The Cham Issue

By Dimitrios Tsikas | International Affairs, MA | Course: Law of Armed

Conflicts | University of Iceland | dit1@hi.is | December 2017

Teachers: Davíð Örn Sveinbjörnsson

Pétur Dam Leifsson
The Albanians in Chameria during 1913-1940

Following the defeat of Ottoman forces in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, the territory of
Thesprotia (as a part of Epirus region) annexed by the Greek state after the First Balkan War in
1913. The Treaty of London gave the northern part 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.
The Albanian population in the Greek part of Epirus (Chameria) in 1913 was estimated to
be around 40.000, but the first reliable population census was 15 years later. Thus, until 1928
there is no clear image about the Albanian population in Chameria. According to the Greek
Population Census of 1928 the Muslim population in Epirus was 19.244 and 17.008 was
Albanian speaking Christians (as a mother tongue).
Since 1913 until the population census of 1928, many Albanians from Thesprotia were
forced by the Greek State to leave Epirus and move to Turkey and Egypt and that´s why the
Muslim population decreased so much during this time period.
The situation became more complicated after the defeat of the Greek Army in the Asia Minor
Campaign in 1922 and the Treaty of Lausanne which followed this war. According to the
Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations which signed at
Lausanne of Switzerland on 30th January in 1923 between the governments of Greece and
Turkey:
“Article 1:
As from the 1st May, 1923, there shall take place a compulsory exchange of Turkish nationals
of the Greek Orthodox religion established in Turkish territory, and of Greek nationals of the
Muslim religion established in Greek territory.
These persons shall not return to live in Turkey or Greece respectively without the authorization
of the Turkish Government or of the Greek Government respectively.
Article 2:

The following persons shall not be included in the exchange provided for in Article 1:
a) The Greek inhabitants of Constantinople
b) The Muslim inhabitants of Western Thrace.
All Greeks who were already established before the 30th October, 1918, within the areas under
the Prefecture of the City of Constantinople, as defined by the law of 1912, shall be considered
as Greek inhabitants of Constantinople.

All Muslims established in the region to the east of the frontier line laid down in 1913 by the
Treaty of Bucharest shall be considered as Muslim inhabitants of Western Thrace.“1

1
Treaty of Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland, January 30, 1923), Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek
and Turkish Populations, Articles 1 and 2.
 The Treaty of Lausanne was clear about the Albanian Muslim population of Thesprotia
and their relocation in Turkey, something that the Greek state wanted because it would solve
the problem with the appearance of the Muslim population in this area. It would be a great
opportunity to stop the persecution of Albanians in Epirus and solve the problem by using the
Treaty of Lausanne which didn’t say about Greek and Turkish population but about Christians
and Muslims.
At the same time the Albanian government and especially the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Pandeli Evangjeli was trying to convince the Greek Prime Minister, Eleftherios Venizelos, to
exempt the Chams of the exchange populations. Even though the Article II of the Treaty was
clear about the exceptions2, Mr Evangjeli proved an excellent diplomat and he convinced Mr
Venizelos to exempt the Chams of Epirus from the Convention Concerning the Exchange of
Greek and Turkish Populations.
When the exchange of the populations took part, the Greek state established 11.982
Christian refugees from Turkey to the region of Epirus during 1923-1930. The biggest part of
the Christian population in Paramythia (belongs to Thesprotia) was established in villages
where Muslims were the majority. This establishment was part of a plan to distract the Albanian
population and turn them from majority to minority.
Of course, the coexistence of Albanians with the Minor-Asian refugees wasn‘t peaceful,
and the Greek state was trying to support the Christians against the Albanians. During 1928-
1935 the Greek state forced the Albanians of Epirus in expropriation of their properties and
gave them to the Christian refugees. Many Albanians were arrested by the police for false
accusations, some others were murdered and some escaped to Albania.

The Chams during the WWII and the Greek civil war

In 1939 Albania came under Italian occupation. Italy offered a lot of help to poor Albania,
thus the Albanians never faced Italians as conquerors. Even before 1939 the Italo-Albanian
relations were very strong. The 92,1% of the Albanian export were going to Italy and the 82,5%
of the imports were coming from Italy3.
When the WWII started many Albanians ranked in the Italian Army, among them many
Chams who crossed the borders.
In 28th October 1940 the Italian Army invaded to Greece through the Albanian-Greek
borders. The Italians used the Albanian minority in Greece as part of their propaganda to
convince the Albanians to fight by their side. The Albanian volunteers joined the 28th Italian
Military Division under General C. Rossi, and the Division changed name to “Chameria
battalion“ (Batalioni Çamëria).

2
Treaty of Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland, January 30, 1923), Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek
and Turkish Populations, Article 2.
3
Kallis, Aristotle A. (2000), Fascist ideology: territory and expansionism in Italy and Germany, 1922–1945,
Routledge
 During the Italian occupation of Greece, the Albanians in Thesprotia were cooperating with
the Italians and they took part in the administration of the region named Këshilla.
On the other side, there were also Albanians who were fighting against the Italian invaders.
The National Antifascist Liberation Army of Albania (Lufta Antifashiste Nacional çlirimtare /
LANÇ) was fighting against the Italian and German armies which were in Greece during 1942-
1944, and there were also many Albanians who joined the Greek guerillas of the National
Liberation Front (Εθνικό Απελευθερωτικό Μέτωπο / EAM) in the struggle against the Axis.
When the war finished, the Chams who cooperated with the Italians escaped to Albania,
and these who were fighting with the National Liberation Front took part in the Greek civil war
fighting by the communists’ side against the state supported guerillas of the ΕΔΕΣ (National
Republican Greek League).
The leader of ΕΔΕΣ, Napoleon Zervas, started a persecution against the Chams in the Greek
territory and at the same time supported the Greeks in north Epirus which belonged to Albania.
Also the Greek state started to execute many Chams blaming them for cooperation with the
enemy.
After the end of the civil war only 117 Muslim Albanian Chams were left in Greece. The
Greek census of 1951 counted a total of 127 Muslim Albanian Chams in Epirus.

The Cham Issue according to the Albanian side

In 1953 the Albanian president Enver Hoxha gave Albanian nationality to the Chams who
escaped to Albania after the war. During the Communism the Albanian state didn’t do anything
about the Cham issue. The Cham issue would regain momentum only in 1991, when the
communist regime collapsed, and the people were free to express their beliefs again. Thus, after
1991, there were many organizations created of the victims and their children who claimed
compensation for lost property in Greece. These organizations of the Cham community put
strong pressure to the Albanian government and all the Albanian parties have the Cham issue
in their political agenda.
Albania claimed the return of the Chams property and the recognition of the genocide by
the Greek state.
On 30th June 1994, the Albanian Parliament unanimously established the 27th of June as
the “Genocide day of the Chams”.

The Cham Issue according to the Greek side

The Greek state claimed that there is no issue that exists. The Chams were just collaborating
with the enemy during war and they escaped to Albania just to avoid the consequences. All the
properties which were taken by the Chams were not stolen but they had been given to the
Christian refugees according to the articles of the Treaty of Lausanne, and the properties which
were confiscated after the WWII was a decision taken by the Special Court on Collaborators
and it was according to the Greek law. The Greek government considered the Cham Issue as a
closed chapter and that Albania should not have any claims.

The Cham Issue according to the International Law

It’s really hard to consider the human rights and the situation after the Treaty of Lausanne.
Nowadays the population transfer is against the International Law and it‘s not a practice that
applies. According to the UN:
“…population transfer is, prima facie, unlawful and violates a number of rights affirmed in
human rights and humanitarian law for both transferred and receiving populations, and
endorsed the conclusions and recommendations of the preliminary report.”4
So it’s very difficult to discuss today about this issue that took place 95 years ago.
The truth is that the Albanian population in Greece doesn’t exist any longer. The Greek
Republic’s claim that the Chams were collaborating with the enemy is not correct. During 1945,
a Special Court on Collaborators in Ioannina condemned, in absentia, 1.930 Cham collaborators
of the Axis to death (decision no. 344/1945).5 Therefore, if according to the Greek state there
were 1.930 Chams who were collaborating with the Italians, why the rest 20.000 left their
homes? And what about the 2.500 Chams who were killed by EDES and Napoleon Zervas?
The Article 6 of the Rome Statute provides that "genocide" means any of the following acts
committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious
group, as such (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to
members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to
bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to
prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another
group6.
The Greeks know that if the negotiations about the Cham issue will start and Greece will
take part in this, it means that this topic does exist. That’s why the Greek state denies to talk
about this subject. And it’s really hard for a state like Greece which claims the recognition of
many genocides done by the Turks (Prontian genocide, genocide of the Minor Asia Greeks,
genocide of the Smyrna Greeks, Chios island massacre etc), to be this time on the side of the
offender.
As a conclusion, it can be strongly supported that the Albanian side has the right to claim
the return of the properties of the Chams, and the recognition of the Albanian persecution (maybe
also a genocide) by the Greek state.

4
UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, “Human rights and fundamental
freedoms - Population transfers“, 30 June 1994
5
Military inspection 4/1994, Institute for Balkan Studies
6
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 6
Eleutheria Manta (2004). Οι μουσουλμάνοι τσάμηδες της Ηπείρου 1923-2000 [Cham
Muslims of Epirus (1923-2000)] (in Greek).Institute for Balkan Studies,
Manta, Eleftheria (2009). "The Cams of Albania and the Greek State (1923 - 1945)". Journal
of Muslim Minority Affairs.
Pitouli-Kitsou, Hristina (1997). Οι Ελληνοαλβανικές Σχέσεις και το βορειοηπειρωτικό ζήτημα
κατά περίοδο 1907- 1914 (Thesis). National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
Kingdom of Greece. National Statistics Office (1928). Population Census Report acording to
the birth place – Religion and Language
Pearson, Owen (2004). Albania and King Zog: Independence, Republic and Monarchy 1908-
1939. London: The Centre for Albanian Studies.
Destani B.(2003), Ethnic Minorities in the Balkan States 1860-1971, v. 6, Archive editions,
London
Petros Al. Christou (2011), Το καλειδοσκόπιο της Θεσπρωτίας (The Kaleidoscope of
Thesprotia), Papazisis Publishers.
Kallis, Aristotle A. (2000), Fascist ideology: territory and expansionism in Italy and
Germany, 1922–1945, Routledge
Vickers, Miranda (2002). The Cham Issue - Albanian National & Property Claims in Greece.
Paper prepared for the British MoD, Defence Academy