Albanians in Greece
Today, they still maintain their distinct subdialect of Tosk Albanian, known as Arvanitika, although it is endangered as the younger generations no longer speak it due to language attrition.
The Chams of Muslim faith were expelled from Epirus during World War II after large parts of their population collaborated with the Axis occupation forces.
[8] Alongside these two groups, a large wave of economic migrants from Albania entered Greece after the fall of Communism (1991) and forms the largest expatriate community in the country.
[5] In recent years many Albanian workers and their families have left Greece for other countries in Europe in search of better prospects.
[citation needed] During the rule of the Ottoman Empire in Epirus, many Chams converted to Islam, while a minority remained Greek Orthodox.
The Souliotes were a distinct subgroup of Cham Albanians who lived in the Souli region, and were known for their role in the Greek War of Independence.
During World War II, large parts of the Muslim Chams collaborated with the Axis occupation forces, committing atrocities against the local population.
[19] Ultimately these terms used amongst Albanian speakers originate from the Latin word sclavus which contained the traditional meaning of "the neighbouring foreigner".
[17][20][21] Although they retain their Arvanitic dialect and cultural similarities with Albanians, they refuse national connections with them and do not consider themselves an ethnic minority.
[24] Arvanitika is endangered due to language shift towards Greek and large-scale internal migration to the cities in recent decades.
In the western Ioannina district, Albanian was concentrated in the region known as Tsarkovista (divided between modern Dodoni and Ziros).
Sirziana, Mousiotitsa, Derviziana and Zorista are described as being exclusively Albanian-speaking, while use of Albanian had stopped in Lippas, Toskesi, Gratsiana, Bariades, Kopanoi by 1888 according to contemporary Greek historian I.
[35] These Albanians (locally known as Arvanítes) were considered métoikoi 'immigrants'; they comprised the lowest social class in the region and lived at the outskirts of the villages without civil and property rights.
[35][38] Besides Tristeno, Albanians also settled in the villages of Aristi, Megalo Papingo, Anthrakitis, Asprangeloi, Kavallari, Kipi, Leptokarya, Monodendri, Tsepelovo, Vitsa, Vradeto and possibly Kapesovo.
[40] In the city of Ioannina, a substantial minority of Albanian-speakers existed who spoke a dialect intermediate between Cham and Lab.
In the modern era only a small group of Christian, Albanian-speakers, speakers of a Northern Tosk Albanian dialect are still to be found in the villages of Drosopigi, Flampouro, Lechovo in Florina regional unit.
Another small group is to be found in northeastern Greece, in Greek Macedonia and Western Thrace along the border with Turkey, as a result of migration during the early 20th century.
[50] A special ID card for ethnic Greeks from Albania was issued in 2001 which was received by 189,000 individuals who resided in Greece at the time.
Another issue with the special ID card had to do with ethnic Albanians using fake documents which presented them as members of the Greek minority to obtain it.
[52] As of 2022[update], the number of Albanian citizens who are holders of special IDs as homogeneis (Greek co-ethnics) has been reduced to 13,329.
[5] In recent years many Albanian workers and their families have left Greece for other countries in Europe in search of better prospects.
[58] Recent studies have shown that second generation immigrants have intricate, hybrid, circumstantial, and complex senses of identity.
[59] Even before emigration, some Albanians from the south of Albania adopt a Greek identity including name changes, adherence to the Orthodox faith, and other assimilation tactics in order to avoid prejudices against migrants in Greece.
