| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Hellenic News of America | |
| 26 West Chester Pike Havertown, PA 19083 | |
| tel: 610-446-1463 fax: 610-446-3189 | |
| Contact us |
Velas Tours
an incoming tour operator based in Greece with 34 years experience in both, tours and holidays
velastours.com
an incoming tour operator based in Greece with 34 years experience in both, tours and holidays
velastours.com
ALBANIAN PROVOCATIONS AND ACTS OF BARBARISMALBANIAN PROVOCATIONS AND ACTS OF BARBARISM Dean C. Lomis, Ph.D. Since antiquity, the Albanian race has been barbarous and aggressive. Consequently, Greece’s neighbor to the West has been neither friendly nor orderly through the ages. Furthermore, the Albanian shores have been invaded by the Romans, the Venetians, the Turks, in 1939 by Fascist Italy in its onrush toward its imperialistic designs in the Balkans, in 1941 by Nazi Germany in its conquest of the Balkans, and for over 45 years by the Communists with their objective to conquer Southern Epirus from Greece. Following the fall of communism in the early 1990s, the weakened position of the once Soviet superpower, the beginning of Balkan stabilization except for the former Yugoslavia, the sudden interest shown by Turkey in using Albania as another thorn against Greece, the U.S. intervention in Kosovo which provided at least tacit support for the Albanians, the new “democratic(?)” Albania grew bolder. Supported at least to some extent by these countries, “new” Albania now provokes Greece and systematically terrorizes, pressures, torments and attempts to dehellenize the Greek minority of Northern Epirus. In order to succeed in this dehellenization campaign, Albania has put forth a policy of persecution, imprisonment, torture, and other similar methods of punishment alike those applied during the Stalinist decades for obtaining “confessions” and, lately, the framed trials of the leaders of the Greek minority organization “Omonoia,” with predetermined court decisions and sentencing. These barbarous acts against the Greeks of Northern Epirus, the suppression of their human rights and the denial of their minority rights should be loudly objected to by the international community. However, for this to occur, both the Helladic and the Diaspora cry must be heard loud and clear. Unfortunately, the Greek government, rather than demanding action by the international community and Albania’s adherence to international law regarding the “protection’ of minorities, has opted for purely domestic political expediency to provide “dual” citizenship to 200,000 ethnic Greeks in Northern Epirus. The current Greek government is considering this malicious act in order to gain votes for the upcoming election campaign in which, at this time, it finds itself in the polls trailing the opposition. The tragic conclusion of such a fallacious policy would be that as soon as the Northern Epirotes are -2- declared Greek “citizens,” the Albanian authorities will expel the Greek “foreigners” -- for they will have lost their Albanian citizenship since Albania does not recognize dual citizenship – and, thereby, confiscate their properties. Thus, once more the Greek government will have done a great disservice to the Northern Epirotes, for whose rights so very many true patriots have fought but have never succeeded, always disappointed by inappropriate actions of Greek governments. Dr. Basil Photos, whose struggle of nearly half of a century as energetic and dedicated President of the Northern Epirote organization in the United States, is “proof positive” of self-serving Greek government actions, or inactions, at the expense of the well-being of the Greeks of Northern Epirus. the
|
Print Article© 2010 Hellenic News of America, Inc. - All Rights Reserved