The three liberations of Northern Epirus
After the liberation of Ioannina from the Turks (21.02.1913), the Greek Army continued liberating the cities of Northern Epirus one after the other, until it arrived outside Avlona. Some cities had regained their freedom earlier (e.g. Chimarra by Sp. Spyromilios – 5.10.1912, Korytsa by Pan. Daglis (7.12.1912).
On 17 December 1913, Italy and Austo-Hungary, unfortunately serving their own interests, signed the Protocol of Florence, according to which the Albanian state was created for the first time, comprising the region of Northern Epirus, as reinforcement to the newly created Albania. Since then, the north part of Epirus is known as “Northern Epirus”. Moreover, they extorted the Greek government to choose between the eastern Aegean Sea islands and Northern Epirus.
This made the Greeks of Northern Epirus rise and proceed in armed rebellion, with the INDEPENDENCE of Northern Epirus on 17 February 1914 as a highlight. A new Government was formed with Georgios Christakis Zografos as the Prime Minister, and the heroic Metropolitans Vassileios of Dryinoupolis, Spyridon of Vella and Konitsa, and Germanos of Korytsa, as members. The flag of the Independent Epirus was hoisted and the Hellenism of Northern Epirus, who joined the voluntary independence forces and “sacred battalions”, liberated Northern Epirus, forcing the Albanians to sign on 17 May 1914 (i.e in 3 months time) the Corcyra Protocol. According to that, the independence and the right for self-government was recognized to Northern Epirus, along with the freedom of education, language, religion, and the right for Northern Epirus to maintain its own Armed Forces and Police. The territory was named “Epirus”, and it comprised Chimarra, Argyrokastro, Ag. Saranda, Kolonia, Leskovikio, Premeti, Korytsa etc, and its citizens were to be called “Epirots” and not “Albanians”.
The outbreak of the World War I, and the floating situation in Albania, forced Europeans to allow the entrance of the Greek Army in Northern Epirus, so as to restore the order. On 14 October 1914, the Greek Army liberated Northern Epirus for the second time. The independency government willingly surrendered its authority to the liberating army. The unification of Northern Epirus and Greece was followed by the participation of 16 representatives of Epirus in the Greek Parliament and in the elections that took place one year later.
However, the discord and the lack of unanimity in Greece (El. Venizelos – King Constantine), which resulted to the loss of Asia Minor (1922), gave to the European patrons of Albania the opportunity to detach Northern Epirus once more from the Greek state.
Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus (Greek: Βόρειος Ήπειρος, Vorios Ipiros; Albanian: Epiri i Veriut) is the part of the Balkan region of the Epirus that lies in southern Albania. It is notable for being home to a large Greek minority[1]. The fustanella, a significant component of traditional Greek and Albanian dress, originated in this region and the ancestors of the Arvanites – an Orthodox Christian Albanian-speaking Greek-identifying community in Greece – migrated from this region to present-day Greece in the Middle Ages. The term Northern Epirus is traditionally used in Greece, and its usage may be found offensive by Albanians.[citation needed]In 2007 the The mayor of Himarë, Vasil Bollano said that "Northern Epirus" "deserves the same solution as Kosova".
Greek minorities
In Albania, Greeks are considered a "national minority", and Aromanians (referred to as Vlachs) a "linguistic minority".[3] Many Aromanians (sometimes referred to by Greeks as Arvanitovlachs) identify themselves as Greeks, and after the collapse of the communist regime in Albania, links were established between the Vlachs of Albania and the Vlachs of Greece, especially those among the former who claim a Greek identity, they are invited by Vlachs of Greece to their festivals, and receive help from them to rebuild churches or in the form of other necessary assistance to Vlach villages in Albania.[4]
There are no reliable[5] statistics on the size of any ethnic minorities in Albania, although conducting a satisfactory census of ethnic minorities is one of Albania's commitments to the European Union. According to data presented to the 1919 Paris Conference, the Greek minority numbered 120,000,[6] and last census to include data on ethnic minorities conducted in 1989 under the communist regime cites only 58,785 Greeks[3] although the total population of Albania had tripled in the meantime.[6]However, the area studied was confined to the southern border, and this estimate was very low.Under this definition, minority status was limited to those who lived in 99 villages in the southern border areas, thereby excluding important concentrations of Greek settlement and making the minority seem smaller than it is[7].The last census to include data on linguistic minorities held in 1955, recorded 4,249 Vlachs/Aromanians.[3] Sources from the Greek minority have claimed that there are up to 500,000 Greeks in Albania, or 12% of the total population at the time (from the "Epirot lobby" of Greeks with family roots in Albania).[8]
In a 1995 ethnological study, the number of ethnic Greeks in the Northern Epirus alone, are estimated at 40,000 with a 15,000 strong Aromanian population, while in the rest of the country there are further 20,000 Greeks and 35,000 Aromanians.[9] The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization estimates the Greek minority at approximately 70,000 people.[10] Other independent sources estimate that the number of Greeks in the Northern Epirus is 117,000 (about 3.5% of the total population),[11] a figure close to the estimate provided by The World Factbook (2006) (about 3%). But this number was 8% by the same agency a year before.[12][13] To these figures should be added the approximately 200,000 Greeks from Northern Epirus residing in Greece.
The Government of Epirus in Exile
Since 1913, the Government of Albania has illegally occupied Epirus, now is the time to DEMAND that Epirus be given the opportunity to exercise the self-determination that is hers by right! Those rights were established in the Corfu Protocol of 1914 and signed by the governments of England, France, Germany, Austria, Russia and Italy, this Protocol was unconditionally accepted by the government of Albania. To date, Albania has refused to implement the Corfu Protocol.
The Government of Epirus was established in 1999 by the Epirotean Patriotic Organization, which has become the political arm of the Government. It is the current goal of the government to ensure the rights of the Epirotean people are not further infringed by the occupying forces of Albania. To this end, The Epirotean Patriotic Organization is calling for the freedom of North Epirus.
Greek minority in Northern Epirus (Albania)
Presentation of Epirus
Petit Larousse Illustré says:
Epirus. Area on the borders of Greece and Albania. The Kingdom of Epirus was established at the end of the Vth century BC, and became powerful under Pyrrhos II (295-272 BC). It was subjected to the Romans in 168 BP. Under the Byzantine Empire, a despotate of Epirus was set up for the Comnene family (1204-1318).
The mythic founder of the Kingdom of Epirus is Pyrrhos (a.k.a. Neoptolemos), Achille's son, who married Andromaque, Hector's daughter, after the fall of Troja. Pyrrhos is one of the main character of the classical tragedy Andromaque, by Jean Racine (1667), in which he is called "Pyrrhus". The tragedy takes place in Pyrrhos' capital city, Buthrote, whose ruins can still be visited in Southern Albania (Butrinti). The historical Pyrrhos (Pyrrhos II, mentioned above), invaded the south of Italy and defeated the Romans in Heraclea (280) and Ausculum (279). These victories, helped by elephants, caused great human losses in the Epirus army, recalled in the expression "Pyrrhic victory" (According to Plutarch's Lives, Pyrrhos said: "Such another victory and we are undone!") In 275, Pyrrhos was defeated by the Romans in Benevento and came back to Epirus, where he died a few years later during a campaign against Sparta. Still according to Plutarch, Pyrrhos was wounded by a javelin through his breast-plate. The wound was not grave, but he turned against the thrower, an Argive man (from Argos) of no note, the son of a poor woman. This woman looked upon the scene from a rooftop and got furious when she saw what was happening, took a large tile with both hands, and threw it on Pyrrhos' head, crushing the vertebrae of his neck.
In Les Illyriens, the French historian P. Cabanes explains how it is difficult to define objectively the status of the kingdoms that existed before the Roman conquest in what is now modern Epirus. According to the ancient authors, Epirotes were not an Illyrian tribe. Epirus was inhabited by the Molosse tribe, famous for his watchdogs (a huge dog is still called in French a molosse). The Eacide dynasty, which claimed to be descended from Achilles, incorporated several neighbouring tribes to form the Kingdom of Epirus. In 232, the royalty was suppressed and the state was renamed Koinon [Community] of the Epirotes. The word koinon highlights the ethnical composite status of Epirus at that time. The ancient authors were not able to make it clear if Epirus was Illyrian or Greek. Epirus was already on the borders of two civilizations.
Ivan Sache & Jarig Bakker, 9 March 2002
Recent history of Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus was disputed between Albania and Greece until 1922.
In 1922, when the border between Albania and Greece was set up, Greeks living north of the border were incorporated into Albania, in what is called Northern Epirus by Athens, whereas Albanians living south of the border were incorporated into Greece. Most of these Albanians left Greece in 1944.
In 1993, the deportation of the Greek Archimandrit of Gjirokaster (the main city in the South of Albania) by the Albanian authorities caused an Albanian-Greek crisis. The Greek government deported 300,000 Albanian immigrants. After a few violent episodes on both sides of the border, the crisis calmed down. However, the Epirus question is still controversial both in Albania and Greece.
The Greek minority in Albania represents less than 2% of the total population of the country but is concentrated in a small area and very revendicative. The political party Omonia has been developing since 1992 a Vorio-Epirotic doctrine, claiming the incorporation of the territories located south of the river Shkumbini to Greece (that is more than 1/3 of the current territory of Albania.)
Source: Encyclopaedia Universalis (1998) [eunXX]
Ivan Sache, 9 March 2002
CIA "Cleanses" Hellenic Minority in Northern Epirus
If one thought that ethnic cleansing was accomplished with barbaric violent means (as was the case in 1923, 1955, 1974 etc.), then one should spend the time to focus and learn about the current situation Hellenes of Northern Epirus are living through.
After years of pressure from the European Union and the United States, the past two Hellenic administrations followed a policy of "approachment" towards the Albanian side. Of course, such an approachment would find a great stumbling block - the human rights violations against the Hellenes in Northern Epirus.
Northern Epirus (although still in foreign hands), was liberated twice this century alone by Hellenic forces. The existence of this huge Hellenic community (ranging in excess of well over 200,000), is now being disputed by the Albanian government, the CIA, and even the Hellenic government!
As far as the Albanian government is concerned, their actions surprise no-one. Their dreams of a "Greater Albania", which would include areas of Vardaria ("FYROM") and Kossovo, would be greatly faltered if they faced insurrections or ethnic tensions in the south.
The Hellenic government instead of protecting the ethnic Hellenes currently in Albania, it has turned a blind eye to their hardships and suffering. Instead of aiding their fight for more rights and even autonomy, it has aided the Albanian government in arresting and detaining dissidents of that oppressive system.
State Dept Daily Press Briefing
Sean McCormack, Spokesman
Washington, DC
March 8, 2007
MR. MCCORMACK: ...Lambros.
QUESTION: On Northern Epirus issue in Albania. Mr. McCormack, regarding my pending questions I raised March 7th for the Greeks of Northern Epirus and Albania when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presented to us the Annual Report on Human Rights, I got yesterday the formal answers from your press officer Kurtis Cooper: "There are no reliable statistics on the exact population of the Greeks minority in Albania. The last census was taken in 2001. However, Greeks are the largest national minority. Estimates range from 3 to 10 percent, depending on the source. In general, the Albanian Government is allowing the Greek language schools to be open. The Albanian Government granted an operating license to two schools outside the "Greek zone," one in Korca and one in Himare. During a September visit by the Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha to Greece, the Albanian Government agreed to cooperate in the building of a Greek-language university in Gjirokaster to be refunded -- to be funded by the Greek Government."
MR. MCCORMACK: Are you going to wrap this up here?
QUESTION: And in conclusion, "In addition several members of the Greek minority serve on both that 140-seat people's assembly and the executive branch in ministerial and subministerial positions." Do you agree with this response?
MR. MCCORMACK: Kurtis -- (laughter) -- Kurtis is -- as opposed to the unreliability of the statistics that you're asking about, Kurtis Cooper is very reliable and that's a good answer and that is the State Department's answer for you, Lambros.
QUESTION: But the response, however, about the size of the Greek minority in Albania, Mr. McCormack, stated there's "no reliable statistics" about its size, that the last census was taken in 2001, according to the statement.
MR. MCCORMACK: Right, right.
QUESTION: I must note that the absence of reliable statistics in the results of the Albanians Government decision to exclude ethnic identity from the census questionnaire, is there any thought given by the Department of State to request that such a choice be allowed in the next Albanian census?
MR. MCCORMACK: I'm not aware of any move in that regard, but we'll have Kurtis get back to you with an answer to that question. (Laughter.) It's proven reliable in the past.
QUESTION: One more on that?
MR. MCCORMACK: Lambros, come on. You took up your time for today as well as next week reading out the answer to that. (Laughter.)
Yeah, go ahead, Samir.
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