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101-432: Anti-Albanian sentiment or Albanophobia is discrimination and prejudice towards Albanians as an ethnic group, described primarily in countries with a large Albanian population as immigrants, seen throughout Europe. A similar term used with the same denotation is anti-albanianism used in many sources similarly with albanophobia , although its similarities and/or differences are not defined. The opposite for Albanophobia

202-542: A manuscript written in the Serbo-Croatian Language traced back to the 17th century but published in the 20th century by Radoslav Grujic. It is a fragment of a once longer text that endeavours to explain the origins of peoples and languages in a question-and-answer form similar to a catechism . The fragmented manuscript differentiated the world into 72 languages and three religious categories including Christians, half-believers and non-believers. Grujic dated it to

303-513: A "psychosis" by bribing clergymen to encourage the Albanians to leave the country, enforcing the law to the letter, secretly razing Albanian inhabited villages, ruthless application of all police regulations, ruthless collection of taxes and the payment of all private and public debts, the requisitioning of all public and municipal pasture land, the cancellation of concessions, the withdrawal of permits to exercise an occupation, dismissal from government,

404-421: A "wild tribe" with "cruel instincts". Others from Serbia's intelligentsia such as the geographer Jovan Cvijić referred to Albanians as being "the most barbarous tribes of Europe". whereas politician Vladan Đorđević described Albanians as "modern Troglodytes " and "prehumans who slept in the trees", still having "tails" in the nineteenth century. Throughout the 1930s, a strong anti-Albanian sentiment existed in

505-402: A collection of Albanian folk songs, published in 1870s by Thimi Mitko, suggests that most Albanian speakers of his time identified themselves and each other through various terms and not a single national designation. Among other terms, Muslims were identified as turq or turkollarë ("Turks"). Apart from being associated with Muslim Albanians , in some specific works the term Turco-Albanian

606-622: A few kilometres was then gathered on the Barsko Polje. At one point, in Polje, one of the Albanians from the column attacked and killed one of the Yugoslav officers, Božo Dabanović. Very soon after that somebody from the column threw a smuggled bomb at the commander of the brigade. This created a panic among the Partisans. The guards watching over the recruits then fired into the crowd killing many and prompting

707-515: A hardly accessible mountainous region, which helped them preserve their peculiar culture and language. The issue surrounding the origin of the Albanian people has long been debated by historians and linguists for centuries. They have Paleo-Balkan origins, and for obvious geographic and historical reasons most scholars maintain that they descended at least partially from the Illyrians , but besides

808-593: A lot of space and attention to crimes committed by ethnic Albanians, even those just presumed. After the Albanian crisis and subsequent Albanian mass migration to Italy, it was observed that Italian public opinion was "solidly and remarkably" anti-Albanian. In the 21st century, anti-Albanian sentiment remains widespread and prevalent in Italian society. Some authors have noted the contrast Italians' general Albanophobia with Albanians' general Italophilia . Not infrequently,

909-451: A new and generalised response by Albanians based on ethnic and linguistic consciousness to this new and different Ottoman world emerging around them was a change in ethnonym. Little is known about the Albanian people prior to the 11th century, though a text compiled around the beginning of the 11th century in the Bulgarian language contains a possible reference to them. It is preserved in

1010-741: A number of popular initiatives, which were referred to by the Albanians as discriminatory. In 1998, the Zurich SVP created an election poster with the words " Kosovo Albanians " and "No" in large letters when it came to financing an integration project for Albanians . In 2009, the Swiss People's Initiative "Against the Construction of Minarets" was adopted by the Swiss people . Many Muslim Albanians were outraged by this result and expressed their rejection. In 2010,

1111-630: A subject of debate. In what has been termed the "Vranoussi-Ducellier debate", Alain Ducellier proposed that both uses of the term referred to medieval Albanians. Era Vranoussi counter-suggested that the first use referred to Normans , while the second didn't have an ethnic connotation necessarily and could be a reference to the Normans as "foreigners" ( aubain ) in Epirus which Maniakes and his army traversed. This debate has never been resolved. A newer synthesis about

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1212-441: A term connoting "those who speak [intelligibly, the same language]". The words Shqipëri and Shqiptar are attested from 14th century onward, but it was only at the end of 17th and beginning of the early 18th centuries that the placename Shqipëria and the ethnic demonym Shqiptarë gradually replaced Arbëria and Arbëreshë amongst Albanian speakers. That era brought about religious and other sociopolitical changes. As such

1313-757: A threat to the Serb nation. During the Kosovo War , Serbian forces continually discriminated Kosovo Albanians : Throughout Kosovo , the forces of the FRY and Serbia have harassed, humiliated, and degraded Kosovo Albanian civilians through physical and verbal abuse. Policemen, soldiers, and military officers have persistently subjected Kosovo Albanians to insults, racial slurs, degrading acts, beatings, and other forms of physical mistreatment based on their racial, religious, and political identification. A 2011 survey in Serbia showed that 40% of

1414-480: A whole accounted for 25 percent of the population according to statistics provided by the government." The origins of anti-Albanian propaganda in Serbia started in the 19th century with claims made by Serbian state on territories that were about to be controlled by Albanians after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. By the late nineteenth century, Albanians were being characterized by Serbian government officials as

1515-490: Is Albanophilia . In 1889, Spiridon Gopčević published an ethnographic study titled Old Serbia and Macedonia that was a Serbian nationalist book on Kosovo and Macedonia and contained a pro-Serbian ethnographic map of Macedonia. Gopčević's biographer argues that he did not actually go to Kosovo and the study is not based on authentic experiences. Within scholarship, Gopčević's study has been noted for its plagiarisms, manipulations and misrepresentations, especially overstressing

1616-475: Is also spoken in other countries whence it is officially recognised as a minority language in such countries as Croatia , Italy, Montenegro , Romania and Serbia . There are two principal dialects of the Albanian language traditionally represented by Gheg and Tosk . The ethnogeographical dividing line is traditionally considered to be the Shkumbin river, with Gheg spoken in the north of it and Tosk in

1717-568: Is first encountered on the works of Ptolemy (2nd century CE) also is encountered twice in the works of Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates , and the term "Arvanitai" (Αρβανίται) is used once by the same author. He referred to the "Albanoi" as having taken part in a revolt against the Byzantine Empire in 1043, and to the "Arbanitai" as subjects of the Duke of Dyrrachium (modern Durrës ). These references have been disputed as to whether they refer to

1818-423: Is generally accepted that Arbanitai refers to the ethnonym of medieval Albanians. The use of the term Albanoi in 1038–49 and 1042 as an ethnonym related to Albanians have been a subject of debate. In what has been termed the "Ducellier-Vrannousi" debate, Alain Ducellier proposed that both uses of the term referred to medieval Albanians. Era Vrannousi counter-suggested that the first use referred to Normans , while

1919-594: Is generally termed as Alvanokratia (Albanian rule) in Greek historiography. As a result, local Greek traditions in Epirus since the late 18th century mention frequent raids and looting by "Turko-Albanians" or "Albanian" bands. This kind of activity was connected with the depopulation of settlements. Later, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1830) reference to Turco-Albanians is made for those Muslim Albanians that fought in

2020-466: Is used to describe a revolt of Bulgarians (Boulgaroi) and Arbanitai in the theme of Dyrrhachium in 1078–79. It is generally accepted that Arbanitai refers to the ethnonym of medieval Albanians. As such, it is considered to be the first attestation of Albanians as an ethnic group in Byzantine historiography. The use of the term Albanoi in 1038–49 and 1042 as an ethnonym related to Albanians have been

2121-624: The Albanian diaspora in Switzerland is affected by xenophobia and racism . Integration difficulties and some criminal offences of some Albanians caused many Swiss to be prejudiced against Albanians, which has led to fear, hatred and insecurity. Political parties that publicly oppose excessive immigration and the conservatism of traditional Swiss culture - in particular the Swiss People's Party (SVP) - strengthen this negative attitude among many party supporters. These parties have already launched

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2222-531: The Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry , culture , history and language . They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo , and they also live in the neighboring countries of North Macedonia , Montenegro , Greece , and Serbia , as well as in Italy , Croatia , Bulgaria , and Turkey . Albanians also constitute a large diaspora with several communities established across Europe and

2323-689: The Balkan Wars , Albanians declared the independence of their country . The demarcation of the new Albanian state was established following the Treaty of Bucharest and left about half of the ethnic Albanian population outside of its borders, partitioned between Greece, Montenegro and Serbia. After the Second World War up until the Revolutions of 1991 , Albania was governed by a communist government under Enver Hoxha where Albania became largely isolated from

2424-565: The Congress of Manastir the museum of the Albanian alphabet in Bitola was vandalized, and the windows and doors were broken. A poster with the words "Death to Albanians" and with the drawing of a lion cutting the heads of the Albanian double-headed eagle was placed on the front doors of the museum. One week after this incident, on the day of the Albanian Declaration of Independence graffiti with

2525-692: The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC). As of 2003, it was considered that prejudices and mistreatment of Albanians are still present in Greece, but as of 2007 it was observed that such sentiments are gradually receding. According to a 2002 statement of the IHFUR, the Albanians are more likely to be killed by law enforcement officials than Romani people . In addition, the EUMC singles out ethnic Albanians as principal targets of racism. Furthermore,

2626-485: The German army for Muslim Albanian Chams during World War II and it was borrowed from Greek usage. Moreover, in Greek, similar composite ethnographic terms that also reveal the ethnic or religious background of the specific communities have also been used, such as Turco-Cretans (or Τουρκοκρήτες, Tourkokrites ), and Turco-Cypriots (or Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokiprioi ). Amongst the wider Greek-speaking population, until

2727-718: The Greek uprising . Their activity included massacres, looting and destruction in the regions of Epirus , Western Macedonia , Central Greece , Thessaly , Peloponnese suffered most destruction and massacre due to the activity of 15,000 Muslim Albanian mercenaries. In 1779 the Ottoman army finally managed to drive those groups out of Peloponnese, while the remaining ones were either killed by local villagers or found refuge in Muslim Albanian communities in Lala and Vardounia. The period of 1770–1779

2828-538: The Illyrians , but besides the Illyrians which specific Paleo-Balkan group contributed to the ethnogenesis of the Albanians is still a matter of academic debate. The first mention of the ethnonym Albanoi occurred in the 2nd century AD by Ptolemy describing an Illyrian tribe who lived around present-day central Albania. The first certain reference to Albanians as an ethnic group comes from 11th century chronicler Michael Attaleiates who describes them as living in

2929-542: The Ottoman forces (many Albanians were among the Ottoman forces) and after expelling the official Ottoman Empire's forces in present-day Albania and Kosovo - committed numerous war crimes against the Albanian population, which were reported by the European, American and Serbian opposition press. Most of the crimes happened between October 1912 and summer of 1913. The goal of the forced expulsions and massacres of ethnic Albanians

3030-769: The Paleo-Balkan group . It had its formative core in the Western Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in the region from about 3000 to 2500 BCE. The Albanian language is spoken today by approximately 5 million people throughout the Balkan Peninsula as well as by a more substantial number by communities around the Americas, Europe and Oceania. Numerous variants and dialects of Albanian are used as an official language in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia . The language

3131-578: The Second World War , thousands of Cham Albanians in Thesprotia , Greece were victims of forced migration and ethnic cleansing by the National Republican Greek League (EDES) from 1944 to 1945. The term "Albanophobia" was coined by Anna Triandafyllidou in a report analysis called Racism and Cultural Diversity in the Mass Media published in 2002. Although, the first recorded usage of

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3232-490: The UK prison population . In 2020, Albanians made up over 1,500 inmates, representing roughly 10% of the foreign prison population, rising from 2% in 2013. By June 2022, the number of Albanian inmates had fallen to 1,336, but their proportion rose to 14%, maintaining the highest percentage of the foreign prison population in the UK. On a proportional basis, Albanians are 10 times more likely than

3333-656: The UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages . The Cham dialect is spoken by the Cham Albanians , a community that originates from Chameria in what is currently north-western Greece and southern Albania; the use of the Cham dialect in Greece is declining rapidly, while Cham communities in Albania and the diaspora have preserved it. Most of the Albanians in Albania and the Former Yugoslavia are polyglot and have

3434-566: The theme of Dyrrhachium . The Shkumbin River roughly demarcates the Albanian language between Gheg and Tosk dialects. Christianity in Albania was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome until the 8th century AD. Then, dioceses in Albania were transferred to the patriarchate of Constantinople . In 1054, after the Great Schism , the north gradually became identified with Roman Catholicism and

3535-510: The 13th and 16th centuries and came to be known as Arvanites . Other Albanian population groups settled across Southern Italy and Sicily between the 11th and 16th centuries and came to be known as Arbëreshë . Albanians have also migrated to Romania since the late 16th century. In the 18th century smaller Albanian population groups settled in Southern Croatia (who came to be known as Arbanasi ), and pockets of Southern Ukraine . By

3636-594: The 15th century, the expanding Ottoman Empire overpowered the Balkan Peninsula, but faced successful rebellion and resistance by the League of Lezhë , a union of Albanian principalities led by Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg . By the 17th and 18th centuries, a substantial number of Albanians converted to Islam , which offered them equal opportunities and advancement within the Ottoman Empire . Thereafter, Albanians attained significant positions and culturally contributed to

3737-486: The 16th century. Distribution of the encyclopedia was ceased after a series of public protests. In a terrorist act known as the Smilkovci lake killings , on 12 April 2012, five young ethnic Macedonian teenagers were shot dead by persons of ethnic Albanian origin. They were later found guilty and sentenced to life. This provoked anti-Albanian sentiment. On 16 April 2012, a protest against these attacks and demanding justice

3838-402: The 20th century some Christian Albanians still used the term "Turk" to refer to Muslim Albanians. The term Turco-Albanian is a compound made up of the words Turk and Albanian . The word Albanian was and still is a term used as an ethnonym . Whereas the word Turk was viewed at times by Western Europeans or by non Muslim Balkan peoples as being synonymous with Muslim . A study of

3939-567: The Adriatic coastline with the central Balkan Roman provinces. Its type site is Komani and its fort on the nearby Dalmace hill in the Drin river valley. Kruja and Lezha represent significant sites of the culture. The population of Komani-Kruja represents a local, western Balkan people which was linked to the Roman Justinianic military system of forts. The development of Komani-Kruja is significant for

4040-515: The Albanian wālī Muhammad Ali established a dynasty that ruled over Egypt and Sudan until the middle of the 20th century, a period in which Albanians formed a substantial community in Egypt . During the 19th century, cultural developments, widely attributed to Albanians having gathered both spiritual and intellectual strength, conclusively led to the Albanian Renaissance . In 1912 during

4141-855: The Belgrade Supreme Court acknowledged that the word "Šiptar" is racist and discriminatory towards Albanians. According to the court, "Šiptar" is a term that defines Albanians as racially inferior to Serbs. However, some Serbian politicians still claim that the word is just an Albanian word for Albanians. Albanians Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European The Albanians are an ethnic group native to

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4242-541: The EUMC found that undocumented Albanian migrants "experience serious discrimination in employment, particularly with respect to the payment of wages and social security contributions". Albanians are often pejoratively named and or called by Greeks as "Turks", represented in the expression " Turkalvanoi " . Albanians in Greece are also classified in terms as "savage", while the Greeks view themselves as "civilized". Prejudicial representations of Albanians and Albanian criminality by

4343-799: The Greek media is largely responsible for the social construction of negative stereotypes, in contrast to the commonly held belief that Greek society is neither xenophobic nor racist. Anti-Albanian sentiment in Greece is more of a Greek media product, rather than a reflection of social and political attitudes. Although the Greek media have largely abandoned their negative stereotyping of Albanian immigrants (since c. 2000), public perception had already been negatively influenced. In March 2010, during an official military parade in Athens , Greek soldiers chanted "They are Skopians , they are Albanians, they are Turks we will make new clothes out of their skins". The Civil Protection Ministry of Greece reacted to this by suspending

4444-402: The Greek press openly used the term "Turco-Albanian brigands" to incite hate speech and to associate Albanian irredentists with "Turkish anti-Greek propaganda". During the years 1882–1897 some Greek media and publications initiated a campaign to promote friendship and a potential future alliance between Greeks and Albanians. As such they avoided the use of the term Turco-Albanian and pointed to

4545-411: The Illyrians which specific Peleo-Balkan group contributed to the ethnogenesis of the Albanians is still a matter of academic debate. The first certain attestation of medieval Albanians as an ethnic group is in Byzantine historiography in the work of Michael Attaleiates (1022–1080). Attaleiates mentions the term Albanoi twice and the term Arbanitai once. The term Albanoi is used first to describe

4646-485: The Ottoman side against the Greek revolutionaries. Most scholars of the Greek Revolution tend to grossly neglect the role played by Albanians in this historical period, in particular treating on the one hand Muslim Albanians as "Turks" either by calling them "Turco-Albanians" (Greek: Τουρκαλβανοί ) or entirely ignoring their Albanian identity, and on the other hand Christian Albanians as "Greeks", hence oversimplifying

4747-594: The Partisans killed 1,600 Albanians in Bar on 1 April after an incident at a fountain. There are also accounts claiming that the victims included young boys. Other sources cited that the killing started en route for no apparent reason and this was supported by the testimony of Zoi Themeli in his 1949 trial. Themeli was a collaborator who worked as an important official of the Sigurimi , the Communist Albanian secret police. After

4848-553: The Serbian character of Macedonia. Gopčević's views on Serbian and Albanian populations in Kosovo and also the issue of the Arnautaš theory or Albanians of alleged Serbian (descent) have only been partially examined by some authors. Noted for being an ardent Serbian nationalist, his book Old Serbia and Macedonia is seen as a work that opened the path for unprecedented Serbian territorial claims in

4949-548: The Serbian population would not like Albanians to live in Serbia, while 70% would not enter into a marriage with an Albanian individual. In 2012, Vuk Jeremić , Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs, while commenting on Twitter about the Kosovo dispute, compared Albanians to the "evil Orcs " from the movie The Hobbit . During 2017, amidst a background of political tension between Serbia and Kosovo , Serbian media engaged in warmongering and anti-Albanian sentiment by using ethnic slurs such as " Šiptar " in their coverage. In 2018,

5050-490: The Turco-Bardouniots (or Τουρκοβαρδουνιώτες, Tourko-Vardouniotes ). and Turco- Chams (or Τουρκοτσάμηδες, Tourko-tsamides ) In Thesprotia older designations based on religion were used for Albanian Muslim Chams by the local Orthodox population who referred to them as "Turks" (i.e.: Muslims), a term still used in the region by some elderly people. The term Turco-Albanian was also used by both British intelligence and

5151-563: The Yugoslav Partisans into service. These men were then assembled in Prizren and marched on foot in three columns to Bar where they were supposed to receive short training and then sent off to the front. The march took the rugged mountain ranges of Kosovo and Montenegro to reach its destination. Upon arrival locals reported that these men, who had marched a considerable distance, were "exhausted" and "distressed". The column of men which stretched

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5252-493: The ability to understand, speak, read, or write a foreign language . As defined by the Institute of Statistics of Albania , 39.9% of the 25 to 64 years old Albanians in Albania are able to use at least one foreign language including English (40%), Italian (27.8%) and Greek (22.9%). The origin of the Albanian language remains a contentious subject that has given rise to numerous hypotheses . The hypothesis of Albanian being one of

5353-526: The administrative structures of the state and considered one of its important peoples. Reference to Muslim Albanian communities as Turco-Albanian is made for those that settled the Peloponnese in order to spread Islam from c. 1715 until after 1770, as part of official Ottoman policy. Later in 1770, Muslim Albanian mercenaries referred to as Turco-Albanian were employed by the Ottoman Sultan to suppress

5454-582: The broader Muslim world . Innumerable officials and soldiers of the Ottoman State were of Albanian origin, including more than 40 Grand Viziers , and under the Köprülü , in particular, the Ottoman Empire reached its greatest territorial extension. Between the second half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century Albanian Pashaliks were established by Kara Mahmud pasha of Scutari , Ali pasha of Yanina , and Ahmet Kurt pasha of Berat , while

5555-502: The catering trade, in which the unemployment is generally higher. This also has implications for the social assistance rate, which is higher for ethnic Albanians , with significant differences depending on the country of origin. The most affected are people from Albania . In contrast, the number of students of Albanian descent is increasing today. In 2008, only 67 people were enrolled at Swiss universities, there are already 460 in 2017. Albanologists and migration researchers today assume that

5656-526: The city hospital reported treating five heavily injured Albanian men, two of which are on Intensive-care unit . During this protest part of the mob burned the Albanian flag. A mob of Macedonian nationalists also stormed the Macedonian Parliament on 27 April 2017 in reaction to the election of Talat Xhaferi as Speaker of the Assembly, numerous were injured during the riot. On the 108th anniversary of

5757-475: The city of Bar became a home to many Serbians. Many of these joined the Partisan forces and participated in their activities at Bar. The Bar massacre ( Albanian : Masakra e Tivarit ) was the killings of an unknown number of mostly ethnic Albanians from Kosovo Yugoslav Partisans in late March or early April 1945 in Bar , a municipality in Montenegro, at the end of World War II . The victims were Albanian recruits from Kosovo , who had been pressed by

5858-474: The coast guard officer who was in charge of the parade unit, and pledged to take tough action against the unit's members. Albanophobia in Greece is primarily due to post-communist migration as well as the fact that until the mid 2000s, Albanians formed the primary immigrant population. Albanophobia in Italy is primarily related to the Albanian immigrants mainly young adults who are stereotypically seen as criminals, drug dealers and rapists. Italian media provide

5959-464: The common features shared by both populations. New mixed terms Greek-Albanians is used instead. The term Turco-Albanian after the Greek War of Independence was also sometimes used in 19th century Greek school text books for Muslim Albanians. Greek nationalist histories still uses the more widely known, but pejorative, term Turco-Albanian instead of Muslim Albanians. Various Muslim Albanian communities by Greeks were similarly also labelled such as

6060-460: The country and solutions for the "Kosovo question" were put forward, and it involved large-scale deportation. These included Yugoslav -Turkish negotiations (1938) that outlined the removal of 40,000 Albanian families from the state to Turkey and another was a memorandum (1937) entitled The Expulsion of the Albanians written by a Serbian scholar Vaso Čubrilović (1897–1990). The document proposed methods for expelling Albanians that included creating

6161-434: The country. The Albanian language was referred to as Arbnisht and Arbërisht . While the exonym Albania for the general region inhabited by the Albanians does have connotations to Classical Antiquity, the Albanian language employs a different ethnonym, with modern Albanians referring to themselves as Shqip(ë)tarë and to their country as Shqipëria . Two etymologies have been proposed for this ethnonym: one, derived from

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6262-411: The demolition of Albanian cemeteries and many other methods. Aleksandar Ranković , the Yugoslav security chief, had a strong dislike of Albanians. Following the Second World War and until 1966, Ranković upheld Serbian control of Kosovo through repressive anti-Albanian policies. According to historian Olivera Milosavljević , part of the modern intellectuals in Serbia wrote about Albanians mainly within

6363-476: The descendant of the Illyrian languages ( Messapic language ) is based on geography where the languages were spoken however not enough archaeological evidence is left behind to come therefore to a definite conclusion. Another hypothesis associates the Albanian language with the Thracian language . This theory takes exception to the territory, since the language was spoken in an area distinct from Albania, and no significant population movements have been recorded in

6464-714: The early 11th century and, if this and the identification of the Arbanasi as Albanians are correct, it would be the earliest written document referring to the Balkan Albanians as a people or language group. It can be seen that there are various languages on earth. Of them, there are five Orthodox languages: Bulgarian , Greek , Syrian, Iberian ( Georgian ) and Russian. Three of these have Orthodox alphabets: Greek, Bulgarian and Iberian ( Georgian ). There are twelve languages of half-believers: Alamanians, Franks , Magyars ( Hungarians ), Indians, Jacobites, Armenians , Saxons , Lechs ( Poles ), Arbanasi (Albanians), Croatians , Hizi and Germans . Michael Attaleiates (1022–1080) mentions

6565-415: The end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, activities undertaken by Serbian officials in Kosovo have been described as albanophobic. The Serbian media during Milošević's era was known to espouse Serb nationalism while promoting xenophobia toward the other ethnicities in Yugoslavia . Ethnic Albanians were commonly characterized in the media as anti-Yugoslav counter-revolutionaries, rapists, and

6666-423: The etymology from the Albanian word for eagle (shqipe, var., shqiponjë). In Albanian folk etymology , this word denotes a bird totem , dating from the times of Skanderbeg as displayed on the Albanian flag . The other is within scholarship that connects it to the verb 'to speak' ( me shqiptue ) from the Latin " excipere ". In this instance the Albanian endonym like Slav and others would originally have been

6767-424: The events to a "tug-of-war between two ostensible sides". But the reality was much more complex, involving power struggles of numerous players with continual power redistributions and interests realignments. Muslims Albanians are thus often pejoratively named and or called by Greeks as "Turks", represented in the expression "Turkalvanoi" . As with the term "Turk", the expression (rendered also as Turco-Albanian)

6868-429: The exception of ethnic Serbs and Vlachs, were underrepresented in the civil service and other state institutions, including the military, the police force, and the intelligence services, as well as the courts, the national bank, customs, and public enterprises, in spite of efforts to recruit qualified candidates from these communities. Ethnic Albanians constituted 18 percent of army personnel, while minority communities as

6969-426: The framework of stereotypes, regarding their "innate" hatred and desire for the destruction of Serbs, which was a product of their dominant characteristic of "primitivism" and "robbery". Beginning in the mid-1980s, words such as "genocide", "oppression", "robbery", and "rape" were used when referring to Albanians in speeches, so that any mention of Albanians as a national minority contained negative connotations. During

7070-463: The general public to be incarcerated. Albanians make up 1.6% of all prisoners despite representing fewer than 0.05% of the UK population. Convictions range from serious offenses such as murder , manslaughter , rape , and firearms offenses to drug-related crimes like producing cannabis in gang-run farms. This overrepresentation has contributed to negative perceptions and stereotypes about Albanians and their involvement in criminal activities. By 1942,

7171-431: The geographical conditions of northern Albania favored the continuation of the Albanian language in hilly and mountainous areas as opposed to lowland valleys. The Albanian people maintain a very chequered and tumultuous history behind them, a fact explained by their geographical position in the Southeast of Europe at the cultural and political crossroad between the east and west, but they also have historically inhabited

7272-538: The groups which rebelled in southern Italy and Sicily against the Byzantines in 1038–40. The second use of the term Albanoi is related to groups which supported the revolt of George Maniakes in 1042 and marched with him throughout the Balkans against the Byzantine capital, Constantinople . The term Arvanitai is used to describe a revolt of Bulgarians (Boulgaroi) and Arbanitai in the theme of Dyrrhachium in 1078–79. It

7373-413: The hinterland of Durrës . Linguists believe that the alb part in the root word originates from an Indo-European term for a type of mountainous topography, from which other words such as alps are derived. Through the root word alban and its rhotacized equivalents arban , albar , and arbar , the term in Albanian became rendered as Arbëneshë/Arbëreshë for the people and Arbënia/Arbëria for

7474-601: The integration and assimilation of Albanians are slowly increasing. In its annual report, Amnesty International stated in 2010 that the "anti-minaret initiative" stigmatized Albanian Muslims in Switzerland and increased racism in Switzerland in general. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of Albanians arriving in the UK , many of them via small boat crossings from France . In 2022, Albanians made up around 35-45% of all migrants arriving by boat. The trend raised concerns among some politicians and

7575-528: The massacre, the site was immediately covered in concrete by the Yugoslav communist regime and built an airport on top of the mass grave. Ethnic tensions have simmered in North Macedonia since the end of an armed conflict in 2001 , where the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army attacked the security forces of North Macedonia with the goal of securing equal rights and autonomy for the ethnic Albanian minority. The Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts

7676-634: The name "Albanians" ( Byzantine Greek : Albanoi/Arbanitai/Arbanites ; Latin : Albanenses/Arbanenses ) was used in medieval documents and gradually entered European Languages from which other similar derivative names emerged, many of which were or still are in use, such as English "Albanians"; Italian "Albanesi"; German "Albaner"; Greek "Arvanites", "Alvanitis" (Αλβανίτης) plural: "Alvanites" (Αλβανίτες), "Alvanos" (Αλβανός) plural: "Alvanoi" (Αλβανοί); Turkish "Arnaut", "Arnavut"; South Slavic languages "Arbanasi" (Арбанаси), "Albanci" (Албанци); Aromanian "Arbinesh" and so on. The term "Albanoi" (Αλβανοί)

7777-452: The other continents. The language of the Albanians is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid branch , which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group . Albanians have a western Paleo-Balkanic origin, and for obvious geographic and historical reasons most scholars maintain that they descended at least partially from

7878-451: The people of Albania. Historian E. Vranoussi believes that these "Albanoi" were Normans from Sicily. She also notes that the same term (as "Albani") in medieval Latin meant "foreigners". The reference to "Arvanitai" from Attaliates regarding the participation of Albanians in a rebellion around 1078 is undisputed. In later Byzantine usage, the terms "Arbanitai" and "Albanoi" with a range of variants were used interchangeably, while sometimes

7979-558: The period when the shift from one language to the other is supposed to have occurred. The Komani-Kruja culture is an archaeological culture attested from late antiquity to the Middle Ages in central and northern Albania, southern Montenegro and similar sites in the western parts of North Macedonia . It consists of settlements usually built below hillforts along the Lezhë ( Praevalitana )- Dardania and Via Egnatia road networks which connected

8080-468: The public, with Albanian migrants being scrutinized. Since September 2022, British media has focused on Albanian migrants, portraying them negatively using xenophobic terms. Right-wing politicians have capitalized on public fears regarding immigration, often using inflammatory language that paints migrants as criminals or "invaders." Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been a prominent figure in this discourse. Albanians are significantly overrepresented in

8181-522: The region. The Expulsion of the Albanians was a lecture presented by the Yugoslav historian Vaso Čubrilović (1897–1990) on 7 March 1937. A series of massacres of Albanians in the Balkan Wars were committed by the Montenegrin Army , Serbian Army and paramilitaries , according to international reports. During the First Balkan War of 1912–13, Serbia and Montenegro during the war with

8282-460: The rest of Europe. In neighbouring Yugoslavia , Albanians underwent periods of discrimination and systematic oppression that concluded with the War of Kosovo and eventually with Kosovar independence . The Albanians ( Albanian : Shqiptarët ) and their country Albania ( Albanian : Shqipëria ) have been identified by many ethnonyms . The most common native ethnonym is "Shqiptar", plural "Shqiptarë";

8383-421: The same groups were also called by the classicising name Illyrians. The first reference to the Albanian language dates to the latter 13th century (around 1285). The national ethnonym Albanian and its variants are derived from Albanoi , first mentioned as an Illyrian tribe in the 2nd century CE by Ptolemy with their centre at the city of Albanopolis , located in modern-day central Albania, somewhere in

8484-619: The same messages, as those of the previous week, were placed on the directorate of Pelister National Park . Amongst the unemployed, Albanians are overrepresented. In public institutions as well as many private sectors they are underrepresented. They also face hidden discrimination by public officials. According to the United States' Country Report on Human Rights 2012 for Macedonia "certain ministries declined to share information about ethnic makeup of employees". The same report also added: "...ethnic Albanians and other national minorities, with

8585-449: The second didn't have an ethnic connotation necessarily and could be a reference to the Normans as "foreigners" ( aubain ) in Epirus which Maniakes and his army traversed. The debate has never been resolved. A newer synthesis about the second use of the term Albanoi by Pëllumb Xhufi suggests that the term Albanoi may have referred to Albanians of the specific district of Arbanon , while Arbanitai to Albanians in general regardless of

8686-410: The second use of the term Albanoi by Pëllumb Xhufi suggests that the term Albanoi may have referred to Albanians of the specific district of Arbanon , while Arbanitai to Albanians in general regardless of the specific region they inhabited. Albanians speak the Albanian language , which is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid branch , which belongs to

8787-666: The so-called "expulsion initiative" followed, which was also adopted by the voters. According to the law, foreigners who have committed serious crimes should be expelled from the country. The initiative on foreigners crime should thus reduce the crime rate and make the naturalization of foreigners more difficult. The "Sheep's Poster" designed by the SVP attracted international attention and was again described by many immigrant organisations in Switzerland as discriminatory. Economic integration continues to present difficulties for Albanians in Switzerland . In October 2018, Kosovo 's unemployment rate

8888-759: The south with Eastern Orthodoxy . In 1190 Albanians established the Principality of Arbanon in central Albania with the capital in Krujë . The Albanian diaspora has its roots in migration from the Middle Ages initially across Southern Europe and eventually across wider Europe and the New World . Between the 13th and 18th centuries, sizeable numbers migrated to escape various social, economic or political difficulties. Albanian population groups settled in Southern Greece between

8989-814: The south. Dialects of linguistic minorities spoken in Croatia ( Arbanasi and Istrian ), Kosovo , Montenegro and northwestern North Macedonia are classified as Gheg, while those spoken in Greece , southwestern North Macedonia and Italy as Tosk. The Arbëresh and Arvanitika dialects of the Albanian language, are spoken by the Arbëreshë and Arvanites in Southern Italy and Southern Greece , respectively. They retain elements of medieval Albanian vocabulary and pronunciation that are no longer used in modern Albanian; however, both varieties are classified as endangered languages in

9090-479: The specific region they inhabited. The name reflects the Albanian endonym Arbër/n + esh which itself derives from the same root as the name of the Albanoi Turco-Albanians Albanians have expressed derision and disassociation toward the terms Turk and its derivative form Turco-Albanian regarding the usage of those terms in reference to them. It has been reported that at the end of

9191-401: The study of the transition between the classical antiquity population of Albania to the medieval Albanians who were attested in historical records in the 11th century. Winnifrith (2020) recently described this population as the survival of a "Latin-Illyrian" culture which emerged later in historical records as Albanians and Vlachs ( Eastern Romance -speaking people). In Winnifrith's narrative,

9292-404: The survivors to flee into the surrounding mountains. In another case, several hundred Albanians were herded into a tunnel, near Bar, which was subsequently sealed off so that all of those trapped within the tunnel were asphyxiated . Yugoslav sources put the number of victims at 400 while Albanian sources put the figure at 2,000 killed in Bar alone. According to Croatian historian Ljubica Štefan ,

9393-417: The term Albanoi twice and the term Arbanitai once. The term Albanoi is used first to describe the groups which rebelled in southern Italy and Sicily against the Byzantines in 1038–40. The second use of the term Albanoi is related to groups which supported the revolt of George Maniakes in 1042 and marched with him throughout the Balkans against the Byzantine capital, Constantinople . The term Arvanitai

9494-585: The term comes from 1982 in The South Slav journal, Volume 8 by Albanian author Arshi Pipa . The report by Triandafyllidou represented Albanian migrants in Greece. In Greece, the sentiment has existed mainly post-1990s, when many immigrants escaped from Albania to Greece . The stereotype by some in Greece of Albanians as criminal and poor has been subject of a 2001 study by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHFHR) and by

9595-462: The twentieth century, the usage of the word "Turk" (and "Turkey") has also been politically employed to differentiate the "indigenous" from the "alien" that interpreted Balkan Muslims as "foreigners". With the case of the Albanians, this at times has resulted in Albanophobia , negative stereotyping, socio-political discrimination and even mass violence. At the beginning of the 1880s

9696-562: Was 7.0% and in Macedonia population 5.3%, well above the figure for the rest of the permanent resident population. A study by the Federal Office for Migration justifies this with in part low vocational qualifications among the older generation and the reservations that Albanian youth are exposed to when entering the world of work. In the 1990s, many well-qualified Albanians, because of unrecognized diplomas, with jobs such as in construction or in

9797-455: Was accused of Albanophobia in 2009 after it published its first encyclopedia in which was claimed that the Albanian endonym , Shqiptar , means "highlander" and is primarily used by other Balkan peoples to describe Albanians if used in South Slavic languages the endonym is considered derogatory by the Albanian community. The encyclopedia also claimed that the Albanians settled in the region in

9898-408: Was employed by some writers mainly in nineteenth and early twentieth century Western European literature regarding Muslim Albanian populations. As such, the word Turk within its usage also attained derogatory and derisive meanings that when applied to other words created pejorative meanings of cruel and inhumane behavior and or of being backward and savage . Within a Balkans context during

9999-614: Was held in Skopje. Some of the participants in the protests were chanting anti-Albanian slogans. On 1 March 2013 in Skopje , a mob of ethnic Macedonians protested against the decision to appoint Talat Xhaferi , an ethnic Albanian politician, as Minister of Defence . The protest turned violent when the mob started hurling stones and also attacking Albanian bystanders and police officers alike. The police reported 3 injured civilians, five injured police officers and much damage to private property. Although

10100-553: Was statistic manipulation before the London Ambassadors Conference which was to decide on the new Balkan borders. According to contemporary accounts, between 20,000 and 25,000 Albanians were killed during the first two to four months of the Balkan Wars. Many of the victims were children, women and old people and were part of a warfare of extermination. Aside from massacres, civilians had their lips and noses severed. After

10201-548: Was used to mention the Labs ( Greek : Liapides ), a socio-cultural and dialectal Albanian subdivision, some of whom had converted to Islam during the Ottoman Empire era. In a broader sense the term Turco-Albanian was used to denote Ottoman military units and elites of both Turkish and Albanian ethnicity that represented the Ottoman administration of the Balkans. Within the Ottoman Empire , Muslim Albanians were closely part of

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