GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION AND POPULATION

Chameria lays on the most southern part of the Albanian ethnic land beginning from Qafa e Muzinës to the Preveza Bay in 150 km length and 36km width from the range of mountains of Pind in the Ionian Sea. In ancient times that was part of Epirus, which consisted of 15 000 km2 whereas Thesprotia (Chameria today) as its region is 4 200 km2. In the year, 1913 Cameria had over 60 000, half of which were Muslim & the other half-Albanian Christian Orthodox. From this year, The Greek Government followed the ethnic cleansing policy by expelling the Muslim population & neglecting the national identity to the Albanian Christian Orthodox population.

In the years 1944-1945, Greek politics culminated with the genocide towards the Muslim population by the cleansing of (expelling) over 30 000 Albanians. Today in Albania there are more than 200 000 Chams, whereas in Chameria there are nearly 300 000 and nearly 400 000 are in Turkey, The United States of America, Europe etc.


ANCIENT TIMES

The State of Epirus achieved its glory under the rule (the leadership) of Pyrrhus King of Epirhus in the years 307 -272 B.C. Pyrrhus was in good terms with Illyria after growing up in the court of King Glaukus, who helped turning back to the throne. He had a powerful political influence over Greece and Macedonia. In the year 232 B.C., the kingdom of Aiakides fell down and "The Epirus League" replaced it. It was a Republican way of government. In the year 167 B.C., it was under Roman conquest, and after the year 148 B.C., it was considered by the Roman Empire as Macedonian land. In the second (II) century A.D. Epirus was on its own, whereas in the third (III) century was created The New Epirus, which together with The Old Epirus were part of the same prefecture, that of Illyricum


MIDDLE AGES

In the beginning of the thirteenth century, Vajonetia (Chamëria today) was part of The Despotate of Epirus. Leaded by Gjon Zenebishi in the beginning of the fourteenth century, by Pjetër Losha and in the end by Gjin Bue Shpata, were fought severe battles with the anti-Albanian Serbian Thoma Prelubovic and his closest Latin and Turkish collaborators.

In the second half of the fifteenth century, Chameria often became a resistance field for the Ottoman army. Under the foreign occupation was included even the Delvina Sandjak. In the sixteenth century register, the typical Albanian names were such as Gjin, Gjon, Lekë and Pjetër; even the orthodox names had Albanian connotation.

The resistance against the occupation was stronger in the seventeenth century, whereas in the eighteenth century the religion was converted into Islam. A part of Suli and Parga's population fled away to escape the violence. During the eighteenth century in Chamëria, the positions of the big owners of land were strengthened mostly under the leadership of Ali Pasha Tepelena. In the twenties of the nineteenth century in Albanian families in Chameria the Greek army carried out ethnic-religious offenses, which were also repeated in the years 1870-1880.


NATIONAL RENAISSANCE

The Cham issue was strongly rose in the Congress of Berlin (1878) where was asked Chameria being split up and being annexed by Greek Kingdom. Patriotic forces, without social and religious distinction, under the leadership of Prizreni's League faced the Greek claims and those of the Great Powers. In fights to protect the entirety of Albanian land, was distinguished one of the sons of Chamëria, Abedin Dino, an outstanding politician, diplomat and erudite who made possible Chameria not to become prey of the Greek claims for 35 years

XX CENTURY

The Albanians attempts to escape the Greek invasion continued unless the Conference of Ambassadors in London gave unfairly the region of Chamëria to Greece. Head of the Albanian Government's delegation was Rasih Dino, who had already predicted the Cham tragedy in the 2 January 1913 memorandum addressed to the British Foreign Secretary, Edward Grey. Several Greek governments since then until now, with the cruelest methods have committed bloody massacres , have succeeded in the ethnic-religious cleansing, in prohibiting the studying of Albanian language in schools and denying every human right by grabbing the lands in any way possible and by spreading psychological terror. In the March of 1913, 72 intellectuals and Cham personalities were massacred. In the twenties, 15 000 Muslim Chams were sent to Turkey in exchange of Greeks of Anadoll. In 1940, 6 000 men from 15 to 70 years old were separated from their families and send in exile in the Aegean islands without any reason, where died over 500 people. During the period June 27, 1944 - March 13, 1945 the final ethnic-religious cleansing of the 30 000 Albanians was carried out, resulting in an unprecedented genocide during which 2 900 people killed and other 2 400 died from hunger and diseases. Head of the murderers was the collaborator general Napoleon Zervas.

In the World War II, 1 000 Cham warriors fought for the liberation, taking part in Albanian and Greek military orders, two battalions, etc. Over 70 heroes such as Ali Demi, Bido Sejko, Muharrem Murtezai, Ibrahim Halluni, Huso Vejseli etc died on the battlefield.

CULTURE

There have been outstanding personalities from Chameria such as Pyrrhus King of Epirus, Pjetër Losha, Gjin Bue Shpata, Maksim Artioti, Muhamet Kuçuku Chami, Prof.Hasan Tahsini, Abedin Dino, Elena Gjika (Dora D'Istria) Kolë Idromeno, Salih Çeka, Mehmet Zeqirjai,Spiro Çallëka, Musa Demi, Mitrush Kuteli, Bilal Xhaferi etj.