“It cannot pass in silence” — Portrait of Napoleon Zervas in Dervician, the Çamëria Foundation reacts: A grave provocation against Albanians

The Çamëria “Hasan Tahsini” Foundation has reacted strongly to the display of a portrait of Napoleon Zervas in Dervician, describing the act as a “grave provocation against Albanians”.

In its reaction, the foundation asks the Municipality of Dropull to remove the portrait and give a public explanation, while calling on the Albanian government to investigate the circumstances of its display and identify those responsible.

The reaction:

“A GRAVE PROVOCATION AGAINST ALBANIANS IN DERVICIAN.

We call on the Mayor of the Municipality of Dropull to immediately remove Zervas’s portrait from this honoured display and to give a public explanation for this unacceptable choice.

We call on the Albanian government to launch, through the competent institutions, a full investigation to clarify the circumstances, to identify the persons who proposed, approved and made this display possible, and to establish the institutional and legal responsibilities that result.

Respect for the Greek minority and its rights is indisputable. Precisely the protection of coexistence requires that responsibility for this act be identified, and that it not weigh on the Greek minority but on the concrete names of those who gravely provoke the blood of the Albanians massacred by Zervas’s chauvinist bands.

This provocation cannot pass in silence. The victims of genocide demand justice and respect, so the Albanian authorities have a duty to respond and to act.”