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Northern Epirus

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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. 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.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". 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.

There are no reliable 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, and last census to include data on ethnic minorities conducted in 1989 under the communist regime cites only 58,785 Greeks although the total population of Albania had tripled in the meantime.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.The last census to include data on linguistic minorities held in 1955, recorded 4,249 Vlachs/Aromanians. 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).

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. The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization estimates the Greek minority at approximately 70,000 people. Other independent sources estimate that the number of Greeks in the Northern Epirus is 117,000 (about 3.5% of the total population), 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. To these figures should be added the approximately 200,000 Greeks from Northern Epirus residing in Greece.

Tensions between Greece and Albania over the treatment of the Greek minority persisted well after the end of the World War II, the formal state of war between the two countries being lifted only as late as 1987. Relations reached a low point after the fall of Albania's Communist régime in 1991. In 1993 Albania deported the Greek Orthodox Archimandrite of Gjirokastër for what is described as seditious behaviour. The crisis in relations was exacerbated in late August of 1994, when an Albanian court sentenced five members (a sixth member was added later) of the ethnic Greek political party "Omonoia" to prison terms on charges of undermining the Albanian state. Greece responded by freezing all EU aid to Albania, sealing its border with Albania, and between August-November 1994, expelling over 115,000 illegal Albanian immigrants, a figure quoted in the US Department of State Human Rights Report and given to the American authorities by their Greek counterpart. In December 1994, however, Greece began to permit limited EU aid to Albania, while Albania released two of the Omonia defendants and reduced the sentences of the remaining four. In more recent years, tensions have surrounded the participation of candidates of the ethnic Greek Unity for Human Rights Party in Albanian elections. In 2000, the Albanian municipal elections were criticised by international human rights groups for "serious irregularities" reported to have been directed against ethnic Greek candidates and parties. The most recent municipal elections held in February 2007 saw the participation of a number of ethnic Greek candidates, with Vasilis Bolanos being re-elected mayor of the southern town of Himarë despite the governing and opposition Albanian parties fielding a combined candidate against him. Greek observers have expressed concern at the "non-conformity of procedure" in the conduct of the elections.

A large number of villages in the Northern Epirus use Greek as the principle language. There have been many small incidents between the Greek minorities and Albanian authorities over issues such as the alleged involvement of the Greek government in local politics, the raising of the Greek flag on Albanian territory, and the language taught in state schools of the region; however, these issues have for the most part been non-violent. Today, relations have significantly improved; Greece and Albania signed a Friendship, Cooperation, Good Neighbourliness and Security Agreement on 21 March 1996. Additionally, Greece is Albania's main foreign investor, having invested more than 400 million dollars in Albania, Albania's second largest trading partner, with Greek products accounting for some 21% of Albanian imports, and 12% of Albanian exports coming to Greece, and Albania's fourth largest donor country, having provided aid amounting to 73.8 million euros.

Geography

History

Further information: Epirus

The key to understanding current conflicts in the area lies in the study of its 19th century history, which was the embryo of Balkan identities. The Treaty of Berlin of 1881 gave Greece parts of southern Epirus, but it was not until the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 that the rest of southern Epirus joined Greece. Northern Epirus was awarded to a newly independent Albania by an international boundary commission. This outcome was unpopular among both Greeks and Albanians, as settlements of the two people existed on both sides of the border. Among Greeks, northern Epirus was regarded as "terra irredenta.". When World War I broke out in 1914, Albania collapsed. Under a March 1915 agreement among the Allies, Italy seized northern Albania and Greece set up an autonomous Greek state of North Epirus in the southern part of the country. Although short-lived, the state of North Epirus left behind a substantial historical record. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 awarded the area to Greece after World War I, however, political developments such as the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War of 1921-22 and, crucially, Italian, Austrian and German lobbying in favor of Albania meant that Greece, although backed by Russia, could not claim northern Epirus. The area was finally ceded to Albania in 1924.

During the 1930's the Albanian government took measures to suppress the Greek minority including the closing of Greek schools, in violation of the League of Nations Treaty. After World War II, Albania was governed by a Communist regime lead by Enver Hoxha, which transformed the country into a hermetically sealed Gulag, which did its best to blurr the distinction between Albanians and Greeks. The attack was two pronged, destroy the Greek language and more importantly,the Orthodox religion. Adherence to Orthodoxy was considered "anti-modern" and dangerous to the unity of the Albanian state. In 1967, the authorities conducted a violent campaign to extinguish religious life in Albania, claiming that it had divided the Albanian nation and kept it mired in backwardness. Student agitators combed the countryside, forcing Northern Epirotes to quit practicing their faith. All churches, mosques, monasteries, and other religious institutions were closed or converted into warehouses, gymnasiums, and workshops. Clergy were imprisoned, owning an icon became a offense that could be prosecuted under Albanian law. The campaign culminated in an announcement that Albania had become the world's first atheistic state, a feat touted as one of Enver Hoxha's greatest achievements

Various sources estimate that the number of Greeks in the whole of Albania is approximately 100,000 to 200,000. A number of villages of Northern Epirus use Greek as the predominant language. There have been many small incidents between members of the Greek minority and Albanian authorities over issues such as the alleged involvement of the Greek government in local politics, the raising of the Greek flag on Albanian territory, and the language taught in state schools of the region; however, these issues have for the most part been non-violent. The crisis in Greek-Albanian relations reached its peak in late August of 1994, when an Albanian court sentenced five members (a sixth member was added later) of the ethnic Greek political party "Omonia" to prison terms on charges of undermining the Albanian state. Greece responded by freezing all EU aid to Albania, sealing its border with Albania, and between August-November 1994, expelling over 115,000 illegal Albanian immigrants. In December 1994, however, Greece began to permit limited EU aid to Albania, while Albania released two of the Omonia defendants and reduced the sentences of the remaining four. Greece and Albania signed a Friendship, Cooperation, Good Neighborliness and Security Agreement on 21st March 1996. Additionally, Greece is Albania's main foreign investor, having invested more than 400 million dollars in Albania; Albania's second largest trading partner, with Greek products accounting for some 21% of Albanian imports, and 12% of Albanian exports coming to Greece; and Albania;s fourth largest donor country, having provided aid amounting to 73.8 million euros. The Greek minority in Albania however, continues to suffer. The Albanian government has purged ethnic Greeks from appointed positions of power, continues to restrict the teaching of the Greek language and seeks to exert control over the Orthodox Church in Albania.

Politics and governance

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Administrative divisions

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Culture

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See also

Further reading

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Last updated on Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 15:35:38 PDT (GMT -0700)
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