Former ambassador, writer and researcher Luan Rama has stated that the Greek President, Prime Minister and Parliament should apologize to the Albanian population of Chameria for the crimes committed.
Through a public letter to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Luan Rama stated that the Greek state has not only remained silent about the massacres in Chameria, but has done everything possible to ensure that the Cham issue is not mentioned, silenced, forgotten and never spoken about again.
He also said that nearly 3,000 innocent Albanians of Chameria were slaughtered and killed simply because they were Cham Muslims, thus cleansing Epirus of the Cham population and forcibly and by force of arms displacing them from their homes and lands, as the centuries-old inhabitants that they had been.
Luan Rama's post:
He is an ambassador, writer, and researcher. He lives in France, Paris.
Letter to the Greek government
To the Prime Minister, Mr. Mitsotakis
Mr. Prime Minister,
we will have to raise our strong voice again, as the writer Emile Zola did with his famous article “J'accuse!”, “I Accuse”, a pamphlet that shook French politics at the beginning of the 20th century to defend the dignity of a man, an innocent Jew, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, as did later the famous journalist Albert Londres who denounced the barbaric forced labor camps in French Guiana. But today I accuse you as the head of the Greek government, the president of the Republic of Greece and the Greek Parliament that for 80 years the Greek state has been silent about the massacres of the Greek army in Chameria in the years 1944-1945. They have not only been silent, but have done everything possible to ensure that the Cham issue is not mentioned, silenced, forgotten and never spoken of again about the nearly 3,000 innocent Albanians of Chameria who were slaughtered and killed just because they were Muslim Chams, thus cleansing Epirus of the Cham population and forcibly and by force of arms displacing them from their homes and lands as centuries-old inhabitants. The Albanian, Greek, British, UN archives, etc., preserve photographs and testimonies of those who escaped the scythe of hatred and barbarity of Colonel Zerva, etc. The British archives are now open but those who were eyewitnesses are no longer there. And yet, their reports and photographs are there, but the British government did not make them known since it no longer had diplomatic relations with communist Albania. Sadly, entire generations of Greek youth after the war would not know the true history that happened in Chameria and this history has been hidden until today. But history cannot be undone nor be the currency of political pressures against the neighbor. This intransigent stance of the Greek government is surprising and cynical, which still today, through political, economic pressures, etc., manages to drown out the voice of truth to the extent that even in the textbooks of the Albanian Republic the name Chameria has disappeared and no longer exists. But both Greek political leaders and Albanian institutions forget that such pressures and measures cannot erase that dramatic part of Albanian history as that of Chameria. The Chams are not asking for border changes or unification today. They are asking for their homes and their stones. If some crazy people do this, Greece has no reason to be afraid and continue with the policies of the Law of War and the Megalo-Idea. Albanians love Greece and Greek culture, its history, that shared history over the centuries where the Arvanites gave one of the greatest historical contributions to the neighboring people, that of the time of the Greek Revolution for Independence, a contribution that is not found in the history of other peoples. But this is not only the fault of Greece, this is also the mistake of Albanian politics since the totalitarian era and afterwards, with the political changes, where in the difficult transition towards democracy and the Right,These political leaders naively thought that with Albania's integration into the EU, this issue would also be better understood by our centuries-old Greek neighbor. Their pressures are already well-known and ongoing, but true friendship, cooperation and a common future cannot be achieved when the wound of a great crime remains open. Human history teaches us that great events are not forgotten, that one day the truth will come to light and will triumph over fears, political and electoral interests, etc. The Prime Minister, President and Greek Parliament must have the courage to ask for forgiveness for the massacres and extermination of the Albanians of Chameria. No justification is valid in the face of crime. But if Greek political leaders do not listen to this call and for the Albanians to forgive the Greeks, then the Albanian President, Prime Minister and Parliament must officially ask for this as a sovereign state that it is. Chameria, like Kosovo, have been and are part of Albania's centuries-old history, a history that cannot be mutilated or severed because it is an identity right down to the DNA, it is part of the national heritage, language and culture, as Western diplomats and historians, as well as some Greeks, write about.
“Forgiveness,” wrote the philosopher Paul Ricoeur, who has written extensively on this issue, on pardon for crimes and memory, “is a response to the inevitable pain of memory, since memory has the function of preserving the wounds and injustices of the past. In this sense, memory and pardon allow us to understand the crime against those who have died.” Ricoeur saw pardon as a collective process to overcome historical wounds and build a lasting peace. The Greek government should return to the teachings of the great European philosopher and understand what happened and what needs to be done in the future. Many political leaders around the world have asked for pardon for the sake of a new future. Even the French church has apologized for the massacres carried out against the Cathars 800 years ago. History never forgets. In 1995, French President Chirac asked Jews for forgiveness for their arrests and internment in Nazi camps in Germany during World War II, when France was led by Hitler's collaborator, Marshal Pétain. Not long ago, President Macron also apologized on behalf of the French state for the massacres committed in Algeria during the colonial era and the Algerian independence movement. He also asked for forgiveness for the "harkis," those tens and tens of thousands of Algerians who sided with the French army against their brothers. Finally, during his visit to Madagascar this year, President Macron called for the establishment of a joint commission of historians to shed light on the massacres committed there by the French army with the execution of the Malagasy king. He called for the truth to be told, so that "memory and history and reconciliation become a reality." He has also asked for this for the events that took place in Cameroon, Senegal, and Haiti. But other world leaders have shown themselves to be democratic and far-sighted by asking for forgiveness for serious historical events, such as President John Biden, who asked for forgiveness for the Native Americans of America, who, especially their children, were cruelly imprisoned on Arizona reservations from the early 19th century to the 1970s. In 2023, it was German President Steinmeier who asked for forgiveness for the massacre committed in a village in Tanzania in 1905-1907. After World War II, it was Chancellor Adenauer who asked for forgiveness on behalf of the German people and state for the Nazi crimes that occurred during the time of Hitler's rule. Thirty years later, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos asked for forgiveness on behalf of the state for the massacre of the Colombian army on November 7, 1985 against the Palace of Justice and numerous murders. On the Dutch side, the Dutch government apologized to Indonesia for the massacres committed by the Dutch in 1947, two years before the country's independence. No, history does not forget. The same thing happened with the abolition of apartheid and the end of the racist regime in South Africa.With the coming to power of Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, the "Truth and Reconciliation" Commission was established (1996-1998), thus avoiding reprisals and a possible civil war, thus serving to establish a civil peace. The then President De Klerk released Mandela from prison and asked for forgiveness for the policy of apartheid and together, in 1993, they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Pardons are not only requested by dictatorships, as happened with the notorious generals, Pinochet of Chile and Franco in Spain, etc. Stalin or Putin have never asked for forgiveness for the abominable massacres they committed. Greece, a Democratic Republic of Law, is different. It should not be afraid of asking for a pardon, it should have the courage to accept this and declare it openly in order to serve a common future. The justifications that some Chams were collaborators of Italian fascism, at a time when a government of collaboration with the Hitlerite Nazis was to be established in Greece, that of Prime Minister Ioannis Rallis (which is not mentioned) are absurd and reminiscent of the politics of the "ostrich". Be brave, President of Greece, Prime Minister Mitsotakis, at a time when, during his first visit to Albania, your father admitted that there was a "Cham issue" and that it would be discussed later. But the Greek government hid the Cham file and did not make it public. Be brave, Members of Parliament of Republican Greece, and raise your voice on a history of shame and crime. Greek and Albanian governments must understand that "pardon" allows the history of crime to be returned to with coolness and a progressive perspective. This is why the philosopher Ricoeur writes that "Pardon allows the stories of the past to be reviewed and retold differently." Thus you will serve a peaceful cause, a cause of reconciliation.at a time when, during his first visit to Albania, your father admitted that there is a “Cham issue” and that it would be discussed later. But the Greek government hid the Cham file and did not make it public. Be brave, you deputies of Republican Greece, and raise your voice on a history of shame and crime. Greek and Albanian governments must understand that “pardon” allows the history of crime to be returned to with coolness and a progressive perspective. This is why the philosopher Ricoeur writes that “Pardon allows the stories of the past to be reviewed and retold differently”. In this way, you will serve a peace-loving cause, a cause of reconciliation.at a time when, during his first visit to Albania, your father admitted that there is a “Cham issue” and that it would be discussed later. But the Greek government hid the Cham file and did not make it public. Be brave, you deputies of Republican Greece, and raise your voice on a history of shame and crime. Greek and Albanian governments must understand that “pardon” allows the history of crime to be returned to with coolness and a progressive perspective. This is why the philosopher Ricoeur writes that “Pardon allows the stories of the past to be reviewed and retold differently”. In this way, you will serve a peace-loving cause, a cause of reconciliation.
I, who am writing to you, have traveled extensively throughout Greece and have many Greek friends. I adore Homer, Sophocles, Plato, I love great Greek writers like Kazantzakis, poets like Ricos and Elitis, great composers like Theodorakis, Hadjidhakis, Vangjelis, filmmakers and actresses like Kakoyannis, Teo Angelopoulos, Melina Mërkuri and Irena Papa, etc., as well as the beautiful Byzantine Greek chorales. My books have been published in Athens and Thessaloniki in Greek. As well as stories and writings about love between Albanians and Greeks. But the Chameria that I saw in the last twenty years and where my mother and her sister were forbidden to return to the Philatelic region of Chameria just because they were born there, has saddened me greatly and I have always wondered how a country of democratic culture, the homeland of Socrates, manages to prevent the survivors of the great massacre from seeing their homes that they left behind in horror when they were children. This is the reality. Look at the hundreds and hundreds of ruins that lie in the former Cham towns and where today only the walls and arches of stone gates reign. Read history well and accept the creation of a commission between Albanian and Greek historians within the framework of the two Academies of Sciences. The world does not manage to go as far as to see where the stone testimonies that can speak are. But this reality in the national and international dimension requires courage on your part, and I, like thousands and thousands of other Chams, raise my voice today so that you understand that the time has come to acknowledge the historical crime, for which other leaders of justice and democracy in the world have had the courage to ask for forgiveness. And I hope for your forgiveness!
Leo Rama
former ambassador to France, Portugal and Monaco,
writer
email address: [email protected]
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