Albanian historian, Elena Kocaqi has caused controversy, after claiming on live television in Albania that a Greek population does not exist in modern Greece, and that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is an Arvanite.
Asked by the host of the show to justify why she believes this to be the case, Kocaqi responded: “I have said that Greece has no Greek population. The population of Greece, all those who fought, were Arvanites with foustanelles,” said Kocaqi during a panel discussion with reference to the Greek War of Independence.
The show’s presenter then tried to intervene, stating “Maybe we are going a little overboard”.
However Kocaqi evidently didn’t agree, and persisted.
“Who fought against the Turks? Only Albanians,” she said.
“Find me one Greek who fought during that time in 1821,” Kocaqi persisted.
The panel, which was organised to discuss the latest developments in the Balkans, also featured Greek Professor Panayiotis Barkas.
Following his panel appearance, Professor Barkas said his fellow panellists were attempting to use a mixture of fake myths and folklore “to justify expansionist views”.
Watch a snippet of the panel discussion below (video contains Greek subtitles):
