(11-06-2024, 12:58 PM)NewJagsCity Wrote:

(11-06-2024, 12:30 PM)TDOSS Wrote: I am from Kosovo. So yes Albanian Kosovar. But this isn't about who and what I am, I just brought it up because he thought that I was just a geographically challenged US born citizen.

Let's get back to the topic at hand. Do you agree or disagree with the main point I made? If so, would you like to dispute it?

Well then i must apologize.  Having come from a country that was ruled by fascists 80+ years ago (and then later communists), you obviously  have a personal perspective on the horrors of fascism.  Your country has a beautiful coastline btw, but i cant say much for the rest of it.  And your Albanian ancestors murdered my papoo (grandfather) in the Greek Italian war in 1940 and STILL wont release his remains to my family in Kalamata, the city of my birth. So take your murdering native fascist country and shove it up your [BLEEP]. The democracy that we Greeks pioneered was on full and glorious display last night.

Interesting take. Sorry about your grandparents.

I've always had good relations with Greeks. Most of them here have accepted the reality but still, I can confidently say most of them think of us as second class citizens, primitives, Turks, Mongols, uneducated, thieves, untrustworthy and the list could go on. But they forget our contribution to this country. You're post further proves it...

Albanians fought for their independence, yet, they consider all Arvanites to be Greek (that is the equivalent of saying Pontiac Greeks are Turks or Russians). Many Albanians held prominent positions in the Ottoman military. There was one incident when an Ottoman (Albanian) bey, who was ruling the city of Thessaloniki in the Balkan Wars, was given the choice of handing the key to the city to either the Greeks or the Bulgarians who had invaded the region. Anyways, he handed the keys to the Greeks without second thought. We also helped them in WW2 against the Italians (their history books say we were collaborators when in reality, we even sang songs about the Greek heroism and our fight together against the invaders). We were also close to creating a unified Greek - Albanian state after WW2. I could also go to the ancient times when Illyrians were part of Alexander's the Great army as a separate unit because they were known to be skilled horsemen and fierce warriors. And many many more. But they still hate us.

They deny Albanian history, our lands, our language and culture. They think they own our lands and that we aren't native but they forget that Albanians and Greeks are the only non-Slavic people in the Balkans. Both are languages are the most unique in Europe. And they call us “Turkalbanians”. How can Greeks know the history of Albanians and Albania better than Albanians themselves?

Moreover, they massacred thousands of Albanians in Northwestern Greece where Albanians were a majority and still deny it to this day while also want Albania to respect the Greek minority in the south. They also expulsed hundreds of thousands of Albanians in 1922 with the Treaty of Lausanne which sent most Muslims (no matter the ethnicity) to Turkey and in return, Greek Anatolians returned to Greece. These Muslims who were majority of Albanian origin were forced to leave their homes because of their religion. Imagine some like that was done to the Greeks. They would demand Albania to recognize the massacres and the return of the lands.

And about that mayor in south Albania. This guy was caught by cameras bribing people to vote him. How would you react if an Albanian politician was elected mayor of a Greek city and was corrupt? Would you let him out without punishment?

To wrap it up, Albania doesnt have good relations with Greeksnand they think of them as racists and stupid. Claiming lands without evidence and mass genocide of Albanian people justify our position. But we cannot forget the fact that they let us live in their country despite the civil war. We thank you for that BUT, accept for once that the world doesn't revolve around you guys and you aren't the chosen or special ones. Be open minded and accept the reality if you want to go forward.

Heres also something to keep in mind, during the 19th century, when Greece fought for it's independence, a very large number of Albanian Christians helped them, when Albania started to develop its own identity only a few decades later, the Orthodox church tried to assassinate their heroes and in some cases succeeded. And the main victims weren't military officers, but school teachers.

Another good example is the population swap. Where Greece sent their Turks to Turkey and Turkey sent their Christians to Greece. Reality is that anyone who was Muslim among those 400 000 people got sent to Turkey. Majority of them were Albanians who lost everything just for being Muslim. This was the beginning of all the fked up things Greece did to Southern Albanians when thry finally got their country back.

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