Translation.

LU.'JUS OF NATIONS »

0.765. 1925,1.

Communicated to the Council.

GENEVA, Deoeniber 9th, 1925.

KiCHAKGS 0? POPULATIONS B3TÏÏB3N C-RSSCR AND TURISY.

( 1 ) MOSLEMS 0? ALBANIAN ORIGIN IN GR33C3.

Commun is at ion frotn the Albanian Go verraient.

Note by the,. Secretary-General.

At the request of LL Mehdi Frasheri, the Albanian

delegate, the Jeoretary^General has the honour to circulate

to the Council a letter of December 7th, 1925, forwarding

a memorandum dated December 4th, 1925, with 11 annexes, and

relating to the position of Moslems of Albanian origin in

Greece.

1) 3ee documents; C.695.Mr250.192531 C.700. M. 253.1925c! C.713.M.252.1925.I C.729.M. 263.1925.1 -2 - Translation.

a:Sf3VÂ, December 7 th , 1925. To the Scoretary-General.

S ir,

The League of Eations has on several occasions discussed the question of native living in and

orthodox Albanians established in Turkey. As the result of representations made by the

Albanian delegation at the Conference of Lausanne, the Turkish

and Greek delegates declared that they did not intend to subject

Albanians to compulsory exchange. The Turkish Republic kept

its promise, but the Greek Government, in spite of its solemn

declarations, in spite of the presence of neutral members on

the Commissions and Sub-Commissions} in spite of mandatories appointed by the and in spite of the appoint­

ment of an Albanian interpreter on these Commissions, employed all conceivable means to evade its obligations, and in June of

last year, after cruel treatment of all the Moslem Albanians in

Greece ever since 1923, sentencing them to loss of all civil rights, a penalty long obsolete and buried in the history of

the middle ages, drove out the Albanian population from 32

villages in the districts of Fiorina and Castoria in Macedonia;

i t has now in f lic te d the same fa te upon the Moslem Albanians in

the province of Chamuria, The Albanians of Macedonia, wrongfully deported to Asia

Minor, lost half their families as the result of hardship, and

others have returned to free , as living skeletons.

The Albanian Government did its utmost to persuade the

Greek Government to observe its obligations, but in vain.

In view of the urgency of the situation, the Albanian Government /was was obliged to declare to the Greek representative at that, ii' these methods of settling Albanian refugees continued, it would be compelled against its will to adopt the same measures towards in Albania. The Greek representative was instructed by his Government to notify the Government of Tirana that, should this happen,

the Greek Government would ta Ice suitable measures. We are therefore faoed with the refusal of the Greek

Government to fulfil a solenln undertaking, and we stand on the threshold of a conflict between two neighbouring Governments.

A detailed memorandum on this question addressed to the

President of the Council is enclosed herewith. Accordingly, I will request you to forward these documents to the Council of the League. (Signed) M3HDI FRASK3RI.

Delegate for Albania 3 ~ 4 ~

Geneva, Decembor 4 th , 1 9 E5. Translation^

To the president of the Council.

Sir,

last year, in the presence of this iame Gounoil.

M» Politis, the Greek delegate, with his characteristic subtlety, spoke the following words;-

"The Romans were a serious and p ra c tic a l people; they devised a method of saving official time "by punishing rash advocates, The League of Nations ha?-= net yet reached this refinement of organisation; "but the Gounoil of the League of Rations is no less wise than the p.oma:a people, and 1 am confident that it will not encourage unwarrantable interventions wJiioh, so far from c o n trib u tin g to the good understanding bs'cween neighbouring countries, will be more likely to threaten its existence , 11

If the League of rations has not reached the degree of

refinement desired by the Greek delegate, it has on the other

hand ono greater virtue, namely, that of estimating huaisn life

at i t s true value and tre a tin g peoples on a fo otin g of eq u ality .

Before I make my statement, I should like to tender my

thanks to the Members of the League of Nations and the

honourable Rapporteur, Ris Excellency M. Quinones de Leon,

I regret, however - and I must apologise for this - to have to

draw the Council's attention once again to this quest ion =

Albania is a small country and it is desirable that the small

nations should speak as little as possible. I assure you I

am content that this should be so, but unfortunately v/o are

compelled to speak and, as you will see, the question is the

same as that to which we have been compelled to revert for

two years in succession. I t is a question, Gentlemen, of Albanians o f Moslem f a ith

living in Greece, particularly in the districts annexed since 1912 » -5 - These inhabitants form an autoohthonous population which

has lived in those parts since time immemorial, and after the

Turko-Balkan war, these people, who numbered about 90,000 in Macedonia and , accepted the new situation and only asked

that they might live in peace as Greek subjects, and that their rig h ts as human beings should be respected . They were a very

hard-working and peaceable folk and their villages were considered the most prosperous in all Macedonia and Epirus.

Then came the war between ïurkey and Greece in Asia Minor. The Turks drove the Greeks from Anatolia, and it was agreed at the Lausanne Conference that a compulsory exchange should be

effected between Greece and Turlcey, At the req u est of the Albanian delegate - I myself had the honour to be that delegate e

it was agreed between Greece and Turkey that the Moslem Albanians

in Greece and the Orthodox Albanians in Turkey should be exempted from th is■exchange (See Annex 1).

I may remind you, gentlemen, that the exchange of popula­ tions had been accepted as the result of a x?ar between two countries - Greece and Turkey, and there was no reason why a people not concerned in the dispute, viz., the Albanians, should be involved in thecalamities of deportation. We are now living in the 2 0 th century, and religion should not be confused with race, as was the case in the Middle Ages. : N evertheless, as Albania req u ired a somewhat g reater measure of security, she also applied to the League of Bâtions asking it to guarantee the observation of the stipulations of Lausanne in so far as concerned the Albanian element. Subsequent to the statement made a t the Conference of Lausanne, we have in our possession a l e t t e r which M. Venizelos wïbte to the League of Nations on August 6 th , 192*3, and in which he confirms the undertaking given by Greece at Lausanne (See Annex S).

A few days later, on \ieptembor 3rd, 1925, the Greek Legation in Albania forwarded to the Go verm ion t at Tirera a letter Ho.611 onoe again cpnfirming what had been la id down at Lausanne and repeated by.!,;. Venizolos. (nee Annex 3 ).

On December 17th, 1923, EiJ Excellency LI. Caclamanos formally assured the Council that Greece v/as determined to respect her engagements and not to drive l.lo ;lem Albanians from their country end their homes.

The matter seemed quite settled and the dang^ r removed.

Let us nov: see how the Greek au th orities prooeoded to respect their engagements.

Before the beginning of 1924 a Commission consistin g of official s from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Athens visited

Macedonia and Epirus. This Commission declared o f f ic ia lly - and Greek newspapers reproduced the statement with delight - that in a ll Epirus there wore only nine fam ilies who were exempt from compulsory exchange, because - the Commission declared - Greece had only undertaken to respect Albanians who were natives of independent Albania. All the others were liable to deportation and to the confiscation of their property. As for Albanians in Macedonia, the Commission declared o f f ic ia lly that they must a ll be driven out and their good3 confiscated on the grounds that th< statements made and promises given referred exclusively to Albanians in Epirus and in no way to those in Macedonia, even if

they came from the territory Qi' > independent Albania.

In view of this situation, A lbania, az well as the parties concerned, made representations to the neutral members of the

Mixed Commission, which was to supervise the execution of the - 7 - provisions relating to exchange.

The Mixed Commission enjoyed very high authority on account of the three neutral members who had been recommended by the League of Nations. I am not going to make any complaints against the numbers of that Commission. It is common knowledge that Commissions are composed mainly of courteous and agreeable persons whose business i t is to settle questions with a minimum of friction and ill-feeling.

... Russian diplomat said with humour and tru th that chan­ cellories had no desire to create questions but sought above all to settle those which were still pending.

In accordance with this principle the first duty of the

Mixed Commission vjgs to solve the question of exchange between the parties concerned, and, Gentlemen, these parties we re Greece and Turkey, two countries which had been at war and the roar of whose guns had disturbed the peace of the world. The commission was therefore, both in fact and in law, the Turkish and Greek Commission.

Albania was a mere intruder, an element negligible and therefore best neglected. I hope these words do not seem ill-chosen. What was it that really occupied the minds of the Commission? It was two million Turks and Greeks, their persons and their properties, whereas the Albanians numbered less than 90,00C, and Albania had not been at war. Should I, then, be exaggerating if I ventured to assert tist ta at, savoir faire and even duty required of the Commission that it should regard the Albanians as a negligible factor?

Moreover, the term "Commission" implies an obligation upon its members to take no decision^except by a majority vote. And no;., Gentlemen, without intending it I have piled up complaints against the Mixed Commission. "On a majority vote”. I said, That principle has contributed in no small measure towards the ruin of the Albanian

element. As if by chance. Turkey and Greece found that their interests in this matter were identical. The

reasons for this I must expia in 0

For Greece the deportation of Albanians meant the

co n fisca tio n of immense fo rtu n es, which could be given to refugees who had arrived from Asàa Minor, As regards

Turkey, the whole of the property left behind in Greece by Albanians became an asset in Turkey’s account with Greece, and every Albanian transported to Asia Minor helped to fill the gaps left by the war and the exchange.

Let us now examine how the Mixed Commission went to workn

In the spring of 1924 M„ Ekstrand, the neutral

delegate, and . the Turkish delegate, made a tour of Epirus and Macedonia, As soon as they had landed at Frevesa , Hamdi Bey declared to all who calLed on him, and even to those who kept away, that a ll Moslem Albanians Yd thout any

exception whatever were included in the exchange and must be transported to Turkey» Me Ekstrand gave the Albanians to understand that

those who claimed exemption from exchange would be re­

quired to produce written proof of their Albanian origin.

You './ill naturally have seen the report which M 9»

Ekstrand and. Esjndi Bey drew up as the r e s u lt of th is v is it»

Last year I had the honour of replying to this r e p o r t. and in Annex 4 you v.ill find a few further argu­ ment s which cast some doubt on the value of the report / drawn up by the two members of the Comiaission0

M. Ekstrand and Hamdi Bey's journey to Epirus 3 the object of which was to determine the question of Albanian origin, extended only from Prevesa to Janina, in spite of invitations and appeals from the Albanian population which, on the strength cf LI. Caclamanos1 declarations. maintained the purely Albanian origin of all the Iloslems z * in. Epirus» At Janina M, Ekstrand and Hamdi Bey spoke in I ' the same terms as they had used at Prevesa’o From Epirus the two members proceeded to Macedonia,

From Sorovitch 1.1c Firstrand sent a telegram to the Albanians of the thirty-two villages in the sub-prefectures of

Casto lia and Fiorina to come to Sorovitch to prove their

Albanian origine The Albanians replied that they were all of such origin and that it was for. 1L Ekstrand to visit the villages in order to satisfy himself of the f act 0 The

Delegate did no thing „ And yet, even before starting, M, Ekstrand B.ad been supplied with a detailed list of the villages in Macedonia inhabited by Albanians-, In Macedonia the Ilixed Sub-Coasnission working on the spot was composed of the Greek delegate 5 M, Floridi? Safeb Buy, the Turkish delegate and the neutral delegate, Baron von linden. H» von linden never took the trouble to tour 10» a t o i l , 2 referring to enjoy himself at Salonika and

Sorovitch. II. F lo rid ! and Sr-fet Bey agreed, on the d éport­ ation of all -Ihanians from Macedonia. They stated so much to those v/iio visited then, and '..hen they were at a loss they der.ended proofs of Albanian origin.

I have heard it said. Gentlemen, and. I 2cno: it is true that there are scrolls "by vhich the nobility p i-oves its descent from Lhi hts Crusaders, Godfrey de Bouillon or P-ichard Coeur de Lion, but it would. not be easy to demand parchment sciolls from Albanian peasants in Macedonia or Epirus, since even if it were admitted that they are the descendants of the companions of Pyrrhus and. Alexander, the

Great, they would find it difficult to prove their descent in writing, for the simple reason that in those days parch­ ment had not been invented.

In short, the methods countenanced. b2r the Mined

Commission and the attitude of mind shown by II. Ekstraiid? Hamdi Bey, Baion von Linden, II. Eloiidi and Lafet Bey resulted in the evacuation of £1 of the 58 villages in Macedonia. The evacuation took place somev.hat hurriedly and., by the generous use made ol their batons by the Greek gendarmes, the Albanian population was driven like a flock of sheep to the railway station at Sorovitch and thence transported to Salonika, ’.here they had to wait 5 weeks for the boat which was to take them to -à-sia Minor. In vain did these 35,000 Albanians protest, in vain did they re c a ll the solemn undertakings given by Greece. Gentlemen, it is not possible to admit the plea of ignorance. Greece has ruled in llaeedonia for 12 years and all the provincial authorities, the gendarmes, the Hu:±.tars, mayors and sub-prefects laiev very ; ell that they were deal­

ing vith Albanians, ’./ho cannot possibly be confused vi th

Turhs. The inliabitants themselves v/ere so sure that they oui.", not be ve paired tv leave their hones that they had cultivated all their fields end as it vas June, the crops

v/ere ripe said partly gathered in. The Turlrs, 011 the other hand, vho Icnew the fa te in sto re fo r them, had done no y/orl: a t a l l .

Moreover, while the Turins x/er. dyin^. of hunger and living in ville ces close to the railv.ay, the oub-Commis si on and the Oreeh authorities began by clearing the Albanian v illa g e s , which v/ere the fu rth e s t removed from the railx/aye

Theii first aim vas to cet rid of the Albanians. The crops remained unharvested in the fields.

The inhabitants of three villages, Chah, Revan and Zolengrad escaped from the horror of this enforced exodus by fleeing into Albania, leavin. behind them everything they had. The Secretariat of the league has already received an

ai.-oiication from these Albanians for the restoration by C-reeee of their immovable property valued at 3,967,000 gold fra n c s. " hat ’.as the fate of the 31 villages communities deport­ ed into ^sia linor? The ans; er is contained in t’./o words ; ruin and death. In October the inliabitants of three villages, those of Yinan, Icemb and Vitschichta ashed to be allo/.ed to leave ^sia la no r to join their fellow- countrymen in Albania.. 12.

If we must die, they said, let ug at least die among our own people and not in ,.sia Hi nor, where v/e cannot even opealt two v ords of Turkish. Nine months of ceaseless endeavours and représentâtiors were recuired to obtain permission to leave Turkey. Petitions and telegrams were repeatedly sent both to the Hired Commission and to the league of nations. You will see two of these applica­ tions in Annexes 6 and 7. These Albanians asked "Is it a fact that negro slavery ht s been abolished since Cardinal lavigerie1s campaign, or is that all a lie , since we Greek Albanians are treated by league organisations as miserable slaves?"

It was not until last July that they were able to land in ■

Albania, destitute and reduccd to mere shadows* Doseras of other village communities are now in Anotolia awaiting the tine when they can return to Albania- But where is the money required for the journey and to supply a livelihood for these wretched famHits to come from ? The civilised world felt pity for the Greek refugees, but they prefer to remain in ignorance of the fact that thousands of people are being treated as slaves i-nd prisoners, Let us now return to the Albanians in "Spirus. What was their fate? In the autumn of 1928, when the Greeks from Smyrna were beginning to stream into Greece, Doksiades, the Greek M inister, gave orders for the evacuation of of the houses occupied by

Albanians in Epirus, Thus warned, these persons immediately made representation and succeeded in having the order suspended* n e v e rth e le ss, by th is measure the Greek Governmcn had given clear evidence of its intentions; Greece profited by the turn taken by the C-rccoTurkish war to force expatriation upon the

Albanians, or at any i ate to seize their property. This is a fact which we should bear mind, since it explains the atti­ tude adopted by Greece up to the present time. IS • Siiico 1922, right up t o the very moment a.t which I cm up et-king to the Gomicil of the League, the lie Glen LI "banians of J^pirus have been subjected! to a system of exceptional rigour and severity• The houses of IIoxl eni Albanians i re requis it iened for Greek refugees. The fields, orchards, olive groves, vines, fig trees, the oaks a t Valona, a ll lu.s been usurped by the refugees. The rightful owners are compelled to liv e in th eir own houses huddled tof other in a sin g le room and often in a sta b le or shed.

Lnd woe to those who venture to complain, or resist this injustice! Should the refugees wound an Albanian, it is the latter who is immediately arrested and conducted from village to village until he arrives at Janine. 'I'ampl es of these methods can be count­ ed by dozens. Besides that, refugees, gendarmes and brigands join banc’s in an organised and an e:;tnamely skilfully conducted compaign.

Beating has been established by the local police as a regular prac­ tice. Brigands take ransom, while the gendarmes and officers look mildly on anc even share in the booty. I will only mention the names of the brigands T oile Hast ora, liiko and Hi a mo and w ill say nothing of lesser names. On the pretext of pursuing the brigtnds, tiis patrols who are in league with them descend upon the Albanian villages, administer beatings on all sices, carry off valuables in the course of searches t nd demand e;;tra ransom. I aip not exaggera­ ting. On the contrary, I am only telling you the one-hundredth not part of the horrors perpetrated. It is the habit of the patrols/to pay as much as one centime for the food and supplies which they take from Greek villagers. In the Albanian villages a gendarme or an officer would think it beneath his dignity to pay anything at all. Ho si cm Albanians are forbidden to soil their property, or to accept i ny rent for property 1 1 ready le t. A iloslem ..lb an i an must obt< in a permit f; on the officer of gendarmerie in order to leave the district. If an . J. banian wishes 'to telegraph to the authorities at Athens to make a complaint (a fuite useless procedure) the • \ 14. mecsago is frequently returned to him "by the employee at the Post

Office with the words v refused es being an insulting message". I heve seen one such telegram with my own eyes, liiô the fact was brought to the knowledge of the Mired Commission last year.» The Greek authorities, frcm the highest official down to the humblest gendarme, will not conceal the fact that it is the avowed intention of the Greek Government to use these means to compel

Albanians to leave Greece and abandon their property.

I know that the refugee question is a tremendous anxiety to Greece and imposes heavy sacrifices upon her» I know, too, that. the Greek refugees merit the compassion and solicitude of the whole world. The

Albanians of Epirus ought, as Greek subjects, to take their share

in making these sacrifices, nor have they ever thought of evading

this duty - But is it necessary th- t Greece should take advantage of

the presence of the refugees to ill-treat the Albanians on à inflict upon them a martyrdom la s tin g fo r two.and a h a lf years? You probably do not know that in the whole of Epirus there is

not one single Greek refugee settled in a Greek house, I repeat: not a single one. Yet Epirus has 250,000 inhabitants, of whom\^

25,000 arc Moslem Albanians, This represents .a tenth of the total

population, and it is in that proportion that the Albanians ought

to have shared in the sacrifices made and the help given on behalf

of refugees. Is it fair that the Albanian element should bear -

the whole burden? The reply is that the treatment meted out to \ - ■ X the Albanians is not the outcome of necessit" , but that it is

the result of one am only „ namely ; to force the Albanians to leave

the country.

In view of this situation, which I will not call sad, because

that word would be a gross un-3 er-statement, the league of

Sc tions is agi.in called upon to consider the question

of Greek Albanians » You are familiar *15- deoision taken by the Council. M. Quinones de Leon was Rapporteuri The Council requested the neutral members of the Mixed. Commission to regard themselves as representing the Council, that is to say, to be its Mandatories in protecting the Albanian minority in Greece. On receipt of this news the Albanians in E$irus breathed freely and waited expectantly for the application of this decision and consequently the defence of their rights. The anxiously awsited day at length arrived, and in June 1925 the three Mandatories (M. Ekstrand, General de Lara and M. Widdingl started on a tour of Epirus, and visited the towns of Goumenitza, Janina and IConitsa.

How did these gentlemen set about their vrork?

1. It was essen tia l to Greece to prove to the Albanians at any cost that she was ntit afraid of the represen­ ta tiv e s o f the League and that the Albanians were very simple if they supposed that tho mandate conferred upon the three neutral members meant the end of their sufferings. During the very first days of the Mandatories1 visit, Abidin Dule Djemali, a rich merchant of Goumenitza was expelled to prevesa in order that he might not meet the Commission. But he was released and returned to his home as soon as the Mandatories arrived at Prevesa. 2. The Greek gendarmes anu sold iers prevented

Albanians from appearing before the Commission and submitting their complaints. 3. The inliabitants of the villages of Dermitza and S a litza (in the sub-prefecture of Goumenitza) were prevented by the gendarmes from v is itin g the capital to {sec the Mandatories,

These peasants were beaten by the gendarmes, h ^ g up by the feet and their wives outraged. 4. Peasants bribed with Greek money v/ere brought before the Mandatories by the gendarmes in order to declare that they were [Parks and wished to be exchanged.

5, Deputations from the towns of Filat, Paramithi, and Margarit visited M. Ekstrand (Acting President of the Mixed Commission and consequently of the Mandatories'* to ask for a hearing. M„ Ekstrand sent them away telling them that' the Mandatories would themselves be visiting these three towns in order to ascertain the facts on the spot. M. Ekstrand. however, on the pretext that he could not ride, went neither to Filat, no to Paramithi, nor to Margarit.

6 » A young man, named Haireddin, from the village of Arvenitza, desired to visit to Mandatories. He was prevented by the gendarmes ana ill-treated, but escaped from his guards and, streaming with blood, succeeded in finding M» Ekstrand at Janina. All these incidents, and many others besides, were brought to the knowledge of the Mandatories, and they, as civilised beings whose duty it is to hide their emotions, were ready with an indulgent and kindly smile. M» Alexander Palis, the Prefect of Corfu, who was appointed to accompany the Manda tories during their tour in Epirus, smiled ironically as he saw how seemly everything was made to appear in the eyes of

League’s representatives. From the day when the three Mandatories paid t’h&ÏT visit to Epirus, there was not only no alleviation of the sufferings of the Albanian element in thisarea, but on the contrary the Greek authorities redouoled their exforts to make their existence intolerable. -17'

M, B ratlitChairman of the Epirus Sub-Commission had made a detailed report towards the end of 1924, which M. Ekstrand found too strong and which, I belleveç was returned to M, Bratli with a request (if not an order) to tone it down, M. Bratli and his Albanian assistant. Me Kenan Msssaré, continued to send the Mandatories further reports, but I do not know what became of them, I said earlier in my speech that the mandate given by the league of Rations had had no result, but I was mistaken., It did have one result :

600 Albanians were driven from their homes at Fa:,: g a and their property was confiscated* This ac: was committed by the Mixed Commission itself, bccause the inhabitants of Parga were natives of lala in Korea. In vain was proof offered in a circumstantiated memorandum with quotations dtawn from Oreok, English, German and

French writers to show that the people cf :f;ala wore Albanians of the Mohammedan faith and that during thé wars of independence the Greeks themselves had never ceased to regard them as Albanians. The Mixed Commission was adamant, and in s is te d on the deporation

Of these Albanians, One Mehmat Dusa cf Parga sent a telegram and petition to the Mandatories themselves and to the League of Nations. The Albanian Minister at Athens wrote on the subject to the Mandatories, who (in their letter No. dated re]Cied that they could do nothing because the decision for the expulsion of the people of Parga had been taken unanimously by the Mixed Commission, To this the Albanian Minister replied that he was surprised to learn that the Mixed Commission claimed to be infallible.

v -16-19- Dur ing their tour in Lirus the mandat or ie,- callo u sly

witnessed I he e; ,.-ul ion of the Albanians Lom the tox.n of Konitza. yhe Green: authorities of .hat to' n 'even closed ixhe

Bektashi tekké (monastery) of llonitaa ând confiscated the

diminutive estates of the head of the monastery, although he

wa3 net only an Albanian but also a navive of the territory of

independent Albania and an Albanian subject, seventeen families

of Zonitsa '.ere driven by force f i ora their homes although they

were native;; of the tov.n of in Albania, Tho mandatories had only one argument against them; their skin was

too dark, they i.ere gp .sies and could therefore be '.riven out witho at scruple.

During all this time the situation remained unchanged in Epirus ; brigands; gendarmes and civil employees continued their activities. The persecution was not yet at an end.

In August M. B ratli, who doubtless was too well acquainted

with the truth, was recalled and M. S lib en was sent in his place c

From that moment the Albanians who had complaints to make - aid

they all had - were not even given a hearing. At the same time as M. 3 lib en was sent, Greece replaced her delegate by li.F loridi.

It was no doubt pure chance that the same M« lloridi who had ac-' aired experience of driving out Albanians from Macedonia x/as

sent to Epirus. And M. Ekstrand, even as mandatory, continued

to be the authority on Albanian affairs, i.e. the man who had

to send Albanians to Asia Minor.

On his arrival in Epirus M. d lib en had received orders to

expel 5000 Albanians from that Province. He'had nevertheless to decide uaon the districts from which his victims were to come.

M. Floridi fixed upon the villages of üalitza, Grecohore,

' H icolitzi, No unesati, Ko usovitza, placaria, Scorpion a, Masaralc, Ar itza, Ligourat, Caibounar, i.e. the most prosperous v illa g e s of the Chamuria (Epirus). The Turkish deleg-'te , who had he en -SO- led to believe that there was not a single Turk in this district, hesitated to take this step*

You have before you, gentlemen, a telegram addressed to the

Seoi e ta r ia t of the league of Mations by the Mixed Commission sfc , and consequently by the mandatories themselves, in which the I at ver allege that the 5 have no knowlddge of any decision concerning the expulsion of 5000 Albanians. Des ite this denial the decision exists ; the Sub-Commission in Epirus are acquainted with it and so are the C!-reek authorities themselves<, The same telegram suggests that che figure mentioned corresponds v/ith the number at which the Evlr us Sub-Commission estimates the population of other than Albanian origin» But, gentlemen, the" people in question are Albanians and not Turks, 00 much so that the

Sub-Commission or rather the Mixed Commission at Constantinople does not know where to get them from. Moreover, asÿou will see in .-.miex 8 , the Mixed Commission had decided to look for Turks and not for Albanians subject to exchange in Epirus; and not to en­ deavour to determine Albanian origin but Turkish origin, particularly as M. Caclamanos, both at Lausanne and before the Council of the League of Mations, had clearly recognised that the

Moslems of Epirus v/ere Albanians. M. B ra tli had reco- niaed th a t there was not a single Turk in Epirus and the Greek authorities themselves freely admit this facto

Why then, it will be asked, are Albanians treated with such injustice? It is simply because the Albanian facta 1 re ­ presents a negligible quantity compared v/ith the great interests at stake between Turkey and Greece, and that this factor ecu Id be held in reserve and constituted an admirable bargaining instrument in settling difficulties which night arise between the tv. 0 principal States coiic mod. In consenting to th is bargaining and even allowing i t to take p-laco under pi t> i ts patronage, the Mixed Commission imagined th at i t was d is­ playing savoir faire and tact and was quite oblivious to the fact that this settlement was achieved at the expense of the Albanians »

The Chamuriots who for the "laat 2§- years have been living in a perpetual state of insecurity and have been subjected to a rule of unparalleled severity did not know where to turn, M,

Sliben roughly dismissed them; indeed they did not dare to apply eixher to M. Sliben or to liis assistant, M. Kenen Messaré, since they were sure of being beaten on leaving the house after these interviewé»

The Greek authorities indulged in all the refinements of cruelty. One hundred and four Albanians were arrested, flung into prison or exiled in the various islands and towns of Greece for the only reason that they iii not wish to leave the country and be deported tc Asia E inor„ The Albanian Minister at Athens despatched a letter tc the

Secretariat of the League of Hâtions * The assistant Director of the Minorities Section in his reply of October 26th. 1925, B"Oo

2/47153/37781, informed him that tho persons concerned should apply directly to tho mandatories at Constantinople„ The

Albanian consul at Constantinople called cn the Chairman of the mandatories and spoke to him of the position of the Chamuriots„ The President listened to him with the greatest courtesy and replied that the Oheauxiots should apply directly to the League of Rations » But how could the Chamuriots communicate with Geneva?

Where could they find a courrier to carry the letters or a Greek postal or telegraph official who would not hand them over to be beaten by the gendarmes? I

22 o

Without giving way to discouragement, however, the Chamuriots did all in their power to obtain a hearing. They even applied to the

Refugees Settlem ent Commission, As you know, gentlemen, Greoce ht.s obtained, under the auspices of the League of dations, a large loan to provide for the refugees, and a "Refugee Settlement Commission" is now working at Athens* This loan was granted to Greece for humanitarian purposes and it v-ras solely with this end in view that the undertaking was patronised by the league of Nations. But, by x the irony of fate, a work of humanity and charity becomes criminal when it is put to a bad use, The Refugees Settlement Commission has become, no doubt without intending to* the accomplice of the Greek authorities by consenting to establish refugees in houses from which

Albanians have been literally thrown into the street. Influential persons visited Hr. Campbell at Athens on this subject and told h:*.:n that it viras not altogether humane to causo the death cf some on the pretext of alleviating somewhat the sufferings of others. These persons went so far as to tell &r. Campbell and M. Roufos, the Greek

Minister of Foreign Affairs, that they should treat the Albanians themselves as refugees and allow them to liv e i n th ei r own houses end on their own ro •■erties, if not as legitimate owners at least as refugees. Gentlemen, you -.ay find my statement rather a long one.

But the sufferings of these people have been' of still longer duration. These sufferings reached their climax when the Spirus State Commission hcstily asked for a vessel to take to Asia ^inor 8CO Albanians, the vanguard of the 5CC0 whose expulsion had been decided upon as a re­ sult of clandestine negotiations. -2 3 -

An example is uhat of the inhabitants of tho .ilbanim villa,' es of Gardiki and Dragumi - the first of 300 houses and

the second of 150, 100 of which belonged to Albanian Moslems.

These villages at e the most prosperous in Charnu*i e l , and are situated on the extreme south-eastern borders o-f the comntry

inhabited by the Albanians, Their history is remarkable , and

1 will give you a brief outline of it.

In 1912, the Greek bands looted, pillaged and burned to the ground the villages of Gardiki and Dragumi. The inhabitants

rebuilt them. In 1910, the Greek bands were good enough to

•pay them a second visit and carried off all the furniture and

movable property. In 1923, the brigand Tsile Mastora, with uhe

help of dergeant Angwelki (chief of the gendarmerie post of Carbunari) magnanimously undertook to concern themselves for the

welfare of Gardiki and Dragumi on6. their inhabitants were daily held to ransom in curn by Tsile Masoora and by military

detachments, the latter indulging in the pleasure of beat Mg

the population to their hearts 1 content.

On one occasion the brigand attacked Gardiki in force > *5hd murdered iilma^ Habib and IJehmet hefat. Tovards Mpvember 1923 Tsile Mastora, with 30 of his minions, threatened tjo slaughter the population of Gardiki. The terrified ^inhabitants hastily fled from the village and took refuge among their fiiends at Parga, Margarit, Carbunar and Mazarek*

The Greeks had attained their ends; as soon as the ^Albanians had left, the sub-prefect of Pai-.mithia hastened

to settle refugees at Gardiki. iome days later the Albanians, on returning to their village, were allowed ■24- out of charity to take shelter in the st hie s and cow-sheds.

The kindness cf the Greek authorities (iid not, however, go so far as to allow them to plough their fields or gather the fruit from their trees.

In May 1924, when LI. Ekstrand arrived at prevesa, the in­ habitants of Gardiki called on him and informed him of their unfortunate position- M, Ekstrand consoled them with these fatherly words : "Be patient for a little while longer, and then like all the other Albanians you will bo sent to Asia Minor"»

/ Some idea of the Wealth of Gardiki may be gained from the fact that during the first year the refugees reaped a harvest of / ljb 000 okes (130,000 kilogrammes) of almonds and during the I' fécond year Tsile Mastora, the king of these mountains, gathered j d/harvest of 300,000 okes of olives, / ■ Meanwhile, the inhabitants of Gardiki were dying of hunger.

At Dragumi the same kind of thing occurred » Tsile Mastora, the f king of these mountains, and jergeant Angwelki, r • nsoms, beatings, i refugees. and to end up, starvation, or permission granted out of chai ity to live in stables and cow-sheds, At Dragumi, however, Tsile Mastora was less successful; instead of murdering anyone he only wounded two .ilban.v.ns, the sons of Mebi and Murat Suleiman.

And it is these same inhabitants of Gardiki and Dragumi that the Mixed Commission and the m andatories, as agents of the League of nations, wish to deport to ,^sia Minor to crown their sufferings

I am sure you are all acquainted, gentlemen, with the works of the Persian poet Saadic In his book "The Garden of Boses" he tells the story of a traveller who had to cross a country infested with brigands» A guide was recommended

/' - 25 -

to him to show him the sa fe st road and to protect him.

The next day our traveller vas heard loudly lamenting. He was ashed if the bandits had robbed him. "!?o”, he said, "it was the guide you gave ne to protect me”.

In view of the situation I have described, a choice must be made between three alternatives, Either the Greek

Government must bo forced to respect the o bligations it has incurred in virtue ox the solerui declarations of its dele­ gation at the Conference of Lausanne and its obligations under the I.linorit iea Treaty, or it must be invited to proceed to an exchange of the Albanian population of Chamuria with the Greeks of Albania, If this is not possible the Albanian Government would find - i t s e l f obliged, in order to cot tie its own refugees, to take the same measures against the Greeks of

Albania. The Greek Government has n o tifie d the Tirana

Government that m such an eventuality it would not remain passive but would take the requisite measures, The third alternative would therefore provoke a conflict between the two neighbouring Governments, and I therefore beg the Council ■ to take tho decisions best adapted to relieve the situation.

( 3gd ) Ilehdi Eras her i ,

Delegate of Albania. -26- Annex 1.

The Chairman of the Minorities Section at the Lausanne

Conference sent the following letter to M. Mehdi Frasheri,

Albanian delegate,

"In reply to your letter of tho 1 1 th inst., I bog to inform you that the question of the future of the Albanians resident in Greece, and particularly in Southern Epirus, was

•raised at the meeting of the Sub-Committee for the exchange of populations held on the 19th inst,

"1 am glad to be able to inform you that the [Turkish and

Creek representatives have expressly stated that the Albanian

Minorities in Turkoy and Creeco are excluded in law and in fact from the exchange of populations.

"As these declarations were entered in the minutes, it was not thought necessary to embody them in a special provision of the agreement regarding the exchange of populations . 17

Lausanne, January 2 0th, 1923. Annex 2*

M. Venizelos sent the following letter to the Secretary-

General of the League of .Nations.

"I have taken note of the letter you addressed to mo

on July 28th, and I beg to inform you that before leaving Lausanne I telegraphed to rny Governuent to cell its attention

to the position of Moslem Greek subjects of Albanian race, who

are not to bo treated as Turks in matters relating to the

execution of the Convention for the exchange of populatiohs.

"I fe e l sure that the Greek Government fu lly understands

this position, and I should be very grateful if you would, on

my behalf, reassure the Albanian delegate on this point.

Lausanne, August 6 th, 1923. -26- .^nnex 3.

The Greek: legation in Albania cent the following answer to the Albanian Governmeht î

Royal Greek: Legation. Uo. 611 September 3rd, 1923.

"In your letter of July 21st you arked thrt Greece should observe the undertakings she had given in regard to Albania

in connection with the agreement on the exchange of populations

entered into between Greece and Turkey at Lausanne,.

"I am directed to inform you that the Greek. Government has never had any intention of evading tho undertakings formally

entered into i t Lausanne, that it will scrupulously observo every stipulation relating to Lfcslom Albanians who arc nationale of another S ta te , and that Greek subjects whose property is

situated in Greece will alee be excluded from the proposed exchange. ” Annex 4.

In the îvieinorandum vve referred to the report prepared "by the Mixed Commission ^ ith a vie"'; to setting out the results of the enquiry instituted "by M. Ekstrand on the occasion of his journey in the spring of 1924. This report contains innumerable errors and inaccuracies of which the most impor­ tant are the following : The delegates of the Commission s ta te that "they v/ero careful to summon more particularly those persons whose names had been given by the Albanian r epresentative at A thens". In point of fact they telegraphed from to the persons mentioned by the Albanian Minister at Athens, but the Prefect of Preveza i/amedia te ly summoned, in great haste and on his own initiative, a largenumber of Albanians who apparently stated that they were in favour of exchange.

Among those whose names were given by the Albanian M inister v?as Llezher Dino, but he received no summons to attend, and it was only after much trouble and repeated attempts that he saw LL Ekstrand at Janina .

To prevent an honest man from stating his views, the Turkish delegate, Hamb3 Bey, altered the telegram to the acting Mufti, of Somcnitza Mehmet 3alo, and summoned Mufti Halil Effendi, who had been dismissed from his post in 1922. M. Tscheka, interim Prefect of Preveza, threatened the Albanians Chech S ab ri, Mehmet Dusa and Chukri Abbas. Later, lvlus sa Demi , Haki, Seiko and Mashar Lino were arrested as Albanian propagandists, which means that they clai./ied that the Albanians of Tschamouria should not be liable to exchange. The Greek authorities, also desired - 30- tc arrest J.li Dino and Chukri .abbas on the same charge.

The Sub-Prefect of Philiataes, Papamihailiou, sent gendarmes to bring Sadelia Pilafim from the village of

Galibaki by night-, on an army mule, to induce him to sign a telegram composed by the Sub-Prefect him self. intim idated, and perhaps influenced by some premise or other as w ell, Sud'slim also signed for 17 other j.Ibanians, although they knew nothing of the matter» That was the telegram sent from Philiataes stating that "The Albanians of Philiataes, numbering 5,000 declare that they do not desire to be the victims cf jilbanian intrigue. "

Captain Polimero of Margarition sent two soldiers to

Mazarski tc fetch Tschafa Mugarrem and force him to sign a telegram to M. Ekstrand at Athens. There were 18 signatures to th is telegram , a ll of them forged. While M. Ekstrand was at Janina, tho Sub-Prefect of

Paramythia, Mushatos, asked the Albanian Salih Zeinel, belonging to the village of Eicolitz, to sign a telegram stating that the

Albanians of" Tschamouria v/ere Turks and that they were, willing to submit to exchange. This telegram, which was written by tho

Sub-Prefect with his own hand, v/as signed with the names of persons who knew nothing whatever about the matter.

It should be noted that no charge is made for telegrams sent by persons who ask that they should be subject to exchange. -31- Annex 5.

To the President of' the Mixed Commission, Constantinople

COhST-JJTIHOPLE, Mo member 10th 1925

In sorrow and tears v:e hu m b l y approach Your Excellency to explain the cruel position in ; hi eh we are placed. "Ve, the undersigned, are the representatives of the inhabitants of the village of Vinani (in the Prefecture of

K astoria in Greece) vho v/ere removed from th eir homes , and who are now in Ezine (Dardanelles).

The inhabitants of Vinani numbered 190 and belonged to fort"y households ; all v/ere Albanian in language, origin and race. '..hen the exchange- of populations began, v:e decided to remain in our homes , and we were so convinced that we should not be included in the exchange that we tilled and sowed our fields and planted tobacco, beans and maize. The Greek authorities themselves were aware that we were to remain in our village, and they had not settled a single refvg ee among u s . At the beginning of June last, we sent a deputation to

Fiorina to regularise our position, trusting to our status of

Albani ans. Our rep resen tativ es saw the Delegates of the Mixed

Commission, vho informed then that all Moslem Albanians with­ out exception were subject to compulsory exchange and that force might be used, if necessary. Alarmed at this statement of the officiais of the Mixed 3ia, *

Connission, \/e made preparations to escae secretly to

Albania to avoid the hardships of a compulsory removal.

Unfortunately, only three families managed to cross the lake and find a refuge in Albania, after Uiich the author­ ities tool-: steps to prevent the departure of the rest.

The remaining inhabitants of Vinani were expelled, from their hones "by violence , and, after abandoning ell their property, they were driven a\/a.y like do.; s in three days.

On June 21st it vas our bitter fate to leave the land x.here our fa th e rs had been s e ttle d from time immorial and

to tread the cruel path of exile. In spite of the kind­ ness and attention of the authorities of the Turkish Republic, we lost, day by day, 25 members of our little community, and not a day passed but ve dug new graves for our beloved wives and children. Ve feel convinced that v/e cannot live in this '..ay, far from our country, and v/e implore the Commission to repatriate us at its ov;n charge in our village of Vinani and to secure the restitution of the property we left behind. Ve throw ourselves on your generosity and implore your aid on behalf of those of our women and children who have, so far, been spared to us.

(signed) SHÜICÏI ROUSCKIT

TEFIE ÂIïï:3T Annex 6 -32-

ALBANIAN VILLAGES IF THE PREFECTURE OF IIASTQEI:

Numbor of Inhabitants, V iohishta 299

Zabirdéni 654

G alishta 299

^élégosh 611

Chakeni 172 Dusbrolishta 174

Ohétorok 107 I -'liveni 462

Isféti-Bdela 390 Oshani @77

G hirleni 825

Shak 8 08

Teprashka 37 4 T ris tik a 159 Revani 803 Zclengrad 300 Miraslavitch 35 Zagar 40 Teuhul 106 Fushezs ■ 24 Broshtoni 227 Fiorina Town 2 0 0 0 Ghermani 90 Vinsh 460 Remb 160 Pepli 180 Zleshtin-Sipor 900 ICleshtin-Poshter 460 Zllapuç iaht 90 Negoçan 70 Pies hovice 520 V ertolom 560 Mc-ha li e 1 00 Nevolan 80 Annex 7 » No.3 /2 8 . Forwarded to ..-.lidding, President of the __ixe d Commission * November 3rd, 1925.

ju'l .jU k »

1 . The 37 Albanian villages in Ü ’O21,, and FLORIDA e x a c te d to receive a visit Iron the Coamission, consisting of ...Kkstrand and tlarndi Bey, who were to go th ire via E o ritza.

The hops that the two delegates would in this way see the

true state oi affairs lor themselves was disappointed, and at

the same time the confidence of the Albanians was shakenc

On reaching vorovich, .. .Ekstrand and Kamdi Be y telegraphed

to the Prefecture of ~astoria and Fiorina asking the Albanians

to come and see the delegates oi the Commission at Sorovichr

The Alb. mi ans replied that there were too many oi them to go to

uorovicb, and o.sked the delegates to come and see them in their own villages.

This hope was also dashed.

2 he local authorities took advantage of this circumstance to

terrorise the inhabitants (there ,/ere murders, for example, in the villages of Rev an i and Sliveni ), and to instal the refugees in

the homes of Moslem Albanians only. I t should be noted th at the decision of the Commission regard­

ing the exemption of ,.lbanians from exchange was published on one

occasion only in the Greek press - in the Athens news pape rs - and then in greatly condensed foim, wheroao in hundreds of articles in the provincial and metropolitan press it was asserted that all

.uoslem Albanians were liable to exchange. 2. In spite of every effort to break their spirit, the Alban­

ians in the 3 7 villages decided to remain in their homes. Their determination is p roved by - the fact that, unlike the exchangeable -34-

Turks, th o Albanians t il lad and solved their fields and also kept all their live stock.

4. Unfo rtunote ly, w he n the actual v/ork of the exchange began ,

only oaf et Be y and .Floridhi proceeded to the spot. Baron Lin­ den, the neutral delegate, never showed the slightest interest in the exchange, and still less in considering the case of the

Albanians, lie onlj: once went to I.astoria when the exchange arrange ments were corn letod. Even then he wont only because the pre­ fect of th a t town urgently begged him to do so.

4. The two delegates, Safet Bey and ....Floridhi, desired to regard as Albanians onlÿ persons bom within the boundaries of independ­ ent Albania, in complete d isregard ox the unequivocal decision ta 1rsn by the i-à xed Commi ss ion.

5. Albanians belonging to the village of (jfastor i a) declared on oath that, when they went to Fiorina, the only p r- son the y saw was the delegate Safet §ey, who told them that all

Loslem Albanians without, d istin ctio n were to be removed from their hones if the lands they occupied we/e not in Albanian terri­ tory.

6 . The Ibanians in the villages of LES C HQ I TZa and LEHuLL^

(Fiorina), despite the fact that these places are near a railway station, were driven fran their homes and removed to another station, in order to ensure that tnese two villages should be already evacuated when the Commission passed through them. 7. The last ■ tarty of Turks left the country about the end of

August, and though they were dying of starvation, the Commission began (before the beginning of July) to send of! the Albanian villagers in spite of their entreaties. In removing them the gendarmes employed force; this is confirmed by the evidence of thousands of .Albanians. -35- Annex 3.

Decision taken by the llixed Comnission in

Constantinople on August «3rd, 1925.

4. It should ho re pee ted here th a t, as the Con- vention of January 30th 1923 provides for the compulsory exchange of Greek nationals of „ lo s le ra faith, exchangeable persons in Epirus must Le selected after determining the non-exchange a Lie s , i.e., Greek nationals of ."Jos le m faith end Albanian origin, v;ho are not liable to exchange, must be distinguished and kept separate from all the other Greek nationals of iioslem faith who are liable to com­ pulsory exchange. ( See decision of the I.Iixed Commission of July 1 2 th, 1924, annexed).

C01TSÏAÎIOT0PLE, A pril 3rd, 1925. -*«56-

auiex 9 .

iiioT ji' ræsorio by thü authorities or tciiaiiueia

üïTD 20 V ...lo tis PENALTIES 3Y TILJ JM IN A COURT- MARTIAL ( FAOixl AUGUST 25 th to SUPTELIBER 17th, 1925 ).

liâmes oi‘ persona deserted üo Sent en oc s and Maiv)lla. - D eportations.

Ville 29 of YiJ-.FjJII :

ISâiil Yv.SSIÎÏ Sentenced to 5 years imprisonment

ilOUoSA do. 4 do.

12SAU SCULO do, 3 do.

LKTJ TCEAPA do. 1 do. and four other persons of the same village : 8 in all.

Village of DIRIIITZA

SULÜÏMaIT DII.1IITZA Sentenced to 1 year imprisonment

Village of DRALIZI OMSK Dr.YLAM Sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

EASoAET do. 10 do. BEZIL dlllAli do. 10 do.

ifiJixSH DA OUT do. 10 do.

liLi-JXx DAïLilî do. impriscnoent for life,,

and tv o other persons of the seine village to 10 years imprisonment.

7 in a l l .

Village c£ IOZOE. .BDUL CÏÏAKI0 Sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

10 persons belonging to FILAT!, 13 others to VAltFAITI, and 3 to GROPA have also been tried and sentenced to various penalties. (Deported to ITauplia) . ! -3 7 -

31 even men and 17 women in the v illa g e of ITICOI-ITZI

and 10 men ana about 20 women belonging to S0L0PIA wore

also arrested, kept in custody for some days at JAHI1TA and finally discharged.

•JMAEI LAPA, SPIRO SUI;LA and C01TSTAHTIFIDI lawyers in Janlna, who described themselves as counsel for the

unfortunate prisoners, advised them to apply for exchange

at once and to sign a collective request for the purpose

if they desired to be pardoned, (Comment is unnecessary).

In accordance with the OL'der ITo» 373/13 of the Com­ mander of tho Epirus Gendarmerie , which was communicated

to the authorities of FILATI on August 31st, 1925 ,

DAMINE DAÎ U?E, HADJI LATIP, TAHIR ZA1C, BEEJO I3ET and

A BASSE LEVETO, a l l belonging to SP ATARI, and 7ASSI1T IIADIiO'

of ZMIRTA, were arrested and taken to Janina for deporta­

tion . On Au -ust 16th 1925 DAMIH2 IviETE of MAZRAK and SII1I HADJI

of COURTESSE, who were trie d by summary procedure before tie

Janina Court-Martial and condemned to six months imprisonment, we re deported to HAUPLIA.

à BED ET DOULE DJEI.ÎAII, a per s on of independent me en s

belonging to IGUlxlEMITZA, was deported for the tenth time , perhaps to ZaITTE. In consequence of repeated protests and

representations he was allowed to live in CORFU, provided

he had no relations with his fellow-countrymen and reported

daily to the local police. ABR3X 3 5 .

V/e have already referred to the Brigand. Tsile IJastora but he is not the only one who carries on his trade at the errnens of the Albanians of Epirus ana wreaks vengeance on them. 'The following are some of tho chief brigands in these parts.

Hiko, Kiamo, Harilao, Thodo, Medjo and Haldouche in addition to the brothers Zolovo and the notorious F.end jei c V/e stated that Tsile Mastora and others like him pursue their calling, not only with the connivance of the authorities, but even with their active support..

Somewhere aooux October 1925 the Greek authorities (for what reason is nob known’ outlawed Tsile Haetora* Conse­ quently he was to be captured. Immediately General Marko, Military Governor- of Epirus, sent his ai de-de-camp. Lieutenant

Ana g no s t i , in company with the B ug and Hi ko Kiamo, to Athens to see what he could do in the Ministry of the Interior and with the Prime Minister to secure Tsile Mastora's pradon. ,r?or, " said General Marko, '"Tsile Mastora will perform very great services for us in the districts inhabited by Albanians,T. Five days afterwards the Athens newspapers (this happened on Hotember 15th 1925) issued a statement announcing

Tsile i»IastoraTs pardon.

C ivil and m ilita ry employment is so lu cra tiv e in the districts inhabited by Albanians that gendarmes, officers and deputy-governors are ready to make heavy pecuniary sacri­ fices to obtain positions there„ It is even rumoured that the Governor of Janina has

ICC,OOO sold francs at his disposal every month for the purpose of driving the Albanian element out oi the country. -39- ANNEX 11

Another method employe<1 "by the Greek Government to ' compel the Albanians to apply for th eir own expulsion is to resort to the Muftis, who describe themselves as heads of the Moslem religion, but who in reality are agents appointed and paid by the a u th o ritie s.

Mention may be made of the Mufti of Filati, Mehmet Effendi, otherwise known as Hod.ia Memo, He states that he is in favour of exchange, but none the le ss he bought a shop and stock worth 400,000 drachma la s t year and he has not the remotest intention of leaving the country,

Mufti Halil of Gurneniza is also a paid agent of the Greek Government, His house and orchards were, as in the case of all Albanians, occupied by refugees, but the latter were elubbeu and driven away by the Greek authorities* Since then Halil has declared himself in favour of exchange, but he will be the last

Albanian to leave Epirus.

The Greek au th o rities wished also to bribe Mufti Aaem Feraize of Margarit, but were unsuccessful. Tsceka, former interim prefect of rrevesa, is the chief person who has under­ taken to bribe the Albanians.. It will be seen from Annex Mo . . . what methods the Greek a u th o ritie s have employed to convince the Mixed Commission \ that the Albanians were willing to accept exchange. Surprises, however, have occasionally occurred, as, for example, in the case of Jassin Sadik of Margarit, who, on the occasion of M- EkstrandT s first iourney (May 1924] had stated that he was an out-and-out

supporter cf exchanges In 1925 Jassin Hadji Sadik appeared once more before the Mandatories. M. Ekstrand recognisea him at once and said to him: "I know who you are; you are anxious to leave V7 - 40 -

"'lycuse me, air" wt.s the reply, "I really wanted to

go, but I cannot do go now. I wished to get away to

es cup q the ill-treatment of tho gendarmes, the brig&nf a cl cl the sub-i) refect, But now tk t I have experienced every

poGSi'ülc horror, I intend to remain in my house and in my country” .

It is entirely unnecessary to report from day to

day the tribulations and ill-treatment to which the Albanian element in Zpirus has been subjected for the past two and

c< - h 1 f « C v r G •

Suffice it to s«y that, at Paraxiithia., the _1 banian

f., mers have been robbed of plots of lane of an arec of

half a hectare, on the pretext of expropriation - ai

flag rai t violation of the Greek law on the allocation of

land, and a procedure 011I ’1 resorted to in Villages inhabi­ ted by Albanians and only enforced against Albanians.

In Ilovember h s t , Alb uni ans of ïschamunia applied to the Ministry of Agriculture end begged for justice»

H. 3 1 e p u l i s rejected th e ir dena.noo mu' said "They are

Liosiens anc' their line’s oust be confiscated without any

f c ma l i t i e s what cv or” •