Citizens’ revolt for Rama’s removal / Auron Tare: This protest will bring a different Albania, where Albanians will finally learn to fight for themselves too!

Through a post on Facebook, historian and researcher Auron Tare reacted, expressing hope that the protest that has been ongoing for nearly two months for the removal of the government and Prime Minister Edi Rama will bring a different Albania, where, as he puts it, “Albanians will finally learn to fight for themselves.”

Tare draws attention to a historical episode from 1822, which he links to the political developments and protests in Tirana.

Tare writes about what he calls the “Battle of Athens,” recalling the clash between two forces on the plains of Athens, where Albanians were on both sides of the conflict.

“On one side was Captain Jani Gura, the son of an Albanian family settled in Thessaly, the leader of the forces that history would call Greek.

On the other side stood Omer Pasha Vrioni, scion of the great Vrioni family, an Albanian general in the service of Ali Pasha Tepelena, the Khedives of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, sent to crush the Greek uprising.

On the plains of ancient Athens, it was not only two armies that met. It was two Albanians, each under a flag that was not his own. One fought for Istanbul, the other for Athens. Albania was in neither camp,” Auron Tare writes, among other things.

Auron Tare’s post:

“The Battle of Athens”

As the Boulevard protest enters its second month, it is worth pausing for a moment on a page of history, one of those that Albanians write with their blood, but that are usually read by others.

Albanians have had a strange fate. They have built empires, upheld kingdoms, led uprisings and revolutions, but when it comes to their own country, they always remain spectators. They are masters at making the history of other nations and poor students when it comes to writing the history of Albania. Perhaps, I say this with hope, this protest will bring a different Albania, where Albanians will finally learn to fight for themselves too.

In July 1822, on the plains of Athens, where the ancient Athenians once halted the advance of undefeated Persia, two armies clashed. But if we were to remove the flags and uniforms, we would see a strange picture: on both sides stood Albanians.

On one side was Captain Jani Gura, the son of an Albanian family settled in Thessaly, the leader of the forces that history would call Greek.

On the other side stood Omer Pasha Vrioni, scion of the great Vrioni family, an Albanian general in the service of Ali Pasha Tepelena, the Khedives of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, sent to crush the Greek uprising.

On the plains of ancient Athens, it was not only two armies that met. It was two Albanians, each under a flag that was not his own. One fought for Istanbul, the other for Athens. Albania was in neither camp.

This is our long tragedy. History preserved both their names, but also changed their homeland. One was declared a hero of Greece, the other was left on the pages of Ottoman history. Albania could claim neither of them.

This is, perhaps, our greatest curse. Albanians have known how to win battles for everyone, except they have not known how to win them for themselves.

And when a nation gives its sons to the history of others, it should not be surprised if, one day, its own history remains written by others.

As always.