By Prof. Sami REPISHTI/
“ Chameria is the region stretching over the southernmost part of the area inhabited by Albanians. It comprises the land all along the Ionian Sea, and extends to the east up to the mountain chains separating it from the Janina (Ioannina) Valley. To the North, it borders on the river Pavel ; to the South on the Bay of Preveza. Only the northern stretch, around the town of Konispoli is part of the territory of the Republic of Albania; the rest is part of Greece, as was decided by the London Conference of Ambassadors, in 1913. The main inhabited centers of Chameria are Filati, Igumenitsa, Paramithia, Margellichi, and Parga, all located outside the state borders of the Republic of Albania. Seven villages are included within the borders of the Republic of Albania, and centered around the town of Konispoli. The name Chameria (pronounced: Cham-ree-yah) is associated with the ancient river Thyamis (now Kalamas) running through the region. In ancient times, Chameria was inhabited by the Illyrian tribes of Thesprotes; its history is part of the ancient Epirus. Later on, the region fell to Romans, and successively to the Byzantine Empire. At the beginning of the 13th century, it was part of the Despotate of Epirus, while in the second half of the 14th century, was part of the Albanian Despotate of Arta. In the 15th century Chameria was a battlefield in the struggle against the Ottoman invasion, in a movement led by the feudal family of Zenevisi. One of these leaders, Simon Zenevisi, was a military ally of Skenderbeu (the Albanian national hero, 1412-1468,SR). Under the Ottoman occupation, Chameria was part of the provinces (Sandjak) of Delvina, as well as of Janina; again, it became the battlefield of several anti-Ottoman insurrections during the 16th century, and the beginning of the 17th c. During the 18th century, a process of islamization involved a good part of the region. Parts of the populations of Souli and Parga emigrated to the islands of Greece to escape their conversion to Islam. In Chameria, the economic development brought the regime of local landowners, who became an important factor in the wars for local domination of the area, until Chameria fell under the rule of Ali Pasha Tepelena (1740-1822), the ruler of the “pashallek” (county) of Janina. Between the years 1820-1850, Chameria was involved with the huge insurrections against the Ottoman rule. In 1854 and 1877 incursions of irregular Greek bands were repelled with force by the local Albanian population. During 1978-81, branches of the Albanian League of Prizren in the region of Chameria participated in the general struggle of the Albanian people for the defense of territorial integrity of their ancestral lands. But, in the insurrections of the Albanians during the first decades of the 20th century, Chameria became the battlefield of Albanian patriotic insurrectionists, and members of various Albanian committees. During the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) regular Greek armies invaded the region of Chameria. The call for help was answered by the newly formed Albanian Government of Vlora, by sending military units to their defense. The decision of the London Conference of Ambassadors (July,1913) left Chameria to Greece. After World War One (1914-1918), several Greek governments forcefully expelled thousands of Chamerian Moslems to Turkey, under the pretext of their being Turkish citizens due to their Moslem religion. At the end of World War Two, (1939-1945), the terror exercised and the repressive policies of the various Greek Governments against the local Moslem Chamerian population forced over 25.000 Moslem Chamerians to abandon their ancestral homes, and ask for asylum within the borders of territory of the Republic of Albania, where they live as of this day.” (Source: “The Encyclopedic Dictionnary” , The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Albania, Tirana, 1985, pp.149-150) *** (Translator’s note: Another wave of crimes hit the unprotected Moslem population of Chameria in 1943 and especially in the summer of 1944, when Greek paramilitary units massacred over 30.000 Chamerian Moslems, mostly the elderly, women and children unable to escape the massacres. There are now app. 250.000 to 300.000 Chamerians living in Albania as “Albanian citizens” whose citizenship was arbitrarily changed by the Communist Government in 1953. They have their own political party , and since 2013, five representatives in the Albanian Parliament. They insist on the right to return, on the repossession of their expropriated properties, as well as on having their Greek citizenship reinstated. Sami Repishti)