Re: Cameria
Letters sent to president Bush, Senator Lugar and Governor Romney before their meeting with Karamanlis
Chameria Human Rights Association
Tel./Fax. 781 535 6472
www.chameriaassociation.org
May 19, 2005
Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Re: Meeting with Mr. C. Karamanlis,
Dear Mr. President.
On behalf of the Chameria Human Rights Association, we salute your upcoming meeting with the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. C. Karamanlis.
We would also urge you to raise with Mr. Karamanlis the issue of human and property rights of the Cham minority in Greece. Thousands of American citizens today belong to the Cham minority. Many of us have significant financial, economic and property interests in Greece that could amount to millions of U.S. dollars. But we are not allowed to even visit Greece, let alone enjoy or rebuild our own homes and lives there if we wish.
In a concise way, the Chams are a native Albanian-speaking population from the region of Chameria (Thesprotia) in Northwestern Greece. We have contributed significantly to Greece’s history and culture.
Unfortunately, in one of the most tragic pages of World War II, in June 1944, thousands of Moslem Chams were brutally massacred in Chameria by the forces of Napoleon Zervas, and thousands of others were forced to flee for their lives and take temporary refuge across the border in
Albania. As a result, almost thirty thousand Chams of Moslem religion were virtually wiped out of their homes in 1944 in Greece. The official justification for these pogroms was that the Chams were collaborators with the Nazis. The real reason was, however, a brutal pretext for ethnic cleansing.
It is an unfortunate truth that, in present –day Europe, the Chams are a forgotten and endangered minority.
Mr. President,
Under your leadership, the United States is exercising maximal efforts to promote freedom and democracy in the Moslem world. Greece on the other hand can provide a powerful example of how they would treat their own minority and undo to them the terrible tragedies of the past.
We plead with you, Mr. President, that on behalf of all American citizens of Cham origin, to urge Mr. Karamanlis to undertake a bold and courageous step and recognize the interests of the American citizens of Cham origin and to promote and protect the human rights of the Cham minority of Greece in accordance with Greece’s democratic tradition and international human rights standards and norms.
Sincerely,
Ahmet Giaffo
President, CHRA