Coalition of Albanian American Organizations
C/O 2021 L Street, N.W., Suite 402, Washington, DC 20036
January 9, 2003
The Honorable Colin Powell
United States Secretary of State
US Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Powell,
We the undersigned, as Albanian Americans and as members of Albanian civic, religious, cultural and humanitarian organizations, are writing to protest in the strongest possible terms the United States of America Department of States (DOS) official endorsement and support of the recent visit to Albania by Nicholas Gage - a.k.a. Nikos Gatzoyiannis.
Nicholas Gage is a well-known opponent of Albanians interests in the Balkans. It is a matter of public record that the Panepirotic Federation of America, Canada and Australia, the organization Mr. Gage represents, refers to Southern Albania as Northern Epirus and considers it to be occupied by Albania, an obvious provocation and a direct renunciation of Albanias sovereignty. Nicholas Gage (i) greatly, intentionally and publicly misrepresents the population of Albanias Greek minority up to an astounding 30% of Albanias population of three million, compared to the official Albanian government number of 58,000, approximately 2% (ii) implicitly portrays all of the Albanians of the Orthodox faith in Albania as Greeks, thus offending the Albanian Orthodox Church and its congregation throughout the world, and (iii) in an effort to vilify Albanians, has aggressively campaigned in Washington and elsewhere with his fabrications about the lack of human rights of Albanias Greek minority. These false claims are in direct conflict with the conclusions reached by DOS, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and other international human rights organizations in their various positive assessments. The facts are that the Greek minority lives side by side with the Albanians, has several media outlets which communicate and publish only in the Greek language, has a three-times-better teacher/student classroom ratio when compared with Albanians in a system that provides education in Greek from elementary school to university, and has a disproportionately high representation in Albanias government.
In addition, Gage publicly opposed the US/NATO intervention in Kosova even as innocent Kosovar civilians were being massacred by the thousands, including American citizens of Albanian descent. Furthermore, as recently as May 22, 2001, he stated in the Washington Post that the thousands of Greeks in Albania should receive the same treatment as the nearly two million Kosovar Albanians, clearly implying that when Kosova attains its independence, Southern Albania should secede and follow step. These positions serve only to fuel tensions and threaten the progress of improving Albanian-Greek relations while undermining overall stability in the Balkans, an area where the U.S. has made a significant strategic investment of its human, political, financial and military assets.
We are outraged by the fact that during his visit to Albania, and while being hosted in an official capacity by our Embassy in Tirana, Mr. Gage (i) reiterated all of the above-mentioned views, including the fabrications about the number of the Greek minority and the analogy of their situation with the Albanian Kosovars, (ii) downplayed the plight of the several hundred thousand ethnic Albanians residing in Greece, who are subjected to the Greek form of ethnic cleansing known as Hellenization, and (iii) had the audacity to malign all of the Albanian Chams who used to live in Greece as Nazi collaborators. As highlighted in a 2001 press release of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Mr. Gages thesis is not only a blatant fabrication but it is a political and historical crime against Albanian Chams, since, in fact, many Albanian Chams died in Greeces liberation struggle during WWII. The malicious characterization of Albanian Chams as Nazi collaborators is particularly appalling in light of the fact that Albanians and Albania saved 100% of the Jews who sought refuge from Nazi persecution in Greece (as well as in other Balkan countries), while, according to Harvey Sarner, the author of Rescue in Albania, - an account of how Albanians saved Jews - of the total population of approximately 72,000 Jews who lived in Greece prior to the beginning of the war, 60,000, fully 83% of the Jewish population, became victims of the Holocaust. In addition, Mr. Gage conveniently forgets that, as described in the words of Joseph Jacobs, Head of the US Mission in Albania in 1945-1946, only in the fall of 1944 and during the first months of 1945 the [Greek] authorities in north-western Greece perpetrated savage brutality by evicting some 25,000 [Albanian] Chams - residents of Chameria - from their homes and by killing over 5,000 men, women and children in a clear attempt to establish an ethnically pure border region with Albania. These events marked the culmination of genocidal and ethnic cleansing efforts that Greek ultranationalists had commenced since 1913. By 1945, the Greek nationalists had cleansed the area of ethnic Albanians of Muslim faith and also stripped them of their properties, valued at well over $2.5 billion at the current market prices. The tens of thousands Albanian Chams have lived in exile ever since. Thus, we would like to remind Nicholas Gage, as well as those who share or support his views, that, despite the manipulations, Mr.Gage cannot use history as a justification for his destabilizing agenda.
As Americans and representatives of the Albanian American community, we are deeply disappointed and disturbed that during his visit to Tirana, Mr. Gage was hosted and publicly accompanied by Ambassador James Jeffrey. In ex post facto efforts to justify this grand-scale reception, DOS representatives in the U.S. and Tirana have stated that Mr. Gages visit and endorsement was necessary in order to foster dialogue and enable Mr. Gage to have his hearing day before the Albanian authorities. The Albanian-American community is very supportive of dialogue regarding respect for minority rights, friendly relations with neighboring countries, Albanias integration in Euro-Atlantic structures, and its economic development. Indeed, dialogue with the proper forums such as Euro-Atlantic institutions, human rights institutions, and the neighboring governments, has been an important part of Albanias development as a democracy. However, we do not understand what dialogue DOS is seeking to foster, and for the benefit of whom, when Mr. Gage is a private citizen who has a documented public record as one of the most fervent adversaries of Albanian interests and who, to our knowledge, does not have any standing either from the Greek government or from the American government.
We are certain that DOS is aware that, for historical and more recent reasons, Albanians view Americans as their truest friends. Everything that is endorsed by the United States, in the Albanian publics perception, becomes worthy of attention and support. Therefore, by publicly hosting and endorsing Nicholas Gage, the American Embassy in Tirana and DOS willingly or unwillingly have tacitly endorsed his views, and thus they have breached the trust of Albanians and Albanian-Americans. We believe that as Albanian-Americans, we have the right to demand that DOS and the U.S. Embassy in Tirana serve as instruments for the furtherance of democratic principles and economic development in Albania, rather than becoming facilitators of the interests of individuals with chauvinist agendas.
DOSs silence that preceded Mr. Gages trip to Albania, as well as the events during his visit on the ground, have demonstrated that there is a gap in communication and perception between DOS representatives and the American citizens of Albanian descent. It has been clearly evidenced through words and deeds that Americas truest and best friends in Europe, and possibly in the world, are the Albanians; therefore, we believe that the time has come for joint efforts to establish a qualitatively different relationship between the Albanian-American community and DOS. We request that the first step toward bridging this gap be for DOS to issue a full public disclosure pertaining to the nature and agenda of Gages meetings in Albania, as well as render a public explanation about how Albanian and U.S. interests were served by supporting a dialogue with Mr. Gage, an individual whose views on the region serve only to stoke the fires of ethnic tension.
Notwithstanding the above, DOS can and should indeed serve as a facilitator for true dialogue with respect to minority rights and other issues in the Balkans. As it relates to Greece, we urge DOS to pressure the Greek government to recognize all ethnic minorities within its territory, including more than 40,000 remaining Albanian Chams of the Orthodox faith, and grant them the same rights that Albania provides to an approximately equivalent number of existing Greeks in Albania. As Greek human rights groups and many international human rights organizations state clearly, Greece's policy of nonrecognition of the existence of ethnic minorities is no longer permissible. In addition, dialogue is needed to address the grievances of the hundreds of thousands of Albanian immigrants living in Greece, who are being subjected to different forms of Hellenization as well as societal and institutional discrimination. Furthermore, we urge DOS to do all it can in order to, once and for all, seek a just resolution to the proprietary and other legal claims of the Albanian Chams, including their right to repatriation and Greek citizenship. Of paramount importance, and as a complementary and preliminary step to achieving the resolution of these issues, we ask DOS to pressure the Greek government to abolish the Status of War Law with Albania dating back to then Italian-occupied Albania of 1940. By still maintaining a Status of Law of War with Albania over 60 years later, while at the same time signing a Treaty of Friendship, Greece not only has created an absurd situation, but is in clear violation of the U.N. Charter, which requires [a]ll Members [to] refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state , as well as of other provisions of International Law.
Finally, a drastic improvement in communication channels and cooperative efforts between the U.S. Government and the Albanian-American community is necessary for a plethora of other Albanian issues in the region. Since the fall of communism, Albania has made considerable steps towards the establishment of a democracy and market economy. However, as evidenced by several reports, Albanias progress, economic development, and integration within the Euro-Atlantic institutions has been constantly impeded by high-level corruption, lack of political transparency, ineffective election reforms, and limited results in the fight against organized crime and human trafficking. In Kosova, while tremendous progress is clearly evident, further delays in the resolution of its final independent status are impeding investment and economic development as well as creating a fertile environment for destabilization. Furthermore, despite the relative stability achieved in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Macedonian authorities have a long way to go in order to fully comply with the internationally brokered and the U.S.-endorsed Ohrid Agreement and recognize and accept Albanians as equal and respected Macedonian citizens. Last, but not least, much more can be done for the rights of Albanians in Montenegro, as well as those of the Albanians in the Presheva Valley of Southern Serbia. The Albanian-American community stands ready to offer its expertise, knowledge, experience, and contacts in the region in order to work toward the resolution of these issues and the achievement of a sustainable and real stability in the Balkans.
Albanians consider the United States to be their best friend. At a time when our country is engaged in a global war against terrorism, at a time when many have tested their true feelings toward the United States, big or small, true friendships such as the one the Albanians offer to Americans, must not be neglected or forgotten. Let us use the most recent Gage debacle as a learning experience and a steppingstone toward the establishment of a true partnership for the advancement of the common U.S. and Albanians interests.
A Similar Letter was sent to the National Security Adviser to the President, Ms. Condoleeza Rice, the Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senator Richard Lugar, the Chairman of the US House Committee on International Relations, Congressman Henry Hyde and the Chairman of the Albanian Issues Caucus, Congressman Eliot Engel.
Respectfully submitted by,
Albanian American Community of Illinois Ilaz Kadriu, President
Albanian American Cultural Foundation Cafo Boga, President
Albanian American Islamic Center - Imam Vehbi Ismail, Religious Leader of Albanian Muslims in the US and Canada
Albanian American Society Foundation Esad Rizai, President
Albanian Center of New York Drita Kokalari, President
Albanian Heritage Foundation Gary Kokalari, President
Albanian League of Prizren Ismet Berisha, President
Albanian Media Group Vera Mjeku, President
Alba Soul Ilirjan Papa, President
Ana e Malit - Xheladin Zeneli, President
Atlantic Association Arber Muriqi, Head Representative
Dede Gjo Luli Foundation Prele Sinishtaj, Head Representative
Democratic League of Kosova Agim Rexhaj, President
Forumi Shqiptar - Ilirjan Papa, Director
Friends of Kosova Protection Force Shefki Mexhuani, Head Representative
Frosina Network Van Christo, Owner and Director
Human Rights Association "Chameria"
Illyria Newspaper Ekrem Bardha, Publisher
Malesia-Humanitarian Fund Gjon Ivezaj, President
National Albanian American Council Richard Lukaj, Chairman
Pan Albanian Federation, VATRA Agim Karagjozi, Chairman
Patriotic Association of Dibra Lavdrim Cami, President
Peja Association Agim Cavderbasha, Head Representative
Plave and Guci Foundation Xhevat Kukaj, President
St. Pauls Albanian Catholic Church Father Anton Kqira
Krijoni Kontakt