Greece slams Albanian president’s Cham memorial visit
Greece on Tuesday criticized the presence of Albanian President Bajram Begaj at an event commemorating members of the Cham community who allegedly died when they were expelled from Greece’s western Epirus region between 1944 and 1945, calling it a gesture of irredentism.
Begaj, an ally of Prime Minister Edi Rama, laid a wreath at the memorial in Konispol, a few kilometers from the Greek border, to commemorate the 2,900 people who died as a result of the “Greek genocide and the ethnic cleansing of the Albanians of Chameria.”
The event was organized by the nationalist Party for Justice, Integration, and Unity (PDIU).
Athens argues that the Chams, Albanian-speaking Muslims, were Nazi collaborators and have no valid claims.
“The laying of a wreath by the president of Albania at a monument that presents ahistorical and false accusations and implies territorial claims against Greece is an action reminiscent of unacceptable nationalisms of bygone eras,” diplomatic sources said Tuesday.
“This act, which is incompatible with historical truth, undermines the development of good neighborly relations between our countries,” the same sources added.
