveza and Ioannina.
1935	Albania and Greece sign an agreement that would allow the creation of Albanian-language schools for the Chams. This agreement too was nullified as a dictatorial regime took power in Greece.
1936	The Greek state creates a new prefecture called Thesprotia, from parts of Ioannina and Preveza prefectures, as to exercise better control over the Cham Muslim minority.
1939	Following the Italian annexation of Albania in March, Albanian conscripts in the Greek Army are disarmed and put to construction work, while others are sent to internal exile in the Aegean Islands.
1940	Italy invades Greece, but is repelled. In April 1941, the German Army conquers Greece.
1941–1944	The Axis Occupation of Greece. The majority of the Muslim Cham elites actively collaborated with the occupation forces. A minor part joined the Resistance in both Albania and in Greece (from May 1944) at the end of the war without significant contribution.
1944–1945	Following the withdrawal of German forces, the majority of the Muslim Chams fled or were expelled into Albania by the forces of the right-wing National Republican Greek League.
1946	The Chams are organized as refugees in Albania, and petition unsuccessfully for return to their homeland.
1952	Greece confiscates Cham properties and nullifies their citizenship. The Communist government in Albania gives them compulsory Albanian citizenship.
1991	The National Political Association "Çamëria", a pressure group advocating the return of the Chams to Greece, is established.
1994	Albania passes a law declaring 27 June The Day of Greek Chauvinist Genocide Against the Albanians of Chameria.
1999	Albania and Greece agree to create a bilateral commission, focusing only about the property issue as a technical problem. It has not yet functioned.
2004	Chams create the Party for Justice and Integration to represent their interests in Albanian politics.
2011	Chams create the PDIU, as two Cham political parties were merged.

Medieval era (up to 1434)

See also: Origin of the Albanians

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. During this time, the earliest mention of Albanians within the region of Epirus is recorded in a Venetian document of 1210 as inhabiting the area opposite the island of Corfu. Nevertheless, significant movements of Albanian populations in the region are not mentioned prior to 1337. Groups of Albanians moved into Thessaly and the Peloponnese as early as 1268 as mercenaries of Michael Doukas.

Elements of the Albanian population began, in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, 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 Gjirokastër (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. That time, representatives of Vagenetia, together with a delegation from Ioannina, asked the Serb ruler Simeon to protect them from the Albanian threat. Both Albanian entities were annexed and in 1419, many Albanians fled from Epirus and moved to Morea. Those tribes that settled in southern Greece would become the ancestors of the Arvanites.

Ottoman rule (1434–1913)

See also: Ottoman Albania and Ottoman Greece

The region of Epirus was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the early 15th century. Cham Albanians weren't the only Albanian-speaking population in the region even though they constituted a significant component of the Albanian-speaking population in the part of Epirus, which was incorporated in Greece after 1912. Besides Cham Albanians which lived in Thesprotia, Albanian-speaking communities lived in the northern part of Prefeza prefecture (the Fanari plan (Albanian: Frar and the hinterland of Parga) and the Parasouliotic villages Zermi, Krania, Papadates, Rousatsa as well as Derviziana and Mousiotitsa, which are part of Ioannina prefecture. There were also other Albanian groups which in the 19th century had become Greek-speaking as attested by primary accounts about them older than the 19th century and toponyms of Albanian origin in specific regions. These areas included the settlements along the Tyria river valley, the region to the northeast of Ioannina Lake, the region south of the Fanari plain in Preveza and partly the area extending to the south Tzoumerka mountain range.

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.

Under Ottoman rule, Islamization was widespread amongst Albanians. Until the end of the 16th century, Chams were still predominantly Christian, but 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 pashas and beys, 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 neighbouring Greek Macedonia in northern Greece. The Chams have their own peculiar cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many specifically Cham elements. Although the Chams were primarily of Albanian origin, the Greek-speaking Muslims of Epirus also shared the same route of identity construction. Albanian Chams did not face any dilemma over their ethnic identity or relations with other Albanian socio-cultural and dialectal subdivisions. In general religion, and not ethnicity, defined each community in Ottoman society. Under this context the Muslim communities in Ottoman Epirus were classified as "Turks", while the Orthodox as "Greeks" regardless of their ethnic origin, though some exceptions existed.

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 five 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 which today is Southern Albania and Northwestern Greece, "it lacked the church discipline; in the churches was not performed any religious ceremony, which 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. The wars of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries between Russia and the Ottoman Empire negatively impacted upon the region. Increased conversions followed, often forced, such as those of 25 villages in 1739 which are located in current day Thesprotia prefecture. 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 the 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.

Albanian National Awakening (1870s–1912)

Main article: Albanian National Awakening

As Ottoman society was founded on the religion-based millet 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. Nationalist sentiments during the late Ottoman era was weak in the region with Muslim Albanian Chams referring to themselves as Myslyman(Muslims) or Turks while local Orthodox Albanian speaking Christians referred to themselves as Kaur (i.e infidels) and did not find the term offensive. During the Albanian National Awakening 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.

Some Chams also played an important role in the National Renaissance of Albania (Rilindja Kombëtare). 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.

Albanian intervention occurred when after the Congress of Berlin in 1878, parts of Chameria, were to be ceded by the Ottoman Empire to the Kingdom of Greece. Even before negotiations started, the Ottoman side used a number of Albanian national figures for delaying purposes and appointed Abedin bey Dino, as Ottoman foreign minister. Moreover, Abedin Dino managed to gather various Albanian personalities in Preveza, from all over Albania and Epirus, who believed that the Ottomans will provide full support to the Albanian movement and were against annexation of Epirus to Greece. They also organized a meeting there in January 1879 and on 28 February 1879, signed a petition with a threat to take arms to prevent an annexation of Preveza to Greece. As a result of the unrest created, led by Abdyl Frashëri, another Albanian national figure, the local Ottoman governor was recalled. Abedin Dino was also recalled from Preveza, while the recently arrived Albanians left the city and returned to their homelands.

In January 1907 a secret agreement was signed between Ismail Kemal, a prominent leader of the then Albanian national movement, and the Greek government which concerned the possibility of an alliance against the Ottoman Empire. According to this, the two sides agreed that the future Greek-Albanian boundary should be located on the Acroceraunian mountains, thus leaving Chameria to Greece. As part of the agreement, Kemal in exchange asked the Greek authorities to support the Albanian movement and the Greek side agreed, provided that no armed Albanian activity will emerge south of the Acroceraunians. Kemal's reasons for closer ties with Greece during this time was to thwart Bulgarian ambitions in the wider Balkans region and gain support for Albanian independence.

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. The local Orthodox Albanian speaking population did not share the national ideas of their Muslim Albanian speaking neighbours, whereas instead they remained Greek-oriented and identified themselves as Greeks.

Throughout this period the Albanian speaking zones in Thesprotia and adjacent areas that later became part of Albania was considered a nuisance for both the Greek state and Christians of Epirus who self identified as Greeks. The non-Greek linguistic factor posed a hindrance to Greek territorial ambitions. Tackling this issue was undertaken through two policies. The first was that Greek historians and politicians attempted through concerted efforts to conceal the existence of the Albanian language within the region. The second was to present the argument that the language spoken by the local population had no relation upon their national affiliations. According to the prevalent ideology in Greece at the time, every Orthodox Christian was considered Greek, whereas after 1913, especially the area of Southern Albania deemed "Northern Epirus" by Greece, Muslims were considered Albanians. With the incorporation of the area within Greece, these discursive policies alongside the practical were continued. This was due to the sizable Albanian Muslim population being considered a real problem for the Greek state and hence any pro-Albanian movement eventuating had to be eliminated by all means.

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. The Muslim Cham communities in the regions of Paramythia, Margariti and Preveza, according to information gathered by the Greek foreign ministry during 1908 to 1911, were supporters of the Ottoman administration and shared an Ottoman national identity, while still being sympathizers of the Albanian national movement to a certain degree. Especially in the Sanjak of Preveza, Muslim Albanians embraced ideas regarding the Albanian national movement of the time. Amongst them large landowners and state employees who came from other places were hostile to the local Greek population and persecuted them. Also though unknown in numbers, the proportion of Muslim Albanians over a prolonged period increased within this area, due to official Ottoman resettlement policy regarding geo-strategic interests and concerns.

Modern history

Balkan Wars, World War I and first years of Greek rule (1913–1923)

With the onset of the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), Muslim Chams were uneager to fight as part of the Ottoman army. Nonetheless, most of the Lab and Cham beys formed irregular armed groups that fought against the Greek units, burning a number of villages in the regions of Paramythia, Fanari and Filiates. On the other hand some beys in Margariti were not willing to fight and were ready to accept Greek rule due to the general anarchy in the Ottoman Empire. Local Christians were enlisted as part of the Greek forces. Within a few days after the Greek army secured control of the region, a Greek Cretan paramilitary under commanders Deligiannakis and Spiros Fotis, killed 75 Cham notables of Paramythia who were gathered to pledge allegiance to the Greek state. Occurrences of atrocities perpetrated by Greek forces within the region were recorded mainly by the Albanian side, whereas those events were noted only indirectly, though clearly by Greek government officials. A few months later, more Cham notables were murdered by Greek authorities. In their internal correspondence, Italian diplomats in the region noted that this was a tactic employed to end Cham Albanian influence in the region by eliminating the elite class which had the role of dissemination of Albanian national ideology in the broader population.

Following the defeat of Ottoman forces in the Balkan Wars 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 end of the Balkan Wars, Greek authorities suspected that a local anti-Greek movement was possible, supported by the Provisional Government of Albania and Italy, and decided to disarm the population. Moreover, Albanian representatives accused Greece of assassinations and persecution of Cham representatives. These accusations were rejected by the Greek government. In the December 1915 legislative elections, due to the general boycott declared by the party of Eleftherios Venizelos, two of the three deputies of Preveza electoral periphery were Muslim Chams: Ali Dino and Musli Emin Ramiz. Persecution of Chams continued during World War I at a smaller scale than in the Balkan Wars. Many villages mainly in the former kazas of Filiates and Paramythia were burnt down.

After the final 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 manage to briefly retain 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. Soon with the outbreak of WWI, Greek authorities imposed significant restrictions on land rights of Cham Albanian property owners. Additionally, a new tax system which targeted large estates of Muslim landowners was employed and massive grain expropriation was used again Cham properties to support Greek war effort. This led to starvation and dozen of deaths in the region. A military report of the Italian general commissioner to the Italian Ministry of Defence notes that from July 1917 onward the rule of the Greek authorities in Epirus had forced more than 3,000 Chams to seek refuge towards Istanbul and Anatolia.

Population exchange and appropriation of property (1923–1926)

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. In January 1923, the Greek representative of the population exchange committee regarding the Muslim Chams declared officially that Greece "has no intention to proceed to an exchange of Muslims of Albanian origin".

Muslim Chams nevertheless were to become part of the Greek-Turkish population exchange, yet 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. Though by the time of the population exchange, the Muslim Cham population had been nationalized and constituted a "de facto Albanian national minority". As such, Greek officials viewed the Muslim Chams as a population that were hostile to Greece’s national interest of security and territory. In doing so, the Greek state insisted on the Muslim Chams migration to Turkey by both handing down ultimatums and utilizing harassment tactics that were undertaken by local paramilitary groups to pursue that aim.

In May 1924 however, a delegation of the League of Nations visited the area to investigate the issue of exchangeability. The delegation met groups of Albanian Cham Muslims from various villages in the area that had been chosen by Greek authorities and local muftis. The local muftis were supportive of the Greek administration. Later, the delegation concluded that the vast majority of the Cham community declared that they were of Turkish origin and wished to be included in the exchange. One year later, a second commission in general confirmed the conclusions of the first one.

After pressure by Italian and Albanian delegates which made a case that the Chams primarily self-identified as Albanian nationals, 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.

In the meantime, the Greek authorities did send a number of Cham Albanians to Turkey. According to the contemporary 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.

The members of the Muslim Cham community 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 local Orthodox Albanian speakers and 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 dispute concerned changes to the status of local Albanian landlords. During the Ottoman era, revenues were received by Albanian landlords from nearby villages. After these lands became part of the Greek state, local peasants expropriated from Albanian landlords what they considered was their property and refused to pay such taxes. While the majority of the Muslim Cham population consisted of middle sized land owners with land that varied in fertility, production and size. There were other Muslim Chams though who were more limited financially and in land.

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. The Albanian government responded to these events with accusations of discrimination during 1925–1928. While the Greek side stated that the same expropriation policy was implemented nationwide for all Greek citizens.

However, during the period of 1922–1926, the Greek government used the settling of Greek refugees as a tool for applying pressure on Muslim Chams to leave Greece. These refugees in accordance with Greek law of the time took advantage of land expropriations and settled in the houses of Cham Muslims, which made some sell their land and become landless. There were also government restrictions on the right to lease, sell or cultivate land due to Muslim Chams being classified as "exchangeable" which led to the gradual financial devastation of the Muslim Cham population. Due to the fluidity of the situation, there were some Muslim Chams who sold their properties to the incoming refugees with a view of proceeding with a migration to Turkey, due to the exchange, while the League of Nations sought to be informed of those developments. As such, in 1925 the Greek government by means of a special operation was still trying to persuade Muslim Chams to leave the country. It was only by 1926, when the Muslim Chams were decided by the Greek government not to be exchanged that most of these refugees were resettled to other parts of Greece. Thereafter, only a limited number of Asia Minor Greek refugees remained in the region and were resettled throughout settlements within the provinces of Filiates, Margariti and Paramythia. After 1926, with the relocation of the refugees to other parts of Greece, the Greek government took careful discretion in Greek Epirus to implement its land reform and expropriations toward the Muslim Cham population so as to prevent discrimination occurring against them regarding the matter. In 1928, the Albanians took their concerns regarding property ownership, expropriations and restitution, issues over minimal socio-political representation and military recruitment. The League of Nations in its findings relegated the matter of property restitution or (re)-compensation of expropriated lands to bilateral negotiations. The League of Nations also stipulated that it would not deal with other raised Albanian concerns, as they had been subject to past reports and discussions. In sum, the League of Nations decision regarding the Greek position relating to the Muslim Chams was considered a clear vindication.

Reginald Leeper, the British ambassador at Athens in 1945, in a letter to the British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden in April 1945 mention that the Greeks can blame Cham Albanians for the murder of the Italian General Enrico Tellini which was the pretext for the Italian bombardment and occupation of Corfu at 1923.

Pangalos regime (1926)

An unexpected turn in Chams' fate occurred when an Arvanite general, known for his pro-Albanian feelings, became prime minister of Greece. On 24 June 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.

Discrimination and normalization (1927–1936)

In August 1926, Theodoros Pangalos was deposed by a counter-coup, and Pavlos Kountouriotis 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,

Main article: Party of the Chameria

On the first elections in 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. At that time, members of the Cham community suffered from discrimination due to severe expropriations of their lands.

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.

The Venizelos government (1928–1932), despite the former Greek-Albanian crisis, took measures to intensify the improvement of the Cham communities both on economic and social basis. In 1931 a law was passed that allowed direct payment of reimbursement through the granting of analogous bonds and the direct return of improperly expropriated urban properties. A number of Cham families responded to these favorable regulations. Moreover, the Albanian government accepted the Greek proposal for the payment of indemnifications in bonds, allowing that way the promulgation of the relevant legislation and thus enabling the process of paying indemnification to the Albanian citizens. Thus, in 1935, according to Greek diplomatic reports, most of the Albanian demands that concerned the Cham communities appeared to be settled. In April 1930, the League of Nations heard claims by small property Muslim Cham landowners that illegal expropriations occurred within the region, while Greek authorities stated that the region had been exempted from those land reform laws. In June 1930, the Greek government passed a special law that properties within Thesprotia were exempt from the Agrarian land laws which satisfied the League of Nations regarding the matter. During this time though, there were ongoing efforts by Greek authorities to prompt the dislocation of the Muslim Cham population by means of hard-line policies and migration to Turkey, while discouraging or even forbidding it to Albania. The Muslim Chams by the 1930s were viewed in Greece as a hostile population and unable to be integrated within the socio-political structures of the state.

Repression under the Metaxas regime (1936–1940)

The harshest period of discrimination against Cham Albanians occurred during the dictatorial regime 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, Aromanians 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. 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. Meanwhile, either due to the absence of Greek or for reasons of demographic importance, Greek education was expanded with the establishment of kindergartens in some Orthodox Albanian speaking villages.

In 1936, the Greek state created a new prefecture called Thesprotia, from parts of Ioannina and Preveza prefectures, as to exercise better control over the Cham Muslim minority. The colonization of the area with Greeks and the confiscation of Cham property increased and Albanian place names were replaced with Greek ones. In villages where both Muslim Chams and Christians lived, Muslim heads of the local administration were replaced with Christian ones. During the same period harassment by the local police towards Chams became more and more frequent.

Second World War and expulsion

See also: Chamerian conflict

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 Albania, 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.

In 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.

At the beginning of World War II, when Greece announced its full mobilisation prior to the Italian invasion, Cham Albanians requested to be included in said mobilisation; in response, Greece included them in the mobilisation but had them work in construction rather than give them arms, which alienated the Albanians. Cham Albanian community leaders were arrested and forced into exile by Greek authorities on the same day that Italy invaded Greece, giving the community indubitable proof that the Greek state held a negative perception towards the Chams and leaving their community without leadership, which probably influenced their behaviour towards the Greeks in the following months. When the Greek army reoccupied the area during the early stages of the Italian invasion, they exiled nearly the entire male population - specifically all males older than 14 - to camps on the islands of Lesbos, Chios and Corinth, which left the Cham Albanian women, children and elderly defenseless and unguarded, resulting in murders, rapes and robberies. The Greek forces turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by local Greeks against Chams.

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". Part of the Chams supported the Italy's attack on Greece. 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 28 October – 14 November 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 island exile for security reasons. 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.

Occupied Greece and collaboration with the Axis (1941–1944)

Main article: Axis-Cham Albanian collaboration

Italian occupation

Prior to the outbreak of World War II, 28 villages in the region were inhabited exclusively by Muslim Chams, and an additional 20 villages had mixed Greek-Cham populations. Germany was against the annexation of the region to Albania that time. Nevertheless, Fascist Italian as well as Nazi German propaganda promised that the region would be part of Great Albania after the end of the war. After the defeat of Greece, the establishment of the Italian occupation authorities in Epirus was completed up until middle May 1941 and the following month the first armed units consisting of Cham Albanians were active in the region. 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 an Axis collaborationist local administration and armed battalions, a paramilitary organization named Këshilla and a paramilitary group called Balli Kombëtar Çam were operating in the region, manned by local Muslim Chams. The results were devastating: many Greek, but even some Muslim Albanian and Orthodox Albanian speakers (Arvanites) lost their lives and a great number of villages were burned and destroyed. Assassinations of Greek officials, Albanian community leaders and other notables from both communities followed that perpetuated a cycle of revenge and retribution that worsened communal relations.

German occupation

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 27 September, 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 30 September, 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.

After the capitulation of Fascist Italy, in September 1943, the local British mission proposed an alliance to the Chams and to fight together the Germans, but this proposal was rejected. 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 c. 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. Whereas, it appears 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 Kombëtar Çam) and the mufti did not support such actions.

First expulsion

Main article: Expulsion of Cham Albanians

During the summer of 1944, the head of the local resistance organization, Napoleon Zervas, asked the Cham Albanians to join EDES in its fight against the left-wing ELAS, 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".

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). During this time, small numbers of Muslim Roma from Filiates also fled to Albania alongside the Muslim Chams. They settled in village of Shkallë, near Sarandë, where due to immigration in recent years, some have resettled in Greece.

Resistance, Greek Civil War, repatriation by ELAS and final expulsion

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 battalion named IV "Ali Demi" battalion 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 consisted of 460 men, some of whom were Chams. 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.

Although there is no evidence of contribution against the Axis, Cham units in the ELAS participated in the first phase of the Greek Civil War fighting against the EDES. Having limited support in Epirus 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. 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 Thesprotia region in late 1944. As a result of this short-term ELAS victory, in January–February 1945, about four to five thousand Chams 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 veterans and local communities were eager to take revenge for the Cham's participation. Led by an EDES veteran, 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. 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. Violence by the EDES groups was much more limited compared to incidents perpetrated against German populations that time throughout Europe, in particular by the advancing Soviet Army. EDES managed to secure control of the region after the initial conflicts.

Postwar situation (1945–1990)

Main article: Anti-Fascist Committee of Cham Immigrants

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). 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.

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 Albanian speaking communities in Thepsrotia who remained in Greece after 1945, their Albanian identity was discouraged as part of a policy of assimilation. The abandoned Cham villages were repopulated by adjacent Greek and Aromanian-speaking communities.

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.

Under the People's Republic of Albania

During the People's Republic of Albania (1944–1985) the country was governed by Enver Halil Hoxha. The 40-year period of Hoxha's regime was characterized by the use of Stalinist methods to destroy associates who threatened his power. The regime was increasingly conspicuous towards the Cham community. It believed that they were of questionable loyalty and could easily become agents of a foreign power. This view was probably based because they were Greek citizens and their elites were traditionally rich landlords, while collaboration with the Axis and anti-communism were also significant factors that contributed to this. At the end of 1945, numerous Cham Albanians were imprisoned by the authorities of the People's Republic of Albania, while they were branded as "war criminals", "collaborators of the occupation forces" and "murderers of the Greeks". Although the representatives of the community protested against these developments, this resulted in further arrests and exiles of Cham Albanians. Thus, the communist regime in Albania took a very distrustful view of the Cham community. Many of them were transferred further north, away from the southern border region.

In 1949, during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949), the leadership of the People's Republic of Albania tried to mobilize the Cham community in order to fight with the communists. After their negative response they were labelled "reactionaries" and suffered a certain degree of persecution within Albania. Moreover, the Cham issue was neglected by the local regime. In 1947 the regime revealed a conspiracy in which 85 Chams were allegedly part in the creation of an armed nationalist group named "Balli Kombëtar". In 1960 another anti-communist conspiracy was uncovered under Teme Sejko, a Cham admiral of the Albanian navy from Konispol. The alleged perpetrators, among them also 29 Chams, were accused as agents of "American, Yugoslav and Greek separatists". As a result, Sejko was executed and several of his relatives persecuted, while other members of the Cham community were imprisoned.

Current situation

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.

In 1994, Albania passed a law that declared 27 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. This decision has not received any international recognition. A number of Cham Albanian supporters 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.

In Greece

Muslims

The Greek census of 1951 counted a total of 127 Muslim Albanian Chams in Epirus. In more recent years (1986) 44 members of this community are found in Thesprotia, located in the settlements of Sybota, Kodra and Polyneri (previously Koutsi). Moreover, until recently the Muslim community in Polyneri was the only one in Epirus to have an imam. The village mosque was the last within the area before being blown up by a local Christian in 1972. The number of Muslim Chams remaining in the area after World War II included also people who converted to Orthodoxy and were assimilated into the local population in order to preserve their properties and themselves.

Christian Orthodox

According to a study by the Euromosaic project of the European Union, 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 regional unit. In northern Preveza prefecture, those communities also include the region of Fanari, in villages such as Ammoudia and Agia. In 1978, some of the older inhabitants in these communities were Albanian monolinguals.

According to Hart, today these Orthodox Albanian speaking communities refer to themselves as Arvanites in the Greek language and self-identify as Greeks, like the Arvanite communities in southern Greece. On the other hand, Bugajski includes the Orthodox among Cham Albanians. They refer to their language in Greek as Arvanitika and when conversing in Albanian as Shqip. In contrast with the Arvanites, some have retained a distinct linguistic and ethnic identity, but also an Albanian national identity. In the presence of foreigners there is a stronger reluctance amongst Orthodox Albanian speakers to speak Albanian, compared to the Arvanites in other parts of Greece. A reluctance has been also noticed for those who still see themselves as Chams to declare themselves as such. Tom Winnifrith on short stays in the area (early 1990s) found it difficult to find Albanian speakers in urban areas and concluded in later years that Albanian is not longer spoken at all in the region. Amongst some Orthodox Albanian-speakers of the area, like the residents of Kastri village near Igoumentisa, there has been a revival in folklore, in particular in the performance of "Arvanitic wedding".

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. From 1913 to 1944, about 85,000 Albanians, most of whom were Chams, emigrated to Turkey.

The exact number of Muslim Chams in Turkey is unknown, but various estimates conclude that they number between 80,000 and 100,000, from a total population of 500,000 to 6 million of full or partial Albanian descent 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" (Albanian: Shoqëria e Vllazërisë Shqiptaro-Turke, Turkish: Türk-Arnavut Kardeşliği Derneği), which fights for the rights of Albanians.

In the United States

See also: Albanian American

Chams in the United States are the fourth 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.

Cham issue

Main article: Cham issue

Political positions

Albania demands the repatriation of the Muslim Chams who were expelled 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 extent addressed, that the Albanian government should turn its attention to the Cham issue. On the other hand, 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 has been linked with the issue of the War Law, in the context of World War II and especially the war between Greece and Albania. Their exodus is connected with similar World War II events following the defeat of the Axis: such as the exodus of the German populations of Gdańsk, Pomerania, Silesia East Prussia and Sudetenland. The case of the properties who are under sequestration, taking into account that the stance of war against Albania was revoked by the Greek government in 1987, is seen by some Greek law experts and the Albanian government as in force and thus preventing restitution or expropriation as they are interpreted as "enemy property". Under the Greek law it is not certain if the case of the Cham properties can be classified as such. Nevertheless the restitution of these properties can be legally blocked due to activity against the state, which appears to be according to Greek law experts a significant factor in this case. The confiscated properties of those who collaborated with the Axis cannot raise any legal issue. The same appears to be the case of the abandoned properties which were expropriated in the 1950s.

The "Cham Issue" has not been a part of the agenda for 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.

In September 2016 the Enlargement Commissioner of the European Union Johannes Hahn mentioned the Cham issue as an "existing one" between Albania and Greece, alongside other matters that the two countries needed to resolve.

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 Albanian speakers within the region 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 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

See also: Right to return

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 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

The Chams are not a recognized minority by both global and peripheral international organizations, such as the United Nations and the OSCE. The decisions of the Cham representatives in general do not have any legal dimension or commitment in international politics.

Cham organizations ask for their repatriation and minority rights. They have also asked for minority rights for the Orthodox Albanian speakers residing in Greece. This position is supported even by politicians in Albania. In January 2000, the current Prime Minister of Albania, Sali Berisha, 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

Main article: Liberation Army of Chameria

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 (Kosovo 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.

Organizations

Chams have created a number of organizations, such as political parties, non-governmental associations and the Chameria Institute.

Chameria Association in Albania

Main article: National Political Association "Çamëria"

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 Albanian speakers in Greece, was founded on 10 January 1991. This associations holds a number of activities every year, with the help of the Party for Justice and Integration, as well as other organizations. Annually on 27 June, 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 century BC) as an Albanian hero, thus revealing the extreme and irredentist aims of the association.

Chameria Association in the US

Main article: Chameria Human Rights Association

Chameria Human Rights Association (Shoqëria për të drejtat e Njeriut, Çamëria) is a non-governmental organization, based in Washington, DC, United States, 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.

Democratic Foundation of Chameria

Main article: Democratic Foundation of Chameria

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."

Party for Justice and Unity

Main article: Party for Justice and Unity

The Party for Justice and Unity is a parliamentary 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 elections, 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 fourth biggest party in Albania.

Party for Justice and Integration

Main article: Party for Justice and Integration

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.

Chameria Institute

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."

Cultural Association "Bilal Xhaferri"

Main article: Cultural Association "Bilal Xhaferri"

In 1993, a group of journalists and writers of Cham origin, founded in Tirana the Cultural Association "Bilal Xhaferri" (Shoqata Kulturore "Bilal Xhaferri"), nicknamed also as "the Cultural Community of Chameria" (Komuniteti Kulturor i Çamërisë). The association is a 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.

Demographics

According to Miranda Vickers, the Chams number approximately 690,000. According to Cham organizations, the descendants of the "original Chams" number 170,000. Many of them live in Albania, while other communities live in Greece, Turkey and the USA. Their religions are Islam and Orthodox Christianity.

Historical demographics

The population of the region of Chameria was mainly Albanian and Greek, with smaller minorities. In the early 19th century, Greek scholar and secretary of the local Ottoman Albanian ruler Ali Pasha, Athanasios Psalidas, stated that Chameria was inhabited by both Greeks and Albanians. The later were divided between Christians and Muslims, while Greeks were the dominant element of Chameria. There was a dispute regarding the size of the Albanian population of the region, while in the 20th century some believe the term Cham applies only to Muslims. According to a contemporary Armenian American estimate from The New Armenia in 1912, there was a global total of 1,500,000 Tosk Albanians, of which 200,000 were Chams. According to 1913 Greek census, in Chameria region were living 25,000 Muslims whose mother tongue was 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. During the interwar period, the numbers of Albanian speakers in official Greek censuses varied and fluctuated, due to political motives and manipulation.

An estimation by Italian occupational forces during World War II (1941) included also Orthodox communities of Albanian ethnicity. According to this in the region lived 54,000 Albanians, of whom were 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. In the same Greek census of 1951, 7,357 Orthodox Albanian-speakers were counted within the whole of Epirus.

Chams in Greece (1913–1951)

Year	Muslim Chams	Orthodox Chams	Total population	Source
1913	25,000	–	Unknown	Greek census
1923	20,319	–	Unknown	Greek census
1925	25,000	22,000	47,000	Albanian government
1928	17,008	–	Unknown	Greek census
1938	17,311	–	Unknown	Greek government
1940	21,000–22,000	–	Unknown	Estimation on Greek census
1941	28,000	26,000	Unknown	Italian estimation (by Axis occupational forces during World War Two)
1947	113	–	Unknown	Greek census
1951	127	–	Unknown	Greek census. 7,357 Orthodox Albanian-speakers were also counted within the whole of Epirus.

Current demographics

In 1985, the Albanian population of Epirus, including Chameria and two villages in Konitsa was estimated 30,000. In 2002, according to author Miranda Vickers, in Chameria, the Orthodox Albanian population was estimated at 40,000. However, some scholars claim the term Cham in the 20th century applied only to Muslims, while both the Orthodox Albanian (Arvanitika) speaking and bilingual (Greek-Albanian) communities of the region identify with the Greek state and 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, 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.

Chams in Albania by town (1991)
Place	Number
Shkodër County	1,150
Krujë District and Kurbin District	720
Tirana District	29,700
Lezhë District	35
Durrës District	35,000
Kavajë District	10,500
Vlorë District	42,300
Fier District	39,800
Sarandë District	12,100
Delvinë District	2,900

Religion

See also: Religion in Albania

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 per cent 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.

Language

Main article: Cham Albanian dialect

Cham Albanians speak the Cham dialect (Çamërisht), which is a sub-branch of the Tosk Albanian dialect. The Cham dialect is one of the southernmost dialects of the Albanian language, the other one in Greece 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/, /ɡl/, which in standard Albanian are q and gj, and /l/ instead of /j/.

Cham Albanian	Standard (Tosk) Albanian	Arvanitika	English
Kljumësht	Qumësht	Kljumsht	Milk
Gluhë	Gjuhë	Gljuhë	Language
Gola	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 and media

Literature

Main article: Albanian literatureSee also: Bejte, Markos Botsaris, Bilal Xhaferri, and Muhamet Kyçyku (Çami)

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 sub-branch of the Cham dialect. The dictionary is preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

During the 19th century, Chams started creating bejtes, 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."

Media

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".

Traditions

Music

Cham Albanians' music has its own features, which makes it differ from that of other Albanian music. Cham Albanian folk music can be divided into three main categories: the iso-polyphonic, the polyphonic and the folk ballads.

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.

Dances

Main article: Dance of Osman Taka

Cham Albanian dances are well-known in Albania. The best-known is the Dance of Osman Taka. 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.

Main article: Dance of Zalongo

The Dance of Zalongo (Albanian: Vallja e Zallongut) refers to an event in history involving a mass suicide of women from Souli and their children. The name also refers to a popular dance song commemorating the event. 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:

The song of the dance in Albanian and English:
Albanian	English
Lamtumirë, o Sul, i shkretë, se po ndahemi per jetë. Lamtumirë, o Sul i shkretë, se na do t’ikim për jetë. Ne po vdesim për liri, se nuk duam skllavëri. Lamtumirë, ju male e fusha, na e punoi Pilo Gusha, I pabesi faqezi, s’pati turp, as perëndi. Lamtumirë, o fusha e male, ne vdesim pa frikë fare. Jemi bila shqipëtare, vdesim duke hedhur valle. Lamtumirë, o Sul i shkretë, lamtumir' për gjithë jetë.	Goodbye, oh desolate Souli, for we part ways for life. Goodbye, oh desolate Souli, because we will leave forever. But we will die for freedom, because we do not want slavery. Goodbye, oh mountains and valleys, this was done by Pelios Gousis, The wicked scoundrel, had no shame, no god. Goodbye, oh valleys and mountains, We die without fear at all. It’s because we are Albanians, we die by dancing. Goodbye, oh desolate Souli, goodbye for all eternity.

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 which about bravery and honor. 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 Slavic transmission of the Greek word Έλλην (ellin) which means "Greek".

Lifestyle

Dress

The folk outfits of the region are colorful. The most common men's outfit for Muslims and orthodox was the kilt known as fustanella, 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.

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, 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

Main article: Albanian 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 cuisine. 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 of vegetables and olive oil. The most common appetizers are trahana and tarator, while seafood soups 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).

Notable individuals

• Abedin Dino, founder of the League of Prizren, one of the main contributors in the Albanian independence.
• Ahmed Dino, military leader and politician.
• Ali Dino (1890–1938), famous Albanian cartoonist and member of the Hellenic Parliament.
• Rasih Dino (1865–1928), diplomat and signatory of Albania to the Treaty of London.
• Shahin Dino, deputy of the Sanjak of Preveza in the Ottoman Parliament and later Minister of Interior of Albania.
• Ali Demi, 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 Ajdonati, from Paramythia, representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence.
• Bilal Xhaferri, writer, born in Konispol, Albania.
• Hasan Tahsini, also known as Hoca Tahsin, Hodja Tahsin, Tahsin Efendi, Ahmet Nebil mathematician, philosopher and psychologist.
• Jakup Veseli, from Margariti, representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence
• Muhamet Kyçyku (Çami), considered as the first poet of the National Renaissance, one of the best-known bejtexhinjs of Albania
• Osman Taka, one of the main contributors to the National Renaissance of Albania and a well-known dancer of his time.
• Musa Demi, revolutionary and important figure of the Albanian National Awakening
• Niazi Demi, minister of trade of Albania.
• Rexhep Demi, from Filiates, representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence
• Tahir Demi ,(1919–1961) born in Filiates, he was an Albanian politician. He was high-ranking member of the Party of Labour of Albania and representative of Albania at Comecon.
• Aziz Çami, officer of the Albanian army and Balli Kombëtar commander.
• Qamil Çami, teacher and poet of era of the Albanian National Awakening.
• Thoma Çami, (1852–1909), from Paramythia, founder and chairman of organisation "Bashkimi", the best-known cultural club, of Rilindja Kombëtare
• Veli Gërra, from Igoumenitsa, representative of Chameria in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence
• Teme Sejko, rear-admiral and commander of the Albanian navy .
• Giovanni Paramithiotti (Died in 1943 New York) was an Italian sporting director of Albanian origin, born in Venice. He was one of the founders and first chairman of the football club Internazionale Milano (1908–1909). His ancestors escaped the Ottoman conquest, joining the Albanian diaspora. They moved away from Chameria, in the region of Epirus, and precisely from the current area of Paramythia, and preserved their origin as being from Paramythia with the surname Paramithiotti.
• Kolë Idromeno, (15 August 1860 – 12 December 1939), was an Albanian painter, sculptor, architect, photographer, cinematographer, composer and engineer during the Albanian Renaissance in the nineteenth century. He is widely regarded as a precursor of both realism and landscape art in Albania. His father Arsen Idromeno was a Cham Albanian from Parga.

See also

• Albanian communities in Greece
• Minorities in Greece
• Treaty of London (1913)
• World War II evacuation and expulsion

References

1. ^ Roudometof, Victor (2002). Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian question. Westport, Connecticut, United States of America: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 182. ISBN 9780275976484.
2. ^ Vickers, Miranda. The Cham Issue - Where to Now? (PDF). Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
3. Ahmed, Akbar (2018). Journey Into Europe: Islam, Immigration, and Identity. Brookings Institution Press. p. 303. ISBN 9780815727590.
4. Antonina Zhelyazkova. Urgent anthropology. Vol. 3. Problems of Multiethnicity in the Western Balkans Archived 19 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine. International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations. Sofia 2004. ISBN 978-954-8872-53-9, p. 67.
5. ^ Ktistakis 2006, p. 9 (citing Krapsitis V., 1986: Οι Μουσουλμάνοι Τσάμηδες της Θεσπρωτίας (The Muslim Chams of Thesprotia), Athens, 1986, p. 181.
6. ^ Berisha, Mal (November 2000). Diaspora Shqiptare në Turqi (in Albanian). New York: ACCL Publishing. p. 13.
7. Vickers, Miranda. The Cham Issue - Where to Now? (PDF). Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. p. 12. Retrieved 3 August 2017. The Greeks must accept the historical truth about the confiscation of Cham-owned land, and the intimidation and persecution the Chams suffered under the dictatorship of General Metaxas during the late 1930s.
8. Meyer, Hermann Frank (2008). Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg [Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII] (in German). Ch. Links Verlag. p. 705. ISBN 978-3-86153-447-1. The Albanian minority of the Chams collaborated in large parts with the Italians and the Germans.
9. Russell King, Nicola Mai, Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers, The New Albanian Migration, Sussex Academic Press, 2005, ISBN 9781903900789, p. 67.
10. M. Mazower (ed.), After The War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation and State in Greece, 1943–1960, Princeton University Press, 1960, ISBN 9780691058412, p. 25.
11. Victor Roudometof; Roland Robertson (2001). Nationalism, Globalization, and Orthodoxy: The Social Origins of Ethnic Conflict in the Balkans. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 190–. ISBN 978-0-313-31949-5. "During World War II, the majority of Chams sided with the Axis forces..."
12. ^ Hart, Laurie Kain (1999). "Culture, Civilization, and Demarcation at the Northwest Borders of Greece". American Ethnologist. 26: 196. doi:10.1525/ae.1999.26.1.196. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2017. Speaking Albanian, for example, is not a predictor with respect to other matters of identity .. There are also long standing Christian Albanian (or Arvanitika speaking) communities both in Epirus and the Florina district of Macedonia with unquestioned identification with the Greek nation. .. The Tschamides were both Christians and Muslims by the late 18th century
13. ^ Bugajski, J. (2013). Return of the Balkans: Challenges to European Integration and U.S. Disengagement. Letort papers. Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College Press. p. 92.
14. Vickers 2007, p. 2 "Whereas in Albania and the diaspora Cham communities have managed to preserve their dialect, traditions and folk songs, in Greece itself those Orthodox Chams, now numbering around 40,000, who were allowed to remain in Greece, have suffered from assimilation and the public suppression of their Albanian heritage and language. As a result, Albanian is only spoken privately in the home."
15. Galanti, Arturo (1901). L'Albania: notizie geografiche, etnografiche e storiche (PDF) (in Italian). Rome: Societa' Ed. Dante Alighieri. p. 38.
16. Vladimir Orel, Albanian Etymological Dictionary, s.v. "çam" (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 49–50.
17. ^ Xhufi, Pëllumb (February 2006). "Çamët ortodoks". Studime Historike (in Albanian). 38 (2). Albanian Academy of Sciences.
18. ^ "L'arvanite/albanais en Grèce" (in French). Brussels: European Commission. 2006. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
19. ^ Winnifrith, Tom (2002). Badlands, Borderlands: A History of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania. London, UK: Duckworth. p. 219. ISBN 9780715632017. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
20. ^ Pallis, A. A. (June 1929). "The Greek census of 1928". The Geographical Journal. 73 (6): 543–548. Bibcode:1929GeogJ..73..543P. doi:10.2307/1785338. JSTOR 1785338.
21. ^ Kretsi, Georgia (2007). Verfolgung und Gedächtnis in Albanien: eine Analyse postsozialistischer Erinnerungsstrategien. Balkanologische Veröffentlichungen. Vol. 44. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. p. 283. ISBN 978-3-447-05544-4.
22. Babiniotis, George (2002). Lexicon of the Modern Greek Language (in Greek) (2nd ed.). Athens: Lexicology Centre. ISBN 9789608619012.
23. ^ Ktistakis, Giorgos (February 2006). Περιουσίες Αλβανών και Τσάμηδων στην Ελλάδα: Aρση του εμπολέμου και διεθνής προστασία των δικαιωμάτων του ανθρώπου' [Properties of Albanians and Chams in Greece: Nullification of the State of War and international protection of human rights] (PDF). Minorities in Balkans (in Greek). Athens, Greece: Center of Studying of Minority Groups. p. 53. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
24. Karpat, Kemal H. (2001). The politicization of Islam: reconstructing identity, state, faith, and community in the late Ottoman state. Oxford University Press. p. 342. "After 1856, and especially after 1878, the terms Turk and Muslim became practically synonymous in the Balkans. An Albanian who did not know one word of Turkish thus was given the ethnic name of Turk and accepted it, no matter how much he might have preferred to distance himself from the ethnic Turks."
25. Megalommatis, M. Cosmas (1994). Turkish-Greek Relations and the Balkans: A Historian's Evaluation of Today's Problems. Cyprus Foundation. p. 28. "Muslim Albanians have been called "Turkalvanoi" in Greek, and this is pejorative."
26. Tzanelli, Rodanthi (2008). Nation-building and identity in Europe: The dialogics of reciprocity. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 62. "Consequently, at the beginning of the 1880s the Greek press openly incited anti-Albanian hatred, associating the Albanian irredentists with Turkish anti-Greek propaganda, and baptizing them Vlachs and 'Turkalbanian brigands' (Aión. 10 and 14 July 1880; Palingenesía, 3 April 1881)."
27. Nikolopoulou, Kalliopi (2013). Tragically Speaking: On the Use and Abuse of Theory for Life. University of Nebraska Press. p. 299. "Instead of the term "Muslim Albanians", nationalist Greek histories use the more known, but pejorative, term "Turkalbanians".
28. Millas, Iraklis (2006). "Tourkokratia: History and the image of Turks in Greek literature." South European Society & Politics. 11. (1): 50. "The 'timeless' existence of the Other (and the interrelation of the Self with this Other) is secured by the name used to define him or her. Greeks often name as 'Turks' various states and groups—such as the Seljuks, the Ottomans, even the Albanians (Turkalvanoi)".
29. Mentzel, Peter (2000). "Introduction: Identity, confessionalism, and nationalism." Nationalities Papers. 28. (1): 8. "The attitude of non-Muslim Balkan peoples was similar. In most of the Balkans, Muslims were "Turks" regardless of their ethno-linguistic background. This attitude changed significantly, but not completely, over time."
30. ^ Baltsiotis 2011. "Until the Interwar period Arvanitis (plural Arvanitēs) was the term used by Greek speakers to describe an Albanian speaker regardless of his/hers religious background. In official language of that time the term Alvanos was used instead. The term Arvanitis coined for an Albanian speaker independently of religion and citizenship survives until today in Epirus (see Lambros Baltsiotis and Léonidas Embirikos, "De la formation d’un ethnonyme. Le terme Arvanitis et son evolution dans l’État hellénique", in G. Grivaud-S. Petmezas (eds.), Byzantina et Moderna, Alexandreia, Athens, 2006, pp. 417–448.
31. Baltsiotis 2009, pp. 18–20
32. ^ Banfi, Emanuele (6 June 1994). Minorités linguistiques en Grèce: Langues cachées, idéologie nationale, religion (in French). Paris: Mercator Program Seminar. p. 27.
33. Koukoudis, Asterios (2003). The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora. Zitros. p. 271. "However, there are groups of Arvanitovlachs, both in Albania and in Greece, who refuse to be defined as Farsariots, preferring other names, often toponymical too. These include.... Tsamoureni (Tsamuréńi) (from the area of Çamëria, mainly in Thesprotia)."
34. The Free Dictionary. "Arnaut". Retrieved 16 March 2009.
35. Elsie, Robert and Bejtullah D. Destani (2012). The Cham Albanians of Greece: A Documentary History. IB Tauris. ISBN 978-1-780760-00-1. p. XXIX. "Chameria is a mountainous region of the southwestern Balkan Peninsula that now straddles the Greek-Albanian border. Most of Chameria is in the Greek Province of Epirus, corresponding largely to the prefectures of Thesprotia and Preveza, but it also includes the southernmost part of Albania, the area around Konispol. It is approximately 10,000 square kilometres in size and has a current, mostly Greek-speaking population of about 150,000. As an historical region, Chameria, also spelled Chamuria, Chamouria or Tsiamouria, is sometimes confused with Epirus which is in fact a much larger area that includes more inland territory in northwestern Greece, for example, the town of Janina/loannina, and also much of southern Albania. Geographically speaking, Chameria begins to the north at the rivers Pavlle and Shalës in the southern part of Albania. It stretches southwards along the Ionian coastline in Greece down to Preveza and the Gulf of Arta, which in the nineteenth century formed the border between Albania and Greece. It does not include the island of Corfu or the region of Janina to the east. The core or central region of Chameria, known in Greek as Thesprotia, could be said to be the basins of the Kalamas and Acheron Rivers. It was the Kalamas River, known in ancient times as the 'Thyamis, that gave Chameria its name."
36. ^ Vickers, Miranda; Pettifer, James (1997). Albania: From Anarchy to a Balkan Identity. London: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 207. ISBN 9781850652793.
37. ^ Μιχάλης Κοκολάκης (2003). Το ύστερο Γιαννιώτικο Πασαλίκι: χώρος, διοίκηση και πληθυσμός στην τουρκοκρατούμενη Ηπειρο (1820–1913). EIE-ΚΝΕ. pp. 50–51: "Ακόμη νοτιότερα και στο εσωτερικό της ελληνόφωνης ζώνης, παράλληλα με τις ακτές του Ιονίου, σχηματίζεται ο μεγάλος αλβανόφωνος θύλακας της Τσαμουριάς, που στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος του (με εξαίρεση την περιοχή της Κονίσπολης) πέρασε στην Ελλάδα με βάση το Πρωτόκολλο της Φλωρεντίας (1913). Στο θύλακα αυτό υπάγονταν από το σημερινό νομό Θεσπρωτίας οι επαρχίες Θυάμιδος και Μαργαριτίου και τα δυτικότερα χωριά των δύο επαρχιών Παραμυθιάς και Φιλιατών. Αλβανόφωνα ήταν και τα βόρεια τμήματα του σημερινού νομού της Πρέβεζας, όπως ο κάμπος του Φαναριού, η ενδοχώρα της Πάργας και τα παλιά παρασουλιώτικα χωριά του Ανω Αχέροντα (Ζερμή, Κρανιά, Παπαδάτες, Ρουσάτσα, Δερβίζιανα, Μουσιωτίτσα -τα δύο τελευταία υπάγονται διοικητικά στα Γιάννενα). Χωρίς να ταυτίζεται με το σύνολο του αλβανόφωνου πληθυσμού, η ομάδα των Μουσουλμάνων Τσάμηδων ήταν σημαντικό συστατικό του στοιχείο."
38. ^ Hammond, NGL (1981). Epirus: The Geography, the Ancient Remains, the History and Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press. p. 27. ISBN 9780405140587.
39. "Official site of Parapotamos Municipality" (in Greek). Parapotamos Municipality. Archived from the original on 18 May 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
40. ^ Leake, William Martin (1967). Travels in Northern Greece. New York, United States of America: M. Hakkert. p. 27. ISBN 9781402167713.
41. "Official site of Sagiada Municipality" (in Greek). Sagiada Municipality. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
42. ^ Yildirim, Onur (2006). Diplomacy and Displacement: Reconsidering the Turco-Greek Exchange of Populations, 1922–1934. Istanbul, Turkey: CRC Press. p. 121. ISBN 9780415979825. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
43. Baltsiotis 2011. "During the beginning of the 20th Century, the northwestern part of the Greek region of Epirus was mostly populated by an Albanian-speaking population, known under the ethnonyme "Chams" . The Chams are a distinct ethno-cultural group which consisted of two integral religious groups: Orthodox Christians and Sunni Muslims. This group lived in a geographically wide area, expanding to the north of what is today the Preveza prefecture, the western part of which is known as Fanari , covering the western part of what is today the prefecture of Thesprotia, and including a relatively small part of the region which today constitutes Albanian territory. These Albanian speaking areas were known under the name Chamouria .... Applying linguistic principles, the whole area constituted an Albanian speaking enclave, isolated at least in strict geographical terms, with a continuum of Albanian language in today’s Albania and adjoining areas, i.e, Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia. In the north-eastern part of that area, east to the city of Filiat(i) within Greek territory, a Greek speaking area began growing and expanding eastwards to today’s Albanian territory and up to the coast of Albania.... The Albanian speaking area was quite compact and well marked by the local geography, as the Greek speaking communities were settled at the eastern mountainous areas. Chamouria and Prevezaniko were also symbolically distinguished as the land where the Arvanitēs lived. We can rather confidently argue that Muslim and Christian Chams of the plains made up a distinct "ethno-economic" group. However, there was a particular pattern in the settlements of religious groups inside the area of Chamouria annexed to Greece: most Muslim villages were located at the center of the area, while the large majority of the Christian Orthodox Albanian speaking villages were to the south and the east of the area. Although the langue-vehiculaire of the area was Albanian, a much higher status was attributed to the Greek language, even among the Muslims themselves. Thus, during the late Ottoman era, besides the official Ottoman Turkish, Greek functioned as a second, semi-official language, accepted by the Ottoman Administration. This characteristic can be followed partly from public documents of the era."
44. ^ Fabbe 2007, p. 49
45. ^ Bollati, Sali; Vehbi Bajrami (June 2005). "Interview with the head of Chameria organization / Bollati: Chameria today" (in Albanian and English). New York, United States of America. Iliria Newspaper.
46. Βόγλη, Ελπίδα. "Τα κριτήρια της ελληνικής ιθαγένειας κατά την περίοδο της Επανάστασης" (PDF). Πανεπιστημιακές Εκδόσεις Κρήτης. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
47. ^ Psomiades, Haris (1972). "The Diplomacy of Theodoros Pangalos 1925–1926". Balkan Studies (in English and Greek). 13 (1). Athens, Greece: 1–16.
48. ^ Kretsi 2002, p. 182.
49. Fine, John Van Antwerp (1991). The Early Medieval Balkans. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472081493.
50. ^ Giakoumis, Konstantinos (2003). "Fourteenth-century Albanian migration and the ‘relative autochthony’ of the Albanians in Epeiros. The case of Gjirokastër." Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies. 27. (1): 176. "The presence of Albanians in the Epeirote lands from the beginning of the thirteenth century is also attested by two documentary sources: the first is a Venetian document of 1210, which states that the continent facing the island of Corfu is inhabited by Albanians."; p.177.
51. Lopasic, Alexander (1992). "Cultural Values of the Albanians in the Diaspora". In Winnifrith, Tom (ed.). Perspectives On Albania. Springer. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-349-22050-2.
52. Steven G. Ellis; Lud'a Klusáková (2007). "Imagining frontiers, contesting identities". Speculum. 37. Edizioni Plus. ISBN 9788884924667.
53. Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. pp. 52–53. ISBN 9780195046526.
54. ^ Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472082605. The rugged mountains of the region helped Michael to prepare the defense of his lands against the Crusader attack. He maintained good relations with the Albanian and Vlach chieftains in the area, and their men provided able troops for his army....large-scale migration of Albanians from the mountains of Albania occurred. This migration, particularly heavy in Epirus and Thessaly, carried them all over Greece, and many came to settle in Attica and the Peloponnesus as well.
55. Nicol, Donald MacGillivray (1997). "Late Byzantine Period (1204–1479)". Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization. Ekdotike Athenon: 198–237. ISBN 9789602133712. They sent a deputation of their leading citizens, together with some from the province of Vagenetia (in Thesprotia), to Symeon to beg him to help them preserve their freedom from the Albanians.
56. Nicol, Donald MacGillivray (1997). "Late Byzantine Period (1204–1479)". Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization. Ekdotike Athenon: 198–237. ISBN 9789602133712. Retrieved 11 March 2015. ...finally capture Dryinoupolis and Argyrokastron in 1419. Many of the Albanians fled, to take refuge in the Morea
57. Kokolakis 2003, p. 51:Ακόμη νοτιότερα και στο εσωτερικό της ελληνόφωνης ζώνης, παράλληλα με τις ακτές του Ιονίου, σχηματίζεται ο μεγάλος αλβανόφωνος θύλακας της Τσαμουριάς, που στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος του (με εξαίρεση την περιοχή της Κονίσπολης) πέρασε στην Ελλάδα με βάση το Πρωτόκολλο της Φλωρεντίας (1913). Στο θύλακα αυτό υπάγονταν από το σημερινό νομό Θεσπρωτίας οι επαρχίες Θυάμιδος και Μαργαριτίου και τα δυτικότερα χωριά των δύο επαρχιών Παραμυθιάς και Φιλιατών. Αλβανόφωνα ήταν και τα βόρεια τμήματα του σημερινού νομού της Πρέβεζας, όπως ο κάμπος του Φαναριού, η ενδοχώρα της Πάργας και τα παλιά παρασουλιώτικα χωριά του Ανω Αχέροντα (Ζερμή, Κρανιά, Παπαδάτες, Ρουσάτσα, Δερβίζιανα, Μουσιωτίτσα -τα δύο τελευταία υπάγονται διοικητικά στα Γιάννενα). Χωρίς να ταυτίζεται με το σύνολο του αλβανόφωνου πληθυσμού, η ομάδα των Μουσουλμάνων Τσάμηδων ήταν σημαντικό συστατικό του στοιχείο
58. Kokolakis 2003, p. 48.
59. ^ Anamali, Skënder and Prifti, Kristaq. Historia e popullit shqiptar në katër vëllime. Botimet Toena, 2002, ISBN 99927-1-622-3.
60. ^ Kokolakis, Michalis (2004). Η ΤΟΥΡΚΙΚΗ ΣΤΑΤΙΣΤΙΚΗ ΤΗΣ ΗΠΕΙΡΟΥ ΣΤΟ ΣΑΛΝΑΜΕ ΤΟΥ 1895 (PDF) (in Greek). Athens, Greece: Institute of Modern Greek Studies. pp. 261–312. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
61. Fleming, Katherine Elizabeth (1999). The Muslim Bonaparte: Diplomacy and Orientalism in Ali Pasha's Greece. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691001944.
62. Malcolm 2020, p. 94.
63. ^ Vickers 2002, p. 21
64. ^ Jazexhi, Olsi (2007). The Bektashi Order of Dervishes (PDF). Algiers, Algeria. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2008.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
65. ^ See Hasluk, 'Christianity and Islam under the Sultans', London, 1927.
66. Baltsiotis 2011. "It’s worth mentioning that the Greek speaking Muslim communities, which were the majority population at Yanina and Paramythia, and of substantial numbers in Parga and probably Preveza, shared the same route of identity construction, with no evident differentiation between them and their Albanian speaking co-habitants."
67. Loshi, Xhevat (1999). "Albanian". In Hinrichs, Uwe, & Uwe Büttner (eds). Handbuch der Südosteuropa-Linguistik. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 285.
68. ^ Nußberger Angelika; Wolfgang Stoppel (2001), Minderheitenschutz im östlichen Europa (Albanien) (PDF) (in German), Universität Köln, p. 8, archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016, retrieved 23 April 2015, "alle Orthodoxe Christen unisono als Griechen galten, wahrend "Turk" fur Muslimen stand..." (...all Orthodox Christians were considered as "Greeks", while in the same fashion Muslims as "Turks")
69. Poulton, Hugh (2000). "The Muslim experience in the Balkan states, 1919–1991." Nationalities Papers. 28. (1): 47–48. "While the Christian population hence faced a threat of ethnic assimilation arising out of the nature of the millet system itself, Muslim populations in the Ottoman Empire clearly faced a parallel threat of Turkification. It is important to note, however, that the Ottoman state recognised no official differentiation by language or ethnicity among its Muslim citizens: the modem notion of being a "Turk" was until the end of the nineteenth century alien to the Ottoman elites, who regarded themselves as "Ottomans" rather than "Turkish." In fact the term "Turk" had the connotation of being an uneducated peasant. Ottoman Turkish, the language of state, was not the vernacular of the mass of the Turkish-speaking population, and along with being a Muslim, knowledge of it was a requirement of high office in the Ottoman state.'° Ethnicity per se was not a factor in this respect and many Grand Vezirs and high officials were originally from Albanian, Muslim Slav, or other Ottoman Muslim populations. Indeed when the dervişme system—whereby the subject Christian populations had to give up a number of their most able sons, who were then educated and raised as Muslims to run the Empire in both civilian and military capacities—was still in operation (it fell into abeyance in the seventeenth century and had disappeared by the eighteenth) the state officials were necessarily from non-Turkish Christian backgrounds. In spite of this, however, vernacular Turkish became widespread as the mother tongue among the Muslim populations (and even the Christian populations) of Anatolia, although this process was less pronounced in the Balkans."
70. Baltsiotis 2011. It is quite characteristic that it was in 1880, when the British Valentine Chirol visited the Christian "Albanian" village of Tourkopalouko (today Kypseli, at the northwest part of the Preveza prefecture), that his confidence for his Greek friends in Yanina "was first shaken". He was surprised that no one in the village spoke or understood any other language than Albanian although his friends "had assured me that south Kalamas there were no Albanian communities" (V. Chirol, "Twixt Greek and Turk, or Jottings during a journey through Thessaly, Macedonia and Epirus, in the Autumn of 1880", Blackwood’s Edinbrurgh Magazine, n. 785, March 1881, p. 313).
71. Elias G Skoulidas (22 February 2011). Identities, Locality and Otherness in Epirus during the Late Ottoman period.(doc). European Society of Modern Greek studies. p. 7. Retrieved 18 April 2015. "Nikolaos Konemenos takes a different approach, by not denying his Albanian identity, although he participated in Greek public life. He accepts this identity and embodies it, without excluding the other identity: κι εγώ είμαι φυσικός Αρβανίτης, επειδή κατάγομαι από τα' χωριά της Λάκκας (Τσαμουριά) και είμαι απόγονος ενός καπετάν Γιώργη Κονεμένου 'λ που εμίλειε τα' αρβανίτικα κι όπου ταις αρχαίς του προπερασμένου αιώνος... είχε καταιβεί κι είχε αποκατασταθεί στην Πρέβεζα.... The spelling mistakes in this passage are a good indicator of what is happening."
72. ^ Isufi, Hajredin (2004). "Aspects of Islamization in Çamëri". Historical Studies (in Albanian). 3 (4). Tirana, Albania: Institute of History: 17–32.
73. Isufi (2004) citing: Braudel, Fernand (1977). Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip Second. Vol. I (2 ed.). California, United States of America: Harper Collins. p. 1418. ISBN 9780060905675.
74. ^ Giakoumis, Konstantinos (2010). "The Orthodox Church in Albania Under the Ottoman Rule 15th–19th Century." In Oliver Jens Schmitt (ed.). Religion und Kultur im albanischsprachigen Südosteuropa. Peter Lang. p. 85. "In the 18th century Islamization increased and a large number of inhabitants of Labëri, Filiates, Pogon and Kurvelesh converted."; p. 86. "In 1739, twenty five villages in Thesprotia were forced to convert to Islam en masse. It has also been noted that conversions intensified after the wars of Russia with the Porte (1710–1711, 1768–1774, 1787–1792, 1806–1812)."
75. Somel, Selçuk Akşin (2001). The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 1839–1908: Islamization, Autocracy, and Discipline. Istanbul, Turkey: BRILL. p. 414. ISBN 9789004119031. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
76. Tsoutsoumpis: p. 122: "However, until the eve of the Balkan Wars and indeed long after the incorporation of the area in Greece national feeling was weak among the peasantry. Although nationalist feeling might have been weak among the local peasantry, local societies were seldom free from strife."
77. Mouselimis, Spyros (1976). Ιστορικοί περίπατοι ανά τη Θεσπρωτία (in Greek). Thessaloniki, Greece. p. 128.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
78. Kondis, 1976, p. 24: "Just before the start of the Berlin Conference the Porte, in order to use Albanian unrest for delaying purposes, appointed a member of the Albanian League, Abded Din Pasha Dino, a big landlord from Epirus, as foreign minister. In secret directives Abded Din Pasha promised to the Albanian League the support of the Porte in its conflict with Greece."
79. Skoulidas p. 152: "Μεγάλη υπήρξε και η κινητοποίηση του Abeddin bey Dino, ο οποίος συγκέντρωσε στην Πρέβεζα αλβανούς ηγέτες από ολόκληρο τον αλβανικό και τον ηπειρωτικό χώρο, οι οποίοι διαμαρτύρονταν για την ενδεχόμενη προσάρτηση της Ηπείρου στην Ελλάδα. Υπήρξαν ελληνικές εκτιμήσεις, με τη συνδρομή του ιταλού υποπρόξενου Corti, ότι ο Abeddin βρισκόταν στα όρια της χρεοκοπίας και ότι θα μπορούσε να εξαγοραστεί με 100 χιλιάδες φράγκα, όμως οι σχετικές κινήσεις δεν προχώρησαν υπό το πνεύμα μήπως υπάρξουν επιπλοκές στις διαπραγματεύσεις, τις οποίες οι ελληνικές θεωρήσεις"
80. William Norton Medlicott (1956). Bismarck, Gladstone, and the Concert of Europe. University of London, Athlone Press. p. 77. ISBN 9780837105673.
81. Kondis, 1976, p. 24
82. Jelavich, Barbara (1989). History of the Balkans: Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Joint Committee on Eastern Europe Publication Series. Cambridge University Press. p. 365. ISBN 0-521-27458-3.
83. Skendi, Stavro (1967). The Albanian national awakening, 1878–1912. Princeton University Press. p. 70. ISBN 9780691650029.
84. Gawrych, George (2006). The crescent and the eagle: Ottoman rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874–1913. I.B.Tauris. p. 54. ISBN 1-84511-287-3.
85. Ortayli, İlber (1998). Belleten. Vol. 62. Türk Tarih Kurumu. p. 153.
86. Skoulidas, 2001, p. 157: "Η Υψηλή Πύλη, για άγνωστους λόγους που ενδεχομένως σχετίζονταν με την σημαντική κινητοποίηση και παρουσία Αλβανών στην Πρέβεζα που θα μπορούσε να καταστεί επικίνδυνη για τα συμφέροντα της, ανακάλεσε τον Abeddiii bey Dino στην Κων/λη και στη θέση του έστειλε τον Costali Pasha, προκαλώντας τη δυσαρέσκεια του Vessel bey Dino, του καδή της Πρέβεζας και άλλων αλβανών προκρίτων, οι οποίοι στη συνέχεια αποχώρησαν στις ιδιαίτερες πατρίδες τους..."
87. Kondis, Basil (1976). Greece and Albania, 1908–1914. pp. 33–34.
88. Pitouli-Kitsou, Hristina (1997). Οι Ελληνοαλβανικές Σχέσεις και το βορειοηπειρωτικό ζήτημα κατά περίοδο 1907– 1914 (Thesis). National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. p. 168.
89. Pitouli-Kitsou. Οι Ελληνοαλβανικές Σχέσεις. 1997. p. 168. "Ο Ισμαήλ Κεμάλ υπογράμμιζε ότι για να επιβάλει στη σύσκεψη την άποψη του να μην επεκταθεί το κίνημα τους πέραν της Κάτω Αλβανίας, και ταυτόχρονα για να υποδείξει τον τρόπο δράσης που έπρεπε να ακολουθήσουν οι αρχηγοί σε περίπτωση που θα συμμετείχαν σ' αυτό με δική τους πρωτοβουλία και οι Νότιοι Αλβανοί, θα έπρεπε να αποφασίσει η κυβέρνηση την παροχή έκτακτης βοήθειας και να του κοινοποιήσει τις οριστικές αποφάσεις της για την προώθηση του προγράμματος της συνεννόησης, ώστε να ενισχυθεί το κύρος του μεταξύ των συμπατριωτών του. Ειδικότερα δε ο Ισμαήλ Κεμάλ ζητούσε να χρηματοδοτηθεί ο Μουχαρέμ Ρουσήτ, ώστε να μην οργανώσει κίνημα στην περιοχή, όπου κατοικούσαν οι Τσάμηδες, επειδή σ' αυτήν ήταν ο μόνος ικανός για κάτι τέτοιο. Η ελληνική κυβέρνηση, ενήμερη πλέον για την έκταση που είχε πάρει η επαναστατική δράση στο βιλαέτι Ιωαννίνων, πληροφόρησε τον Κεμάλ αρχικά στις 6 Ιουλίου, ότι ήταν διατεθειμένη να βοηθήσει το αλβανικό κίνημα μόνο προς βορράν των Ακροκεραυνίων, και εφόσον οι επαναστάτες θα επι ζητούσαν την εκπλήρωση εθνικών στόχων, εναρμονισμένων με το πρόγραμμα των εθνοτήτων. Την άποψη αυτή φαινόταν να συμμερίζονται μερικοί επαναστάτες αρχηγοί του Κοσσυφοπεδίου. Αντίθετα, προς νότον των Ακροκεραυνίων, η κυβέρνηση δεν θα αναγνώριζε καμιά αλβανική ενέργεια. Απέκρουε γι' αυτόν το λόγο κάθε συνεννόηση του Κεμάλ με τους Τσάμηδες, δεχόταν όμως να συνεργασθεί αυτός, αν χρειαζόταν, με τους επαναστάτες στηνπεριοχή του Αυλώνα."
90. Blumi, Isa (2013). Ottoman refugees, 1878–1939: Migration in a post-imperial world. A&C Black. p. 82; p. 195. "As late as 1907 Ismail Qemali advocated the creation of "una liga Greco-Albanese" in an effort to thwart Bulgarian domination in Macedonia. ASAME Serie P Politica 1891–1916, Busta 665, no.365/108, Consul to Foreign Minister, dated Athens, 26 April 1907."
91. P. J. Ruches. Albanian historical folksongs, 1716–1943. a survey of oral epic poetry from southern Albania, with original texts. Argonaut, 1967, p. 99-100 " The Labs and Cams... implements. Sacked and put to the torch before the arrival of the Greek army...being evacuated to Corfu, the ragged inhabitants of Nivitsa mourned".
92. Baltsiotis 2011. "The Albanian-speaking, Orthodox population did not share the national ideas of their Muslim neighbors and remained Greek-oriented, identifying themselves as Greeks."
93. Baltsiotis 2011. "Prior to this period, Chamouria was already a nuisance both for the Greek state and the Christians of Epirus who identified themselves as Greeks."
94. Baltsiotis 2011. "As the less ambitious Greek irredentists' target in 1912 was to include all the areas up to a line including Korçë-Gjirokastër-Himarë within the frontiers of the expanded Greek state, the aim was to obscure the fact that the Christian, or even the Muslim population, didn’t speak Greek but Albanian."
95. Baltsiotis 2011. "Concealing the existence of the Albanian language appeared as a concept as soon as the possibility of Greek expansion into Epirus appeared.... The first policy was to take measures to hide the language(s) the population spoke, as we have seen in the case of "Southern Epirus"."
96. Baltsiotis 2011. "The second was to put forth the argument that the language used by the population had no relation to their national affiliation."
97. Baltsiotis 2011. "Under the prevalent ideology in Greece at the time every Orthodox Christian was considered Greek, and conversely after 1913, when the territory which from then onwards was called "Northern Epirus" in Greece was ceded to Albania, every Muslim of that area was considered Albanian."
98. Baltsiotis 2011. "The existence of a region (Chamouria) whose population was roughly half Muslim and almost entirely Albanian speaking was considered a serious problem for the Greek state, which had to be confronted both practically and discursively."
99. Baltsiotis 2011. "The existence of a region (Chamouria) whose population was roughly half Muslim and almost entirely Albanian speaking was considered a serious problem for the Greek state, which had to be confronted both practically and discursively. Every pro-Albanian movement in these areas had to be eliminated by all means."
100. ^ Vlora, Ekrem (2001). Kujtime (in Albanian). Tirana, Albania: Shtëpia e librit & Komunikimit. ISBN 9789992766163.
101. Pitouli-Kitsou. Οι Ελληνοαλβανικές Σχέσεις. 1997. p. 121. "Ειδικότερα για τους Τσάμηδες στις υποδιοικήσεις Παραμθιάς, Μαργαριτίου και Πρέβεζας, στο ελληνικό Υπουργείο είχε σχηματισθεί η εντύπωση ότι κατά το διάστημα 1908–1911 αυτοί έτρεφαν αρκετές συμπάθειες για το εθνικό αλβανικό Κίνημα, αλλά ότι, καιροσκόποι και εφεκτικοί απέναντι στην οθωμανική Διοίκηση στην πλειονότητα τους, με στοιχειώδη αλβανική συνείδηση, έκλιναν προς τον Τουρκισμό ή είχαν καθαρά τουρκικά αισθήματα. Για το γεγονός αυτό προβαλλόταν εκ μέρους των Ελλήνων η εξήγηση ότι οι Τσάμηδες είχαν ασπασθεί σχετικά πρόσφατα τον ισλαμισμό, όχι όμως και τον μπεκτασισμό, σε αντίθεση προς τους άλλους μωαμεθανούς της Ηπείρου, για τους οποίους δεν είχαν ευνοϊκές διαθέσεις."
102. Pitouli-Kitsou. Οι Ελληνοαλβανικές Σχέσεις. 1997. p. 122. "Ειδικότερα στο σαντζακι της Πρέβεζας όσοι έτειναν να ασπασθούν τις εθνικές αλβανικές ιδέες, αν και ήταν οπαδοί του Ισμαήλ Κεμάλ, δεν συνεργάζονταν με τους ' Ελληνες και καταδίωκαν τους χριστιανούς, συμπράττοντας με τους Τούρκους, ιδίως οι μεγαλοϊδιοκτήτες ή οι κρατικοί υπάλληλοι που προέρχονταν από άλλα μέρη. Ο αριθμός των Τουρκαλβανών στο σαντζακι αυτό εξάλλου αυξανόταν, άγνωστο σε ποιο ποσοστό, καθώς η τουρκική Διοίκηση συνέχιζε την τακτική της εγκατάστασης άλλων, που είχε εγκαινιάσει από παλαιότερα."
103. Şeker, Nesim (2013). Forced Population Movements in the Ottoman Empire and the Early Turkish Republic: An Attempt at Reassessment through Demographic Engineering. European Journal of Turkish Studies.
104. Baltsiotis 2011. "Muslim Chams were not eager to fight on the side of the Ottoman army during the Balkan Wars"
105. Pitouli-Kitsou. Οι Ελληνοαλβανικές Σχέσεις. 1997. p. 212: "Μεταξύ των Αλβανών μπέηδων της Ηπείρου, οι περισσότεροι Λιάπηδες και Τσάμηδες, που είχαν έντονα ανθελληνικά αισθήματα, είχαν ήδη σχηματίσει άτακτα σώματα και πολεμούσαν εναντίον του ελληνικού στρατού και των ελληνικών σωμάτων, καίγοντας χωριά στις περιοχές Παραμυθιάς και Φαναριού. Ορισμένοι μπέηδες, αντίθετα, στα διαμερίσματα Δελβίνου, Αργυροκάστρου, Χείμαρρος και Μαργαριτίου φαίνονταν έτοιμοι να αποδεχθούν την ελληνική κυριαρχία, για να απαλλαγούν και από την αναρχία που συνεπαγόταν η σκιώδης τουρκική εξουσία"; p. 360: "Αλβανοί μουσουλμάνοι από το σαντζάκι Ρεσαδιέ, μετά την κατάληψη του από τον ελληνικό στρατό, διέφυγαν προς τον Αυλώνα. Πολλοί από αυτούς είχαν πολεμήσει με τους Τούρκους εναντίον των Ελλήνων, και είχαν πυρπολήσει αρκετά χωριά στα τμήματα Φιλιατών και Παραμυθιάς. Εκεί, πριν από την οριστική εγκατάσταση των ελληνικών αρχών, είχαν γίνει εναντίον τους και ορισμένες αντεκδικήσεις από τους χριστιανούς, καθώς και συγκρούσεις μεταξύ αλβανικών και ελληνικών σωμάτων."
106. ^ Dorlhiac 2023, p. 62
107. Baltsiotis 2011. "While there is no Greek source describing the behavior of the Greek army against the Muslim population after they seized the area, there are several relevant descriptions in Albanian sources. There are only indirect (but clear) references to atrocities committed by the Greek army.... in the spirit of the times, offensive acts such as defilement of mosques and, obviously, looting, would most certainly have taken place.... For example see HAMFA, The Vice-governor of Paramythia to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 30.03.1917 (1917/A/4X(16)).... The lieutenant of the Greek Army Dimitrios (Takis) Botsaris, after a looting incident during the First Balkan War, pronounces an order that "from this time on every one who will dare to disturb any Christian property will be strictly punished" (see K.D. Sterghiopoulos..., op.cit., pp. 173–174). In pronouncing the order in this manner he left Muslim properties without protection. Botsaris, coming from Souli, was a direct descendant of the Botsaris' family and was fluent in Albanian. He was appointed as lieutenant in charge of a Volunteers' company consisting of persons originating from Epirus and fighting mostly in South Western Epirus."
108. Clogg, Richard (2002). Concise History of Greece (Second ed.). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN 9780521004794. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
109. Pitouli-Kitsou. Οι Ελληνοαλβανικές Σχέσεις. 1997. p. 360-361: "Μετά το τέλος του πολέμου στην περιοχή επικρατούσε έκρυθμη κατάσταση, και οι ελληνικές αρχές είχαν υπόνοιες για την οργάνωση σ' αυτήν, μελλοντικά, κάποιου κινήματος, μετά από συνεννόηση πιθανώς των Τσάμηδων με τους Ιταλούς εκπροσώπους και την κυβέρνηση του Αυλώνα, η οποία διατηρούσε δίκτυο κατασκοπείας των κινήσεων του ελληνικού στρατού. Κανένα αξιόλογο κίνημα δεν διοργανώθηκε όμως στο τμήμα Ρεσαδιέ, μετά τη διενέργεια του αφοπλισμού . Βέβαιο είναι, ότι οι Τσάμηδες, που βρίσκονταν στον Αυλώνα, μαζί με πρόσφυγες από την Κορυτσά και το Αργυρόκαστρο, πήραν μέρος σε συλλαλητήριο, που έγινε στην πόλη στις 22 Μαΐου με την παρότρυνση των προξένων των δύο Αδριατικών Δυνάμεων, για να διαμαρτυρηθούν "κατά της περικοπής των συνόρων της Αλβανίας υπέρ της Ελλάδος", που θα είχε ως αποτέλεσμα να περιέλθει το σαντζάκι Ρεσαδιέ στην Ελλάδα. Οι ίδιοι απηύθυναν τέλος αναφορά προς τον ' Αγγλο Υπουργό Εξωτερικών, με την οποία κατήγγειλαν φόνους και διώξεις των Αλβανών προκρίτων από τα ελληνικά σώματα και τις ελληνικές αρχές. Την αναφορά αυτή διέψευσε λίγο αργότερα η ελληνική κυβέρνηση με συγκεκριμένα στοιχεία."
110. Dēmosthenēs Ch Dōdos. Hoi Hevraioi tēs Thessalonikēs stis ekloges tou Hellēnikou kratous 1915–1936. Savvalas, 2005
111. "Peace Treaty Between Greece and the Ottoman Empire". Balkan Studies. 26. Los Angeles, California, United States: University of California: 26. 1985.
112. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece (2006). "1913 Athens Peace Convention (Limited preview)" (in English and Greek). Athens, Greece: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece. Archived from the original (doc) on 19 March 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
113. Dinstein, Yoram (1996). Israel Year Book on Human Rights, 1995. Jerusalem, Israel: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 456. ISBN 9789041100269. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
114. Roudometof, Victor (2002). Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian question. Westport, Connecticut, United States of America: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 179. ISBN 9780275976484. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
115. ^ Mazower, Mark (2000). "Three Forms of Political Justice, 1944-1945". After The War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation and State in Greece, 1943–1960 (illustrated ed.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 25–26. ISBN 9780691058429. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
116. Potz, Richard; Wieshaider, Wolfgang (2004). Islam and the European Union. Brussels, Belgium: Peeters Publishers. pp. 102–103. ISBN 9789042914452. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
117. ^ Manta, Eleftheria (2004). ΟΙ ΜΟΥΣΟΥΛΜΑΝΟΙ ΤΣΑΜΗΔΕΣ ΤΗΣ ΗΠΕΙΡΟΥ (1923–2000) (in Greek). Thessaloniki, Greece: Ίδρυμα Μελετών Χερσονήσου του Αίμου. p. 225. ISBN 9780521004794.
118. Dorlhiac 2023, p. 63
119. Haddad, Emma (2008). The Refugee in International Society: Between Sovereigns. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 121. ISBN 9780521868884.
120. Manta, Eleftheria (2009). "The Cams of Albania and the Greek State (1923–1945)". Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 4. (29): 2. "On 19 January 1923 the Greek delegation which had participated in the negotiations in Lausanne had declared, through Dimitrios Caclamanos, official representative of Greece at the negotiations, that "Greece has no intention to proceed to an exchange of Muslims of Albanian origin."
121. ^ Baltsiotis 2011.
122. Baltsiotis 2011. "The presence of a population considered hostile to national interests near the frontier caused anxiety to Greek officials which was exacerbated by a militaristic perception of security and territory. The central Greek state was eager to push the "hostile" population to migrate to Turkey. To that end it utilized harassment tactics which were carried out by local paramilitary groups. This was a practice that was well known and had been adopted as early as the period of the Balkan Wars. In other cases it just forced people to leave the country, after handing down ultimatums."
123. Manta. The Cams of Albania. 2009. p. 2. "For the implementation of the decision the Mixed Commission appointed a special three-member delegation, which was assigned the task of local investigation of the issue. The delegation visited Epirus in May of that same year, where they met groups of people from the villages of the region, people who had been chosen by the Greek authorities and by the Μuftis."
124. Tsitselikis.Old and New Islam in Greece. 2012. p. 370. "In 1913, the Moufti of Paramythia, Hafiz signed a memorandum declaring their wish to join Greece rather than Albania at a time the latter was in the process of gaining its independence. In March 1917, the Moufti of Paramythia expressed his gratitude and loyalty to the Prime Minister Lambrou and King Constantine. In 1934, the Moufti of Paramythia, Hasan Abdul, similarly denounced Albanian propaganda in his region."
125. Manta. The Cams of Albania. 2009. p. 2-3. "Their conclusions were that the vast majority of Muslims residing in Epirus declared that they were of Turkish origin and wished to be included in the exchange."
126. Manta. The Cams of Albania. 2009. p. 3. "According to the conclusions of the Greek authorities, at that time the Çams of Epirus did not yet have a clearly developed ethnic consciousness. Perhaps they felt themselves more Muslim than Albanians or Turks; it was religion that played the prime role in their self-determination. This also explains the general confusion which initially prevailed amongst them regarding what their position should ultimately be, i.e. if they should take part in the exchange and depart for Turkey or remain in the regions where they were living. The conclusions that the three-member delegation arrived at, together with the incessant disagreements and mutual recriminations exchanged between the Greek and the Albanian sides, ultimately led to the Council of the League of Nations September 1924 decision. This called for the treatment of the whole matter as an issue connected with the implementation of the Treaty on the Protection of Minorities and required the gathering of more information. Thus, the three neutral members of the Mixed Commission decided to visit Epirus in order to examine the situation from up close, a visit which took place in June, 1925. In the end what the three members ascertained through meetings they had with various representatives of the Çams did not differ essentially from the conclusions which the three-member delegation had come to a year earlier"
127. Tsitselikis, Konstantinos (2002). "Exchange of population: A paradigm of legal perversion". In European Commission for Democracy through Law (ed.). The Protection of National Minorities by Their Kin-state. Strasbourg, France: Council of Europe. p. 141. ISBN 9789287150820.
128. ^ Grigorova – Mincheva, Lyubov (1995). "Comparative Balkan Parliamentarism" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2010.
129. James, Alice (December 2001). "Memories of Anatolia: generating Greek refugee identity". Balcanologica (in English and French). V (1–2). Paris, France: Federation of Journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Revues).
130. Pallis, Athanasios A. (1925). "Exchange of Populations in the Balkans". The Anglo-Hellenic League. London, UK.
131. ^ Mai, Nicola; Schwandner-Sievers, Stephanie (2005). Russell, King (ed.). The New Albanian Migration. Sussex, UK: Sussex Academic Press. p. 87. ISBN 9781903900789. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
132. ^ Pentzopoulos, Dimitris (7 October 2002). The Balkan Exchange of Minorities and Its Impact on Greece. London, UK: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 128. ISBN 9781850656746. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
133. ^ Kritikos, Georgios (2005). "The Agricultural Settlement of Refugees: A Source of Productive Work and Stability in Greece, 1923–1930" (PDF). Agricultural History. 79 (3). Little Rock, Arkansas, United States of America: Department of History, University of Arkansas at Little Rock: 321–346. doi:10.1525/ah.2005.79.3.321. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
134. Baltsiotis 2011. "Besides beys, it seems that the majority of the Muslim population consisted of middle sized estate owners. The land they owned varied in size, fertility and production."
135. Baltsiotis 2011. "Although there is no sufficient written proof to support the idea, it’s almost certain that families owning very small parcels of land, or just a few small fields and a small number of sheep, were not an exception and were also present in villages.... According to a 1936 document, at the Muslim village of Liopsi there are 170 families. More than one hundred of them "prosper" as they own land at the Chamouria plain, the rest of them being "poor and driven to desperation", The Local Authorities Inspector , Jianina 30.07.1936, HAMFA, 1936, 21.1. At the document it is underlined that at the neighboring village of Kotsika 150 persons left to Turkey during 1926–1927, reducing the current (at 1936) population to 450. One can suppose that the emigrants were coming from the "poor" families, although further research should be undertaken."
136. ^ Manta. The Cams of Albania. 2009. p. 4.
137. Baltsiotis 2011. " Two years earlier, Greek refugees from Asia Minor had been settled in the area. These newcomers were used as a tool for applying more pressure against Muslims for them to decide to leave Greece."
138. Baltsiotis 2011. "The newcomers took advantage of the land expropriations, and settled in the houses of Muslims. These actions were in accordance with legal provisions applicable to the whole territory of Greece. It is highly probable, therefore, that some Muslims, pressed by the legislation relating to expropriation and the presence of refugees who presented a threat to them, sold their estates and remained landless."
139. Baltsiotis 2011. "The restrictions imposed on the right to sell, rent or even cultivate land, due to the consideration of Muslims as "exchangeable", gradually led to the financial devastation of the Muslim population."
140. Ktistakis 2006, p. 14. "Η δεύτερη Αναφορά, εκείνη "των Μωαμεθανών κατοίκων των χωριών Γαρδίκι και Δραγούμη", αφορούσε την κατάληψη σπιτιών και κτημάτων από πρόσφυγες. Σύμφωνα με την ελληνική εκδοχή, οι Τσάμηδες είχαν πουλήσει τα σπίτια τους ελπίζοντας σε ανταλλαγή. Όταν όμως δεν αναχώρησαν, ζήτησαν την ακύρωση των πωλήσεων. Για τα κτήματα ζήτησαν και έλαβαν από τους πρόσφυγες το 1/3 της παραγωγής. Η Τριμελής Επιτροπή της Κοινωνίας των Εθνών θεώρησε ικανοποιητική την ελληνική εξήγηση αν και ζήτησε να κρατηθεί ενήμερη των εξελίξεων."
141. Baltsiotis 2011. "For instance, as late as February 1925, the General Administration of Epirus undertook the task of carrying out a special operation with the purpose of persuading them to leave the country."
142. Baltsiotis 2011. "The great majority of the refugees were resettled when it was decided that the Muslim population would not be exchanged."
143. Manta. The Cams of Albania. 2009. p. 4. "In reply to all accusations the Greek side clarified that the expropriation was of general character and implemented in the same way for all citizens of the state. Not only was there no special discrimination against the properties of the Çams, but the government took care to implement the measure more leniently in their case and, especially in Epirus, to limit the influx and establishment of refugees. In any case, according to the 1928 census, in all of Epirus there resided only a total of 8,179 refugees, of whom 323 were in the province of Paramythia, 720 in Filiates and 275 in the province of Margariti, numbers that cannot support the Albanian accusations on privileged treatment of refugees to the detriment of the Albanians"
144. Manta. The Cams of Albania. 2009. p. 5.
145. Robert Elsie; Bejtullah D. Destani; Rudina Jasini (18 December 2012). The Cham Albanians of Greece: A Documentary History. I.B.Tauris. p. 360. ISBN 978-1-78076-000-1.
146. Kentrotis, Kyriakos D. (1984). "Die Frage des muslimanichen Tehamen". Diegriechich-albanichen Beziehungen (in German). pp. 288–295.
147. ^ Hart, Laurie Kain (1999). "Culture, Civilization, and Demarcation at the Northwest Borders of Greece". American Ethnologist. 26 (1): 196–220. doi:10.1525/ae.1999.26.1.196. JSTOR 647505.
148. ^ Mavrogordatos, George Th. Stillborn republic: social coalitions and party strategies in Greece, 1922–1936. University of California Press. California, 1983.
149. ^ Tsitselikis, Konstandinos (2004). Citizenship in Greece: Present challenges and future changes (PDF). Thessaloniki, Greece: University of Macedonia. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
150. ^ Meta, Beqir (2005). "Kosova and Çamëria in the First Half of the XXth Century – A Comparative Look". Historical Studies (in Albanian). 3 (4). Tirana, Albania: Albanian Institute of History: 20.
151. Halili, Rigels (2007). "The issue of Epirus in political writings of Mid'hat bey Frashëri". Nationalities Affairs (31). Warsaw, Poland: Albanian Institute of History: 275–286.
152. Baltsiotis 2011. "A concrete description of the lives of the Muslims is clearly referred to in a special report drawn by K. Stylianopoulos, the "Inspector" in charge of Minority issues, who was directly appointed by the Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos and was accountable to him. The report relates to us in graphic terms that " persecutions and heavier confiscations, even led to the decision of classifying as chiftlik the town of Paramythia and in that way small properties and gardens had been expropriated against the Constitution and the Agrarian law; not a single stremma was left to them for cultivation and for sustaining their families, nor were the rents of their properties paid to them regularly (some of them being even lower than a stamp duty). They were not permitted to sell or buy land, and were forced to evaluate their fields at ridiculously low prices (as low as 3 drahmi per stremma), , only to be imprisoned for taxes not paid for land already confiscated or expropriated..... Report, 15 October 1930, Archive of Eleftherios Venizelos, Minorities, f. 58/173/4573. See the more detailed report on illegal real estate expropriations and confiscations and the financial results upon the Muslim population at the documents contacted by the General Inspector of the Central Department (of the Ministry of Agriculture) to his Ministry, dated 13. 01. 1932 and 7 August 1932 (HAMFA, 1935, f. A/4/9/2), where he underlines that even plots of 2–3 stremmata had been expropriated."
153. For a more detailed view on settlement renames see Institute of Neo-Hellenic Studies` collection
154. M. V., Sakellariou (1997). Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. Athens, Greece: Ekdotike Athenon. ISBN 9789602133712. The Albanians believed that a voluntarily exchange of the Greeks of Northern Epirus for the Muslims of Chameria...Northern Epirus.
155. Hetaireia Makedonikōn Spoudōn. Hidryma Meletōn Cheresonēsou tou Haimou (1995). Balkan studies. Vol. 36. Thessaloniki, Greece: Institute for Balkan Studies, Society for Macedonian Studies. p. 88.
156. Manta. The Cams of Albania. 2009. p. 5. "Despite the crisis in relations between Athens and Tirana and the broader problems this caused, the Venizelos government (1928–32) seemed determined to intensify efforts for the improvement of the Çams' situation on the economic and social levels. The first issue that had to be dealt with was definitely the land one and the government made efforts to settle the issue of reimbursement, for this constituted a permanent source of grievances for the Albanian population. Thus, by mid 1931 a law was passed which provided for the direct payment of reimbursement to Greek citizens through their granting of analogous bonds and the direct return of improperly expropriated urban properties. Indeed, some Albanian families began to respond to these new favorable regulations and to accept the reimbursement determined by the state. On the other hand, the Albanian state accepted the Greek proposal for the payment of indemnification in bonds, thus freeing the way for the promulgation of the relevant legislation on 15 June 1933 and the hastening of the process of paying indemnification to the Albanian citizens. According to information from the Greek embassy in Tirana, by the middle of 1935 a great number of Albanian demands had been satisfied and consequently one of the most chronic problems for Greek-Albanian relations seemed at least to be coursing towards settlement".
157. Ktistakis 2006, p. 14. "Τον Απρίλιο του 1930 έφθασαν στην Κοινωνία των Εθνών καταγγελίες μικροϊδιοκτητών Τσάμηδων για παράνομες απαλλοτριώσεις σε κτήματα στην Τσαμουριά κάτω των 30 εκταρίων που προέβλεπε ο αγροτικός νόμος του 1926. Η ελληνική αντιπροσωπεία απάντησε ότι ο αγροτικός νόμος προέβλεπε εξαιρέσεις για την περιοχή της Ηπείρου και οι ίδιοι ισχυρισμοί είχαν απορριφθεί από το Συμβούλιο της Επικρατείας. Πάντως, τον Ιούνιο του 1930 ψηφίζεται ειδικός νόμος για τα απαλλοτριωθέντα κτήματα στην Τσαμουριά και η αρμόδια τριμελής επιτροπή της Κοινωνίας των Εθνών έμεινε ικανοποιημένη."
158. Baltsiotis 2011. "Various documents indicate that the Greek Authorities either prompted dislocation, or, as one document vividly puts it, "all of our services, but most of all the Sub-prefecture and the Gendarmerie of Filiati and Igoumenitsa are working hardly to reinforce the flow". Practical incentives were provided to individuals and most of all to families wanting to migrate to Turkey. Another mechanism that was used in some cases was the demographic disruption of Muslim communities targeting the disassociation of the social web of the communities with a view to put additional pressure to emigrate. This migration flow presents a prima facie controversial acknowledgment in consideration of the fact that we have mentioned that an Albanian national minority was called into being: The great majority of the emigrants chose to leave for Turkey and not Albania. However, a closer reading of the relevant documents indicates that the Greek Authorities were unofficially encouraging (legal) migration to Turkey while discouraging, or even forbidding, migration to Albania. One more fact that should not be underestimated is that there was an underground migration to Albania, which was not documented in the reports of Local Authorities to the Centre (since, for instance, no passports were issued) and only indirectly referred to in Greek sources. However, this migration is testified to by the relevant Albanian bibliography which includes the testimonies of members of the community. This underground migration of individuals and families to Albania continued until 1940."
159. Baltsiotis 2011. "In the 1930s it was obvious that the Chams were viewed as a hostile population and "a lost cause for "Hellenism"
160. ^ Tsoutsoumpis 2015, p. 127
161. ^ Vickers 2002, p. 5
162. ^ Tsitsipis, Lukas D.; Elmendorf, William W. (1983). "Language Shift among the Albanian Speakers of Greece". Anthropological Linguistics. 25 (3). Indiana, United States of America: The Trustees of Indiana University: 288–308. JSTOR 30027674. Metaxas' linguistic totalitarianism as part of his political platform is well remembered by senior Arvanitika informants. They mention that he introduced open discrimination against the Arvanitika language and punished its use at school or in the army.
163. Baltsiotis 2011. "Parallel measures were taken at the same time regarding the language in Christian Albanian speaking villages. The most important and easily confirmed measure consisted of opening kindergartens in villages selected either by the absence of knowledge of Greek or by their demographic importance. According to a 1931 document, these villages included Aghia, Anthoussa, Eleftheri, Kanallaki, Narkissos, Psakka, Aghios Vlassios, Kastri (Dagh) and Draghani."
164. Baltsiotis 2011. "Finally, so as to exercise better control over the minority, the Greek state created in late 1936 a new prefecture, that of Thesprotia, consisting of areas that previously belonged to the Prefectures of Ioannina (Yanina) and Preveza, embodying all the Muslim population.... According to the suggestion of the General Administration of Epirus to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (24 October 1936), the presence of Albanian Muslims and the difficulties in "administrating" them from a far away capital calls for the creation of a new prefecture (HAMFA, 1937, A4/9)."
165. ^ Fischer, Bernd Jürgen (1999). Albania at War, 1939–1945. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. pp. 75–76. ISBN 978-1-85065-531-2.
166. Mario Cervi, Eric Mosbacher. The Hollow Legions. Doubleday. 1971, p. 21 "Hoggia was an illiterate cattle-drover and notorious brigand who had been sought by the Greek authorities for twenty years: the 'celebrated partiot' had an exceptional vivid police record."
167. Owen Pearson. Albania in Occupation and War: From Fascism To Communism 1940–1945. I.B.Tauris, 2006. ISBN 978-1-84511-104-5, p. 18 "He was in fact a notorious bandit sought by the Greek police for murders that he had committed many years before, but was killed in fight with two sheperds after a quarrel over some sheep".
168. P. J. Ruches Albania's captives. Argonaut, 1965, p. 142-144 "his ingrained 'faith' permitted him to slit the throat or shoot a Christian Greek and an Albanian Moslem with equal facility".
169. MacGregor Knox. Mussolini unleashed, 1939–1941. Cambridge University Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0-521-33835-6,"In June unknown assailants had decapidated an obscure, Albanian bandit and sheep stealer, Daut Hodja."
170. Martin L. Van Creveld. Hitler's Strategy 1940–1941. Cambridge University Press, 1973. ISBN 978-0-521-20143-8, "the headless corpse of Daut Hoxha, cattle thief,..."
171. Bernard Newman. The New Europe. Ayer Publishing, 1972. ISBN 978-0-8369-2963-8, "Then a certain Albanian brigand, Daut Hoggia..."
172. Tobacco, arms, and politics. Museum Tusculanum Press, 1998. ISBN 978-87-7289-450-8, "Thereafter a deceased Albanian sheep-thief, became the focus of attention. The thief -Daut Hoxha-..."
173. Curt Riess. They were there"Daut Hohxa, a bandit described by Italians as an Albanian patriot."
174. Reynolds And Eleanor Packard. Balcony Empire. Kessinger Publishing, 2005. ISBN 978-1-4179-8528-9, "a local drunkard and bandit, Daut Hoggia..."
175. P. J. Ruches Albania's Captives. Argonaut, 1965, p. 142–144." the death of an Albanian brigand...This was the cause celebre Musolini chose to trumpet around the world to justify the move he was soon to make."
176. ^ Gizem Bilgin, Aytaç (2020). Conflict areas in the Balkans. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 116. ISBN 9781498599207.
177. Baltsiotis 2011, Paragraph 56.
178. ^ Jowett, Stephen; Andrew (2001). The Italian Army 1940–45: (1) Europe 1940–43. Osprey Publishing. pp. 6–7. ISBN 1-85532-864-X.
179. Ethnologia Balkanica. Vol. 6. 2002. Very soon numerous voluntary Albanians fled to the Italian lines and parts of the Albanian population of Chameria supported Mussolini's attack against Greece.
180. P. J. Ruches Albania's captives. Argonaut, 1965, p. 147
181. Petrov, Bisser (2005). "The Problem of Collaboration in Post-war Greece 1944–46". Balkan Studies. 25 (3). Los Angeles, California, United States: University of California: 15–36. Chams recruited in the army, and replaced their active service by labour service. Some time later the authorities rounded up all men, who had not been mobilized and sent them to camps and islands.
182. Ethnologia Balkanica. Vol. 6. 2002. Cham support for the Italian army was paid back by the Greeks. Most of the male population were interned "for security reasons".
183. Hermann Frank Meyer. Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86153-447-1, p. 152
184. Manta. The Cams of Albania. 2009. p. 7: "Greek Thesprotia was not included amongst the territories annexed to Albania and remained under the control of the High Command of Athens because of the German reaction. It seems that, amongst other factors which worked against such an annexation was the fact that, in contrast to Kosovo, the inhabitants of Epirus were by a vast majority Greeks, which could not justify any administrative reorganization in that region."
185. ^ Meyer, p. 152: "Aufgrund des Versrpechens dass ein Teil des Epirus eines Tages zu Albanien gehoren werde, kollaborierten nicht wenige Tsamides mit den Italienern", p. 464: "setzten die deutschen Versprechungen... die sogenannte Tsamouria, nach Kriegsende in "ein freies, selbstandiges Albanien" eingegliedert werde."
186. Manta. The Cams of Albania. 2009. p. 7: "Up until the middle of May that year their establishment in Paramythia and other Epirote cities and the organization of their services, were completed."
187. Theodoros, Sabatakakis (2003). "Οι Βρετανικές Υπηρεσίες κατά την Περίοδο του Δευτέρου Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου στην Ελλάδα [British Intelligence in World War II Greece]". didaktorika.gr. Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences: 30. doi:10.12681/eadd/17487. hdl:10442/hedi/17487. Retrieved 10 May 2015. ...τον Ιούνιο του 1941, ξεκίνησαν τη δράση τους οι πρώτες ένοπλες συμμορίες Αλβανών τσάμηδων στην Ήπειρο...
188. Hermann Frank Meyer. Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86153-447-1, p. 702
189. Hermann Frank Meyer. Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86153-447-1, p. 152, 464.
190. Kretsi 2002, p. 179. "It is difficult however, to make final statements on Cham participation in this systematic persecution of the Christian population in the region, especially as there is evidence that the arbitrary rule of the Dino clan was directed even against some Muslims and Albanian-speaking Christians (Arbanits) (Isufi 2002: 2 19—254)."
191. Kretsi 2002, p. 178.
192. Giorgos Margarites (2005). Anepithymetoi sympatriotes. Stoicheia gia ten katastrophe ton meionoteton tes Elladas. Bibliorama. Athens. pp. 155–156, 160.
193. Hermann Frank Meyer. Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86153-447-1, p. 204, 476.
194. Hermann Frank Meyer. Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86153-447-1, p. 469
195. Hermann Frank Meyer. Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86153-447-1, p. 469-471
196. Hermann Frank Meyer. Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86153-447-1, p. 498
197. Kondis, Basil (1997). "The Developments of the Northern Epirus Question". Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization. Ekdotike Athenon: 401. ISBN 9789602133712. Retrieved 10 May 2015. After the capitulation of Italy in September 1943, the British mission in Epirus tried to arrive at an understanding with the Chams in the hope of persuading them to turn against the Germans. The Chams refused
198. Hermann Frank Meyer. [Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86153-447-1, p. 539
199. ^ Hermann Frank Meyer. Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. (in German) ISBN 978-3-86153-447-1, p. 620
200. ^ Lambros Baltsiotis (2015). "Balkan Roma immigrants in Greece: An initial approach to the traits of a migration flow." International Journal of Language, Translation and Intercultural Communication. 1. (1): 5. "In general terms, it seems that previous ties of any kind with Greece facilitate not only the migration but also a more permanent way of living in the country. This is the case with the Muslim Roma of Filiati in Thesprotia who, following the expulsion of the Muslim Albanian Chams from Greece in 1944–1945, were settled in the village of Shkallë, Sarandë in Albania. The majority of the families, more than fifteen, gradually settled in Greece."
201. Eriksonas, Linas; Leos Müller (2005). Statehood before and beyond ethnicity: minor states in Northern and Eastern Europe, 1600–2000 (vol 33 ed.). P.I.E.-Peter Lang. p. 308. ISBN 9780820466460.
202. Kretsi 2002, p. 182. "They did not have the opportunity, however, to make any significant contributions in fight against the Germans. Likewise, the Cham partisans quoted above could describe the battles against EDES, but non-against the Germans. Admittedly these fighting units were formed at the end of the war and therefore could no longer exert any broad influence on the Cham population"
203. Victor Roudometof, Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict. ISBN 0-275-97648-3. p. 158
204. "Document of the Committee of Cham Albanians in exile, on Greek persecution of the Chams, submitted to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in 1946". Online version Archived 17 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine
205. Γκότοβος, Αθανάσιος (2013). Ετερότητα και σύγκρουση: ταυτότητες στην κατοχική Θεσπρωτία και ο ρόλος της Μουσουλμανικής μειονότητας. University of Ioannina, Dodoni Journal. p. 65. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2016. Σε σύγκριση πάντως με τα αιματηρά επεισόδια με θύματα (εθνοτικά) Γερμανούς... επειδή τελικά ο Ζέρβας μπόρεσε να επιβάλει την αναγκαία πειθαρχία για την περιφρούρηση του συγκεντρωμένου σε διάφορα ασφαλή σημεία άμαχου μουσουλμανικού πληθυσμού
206. "Document of the Committee of Chams in exile, on Greek persecution of the Chams, submitted to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in 1946" (in Albanian and English). Tirana, Albania: Cham Anti-Fascist Committee. 1946. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
207. Baltsiotis 2011. "The process of extinguishing any signs of previous minority existence occurred both in real and symbolic ways. The villages of Muslim Chams were repopulated by Greek speaking populations from the adjacent mountainous areas and Vlachs, immediately after their expulsion."
208. Kretsi 2002, p. 187. "The social component of the respective redistribution or property transfers is evident. At the point where the "national" redistribution halted in the prewar period, the "hellenization" of property was taken up once and for all after the war. The economic mobilization of loyal majority groups (i.e., Vlachs along the entire northern Greek border) for the purposes of national homogenization was more often than not carried out to the disadvantage of minorities. In this case it was combined with a strategic purpose, namely the "national stabilization" of the border region and the guarantee of ideological and thus military loyalty to the central state. This becomes evident in a series of laws giving a social or populist character to the expropriation of the Chams and explicitly concerned with supporting border settlers: Athanasakos (n. d.:70 f.) names: 1. N.Δ. 2536/1953 "on the resettlement of the border regions and the enforcement of these populations" art. 6. and 2. N. Δ. 2180/1952 "on the compulsory expropriation of lands for the restitution of the landless farmers and cattle-breeders" which were completed and modified later. According to the aforementioned, the financial revenue office took possession of the properties. In coordination with the direction for agriculture and under the Committee for the expropriations they were bestowed on persons entitled to a share. According to the same author, these persons received title-deeds in the 1960s to 1970s by buying them for the amounts defined by the Committee. The owners of urban properties received acts of concession."
209. Koukoudis. The Vlachs. 2003. p.293. "After the Axis Occupation and the Civil War, most of them gradually rehabilitated in villages and towns in the prefecture of Thesprotia and Preveza in the gaps left by the departed local Moslem Albanians, the Çams, and also in various villages in the Pogoni and Kourenda areas in Ioannina prefecture. Their most important settlements in villages and towns in Thesprotia and Preveza prefectures are in Sayada, Asproklissi, Igoumenitsa, Agios Vlassios (Souvlassi), Parapotamos (Varfani), Plataria, Myli (Skefari), Paramythia, Ambelia (Vrestas), Rahoula (Tsifliki), Xirolofos (Zeleso), Karvounari, Skandalo, Hoika, Perdika (Arpitsa), Milokokkia, Katavothra (Ligorati), Margariti, Kaloudiki, Morfi (Morfati), Dzara, Parga, and their largest settlement, Themelo (Tabania) in Preveza prefecture."
210. Kretsi 2007, p. 57.
211. ^ Kretsi 2007, p. 58.
212. Charles R. Shrader. The withered vine. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999. ISBN 978-0-275-96544-0, p. 188.
213. Kretsi 2002, p. 185.
214. Kretsi 2007, p. 63.
215. Albanian Parliament (1994). "Law Nr.7839, datë 30.6.1994, "For declaring 27th June in the national calendar as 'The Day of Genocide Against Albanians of Chameria from Greek Chauvinism' and to build a memorial in Konispol"" (in Albanian). Tirana, Albania: Center of Official Publication website. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
216. Kouzas 2013, p. 134: "Η μνήμη της γενοκτονίας, όμως, είναι ένα εσωτερικό θέμα της Αλβανίας και δεν έχει διαστάσεις διεθνούς αναγνώρισης."
217. Ktistakis 2006, p. 8.
218. Baltsiotis 2011. "A few hundred Muslims stayed behind. 127 of them were counted in the 1951 census, while the rest, whose number remains unknown and in need of research, converted to Christianity and intermarried with Greeks..... Except for two small communities that mostly avoided conversion, namely Kodra and Koutsi (actual Polyneri), the majority of others were baptized. Isolated family members that stayed behind were included in the Greek society, and joined the towns of the area or left for other parts of Greece (author’s field research in the area, 1996–2008)."
219. Sarah Green (2005). Notes from the Balkans: Locating Marginality and Ambiguity on the Greek-Albanian border. Princeton University Press. pp. 74–75. "Over time, and with some difficulty, I began to understand that the particular part of Thesprotia being referred to was the borderland area, and that the 'terrible people' were not all the peoples associated with Thesprotia but more specifically peoples known as the Tsamides –though they were rarely explicitly named as such in the Pogoni area. One of the few people who did explicitly refer to them was Spiros, the man from Despotiko on the southern Kasidiaris (next to the Thesprotia border) who had willingly fought with the communists during the civil war. He blamed widespread negative attitudes toward the Tsamides on two things: first, that in the past they were perceived to be 'Turks' in the same way as Albanian speaking Muslims had been perceived to be 'Turks'; and second, there had been particularly intense propaganda against them during the two wars –propaganda that had led to large numbers of Tsamides' being summarily killed by EDES forces under General Zervas. Zervas believed they had helped the Italian and later German forces when they invaded Greece, and thus ordered a campaign against them in retribution. Spiros went on to recall that two young men from Despotiko had rescued one endangered Tsamis boy after they came across him when they were in Thesprotia to buy oil. They brought him back to the village with them, and Spiros had baptized him in a barrel (many Tsamides were Muslim) in the local monastery. In the end, the boy had grown up, married in the village, and stayed there."
220. Kretsi 2002, p. 186. "In the census of 1951 there were only 127 Muslims left of a minority that once had 20,000 members. A few of them could merge into the Greek population by converting to Christianity and changing their names and marital practices. After the expulsion, two families of Lopësi found shelter in Sagiáda and some of their descendants still live there today under new names and being Christians. Another inhabitant of Lopësi, then a child, is living in nearby Asproklissi..... The eye-witness Arhimandritēs (n. d.: 93) writes about a gendarmerie officer and member of the EDES named Siaperas who married a very prosperous Muslim widow whose children had converted to Christianity. One interviewee, an Albanian Cham woman, told me that her uncle stayed in Greece, "he married a Christian, he changed his name, he took the name Spiro. Because it is like that, he changed it, and is still there in loannina, with his children". A Greek man from Sagiáda also stated that at this time many people married and in saving the women also were able to take over their lands."
221. Οδηγός Περιφέρειας Ηπείρου (10 December 2007). "Πρόσφυγες, Σαρακατσάνοι, Αρβανίτες Archived 18 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine". cultureportalweb. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
222. Georgoulas, Sokratis D.(1964). Λαογραφική Μελέτη Αμμουδιάς Πρεβέζης Archived 27 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Κέντρων Ερεύνης της Ελληνικής Λαογραφίας. pp. 2, 15.
223. Tsitsipis, Lukas (1981). Language change and language death in Albanian speech communities in Greece: A sociolinguistic study. (Thesis). University of Wisconsin. Ann Arbor. 124. "The Epirus Albanian speaking villages use a dialect of Tosk Albanian, and they are among the most isolated areas in Greece. In the Epiriotic village of Aghiá I was able to spot even a few monolingual Albanian speakers."
224. Foss, Arthur (1978). Epirus. Botston, United States of America: Faber. p. 224. ISBN 9780571104888. "There are still many Greek Orthodox villagers in Threspotia who speak Albanian among themselves. They are scattered north from Paramithia to the Kalamas River and beyond, and westward to the Margariti Plain. Some of the older people can only speak Albanian, nor is the language dying out. As more and more couples in early married life travel away to Athens or Germany for work, their children remain at home and are brought up by their Albania-speaking grandparents. It is still sometimes possible to distinguish between Greek- and Albanian-speaking peasant women. Nearly all of them wear traditional black clothes with a black scarf round their neck heads. Greek-speaking women tie their scarves at the back of their necks, while those who speak primarily Albanian wear their scarves in a distinctive style fastened at the side of the head."
225. Moraitis, Thanassis. "publications as a researcher". thanassis moraitis: official website. Retrieved 18 April 2015. "Οι Αρβανίτες αυτοί είναι σε εδαφική συνέχεια με την Αλβανία, με την παρεμβολή του ελληνόφωνου Βούρκου (Vurg) εντός της Αλβανίας, και η Αλβανική που μιλιέται εκεί ακόμα, η Τσάμικη, είναι η νοτιότερη υποδιάλεκτος του κεντρικού κορμού της Αλβανικής, αλλά έμεινε ουσιαστικά εκτός του εθνικού χώρου όπου κωδικοποιήθηκε η Αλβανική ως επίσημη γλώσσα του κράτους..... Οι αλβανόφωνοι χριστιανοί θεωρούν τους εαυτούς τους Έλληνες. Στα Ελληνικά αποκαλούν τη γλώσσα τους "Αρβανίτικα", όπως εξ άλλου όλοι οι Αρβανίτες της Ελλάδας, στα Αρβανίτικα όμως την ονομάζουν "Σκιπ""..... "The Albanian idiom still spoken there, Çamërisht, is the southernmost sub-dialect of the main body of the Albanian language, but has remained outside the national space where standard Albanian has been standardized as official language of the state..... Ethnic Albanophone Christians perceive themselves as national Greeks. When speaking Greek, members of this group call their idiom Arvanitic, just as all other Arvanites of Greece; yet, when conversing in their own idiom, they call it "Shqip"."
226. Tsitsipis. Language change and language death. 1981. p. 2. "The term Shqip is generally used to refer to the language spoken in Albania. Shqip also appears in the speech of the few monolinguals in certain regions of Greek Epirus, north-western Greece, while the majority of the bilingual population in the Epirotic enclaves use the term Arvanitika to refer to the language when talking in Greek, and Shqip when talking in Albanian (see Çabej 1976:61–69, and Hamp 1972: 1626–1627 for the etymological observations and further references)."
227. Baltsiotis 2011. "The Albanian language, and the Christian population who spoke it- and still do- had to be concealed also, since the language was perceived as an additional threat to the Greekness of the land. It could only be used as a proof of their link with the Muslims, thus creating a continuum of non-Greekness."
228. Adrian Ahmedaja (2004). "On the question of methods for studying ethnic minorities' music in the case of Greece's Arvanites and Alvanoi." in Ursula Hemetek (ed.). Manifold Identities: Studies on Music and Minorities. Cambridge Scholars Press. p. 59. "Among the Alvanoi the reluctance to declare themselves as Albanians and to speak to foreigners in Albanian was even stronger than among the Arvanites. I would like to mention just one example. After several attempts we managed to get the permission to record a wedding in Igoumenitsa. The participants were people from Mavrudi, a village near Igoumenitsa. They spoke to us only German or English, but to each other Albanian. There were many songs in Greek which I knew because they are sung on the other side of the border, in Albanian. I should say the same about a great part of the dance music. After a few hours, we heard a very well known bridal song in Albanian. When I asked some wedding guests what this kind of song was, they answered: You know, this is an old song in Albanian. There have been some Albanians in this area, but there aren’t any more, only some old people". Actually it was a young man singing the song, as can he heard in audio example 5.9. The lyrics are about the bride’s dance during the wedding. The bride (swallow" in the song) has to dance slowly – slowly as it can be understood in the title of the song Dallëndushe vogël-o, dale, dale (Small swallow, slow – slow) (CD 12)."
229. Sarah Green (2005). Notes from the Balkans: Locating Marginality and Ambiguity on the Greek-Albanian border. Princeton University Press. pp. 74–75. "In short, there was a continual production of ambiguity in Epirus about these people, and an assertion that a final conclusion about the Tsamides was impossible. The few people I meet in Thesprotia who agreed that they were Tsamides were singularly reluctant to discuss anything to do with differences between themselves and anyone else. One older man said, 'Who told you I’m a Tsamis? I’m no different from anyone else.' That was as far as the conversation went. Another man, Having heard me speaking to some people in a Kafeneio in Thesprotia on the subject, followed me out of the shop as I left, to explain to me why people would not talk about Tsamides; he did not was to speak to me about it in the hearing of others: They had a bad reputation, you see. They were accused of being thieves and armatoloi. But you can see for yourself, there not much to live on around here. If some of them did act that way, it was because they had to, to survive. But there were good people too, you know; in any population, you get good people and bad people. My grandfather and my father after him were barrel makers, they were honest men. They made barrels for oil and tsipouro. I’m sorry that people have not been able to help you do your work. It’s just very difficult; it’s a difficult subject. This man went on to explain that his father was also involved in distilling tsipouro, and he proceeded to draw a still for me in my notebook, to explain the process of making this spirit. But he would not talk about any more about Tsamides and certainly never referred to himself as being Tsamis."
230. Winnifrith, Tom (1995). "Southern Albania, Northern Epirus: Survey of a Disputed Ethnological Boundary Archived 10 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine". Society Farsharotu. Retrieved 18 April 2015. "I tried unsuccessfully in 1994 to find Albanian speakers in Filiates, Paramithia and Margariti. The coastal villages near Igoumenitsa have been turned into tourist resorts. There may be Albanian speakers in villages inland, but as in the case with the Albanian speakers in Attica and Boeotia the language is dying fast. It receives no kind of encouragement. Albanian speakers in Greece would of course be almost entirely Orthodox."
231. Winnifrith, Tom (2002). Badlands, Borderlands: A History of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania. Duckworth. pp. 25–26, 53. "Some Orthodox speakers remained, but the language was not encouraged or even allowed, and by the end of the twentieth century it had virtually disappeared..... And so with spurious confidence Greek historians insist that the inscriptions prove that the Epirots of 360, given Greek names by their fathers and grandfathers at the turn of the century, prove the continuity of Greek speech in Southern Albania since their grandfathers whose names they might bear would have been living in the time of Thucydides. Try telling the same story to some present-day inhabitants of places like Margariti and Filiates in Southern Epirus. They have impeccable names, they speak only Greek, but their grandparents undoubtedly spoke Albanian."
232. "Σε αρβανιτοχώρι της Θεσπρωτίας αναβίωσαν τον αρβανίτικο γάμο! In an Arvanite village, Arvanite customs have reappeared !". Katopsi. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
233. Turan, Sibel; Şenbaş, Demet (2020). A Problem between Albania and Greece: Cham Albanians. Lexington Books. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-4985-9920-7.
234. "Türkiyedeki Kürtlerin Sayısı!". Milliyet (in Turkish). 6 June 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
235. Yenigun, Cuneyt. "GCC Model: Conflict Management for the "Greater Albania"" (PDF). SDU Faculty of Arts and Sciences Journal of Social Sciences: 184. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2015.
236. ^ Chameria Human Rights Association (2009). "Official site of the Chameria Human Rights Association" (in Albanian and English). Tirana, Albania. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
237. http://chameriaorganization.blogspot.com
238. ^ Kouzas 2013, p. 119.
239. Tsitselikis, Konstantinos (2012). Old and New Islam in Greece: From historical minorities to immigrant newcomers. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 312–313. "In the aftermath of the events of 1944–1945, Cham real estate was considered as abandoned and gradually confiscated or put at the disposal of landless peasants and refugees. On the ground, the situation until the early 1950s was out of control. Legally, the real estate was supposed to pass to state ownership as set forth by Act 1539/1938 (article 54). But in practice, the abandoned and devastated plots, fields, and houses were occupied by inhabitants of the nearby villages or by the new settlers. The situation soon became chaotic and the local police were unable to establish order. Finally, LDs 2180/1952, 2185/1952 (FEK A 217), and LD 2781/1954 (FEK A 45) regulated the transfer of ownership, and LD 2536/1953 (FEK A 225) legalized the resettlement of the empty Cham villages by newcomers from other places in Greece. According to article 17 of the LD 3958/1959 (FEKA 133), the residents of the mountainous areas of Filiates and Paramythia as well as those of 'Greek descent' originating from Northern Epirus were allowed to settle in the 'abandoned Muslim plots of Thesprotia'. The policy of national homogenization remained incomplete, however, until the 1970s, when the Hellenization of the former Muslim property was completed. This guaranteed the population’s loyalty to the state and minimized Greece’s Muslim population. As mentioned earlier, numerous Muslims of Greece chose to obtain foreign citizenship in order to be exempt from the population exchange or for other reasons. Some Chams acquired Albanian citizenship, although they could remain in Greece as citizens of 'Albanian origin'. After 1945, those who held Albanian citizenship faced expropriation of their property as its legal status was that of 'enemy property', since Albania was a conquered territory of fascist Italy and a nemesis of Greece during World War II. Thus, Albanian real estate was sequestrated according to Act 2636/1940 (FEK A 379) and Act 13/1944 (FEK A 11), which, in theory, should not have affected ownership per se. Much of this real estate remains sequestrated to this day and is registered at the Office of Sequestration based in Athens. According to article 38 of the LD 1138/1949 (FEK A 257) amending Act 2636/1940, sequestration can be abolished by joint decision of the Ministers of Interior, Economy, Justice, and the Prime Minister. Income gained by the sequestrated real estate is kept in special accounts at the Bank of Greece. It is worth noting that inhabitants of Albania (Albanian citizens) of Greek origin were exempt from sequestration or expropriation (Ministerial Decision, Minister of the Finance, 144862/3574/17.6.1947, FEK B 93). This reading of the category 'of origin', reflects the ideological nature of policies aimed at ethnicizing land ownership. According to several court decisions, the Albanian property would remain under sequestration until the removal of the state of war between the two countries. However, even though the Greek government declared the state of war with Albania to be over in 1987, the sequestration of Albanian estates was continued, as the declaration was not legally ratified. Such measures do not comply with legal standards set by international instruments banning discrimination on grounds of ethnicity (ICCPR, ECHR etc.). Meanwhile, LD 2180/1952 on 'the compulsory expropriation of lands for the restitution of the landless farmers and cattle-breeders' authorized special committees to take possession of the properties and then bestow them on persons entitled to a share. In practice, such persons were squatters tolerated by the authorities during the Civil War or later. These persons received title deeds in the late 1950s until the 1970s."
240. ^ Ktistakis 2006, p. 53.
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250. ^ Biberaj, Elez (1998). Albania in Transition: The Rocky Road to Democracy. Boulder, Colorado, US: Westview Press. p. 288. ISBN 9780813336886. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
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254. Oriental World. New Armenia Publishing Company. 1912. pp. 294–297.
255. Baltsiotis 2011. "In the official censuses of the Greek State in the Interwar period there is major manipulation involving the numbers of the Albanian speakers in the whole of the Greek territory.... The issue here is not the underestimation of the numbers of speakers as such, but the vanishing and reappearing of linguistic groups according to political motives, the crucial one being the "stabilization" of the total number of Albanian speakers in Greece."
256. ^ Baltsiotis 2011. "The Orthodox Albanian-speakers' "return" to Southern Greece and Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace also present at this time, at the 1951 census (7,357 are counted in Epirus)."
257. Ciampi, Gabriele (1985). Le sedi dei Greci Arvaniti (in Italian). Vol. 92. Rome, Italy: Rivista Geografica Italiana. p. 29.
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281. Pedersen, Holgert (1898). Zur albanesischen Volkskunde (in Danish and Albanian). Copenhagen, Denmark: E. Möller.
282. Aliu, Kadri (1993). "Perla të folklorit kombëtar të pavlerësuara ". Çamëria – Vatra Amtare (in Albanian) (224). Tirana, Albania: Shoqëria Politike Atdhetare "Çamëria".
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Bibliography

History

• Baltsiotis, Lambros (2011). "The Muslim Chams of Northwestern Greece: The grounds for the expulsion of a "non-existent" minority community". European Journal of Turkish Studies. Social Sciences on Contemporary Turkey (12). European Journal of Turkish Studies. doi:10.4000/ejts.4444. S2CID 142733144.
• Baltsiotis, Lambros (2009). The Muslim Chams from their entry into the Greek state until the start of the Greco-Italian war (1913-1940): the story of a community from millet to nation [Οι μουσουλμάνοι Τσάμηδες από την είσοδό τους στο ελληνικό κράτος μέχρι την έναρξη του ελληνοϊταλικού πολέμου (1913-1940): η ιστορία μιας κοινότητας από το millet στο έθνος] (Thesis). University of Panteion.
• Kokolakis, Mihalis (2003). Το ύστερο Γιαννιώτικο Πασαλίκι: χώρος, διοίκηση και πληθυσμός στην τουρκοκρατούμενη Ηπειρο (1820–1913) [The late Pashalik of Ioannina: Space, administration and population in Ottoman ruled Epirus (1820–1913)]. Athens: EIE-ΚΝΕ. ISBN 960-7916-11-5.
• Fabbe, Kristin (18 October 2007). Defining Minorities and Identities – Religious Categorization and State-Making Strategies in Greece and Turkey (PDF). The Graduate Student Pre-Conference in Turkish and Turkic Studies, University of Washington. Seattle, Washington. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2008.
• Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472082605.
• Fleming, Katherine Elizabeth (1999). The Muslim Bonaparte: Diplomacy and Orientalism in Ali Pasha's Greece. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691001944.
• Kretsi, Georgia (2002). "The Secret Past of the Greek-Albanian Borderlands. Cham Muslim Albanians: Perspectives on a Conflict over Historical Accountability and Current Rights". Ethnologia Balkanica (6). Munich, Germany: Waxmann Verlag: 171–195. OCLC 41714232. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2009. Via Google Books
• Malcolm, Noel (2020). Rebels, Believers, Survivors: Studies in the History of the Albanians. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0192599223.
• Manta, Eleftheria (2009). "The Cams of Albania and the Greek State (1923–1945)". Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 4 (29). Retrieved 10 May 2015.
• Mazower, Mark (2000). After The War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation and State in Greece, 1943–1960. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691058429.
• Meyer, Hermann Frank (2008). Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg [Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII] (in German). Ch. Links Verlag. ISBN 9783861534471.
• Tsoutsoumpis, Spyros (December 2015). "Violence, resistance and collaboration in a Greek borderland: the case of the Muslim Chams of Epirus "Qualestoria" n. 2, dicembre 2015". Qualestoria: 119–138. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
• Roudometof, Victor (2002). Collective memory, national identity, and ethnic conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian question. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780275976484.
• Yildirim, Onur (2006). Diplomacy and Displacement: Reconsidering the Turco-Greek Exchange of Populations, 1922-1934. CRC Press. ISBN 9780415979825.
• Psimuli, Vaso Dh. (2016). Suli dhe suljotët . Toena. ISBN 9789928205728.
• Osswald, Brendan (2011). L'Epire du treizième au quinzième siècle : autonomie et hétérogénéité d'une région balkanique (Thesis). Université Toulouse le Mirail - Toulouse II.
• Anemodoura, Maria (2020). "Πολιτικές και οικονομικές δομές στην επικράτεια του Αλή πασά Τεπεντελενλή. Από τον "Ανατολικό Δεσποτισμό" έως τη νεωτερικότητα". Pergamos - Library and Information Center of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
• Doxiadis, Evdoxios (2018). State, Nationalism, and the Jewish Communities of Modern Greece. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781474263474.
• Dorlhiac, Renaud (2023). "Muslims of Epirus, Muslims of Empire? The Cham Issue in Relation to Albanian, Greek and Turkish National Projects (1908–25)". In Horel, Catherine; Severin-Barboutie, Bettina (eds.). Population Displacements and Multiple Mobilities in the Late Ottoman Empire. Brill. ISBN 9789004543690.

Post-war politics and current situation

• "Document of the Committee of Cham Albanians in exile, on Greek persecution of the Chams, submitted to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in 1946". Texts and Documents of Albanian History. Elsie, Robert. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
• "L'arvanite/albanais en Grèce". L'étude Euromosaic (in French). 2006. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
• Kouzas, Ioannis, Michail (2013). "The Greek-Albanian Relations (1990–2010): The Bilateral Relations under the Influence of two Issues: The Greek Minority in Albania and the Issue of the Chams". Democritus University of Thrace. doi:10.12681/eadd/33128. Retrieved 2 May 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Vickers, Miranda (2002). "The Cham Issue – Albanian National & Property Claims in Greece". Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
• Vickers, Miranda (2007). "The Cham Issue – Where to Now?". Archived from the original on 8 February 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
• Vickers, Miranda (February 2010). "The Greek Minority in Albania – Current Tensions" (PDF). Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
• Vickers, Miranda. The Cham Issue – Albanian National & Property Claims in Greece (PDF). Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.

News

• "Chams still pressing for return of Greek citizenship and property". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 19 September 2002.
• "Albania protest halts Greek visit". BBC News. BBC. 1 November 2005. Retrieved 31 December 2009.

Further reading

• Elsie, Robert; Bejtullah Destani (2013). The Cham Albanians of Greece. A Documentary History. IB Tauris. ISBN 9781780760001. Retrieved 9 May 2015.

External links

• Party for Justice, Integration and Unity
• Chameria Institute
• Albanian American Organization Chameria
• Magazine "Krahu i Shqiponjës"

v t e Cham Albanians
History	Pashalik of Janina Souliotes (Souliote Confederacy Catastrophe of Zalongo Assembly of Preveza Albanian Committee of Janina Këshilla
Issue	Cham Albanian Resistance during World War II 4th "Ali Demi" Battalion "Chameria" Battalion Cham Albanian collaboration with the Axis Këshilla Paramythia executions Expulsion of Cham Albanians Anti-Fascist Committee of Cham Immigrants Liberation Army of Chameria
Organizations	"Çamëria" Association Chameria Human Rights Association Party for Justice, Integration and Unity Democratic Foundation of Chameria Bilal Xhaferri Cultural Association Shoqata Çamëria Party of the Chameria Party for Justice and Integration Party for Justice and Unity
Culture	Cham Albanian dialect Music Iso-poliphony Song of Çelo Mezani Song of Marko Boçari Dance Dance of Osman Taka Dance of Zalongo Magazines Krahu i shqiponjës
Settlements	Chameria Konispol Konispol Markat Janjar Paramythia Filiates Igoumenitsa Katavothra Fanari Louros Kranea Derviziana Thesprotiko Parapotamos Mousiotitsa Sagiada Syvota Xarrë Anthousa Kanallaki Parga Pandalejmon Mavronoros Vrinë Perdika Margariti Kastri Karvounari
Individuals	Azis Tahir Ajdonati Aziz Çami Hamdi Çami Qamil Çami Thoma Çami Refo Çapari Ali Demi Musa Demi Niazi Demi Rexhep Demi Tahir Demi Abedin Dino Ahmed Dino Ali Dino Rasih Dino Shahin Dino Veli Gërra Muhamet Kyçyku Shpëtim Idrizi Tahir Muhedini Teme Sejko Dashamir Tahiri Hasan Tahsini Osman Taka Jakup Veseli Bilal Xhaferri
Settlements inhabited by communities known as Arvanites, and very rarely characterized as Cham

Categories:

• Cham Albanians
• Muslim communities in Europe