Albanian blood is being spilled again! Albanians being killed have become an everyday occurrence: they are killed in Kosovo by the Serbian police and army; they are killed in the towns and villages of Greece by the Greek police, by Greeks; they are killed on the Greek-Albanian border by Greek soldiers, just as they are killed on the Yugoslav-Albanian border by Serbian soldiers. But the crime committed in the early hours after midnight, as 10 April began, was a completely exceptional case; nothing like it had happened in recent decades: a gang of criminals entered Albanian territory, killed Albanian citizens—worse still, soldiers—and left without a hair harmed. The Greek government may try to shrug off responsibility for this act by placing it on extremist circles, terrorist organizations and groups that aspire to the so-called “Northern Epirus.” But if one follows the statements and activities of the Greek government and its officials, including the highest-ranking ones, some of whom have spoken about and issued declarations on this occasion, one cannot help seeing a certain coincidence—or, more accurately, coordination—between the actions of the Greek government and the anti-Albanian chauvinism inspired by Sebastianos and others, as well as by Foreign Minister Papulias, who threatens that Greece will respond as it should to the moves of Albanian policy, culminating in the barbaric act of 10 April. Leaving aside the above fact, which concerns the coordination of the actions mentioned, we should focus more on what is up to us: what Albania and the Albanians can do to prevent such acts, which become all the more intolerable when Albanian lives are lost. The first approach advocated in such cases is tolerance in the sphere of international politics, making concessions intended to ease tensions. But it would be pointless to ask more of the Albanian government, which is being threatened by politicians of modern thinking. At meetings concerning the Çam issue, the Albanian government has pursued a tolerant policy toward the Greek minority in Albania, which has not been subjected to any kind of discrimination, even under the “Land Law,” under which the Greeks of Albania become landowners; its attitude toward its emigrants; the appointment of the Greek Anastasios Janullatos as Archbishop of Albania, which constituted a violation of the Statute of the Albanian Autocephalous Church; and the privileges and facilities created for Greek firms and businesspeople, particularly in southern Albania, etc. To demand or expect further concessions and tolerance from our government would mean that, before long, Albanian policy too would be drawn up in Athens. On the other hand, as things appear, the Albanian government’s concessions seem to be interpreted in Athens as a sign of Albania’s weakness, as is made clearer by the blackmail carried out through the return of refugees. For this reason, the time has come to abandon such a policy and respond to Greek positions—as stated in the communiqué from the President’s spokesperson regarding the soldier and the barbaric act of 10 April—“with appropriate measures.” Thus, by not— ...matic between the two countries. The two diplomats are being portrayed as “two prisoners,” presenting diplomacy as victimized. Since the abolition of the State of War by the very same Greek foreign minister who later sought to reinstate it, the Greeks have never risked their “dignity” at the hands of Albanians as much as they have since this consul in Gjirokastër was declared persona non grata. They will act now. Traditionalism and the depletion of anti-Albanian potential will naturally lead them to Albanian emigrants in Greece. They are the greatest product of communist poverty, which ultimately cast the dignity of Albanians into the clutches of neighbouring countries’ diplomacy. The reverberations of the political struggle within Albania with Greek diplomatic circles, or anyone else, should be sought not so much in air links as in the shared object of their struggle against the political institutions of the Albanian state. That object is now the plight of Albanians being exploited in Greece; Naturally, after Jakovaut in Kakavijë, the first buses will appear, crammed with people who have been beaten and mistreated, robbed and humiliated, who will curse Berisha and the Albanian State. Albanians whose dignity has been insulted will return. The Greeks will try to cruelly make the unhealed wounds of Albania bleed. After the diplomats, they will become the permanent “prisoners” of realpolitik between the two countries. More than ever, Albania’s state and political institutions must demonstrate the state’s real potential here.

Today Jakovou will be exchanged at Kakaqië with the First Secretary of the Albanian Embassy in Athens, thereby imitating an undeclared diplomatic war between the two countries. The two diplomats are being exchanged as “two prisoners,” with diplomacy portrayed as the victim. Ever since the same Greek Foreign Minister who is now trying to reinstate the War Law repealed it, the Greeks have not felt that their “dignity” was endangered by Albanians, except after the Albanian declaration. Those who should be exchanged at the border for Albanian emigrants are the Greeks. The Greeks with their new property deeds for investments and the laborers of Ali Pasha, the new and old Greeks. If the Greeks want to prove that they are superior to Albanians and want nothing to do with them, let them prove it. We already have in our hands the full measure of Greek devastation inflicted on Albania: the tragic expulsion of the Çam people. The Greeks have yet to experience an analogous act. They must not forget that the killed, expelled, poor and massacred people are very close to the Greek laborers whom poverty has brought to Albania. Poverty has no age, and of course no dignity either. The poor Greeks remaining inside Albanian territory, despite their long coexistence with Albanians, are just as threatened by Greek intolerance as the poor Albanians who have emigrated to Greece over the past two years. And at their head, naturally, those who try to fabricate a dignified Greece within Albania should be sent back. Those who arrange to invest privately in Albania from Greece, with financial security from the Greek state. Albania will welcome them only when Greece receives its own expelled refugees in Greece with dignity. When it comes to investing in Albania, the Greeks become Europeans; when it comes to Albanian poverty, they become Byzantines. This great contradiction of theirs should be ready for exchange at Kakavijë for any provocation that might follow Jakovou’s departure. Albanians must show that they have survived alongside the Greeks precisely because they have been just as dignified not only in friendship, but also in enmity with them. ...above, some of whom are also mentioned in the statement issued on this occasion by the Albanian government, one cannot help but notice Greek government and the anti-Albanian chauvinists inspired by Sebastianos and others. The “Broom” operations undertaken by the Greek government whenever something in the Albanian government’s policy displeases them are invariably accompanied by propaganda and appeals made to the expelled refugees, asking them, among other things, to overthrow the government and President Berisha and then return to Greece. Often, statements of an anti-Albanian nature by Greek officials, made after steps our government takes to move closer to Turkey and Macedonia or to intensify relations with the United States, Italy, and other Western countries, are accompanied by demonstrations and threats from Greek chauvinists at the Albanian borders and in front of the Albanian embassy in Athens, as well as by the anti-Albanian subversive activity of Greeks taking place in Albania, in which clergy are also involved. In this case, too, the elements that make up the connection described above are present: President Berisha’s visit to Turkey—a mass expulsion campaign targeting Albanian refugees, anti-Albanian statements by Samaras...

In publishing this horror document from the distant year 1914, we are not at all motivated by a sadistic desire to describe anyone’s nightmare, nor by an aim to fuel any anti-Greek history. After all, we know well—and learned even better after the “incident” of 10 April—that responsibility for such events lies with “certain Greek chauvinist circles,” which have nothing to do with the official policy of the “friendly” state. Our purpose in publishing this report by a Dutch serviceman about the massacre perpetrated by Greek troops in the village of Koder in 1914 is very modest: to refresh historical memory, especially that of those who direct the fate of this country, and in any case to express a conviction of ours, which everyone may take with due reservation: the 1994 Peshkëpi massacre was planned and carried out by the present-day rulers of Athens, who are not only the spiritual but also the genetic descendants of Venizellos and Pangallos, perpetrators of the 1914 Koder massacre. Visit to Koder, Tepelenë, 19 May 1914 A few days after my arrival in Tepelenë, on 14 May, accompanied by the doctor, Dr. de Groot, I visited the village of Koder. Everywhere the village stank of the carcasses of cows, sheep, ewes, etc., which had reached an advanced stage of decomposition. One of the villagers was there with a fractured skull. Around this tree, within a radius of 50–100 metres, lay three large pits and one smaller one. In one of the large pits lay the corpse of a headless woman. Since the corpses were covered with a very thin layer of soil, Dr. de Groot thought it appropriate to empty some of these pits, dig them deeper and examine the broken skulls. The doctor did not consider it appropriate to uncover the other pits, which were somewhat deeper, so the Commission stopped the work. One of the pits (C) had previously been used for making mortar and was 4–5 metres deep. It was filled to the brim with corpses, which, according to our calculations, must have numbered 100. The pits contained 34, 2, 19, 20 and 20 corpses respectively, 195 in total. Along with this report, I have the honour to submit to your Commission a list of the names of persons believed to have been massacred in Koder. Lieutenant General A. Dever Captain C. de longh Major Dr. F. de Groot Tepelenë, 19 May 1914 Note: “The list contains the names of 217 victims.” Tepeenë, 19 May 1914 A few days after arriving in Tepeenë, I visited the village of Kodër. etc., which had reached an advanced stage of decomposition. A hot southerly wind was blowing. There was a small church which had surely been used as a prison. Its floor and interior walls were splattered with blood. Lime and dried remains of blood could also be seen. Our doctor also found brains on the walls and here and there. Where the altar had once stood, a rope had been hung, and it was loose and covered in blood. The church’s small wooden door was always open, and the scattered [unclear] in front of the doorway made their cause clear. Behind the church a large pit had been dug, and through the thin layer of earth we were able to make out, with the [unclear] [?] of bodies, human bodies. In another, smaller pit, located veritable pool of blood.

The Media Center opens under the auspices of the SOROS Foundation Foundation Albanian journalists, as well as foreign ones, will now have better working conditions at this Media Center, which opened a few days ago in one of the SOROS Foundation’s premises in Tirana. Articles can now be written there using three Hewlett Packard computers and one Macintosh; one can read newspapers and also access the French News Agency, AFP, at any time and in all the newspapers. In the future, this will also be possible through the AP (Associated Press), Reuters and ANSA agencies. The Media Center also has 14 foreign newspapers and magazines and 14 local newspapers for the Albanian press, as well as a very rich collection of books in foreign languages which, unfortunately, are not yet available in Albanian. Videocassettes on issues in journalism around the world today are available to Albanian journalists. The Center also offers training courses for all those interested in television journalism, using two Super VHS cameras. In its programs, the SOROS Foundation also aims to hold seminars on topics such as press distribution, marketing, sports journalism, etc., through the exchange of experience with specialists from around the world. “Republika” correspondent

Today at the International Center of Culture State Secrets Versus the People’s Right to Be Informed. This will be the topic of the discussion to be held today at 10:30 in the Conference Hall of the International Center of Culture, organized by the US Information Service (USIS) and the Soros Foundation’s Media Center. “State Secrets Versus the People’s Right to Be Informed.” This will be the topic of the discussion to be held today at 10:30 in the Conference Hall of the International Center of Culture, organized by the US Information Service (USIS) and the Soros Foundation’s Media Center. Government officials, lawyers and journalists, led by Mr. Laird Anderson, professor at the American University in Washington, D.C., will discuss issues concerning state secrets, and participants will also be able to ask questions.

This show is organized by the Democratic Youth Forum. Yesterday, Friday, as well, under the chairwoman Dhurata Sina, who is also a manager at UJ. The girls registered between 1 and 7 April 1994. A working group has been set up to handle its organization, and a jury for the show has also been formed, made up of well-known specialists in this field of art and culture. “Mate Impex Trading Petrol” and “ABC & Co” are the first serious companies to have established their activity in Albania for the production of washing detergents, as well as cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. These two companies, whose president is Mr. Adem Hasanaj and which have branches in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia, decided to sponsor one of the most important events of April and another student event of the year, “Miss Student ’94.” In addition to prizes for every contestant, the sponsor guarantees the winner a tourist trip to Slovenia and Croatia.

The National Council of the Albanian Republican Party, which met on 8 April 1994, reviewed the activities of the Steering Committee concerning the country’s political situation and certain aspects of economic development. After extensive and open discussions, the Council reached the following conclusions: 1. Political tensions have risen further as a result of the abstractionism of the Socialist Party, dressed in the garb of renewal, and its allies. Communism remains present in Albania. The socialists’ “renewal,” imposed by the times, is demagoguery. 2. Efforts to get the country out of the crisis have produced some good results, with a general orientation toward the free market, but an optimal solution has not yet been provided. The optimal solution can be achieved only through the republican program, which is based on the recognition and restoration of private property, especially ownership of land. 3. The party in power, on whose shoulders fell the heavy burden of governing the country, continues to pursue a tendency toward monopolizing administrative control and political life, with consequences that hinder the development of democracy and the efficient use of intellectual potential. This has left room for manifestations of a recurring form of “matizëm” from the past. 4. Corruption has reached alarming proportions for the present and future of the country. Efforts to combat this phenomenon, especially in the area of privatization, are ineffective. 5. The Republican Party has contributed in every way to the functioning of the alliance of the Democratic Party, the Republican Party and the Social Democratic Party, formed at the moment of the struggle to overthrow communist rule, viewing this alliance as an axis of democratic developments. Under current conditions, there is little hope of renewing this alliance. The Republican Party supports cooperation with the Democratic Party, if that party creates the genuine conditions for true and sincere cooperation. 6. Bearing in mind the country’s vital interests in domestic stability and external credibility, the Republican Party supports the governing coalition that guarantees general democratic developments. This does not prevent the RP from freely expressing its views and offering constructive opposition on all issues that do not accord with its program. 7. The National Council is convinced that creating a right wing in Albania is a pressing need, because: - the right wing will be an ethical counterforce to the undeclared alliance of left-wing forces which, under various labels and slogans, seek to restore socialist forms of government. - only the right wing can bring about free capitalist development, beginning with the recognition and restoration of legal property. - under today’s political conditions, only the right wing can represent a genuine democratic opposition. - particularly over the past year, the Albanian state’s foreign policy in defense of the nation has followed the right course, but this policy can gain the necessary strength through cooperation and clear ideas about the nation from the right wing. The Party Presidium is tasked with holding talks with right-wing associations and political parties in order to achieve common approaches and concrete proposals suited to the political reality and the country’s vital interests. 8. The Republican Party will intensify its efforts to restore property, first and foremost by establishing a fair land law. The republican concept of property must be extended across the entire economic spectrum. At the same time, the Republican Party must anticipate the problems arising from capitalist development. 9. The Republican Party will work resolutely to attract intellectuals into its ranks and leadership. The Central Headquarters and the Party press are to be reorganized and managed in accordance with the directions of this resolution. 10. The admission to the Steering Committee of Messrs. Arben Babameto, Arben Braçe, Arsen Proko, Durim Kulli and Neritan Alibali is approved.

On Monday evening, in the capital, hundreds of people came out in front of the church; we also saw human corpses. East of the village there was a little house surrounded by trees. Beneath one of these trees we clearly saw a pit about 15 metres long, where the ground was marked with blood everywhere. Below the tree there was a veritable pool of blood. In another, smaller pit, located veritable pool of blood. One night the Mountain Fairy comes and wakes the woman from sleep, then sends her to her husband. She catches her husband in flagrante with the combination and the leather, howling. In the end, the brave man returns to his wife, repentant, and she takes him back on condition that the combination does not proclaim him a hero. The next story is a tale about a citizen who fought against the provincial folk and the cave-dwellers. He preached Europe and always wore a little badge in public, a symbol of Westernism and civic-mindedness. In the end, some cave-dwellers discover that he was actually buying citharas. This unmasking / purchase badly wounds the Westerner, and he decides to exile himself to the island of Corfu. “I won’t sing today,” said the madwoman, smashing the cithara on the ground. “Today is a day of mourning: Arben Imami’s canary has died. SHIK, Gazidede’s people, poisoned it. Today NATO dropped two 250-kilogram bombs on the Serbs of Bosnia. The Serbs protested; apparently the bombs had expired. Namik Hoxhi sent Papandreu a telegram of condolence for his brother in Vorio-Epir. N. Alia requested a minute’s silence in Parliament for the Serbs killed in Bosnia. Kosta Karaklidhi sent a note of protest to the “fighters of Vorio-Epir” over the wounded in Peshkëpi. The Chronicler of Vorio-Epir” over the wounded in Peshkëpi. The Chronicler