Ashkali

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Ashkali
Total population unknown
Settlement areas AlbaniaAlbania Albania Bulgaria Kosovo Montenegro North Macedonia Serbia
BulgariaBulgaria 
KosovoKosovo 
MontenegroMontenegro 
North MacedoniaNorth Macedonia 
SerbiaSerbia 
language mostly Albanian
religion predominantly Islam
Ethnic classification Roma

The Ashkali ( Bosnian / Croatian / Serbian  Ашкалије / Aškalije even Haškalije ; Albanian  Ashkali Sg. Definite male / female: ashkaliu / ashkalie , Pl. Indefinite male / female: ashkalinjtë ) are a predominantly Muslim minority in Albania , in Bulgaria , in Kosovo , in Montenegro , in North Macedonia and in Serbia . They form a sub-group of the Roma .

origin

In the 1990s in Kosovo in the context of Albanian and Serbian nationalism and the war and violent expulsion processes with "Ashkali" and "Egyptians" two previously non-existent minorities emerged. “Gypsies” were socially and politically excluded and discriminated collectively by the majority population in Kosovo, whose nationalist spokesmen saw the majority as “Albanians”. Those who were still addressed as “Gypsies” now organized themselves in part under the name “Ashkali”, which is meant as an ethnonym, as a group that - ethnically speaking - is of “Albanian” origin and has no relation to Roma. In a short time a political representation was formed with the Democratic Party of the Albanian Ashkali (PDAK) under its President Danush Ademi and an NGO with “Democratic Hope” under Agim Hyseni.

At the same time, speakers and supporters of the new “Ashkali” and “Egyptian” minorities created their own historical and ethnogenetic deductions. According to one reading, the descendants of immigrants from Turkey during the Ottoman rule or - according to a second - in the wake of the campaign of Alexander the Great in India (via Ashkalon ) came from Egypt to the Balkans. This explains the name Egyptians for some of them. The myth makes the explicit claim that "Egyptians" or Ashkali were the first inhabitants of Kosovo and other areas before the Albanians, and that they are therefore in possession of older and higher-ranking rights. A third derivation describes them as the second oldest “people” in the Balkans after the Illyrians, who took over Islam from them in the 4th century BC. A fourth declaration relates to the city of Askalon in Palestine . The argument here is based on information from the Bible . A fifth brings up a king Arsakes or Ashkan, who founded an Arsacid dynasty that ruled an area from Iran to Egypt. A preference for any of these proposals has not yet emerged; they are still competing with one another.

What the existing mythical offerings have in common, which generally applies to myths of origin, especially in the Balkans, is that they “(are) derived from most ancient times and relate ... to the world civilizations and religions”. The mythical origin serves to legitimize an "ethnic" independence, above all in distancing oneself from the ascription of "Roma" or from the labeling as " gypsies " (Albanian magjup ) which is still common, especially in the majority population, and which is generally meant to be derogatory . Regardless of the different self-descriptions and concepts of ethnogenesis apart from the Roma circulating within the entire group of "Gypsies", members of the "new" groups of Ashkali and Egyptians are associated with the "old" group of Roma in the specialist literature as well as in the international minority policy statements Organizations are usually brought together, often under the abbreviation RAE (= Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian ).

The delimitation of the "Ashkali" and the "Egyptians" from one another is unclear. "Egyptians" classify "Ashkali" as part of their own minority and vice versa. The accusation is raised on both sides of wanting to assimilate the other. There is agreement in the accusation against “Roma” or “Gypsies” of being exposed to assimilation efforts on this part.

In fact, Ashkali are likely to be Albanian Roma . In any case, there are cultural similarities between the two groups, for example in terms of employment, oral traditions or marriage rules. This does not contradict the fact that for many, Romani is a foreign language, Albanian is the primary language and the second language is often Serbian . Loss of language in small ethnic groups is a general phenomenon and not a feature of Southeast Europe or Roma. With “Egyptians” the speakers use an old common European term for Roma, as it is still alive in “gypsies”, “gitans” or “gitanos” and has also been preserved in the Balkans, and they return to the Egyptian myth of the historical Roma. The Egyptian myth of origin has been part of the self-definition of the Roma minority since the end of the Middle Ages. It was not until the scientific investigation of the novel at the end of the 18th century that the real origin of the Roma from the Indian subcontinent was revealed, which knowledge has now also been adopted by the minority themselves, but is not recognized by some of the Ashkali. The word component kali in Ashkali corresponds to the Romani word -kale for "black" (pl.). Kale is an old self-term used by the Roma that is still used today.

Even official representatives of the group in Germany declare that many of their relatives in Kosovo describe themselves as Albanian Roma. The Kosovar Albanians regard them as a group along with the Roma resident in Kosovo. They regard the Roma of Kosovo as one of their subgroups. International organizations such as the OSCE or the Swiss Refugee Agency also see them as Roma.

The self-classification can vary widely in a family. The ethnologists Elena Marushiakova and Vesselin Popov refer to the case where one of three brothers referred to themselves as “Egyptians”, the second as “Rome” and the third as “Albanians” as a “textbook example”. It can also be seen that individuals Change between the groups as required, the groups merge and, contrary to the minority political self-portrayal, cannot really be delimited from one another.

Ashkali in Kosovo

Before the outbreak of the Kosovo war , Ashkali also took part in strikes and street activities against the Yugoslav and Serbian governments. Unlike the Albanian opponents of the government, they were exposed to repressive measures.

During the war, the Albanian majority population was accused of having cooperated with the Serb minority . There were severe pogroms against the Roma, looting, settlements being burned down, and displacement by armed groups and other members of the Albanian majority population. Many Ashkali communities were destroyed and members of the majority population often appropriated their property and real estate.

In the language of the international organizations, Ashkali, “ Egyptians ” and all other Roma are grouped under the abbreviation “RAE” (= Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians) and assigned to the overall European minority.

Ashkali in neighboring states of Kosovo

In the 1994 census in North Macedonia , 3,169 people identified themselves as “Egyptians”. They live mainly in the municipalities of Ohrid , Struga , Kičevo , Resen and Debar . The primary language of the "Egyptians" in Ohrid, Struga, Resen and Debar is Albanian. In Bitola it is Turkish , in Kičevo it is Macedonian .

The mass expulsions in the course of ethnic cleansing by UÇK militias and the Albanian majority population caused many Roma, including Ashkali and Egyptians, to flee to Serbia and Montenegro . The majority of them live there in slums away from the indigenous population.

literature

  • Marcel Courthiade: Eléments de réflexion sur les Balkano-Egyptiens ou Albano-Egyptiens, Yougo-Egyptiens, Egypto-Albanais, Ashkalis, Jevgs, Evgjits, Rlìe, Arlìura etc ... INALCO, Paris 2005.
  • Marcel Courthiade: Les Rroms, Ashkalis et Gorans en Dardanie '/ Kosovo. In: Les annales de l'autre islam. No. 7, 2000, ISSN  1246-7731 , pp. 255-280, ( digital version (PDF; 7.62 MB) ).
  • Jean-Arnault Dérens: Kosovo, année zéro. Paris-Méditerranée, Paris 2006, ISBN 2-84272-248-5 .
  • Rajko Djurić, Jörg Becken, A. Bertolt Bensch: Without a home - without a grave. The history of the Roma and Sinti. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-351-02418-5 , pp. 121-122.
  • Ger Duijzings: De Egyptaren in Kosovo en Macedonie. In: Amsterdams Sociorien Tijdschrift. Vol. 18, No. 4, 1992, ISSN  0921-4933 , pp. 24-38.
  • Claudia Lichnofsky: Identification processes of Muslim non-Albanians in Kosovo and their strategies of political and social positioning since 1999. The example of the Ashkali. In: Southeastern European Hefts. Vol. 1, No. 1, 2012, ISSN  2194-3710 , pp. 57-71, ( online ).
  • Claudia Lichnofsky: Ashkali and Egyptians in Kosovo: New ethnic identifications as a result of exclusion during nationalist violence from 1990 to 2010. In: Romani Studies. Vol. 23, No. 1, 2013, ISSN  1528-0748 , pp. 29-59, doi: 10.3828 / rs.2013.2 .
  • Norbert Mappes-Niediek : The ethno trap. The Balkans conflict and what Europe can learn from it. Links, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-86153-367-7 .
  • Elena Marushiakova, Vesselin Popov: New ethnic identities in the Balkans: The case of the Egyptians. In: Facta Universitatis. Series Philosophy and Sociology. Vol. 2, No. 8, 2001, ISSN  0354-4648 , pp. 465-477, ( digital version (PDF; 194.64 kB) ).
  • Rainer Mattern: Kosovo: On the repatriation of Roma. Update of the SFH country analysis. Swiss Refugee Aid SFH, Bern 2009, ( digital version (PDF; 342.47 kB) ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Claudia Lichnofsky: Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians in Kosovo. A research report. 2009, p. 24, see: online .
  2. ↑ Elena Marushiakova, Vesselin Popov: New ethnic identities in the Balkans: the case of the Egyptians , p. 475, in: online (PDF; 199 kB); on the construction of new "ethnic groups" in Southeastern Europe, see also: Explanation of the dissertation project "Identity Constructions of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians in Kosovo" by Claudia Lichnofsky, see: online .
  3. ↑ Marion Lillig, Identity Constructions of Exile Women: Only give up parcels and letters, not and never me, Frankfurt (Main) et al. 2008, p. 63.
  4. ^ So in a relevant forum: online .
  5. ↑ a b Elena Marushiakova, Vesselin Popov: New ethnic identities in the Balkans: the case of the Egyptians , p. 475, in: online (PDF; 199 kB).
  6. ↑ Claudia Lichnofsky: Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians in Kosovo. A research report , 2009, p. 123, see: online .
  7. ↑ See e.g. E.g . : osce.org .
  8. ↑ In the context of the topics “Kosovo Egyptians” and Ashkali see: Elena Marushiakova, Vesselin Popov: New ethnic identities in the Balkans: the case of the Egyptians , in: online (PDF; 199 kB).
  9. ^ Johann Erich Biester: About the Gypsies; especially in the Kingdom of Prussia. In: Berlinische Monatsschrift , Vol. 21, 1793, pp. 108–165, 360–393, here: pp. 364f.
  10. ↑ Orhan Galjus: Roma of Kosovo: the Forgotten Victims. In: The Patrin Web Journal, April 7, 1999 ( December 25, 2007 memento on the Internet Archive ).
  11. ↑ Elena Marushiakova, Vesselin Popov: New ethnic identities in the Balkans: the case of the Egyptians , p. 471, in: online (PDF file).
  12. ↑ Claudia Lichnofsky: identification processes Muslim non-Albanians in Kosovo and their strategies of political and social positioning since 1999. The example of the Ashkali. In: Südosteuropean Hefte , Vol. 1, No. 1 (2012), pp. 57–71; dies., “Ashkali and Egyptians in Kosovo new ethnic identifications as a result of exclusion during nationalist violence from 1990 till 2010”. Romani Studies 2 (2013) (1), pp. 29–59.
  13. ↑ 650 years of Roma culture in Kosovo and its destruction: The Pogrom. Rome e. V. (ed.). Cologne undated; Dominik Baur: Merciless hunt for minorities in Kosovo. In: Spiegel online , May 26, 2004 ( online ).
  14. ↑ See e.g. E.g .: European Parliament on the situation of the Roma in the Balkans in 2011, online (PDF; 70 kB); Roma program of the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society .