Ashkali and Egyptians in Kosovo: New ethnic identifications as a result of exclusion during nationalist violence from 1990 till

2010
Claudia Lichnofsky
Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians are three separate recognised ethnicities in Kosovo. The Albanian majority, though, regards all three groups as Gypsies. Ashkali and Egyptians refer to a Muslim, Albanian speaking though non-Albanian population and distance themselves from the Roma. Both groups construct two different origin narratives: Egypt and Persia respectively. The cultural distinction between the two communities, though, is vague even among members of the groups and elites of Ashkali and Egyptian, who regard the other ethnicity as part of their own. Through critical interpretation of newspaper articles, ego documents and interviews, the article analyses the reasons for identification with one group or another. Iargue here that the choice of the ethnonym depends not on cultural differences but rather on exclusion from the majority, regional loyalties, and preference of local or transnational ethnonyms and different strategies for survival in post-war Kosovo. Keywords: Ashkali, Egyptians, Kosovo

1.Introduction Much has been published about the former Serbian province Kosovo and the ethnic tensions experienced there. During the 1990s, the conflict between the Albanian majority and the ruling Serbian minority was the subject of numerous books, academic articles and human rights reports. After the NATOintervention in 1999, the focus changed to the non-Albanian population in Kosovo, including also those who speak Albanian but are not recognised as Albanian by the majority and do not perceive themselves as Albanian. These ethnic identifications have been publicly announced by community members and recognised by the constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. Among
This article contains parts of my PhD research at Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, supervised by Prof. Dr. Markus Koller. Iwish to warmly thank him, Isabel Strhle and several members of the working group Identities in Eastern Europe, which is based at the Graduate Centre of the Study of Culture (GCSC) and the Giessen Center for Eastern European Studies (GiZo) for comments and discussions on earlier versions of this article. Claudia Lichnofsky is Research and Teaching Assistant at Institute of History, Department of Eastern European History, Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str. 10, D-35394 Giessen, Germany. Email: postanclaudia@web.de Romani Studies 5, Vol. 23, No. 1 (2013), 2959 issn 15280748 (print) 17572274 (online) doi: 10.3828/rs.2013.2

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the minorities are Roma,1 Ashkali and Egyptians. All three of them are called Magjup or Gabel (Gypsies)2 by the Albanian-speaking majority and Cigani by the Serbian/Bosniac-speaking minority in Kosovo. Other than Turks, Bosniacs, Gorani and Serbs, they not only have one reserved seat each in the Kosovo assembly3 but also share one seat with each other. This rule suggests that Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians have something in common which distinguishes them from the rest of the population. And in most reports about Kosovo and in colloquial language, the three groups are mentioned together but also grouped together and abbreviated as RAE (Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians). None of the three groups likes to be called RAE and we can ask about the reasons for lumping the three communities into one group if they regard themselves as three distinct ethnicities. The reason for splitting them into three groups is the subject of debate as well. On the one hand, Ashkali and Egyptians try to clearly distance themselves from Roma. They argue that they have a different origin but also a different language: Romas native language is Romani and, therefore, radio, TV and magazines for Roma are broadcast and published in Romani. On the other hand, distinguishing between Ashkali and Egyptians is not that clear, neither for representatives of the two communities nor for politicians and human rights groups. The development of Ashkali and Egyptians as distinct ethnic groups cannot be regarded separately from the historical and political events in Kosovo over the last twenty years. The violent exclusion of citizens of the province, combined with antiziganist propaganda was an initial point for developing new ethnic affiliations. A few scholars have studied the differences and relations between Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians. Some scholars who explicitly mention Egyptians regard them as Gypsies/Roma (Trubeta 2005; Balcer 2007) while others high light the boundaries between Roma and Egyptians (Duijzings 2000; Marushiakova et al. 2001; Marushiakova and Popov 2001) but refer to both groups as Gypsies. Except for Marushiakova et al., who regard Egyptians and Ashkali as new ethnic
1.In the ethnographic literature on Kosovo, Roma are divided into several subgroups with different dialects. Most scholars, though, regard Egyptians and Ashkali as Albanised Roma, which does not meet the self-declaration of the members. On labelling of Roma in Kosovo, see Lichnofsky (2009). 2.All terms for groups of people are capitalised regardless whether they are officially recognised ethnonyms such as Roma or colloquial denominations like Gypsies. Ido not want to judge which term is official and worth being capitalised or not. In this article the term Gypsy will be used when referring to sources or perception by others. Ido not regard Gypsy as an appropriate term for people. Since Ashkali and Egyptians do not want to be named Roma, it cannot be used for them either. Gypsy is a very vague and unspecific term for different communities with several names in different languages. The population who is called Gypsies is not at all homogenous. 3. The parliament of Kosovo is called the Kosovo Assembly.

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identities, previous researchers concentrated on Egyptians as a new phenomenon and overlooked the Ashkali as protagonists of identity politics in Kosovo. Ashkali are mentioned mostly in few sentences as Albanian Gypsies from who Egyptians are recruited (Duijzings 2000: 145), as a group similar to Egyptians but on a lower level of hierarchy (Nedeljkovi 2005: 101, 111) or as a synonym for Magjup and a subgroup of the most important groups of Gypsies (Balcer 2007: 251f.). Balcer regards them as a community who have tried to escape the discredited image of Egyptians since 1999 (Balcer 2007: 251, 2579). Egyptians are regarded as Gypsies who are trying to avoid the stereotyping of Gypsy and Roma, and who have therefore introduced the term Egyptian (Trubeta 2005). Human-rights reports either subsume Ashkali as Roma (Mattern 2009:1) or mention Ashkali as a distinct group, next to Roma and Egyptians. Hence, scholars, as well as Kosovar and international politicians, focus on the similarities based on the fact that the majority sees all three groups as Gypsies. Most literature on Ashkali and Egyptians lacks analysis of the differences between Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians and the respective relations between them and other ethnic groups in Kosovo, especially Albanians. However, the boundaries between Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians themselves are not equally strong or weak as suggested. Ashkali and Egyptians agree on their difference and ethnic distance from Roma due to linguistic and cultural differences.4 Therefore, this article does not again subsume Ashkali and Egyptians under Roma and focus on Roma as the matrix, although ethnological research stresses the common features and the label Gypsies/Roma. During research on the topic, Ilearnt that the boundaries between Roma on one hand and Ashkali/ Egyptians, on the other, are quite clear. The latter have a different history of ethnic affiliation in Kosovo and much more in common with the Albanian majority. The difference between Ashkali and Egyptian, though, is not that obvious, neither for the Albanian majority and politicians nor for protagonists of the communities themselves. Both groups refer to Muslim, Albanian speaking and people labelled as Gypsy. Usually, they regard the other community as part of theirs. This phenomenon astonishes if we regard the essentialist argumentation of both groups and the ethnic groups and nations in the environment. The question why someone identifies with one community and not the other and why the lobbying for both terms was first popular in a certain period is still unanswered. This will be investigated by focusing on the identifications
4. Roma usually speak Romani (although there are people identifying as Roma who do not know Romani) while Ashkali and Egyptians speak Albanian as a native language. All three communities consist of Muslims with few exceptions among Roma.

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and narratives of the agents themselves. The article takes into account also the mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion of Egyptians by Ashkali and vice versa but also the exclusion of Egyptians and Ashkali by the Albanian majority of Kosovo. 2. Theoretical and methodical approach The research is based on oral and written ego-documents. The oral documents are problem-centred interviews according to Witzel (2000) with representatives of Ashkali and Egyptians in Kosovo and Germany between 2008 and 2012. Iam aware of the fact that oral history sources are not static but subjective and do not tell us what has happened but how people interpret events in the past (Grele 1991: 245). The interview mediates between personal memory and social world (Abrams 2010: 7). The decision for interviews instead of participating observation is based, on the one hand, on disciplinary requirements in science of history, on the other hand, on consideration of the researchers role: while translating experiences of field research into text, ethnographic writing enacts a specific strategy of authority and the researcher appears as the representative of truth (Clifford 1983: 120). Instead, the decision for an actorcentred approach lets the agents of the ethnic groups speak and acknowledges that changes do not happen behind ones back but are made by humans as well (Ldtke 2001: 572). Agents act and interpret situationally and use the given room for manoeuvring to bargain their social position between the two more powerful agents in Kosovo: Serbian and Albanian elites. As a researcher from outside of the community, Itake my interviewees seriously and do not decide for them in which ethnic groups to put them. The aim is also not to investigate what they really are but also how they regard themselves, how they argue and how it depends on the circumstance and strategies and reference frames. The interviews were held mainly in Serbian, English and German and the interviewees are contact persons for parties and NGOs which are registered as such in lists of minorities groups, on the Ethno-political Map of the European Centre of Minority Issues (ECMI) and partially through contacts of other representatives. The written ego-documents are open letters, statements, articles and other sources written in Serbian and Albanian by Egyptians and Ashkali representatives. Other sources are articles in Albanian and Serbian newspapers from 1990 and 2008, as well as human rights reports and statistics about ethnic affiliations. According to Barth, an ethnic group not only has to consist of people who regard themselves as members of a distinct group but also needs to be recognised by others (Barth 1969: 11). The recognition by others is still very weak and they tend to be seen as Gypsies or Roma by the majority of Kosovos

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population. The self-identification, though, is not that strong either and the boundaries between Ashkali and Egyptians are fluid. Brubakers objection to the use of the term groups should not be ignored but the term will be used here as a category of praxis. Referring to Brubaker, the group-making of Ashkali and Egyptians will be regarded as a project (Brubaker 2004: 14). Although the agents of identity politics of Ashkali and Egyptian use identity as a category of praxis, this article will not use identity as a category of analysis due to its essentialist, ambiguous connotation (Brubaker and Cooper 2000: 8). Instead, Iwill use identification for analysis to emphasise the process and refuse to assume a fixed, essential identity which everybody needs and possesses. Identity will only be used here when referring to agents or scholars using the term. 3. Egyptian organisation in Kosovo between Serbian and Albanian nationalism When Slobodan Miloevi, as the president of the Republic of Serbia, annulled Kosovos autonomy within the Republic of Serbia in March 1989 (Malcolm 1998: 344), the Albanian speaking population became one of the minorities in the Republic of Serbia within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Because they refused to recognise the Serbian regime, including the abolition of Albanian in schools and public sector, 90 per cent of the Albanian population lost their jobs in the public sector. The Serbisation of TV, theatre and libraries was in process (Schmitt 2008: 314). The Albanian teachers and professors, who lost their jobs, developed an underground educational system. Elementary schools were still allowed to use public buildings but secondary education was banished to private houses (Clark 2000: 96). Politicians, who had been removed from the assembly, formed a shadow government, while medics organised a parallel health care system (Malcolm 1998: 348 f.). The Albanian speaking population boycotted the elections, the census and the political and social system in Kosovo and was under repression by Serbian special police forces. Serbs, who were driven out of Croatia by the Croatian army in summer 1995, were settled in Kosovo. These settlers contributed to the crisis already affecting Kosovo with even more violence and aggression. Serbian paramilitary troops like those of Arkan (eljko Ranatovi), committed atrocities against the Albanian speaking population (Schmitt 2008: 315).5 Afew Roma who were mainly living in Serbian dominated areas and went to Serbian schools did not refuse to sign the loyalty declaration to the modified Serbian republic. Therefore, most of them kept their jobs or could even replace
5.In the same time, Ranatovi was a deputy for Prishtina in the assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

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Albanians. As loyal citizens, men also had to take part in military actions. Parallel to these incidents, the organisation of the Egyptians in the neighbouring Republic of Macedonia spread to Kosovo. The lobbying for Egyptian as a category in the census of 1991 was caught between Serbian and Albanian nationalism. Agents of the Egyptian organisations in Kosovo had to deal with both groups. In several languages we have one or more terms for Gypsies which derive from Egypt (e.g. Gypsies, Magjup, Evgjit, upci, Yiftos and others) or from Athinganoi (e.g. Cigani, Zigeuner, ingene, Tsinganos). The Serbian ethnographer Tihomir Vukanovi gives several local appellations for so called Gypsies which are used in Yugoslavia: Kopti, Gopti, Gipteri, Faraoni and Firauni (Vukanovi 1983: 13748). While the first group of terms for Gypsies refer to Egypt as Gypsies were associated with it since the Middle Ages, the second group of terms probably stems from Athinganoi, the Byzantine word for Untouchable or from a heretic sect (Friedman 2008: 202). Both terms are translated with Gypsy or Roma in academic literature. In some languages, we have both terms like in Greece where there are Yiftos and Tsiganos, both groups regarded as Gypsies by the Greek majority and both regard themselves as Roma but distinguish themselves as belonging to one group or the other group (Messing 1981).6 The first initiative to become recognised as a distinct ethnic group started in the Albanian speaking community in Struga, Macedonia. Kosovo and Macedonia were at that time still part of the Socialist Yugoslav Republic of Yugoslavia until the breakdown of Yugoslavia in 1991. The mentioned community was called (Gjupci)7 by their neighbours but used Evgjit for their self attribution (Egyptian Mlheim 2011: 5).8 Since 1971, they have been searching for a less pejorative term to use in censuses because in the Yugoslav census everybody was free to choose whatever ethnonym9 he or she wanted (Duijzings 2000: 140). They were lobbying to introduce Egyptian as a category in the 1991 census. This term would have been recognised among the six
6.In Greece, though, the situation is contrary to the situation in Kosovo: both groups speak Romani (p.163) and Tsinganos regard themselves as sedentary and attached to Greek culture while they regard Giftos as nomadic and speaking a heavy language (p.1656). 7.Macedonian for Gypsy. uptin and Egipan is singular, upci and Egipani plural. Magjup, uptin and other previously mentioned words for Gypsy in different languages derived from the word Egypt in the Middle Ages but were clearly distinct from the notion of Egyptians of Egypt in the individual languages. 8. Evgjit is also used in southern Albania as an ethnonym for those who claim they have Egyptian origin. The term is synonymous to Jevg in Central Albania and Magjyp in northern Albania (Prefektura e Beratit 2010: 2478). 9. When ethnonym is used here, it refers to the name of an ethnic group whose members imagine themselves as part of an ethnic group with ancestry and common markers as language or religion.

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nations, ten nationalities and other ethnic groups (Jakir 2011: 135) who varied from republic to republic and could make up up to 34 national categories based on individual choice (Friedman 1996: 91). Those called Magjup in Kosovo realised, that they are not regarded as real Albanians when it comes to job searching. They heard about and welcomed the initiative of Nazmi Arifi from Struga to organise as Egipani (Serb.) or Egjiptian (Alb.) in Kosovo (Abazi Egyptian interviewee 2012: 3). In October 1990, the Association of Egyptians in Kosovo and Metochia (Alb. Shoqata e Egjyptianve t Kosovs and Serb. Udruenje Egipana za autonomnu pokrajinu Kosovo i Metohija) was founded and registered in Prishtina in March 1991. After negotiations with institutions on the federal level, Egyptian became the official choice as an ethnic group in the census. It was held in Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, Vojvodina and Macedonia in 1991. The census, however, was boycotted by the majority of Albanians in Kosovo and is not reliable as population statistics and counts only part of the whole Kosovar population (Duijzings 2002: 132.). The result was 5,881 Egyptians in Kosovo plus 303 in Central Serbia and 136 in Vojvodina (Saveznog zavoda za statistiku br. 41-03-1/2, facsimile in Zemon 2001: 44). In Macedonia 3,307 declared themselves as Egyptians (Friedman 1996: 90). The Egyptian movement in Kosovo has several key agents, who published and fought for their right to declare themselves Egyptian. Today, most of the Kosovar agents of the first generation live in Serbia, Germany and Switzerland: Qerim Abazi, the secretary of the association, was born in 1950 near Ferizaj/ Uroevac and worked as a lawyer in Prishtina. He became a minister without portfolio in the provisional province assembly in Kosovo (which was under the rule of the Republic of Serbia) during the 1990s (Zemon 2001: 50). He denies being Rom or Gypsy and asks himself what he is then if not accepted as Albanian despite speaking Albanian. He realises that his skin colour (black as he says) differs from the white of Albanians (as he perceives their skincolour). Representatives of the Egyptian Embassy in Belgrade were important for representatives of the Egyptian organisation, although embassy officials did not offer support concerning immigration to Egypt publicly (Abazi Egyptian interviewee 2012). Through the professor of Arabic language, Rade Boovi, and Robertina Ashouri, the daughter of Nazmi Arifi from Struga, the Egyptian association from Yugoslavia established contact with the embassy. Ashouri studied Arabic and worked at the embassy of Egypt in Belgrade (Egyptian interviewee Mlheim 2011: 1). But at least Qerim Abazi was invited as an Egyptian representative for the reception of the National Day of Egypt at the Egyptian embassy in Belgrade in 1990 and 1991 (Duijzings 2000: 132) and as well in 2000 (Zemon 2001: 63 ff.).

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In Belgrade, a new ethnic group in Kosovo was welcomed in the time of rising nationalism in Serbia and Kosovo and used as proof that Kosovo is a multiethnic and not Albanian dominated province of Serbia. The introduction of Egyptians could draw the attention away from the conflict between Albanians and the Serbian regime and put the focus on Albanian separatists as the enemy of Serbia. Since the Serbian regime was interested in decreasing the number of Albanians in Kosovo and the Egyptians had declared themselves as Albanians before, it supported the introduction of this new category (Duijzings 2000: 142). In Serbian newspapers, Egyptians were positively described as a cooperative people who go to mosque and Orthodox Church, speak the local language, are assimilated and economically well-off and demand only their right to declare themselves Egyptian in the next census (Lazovi and Nikoli-Pisarev 1990: 56). This contrasts with the usual portrayal of Albanians in Macedonia and Kosovo. During the 1990s, when the Albanian speaking population was under repression by Serbian politicians, Albanians formed political parties and held elections on 24 May 1992. Albanians as well as Turks, Slavic speaking Muslims and a few Serbs and Montenegrins took part. The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), founded in 1989, won 76 per cent of the vote. Since the Serbian regime prevented the assembly from working, the government, including Prime Minister Bujar Bukoshi and the foreign minister, was forced to flee to Switzerland (Schmitt 2008: 318). They concentrated on resistance against the Serbian regime and lobbied for an independent Kosovar state. As Egyptian representative Qerim Abazi argues, at this time Albanian representatives were not open for negotiating the position of minorities in Kosovo. They would prefer to classify every Albanian speaking person as Albanian (Abazi 2009: 7). The more people who declared themselves to be Albanian, the more power and legitimation LDK would have. After years of unsuccessful non-violent resistance in Kosovo, in 1998, the rural Albanian guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) grew stronger and gained more support among the population (Strhle 2010a: 90). The end of the armed conflict in Albania helped to arm the KLA: 600,000 small arms ended up in the hands of civilians (Pozhidaev and Andzhelich 2005: 11). The conflict between the KLA and Serbian police and the Serbian army and paramilitary troops escalated. NATO and the Contact Group scheduled a peace conference in Rambouillet and Paris in February and March 1999 (Petritsch et al. 1999: 21059). Not only KLA fighters took part as negotiation partners on the side of the Albanian delegation (Strhle 2010b: 480). The Egyptian representative Qerim Abazi was a member of the Yugoslav delegation as the representative of Egyptians in Kosovo. He was not, however, the only representative of minority communities: Luan Koka represented the Roma community, Refik Senadovi

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the Muslims (nowadays called Bosniacs), Zejnelabidin Kurej represented the Turkish community, Ibro Vait as Gorani, and Faik Jashari and Sokolj use were delegates of two different ethnic Albanian parties which did not share the separatist politics of LDK (BBC News 1999). The aim of the Yugoslav delegation was to show that the conflict is not between Serbs and Albanians but that several other ethnic groups are living in Kosovo who should also have the right to negotiate (Petritsch et al. 1999: 279). In 1998, Abazi stated in an interview that Egyptians are loyal to their country, as well as to Serbia and Yugoslavia (Bulatovi 1998). Nearly ten years later, Abazi admitted in an interview for Glas Egipana, the Egyptian magazine in Belgrade, that he used to think Egyptians were Miloevics people since the radio transmissions of the Association of Egyptians in Kosovo were held in Serbian. In 1998, he was afraid of Albanians who supported the association but never recognised them as Egyptians and, consequently, he started supporting the Serbian policy of reducing the number of Albanians in Kosovo. Therefore, he fought for the recognition of Egyptians and contacted the government of Serbia. Serbian politicians met with representatives of the Egyptians in Kosovo after having already held meetings with Serbs, Albanians, Turks and Gorani. Today Abazi realises that neither Serbs nor Albanians were of any help to the community (Glas Egipana 2009: 5). Despite the fact that his participation and cooperation with the Serbian regime did not go as he wished, his alliance caused some Albanians, as well as Ashkali, to dismiss the term Egyptian as a Serbian invention, which led to the discrediting of Egyptians during the war, as well as after it, in 1999. In the opinion of Ashkalis representatives, Egyptians were clever to begin organising as Egyptians when Miloevi annulled Kosovo autonomy because they were privileged and got paid monthly by the Serbian regime (Qerimi 2011: 6f). Qerimi probably refers to the fact that Andjelkovi, the minister of the assembly in Kosovo at that time, appointed Abazi as a deputy in the assembly of Kosovo (Glas Egipana 2009: 5). As a deputy, he was on the payroll of the Serbian state, which is usual for politicians in state service. Whether the time of organising as Egyptians was deliberately chosen to coincide with this ethnic conflict or not and whether payment was the motivation or not, this claim of being paid by Serbs is part of and one reason for Albanian anger towards Egyptians. In conclusion, in the beginning of the 1990s, members of the Albanian nation were discriminated against for not being real Albanian and were searching for a new ethnonym, one which associates with the pejorative appellation Magjup but has a better connotation. They found alliances in the Macedonian association of Egyptians who had already decided in favour of Egyptian and against Gjupci. Even on the federal level, they were successful with introducing their affiliation in the census of 1991. But in Kosovo in the meanwhile, the ques-

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tion of identifying as Albanian, Serbian or different, was already highly political. As small minorities usually are, they were caught in a sandwich position between Serbs and Albanians. Due to the lack of willingness among Albanians, Egyptians cooperated with the Serbian regime and faced being called traitors and collaborators after Albanians gained power in 1999. 4. New ethnic identifications through exclusion Nowadays, Albanians control most parts of Kosovo except the Serbian dominated northern areas with the municipalities of Leposavi, Zubin Potok and Zvean.10 Albanians have been cooperating with international institutions since 1999. Former KLA soldiers have been integrated into the civil protection corps, the police and civil service and make up one third of all deputies of the Kosovo assembly (Strhle 2010b: 481). After the 19989 war in Kosovo, Roma, Egyptians and Ashkali were persecuted by Albanian nationalists under the eyes of present KFOR (NATO troops). The main target was the Serbian speaking community who was perceived as the enemy of the Albanian nation. Roma and Egyptians, but also Ashkali who all look similar for Albanians, were the object of persecution due to rumours that a few Roma were apparently seen taking part in paramilitary actions, looting abandoned houses and helping burying the corpses of those Albanians killed by Serbian forces (Amnesty International 2003; Editorial Team of EERC 2005; Laedrich 2006; and others). They were trapped between Albanian and Serbian nationalism as well and were partly manipulated by the Serbian regime (Crowe 2000: 110). Egyptians who were perceived as collaborators with the Serbian regime because of Abazis participation in Rambouillet have been the target of hate, too. Albanian nationalists burned down Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian houses. Many were raped and threatened physically, and as a result, most fled the country (Cahn 1999: 2). Abazis house in Obiliq was burned down in 1999 (Zemon 2001: 52). He was forced to leave Kosovo and joined his sons who were living in southern Germany (Glas Egipana 2009: 5; Abazi Egyptian interviewee 2012). Albanian speaking Muslims, who were called Gypsies by the majority because of a racist perception, had to deal with the post-war, nationalist situation. Afew developed strategies to claim the right to be part of the Kosovar society after 1999. Violent exclusion is a relatively usual event in post-war societies and is productive for the perpetrators (Bielefeld 2001; Sofsky 2005). Every state and nation-building is connected with violence and expulsion of other groups
10.In Albanian: Leposaviq, Zubin Potok and Zvean.

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(Hpken 2001). But in the case of Kosovo, we realise another phenomenon as well: the anger was not directed at the Serbian population but also on Magjup. Several media have reported about violence against Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians. Albanians were shouting There is no place for Gypsies in Kosovo (von Holtey 1999; Zlch 1999 and others). In the pogroms against Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian and Serbian community in 1999 and also in 2004, the Albanian majority did not differentiate the three groups and call them Magjup (Gypsies) or Gabel (Nomadic Gypsy). Even Ashkali, who lived with Albanians and hid with their Albanian neighbours during Serbian actions, did not escape persecution after the war. The perception of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians as different ethnic groups, which Fredrik Barth ascertained as a precondition for an ethnic group (1969: 11), was and is still not given by the Albanian majority in Kosovo. For those being the target of ethnic hatred and seen as collaborators, there was a need to claim proximity with Albanians in order to escape persecution. Ashkali are the second hand of Egyptians (Shqiptar i dors s dyt) is often cited among those who identify with the Ashkali community. This expression is supposed to show affiliation with Albanians, although von Holtey interprets it as second-class Albanian (von Holtey 1999). Those who are called Magjup but organise as Roma, have had radio, magazines and facultative language classes at school since the 1970s, when the international Romani movement began. The Egyptians started claiming their own ethnic category without claiming their own language. And shortly after the war in 1999, the international community, human rights groups, and researchers became aware of Ashkali as an ethnic group. Earlier ethnographic literature usually mentions them as Albanised Muslim Cigani (Vukanovi 1966: 10) although Vukanovi claimed seventeen years later that Ashkali are Romani speaking nomadic Roma in Kosovo, who are also called Gabel. This must have been wrong even at the time (Vukanovi 1983: 138). In addition, Ger Duijzings doubts Vuknovis observation and regards them as Albanised sedentary Roma from which Egyptians were recruited (Duijzings 2002: 135).11 Roma activists usually regard Ashkali as the Roma from the village who live with Albanians (Roma interviewee Prizren, 11 Sept. 2008). The Egyptian activist Abazi claims Ashkali(or the Albanian version Hashkali) to be a term used by Roma for those who have dark skin but try to pass as Albanian (Abazi 2009: 3). Ethnographers obviously support the assumption that Ashkali are Roma but we cannot be sure whether it is their system of order or the self-identification of Ashkali at the time of their ethnographic studies. Ashkali today, though, always refer to themselves as Albanian when talking about the time before the war.
11. The same concludes also uri (1987: 53) and Boretzky (2002: 931)

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No, no, the people used it [the Ashkali-ethnonym] even before 1999, but not so much. Firstly, because we were feeling that we are Albanians. We have same culture, language, school, everything same. (...) There were some people... Imean, initiatives that declared something else. But we did not want it. We didnt want. . . Because it started tensions between Albanians and Serbs and if we started to ask for identity at the time, we would have caused problem with the Albanian community. Between us and Albanian community. (...) And then, after people came back from... after the war, Imean, to the houses - many houses were burned, many houses were occupied and the Albanian community didnt like, didnt accept any more the Ashkalis Im talking about Ashkalis now. So what people did even the majority of them who had left Kosovo with Albanians in 1999 many of them returned and they saw, that the houses are occupied or destroyed or people were kicked out of the houses. (...) So, since that moment ... some people started to declare more the Ashkali identity. They founded the political party of Ashkalis and they start to fight for identity, for the rights. So... in that way we started to do it. (Ashkali interviewee Prishtina II 2010: 3)

Another interviewee from Prishtina regards it very similarly:

We never saw the reason to declare ourselves differently. Why? We had the right to apply for a job, we had the right to start it. We had all rights as Albanians before 1989. Many Ashkali studied in University, in the secondary school. All of them finished primary school which was compulsory. (Ashkali interviewee Prishtina I2010: 2)

A few interviewees refer to stories they heard about older people in the family when they were confronted with being called Gypsy. The grandparents then claimed that they are neither Albanian nor Roma but Ashkali with Albanian language (Qerimi 2011: 1). In these reports of interviewees about their encounter with older people who refer to Hashkali, they also stress that they then heard the name for the first time (Ashkali interviewee Obiliq 2010: 910). The distance made towards Roma in these reports apparently has a notion of feeling superior towards Roma. The term Ashkali obviously existed before the war in 1998/99 but was not much in use and just mentioned from time to time while refusing the pejorative appellation Magjup. We can hardly assume that Ashkali was used as an ethnonym when interviewees constantly refer to themselves as being Albanian before. Nor can we regard Ashkali as a subgroup of Roma when Ashkali refuse any connection with Roma. But we can deduct a sense of consciousness among Ashkali even before the 1990s of being a different sort of Albanian. They seem to bear a feeling of inferiority towards Albanians, as one interviewee from Prishtina explains:
The Ashkali will not be comfortable to go to Albanian families. Ihave nieces, nephews with Albanians and Im not feeling so comfortable (. . .) if they are having a party or something, Ifeel, that if Igo, the others will look at me differently. And not only me. They will even look at my niece, they will look differently, look at her family, you know, in this sense. (...) Ithink it is more because of the war. Those things happened,

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alittle bit, yes. There were always prejudices, there were always prejudices but after the war, after the war is much more. So after the war Ididnt know any case that someone marries an Albanian. Idont, Idont know any case. (Ashkali Interviewee Prishtina II 2010: 6)

The prejudices from Albanians towards Ashkali were present even before the war - as was the appellation Magjup - but he also stresses that it increased after the war because of what happened to Ashkali. He feels uncomfortable to visit the Albanian part of the broader family but especially because he fears being regarded differently by Albanians and they might recognise his Ashkali relatives as non-Albanian when meeting him. Asking Albanians about the term, we have different perceptions as well: Rexhep Ismajli (born in 1947) from the Academy of Art and Science of Kosovo and a university lecturer already in the 1980s, claimed in 1999 that he knows the term only from his parents and he would not regard it as a reference to people with darker skin but as a social category since he also knows of Ashkali with blond hair (Clewing 1999). Daut Dauti, a journalist from Bota e Re and Zri remembers Ashkali being used in his elementary school in Prishtina in 1969 as a denomination of an Albanian boy about who others would tell he is Ashkali. He claims the boy would not have used it by himself and he would not be called Magjup by Albanians because this term was reserved for Roma only (Dauti 2012). Brubaker claims that violence causes polarisation, rather than vice versa, and gives the actions of KLA as an example: The cycle of attacks and counterattacks sharply increased groupness among both Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs in 1998 (Brubaker 2004: 14). We can notice the same increased groupness in the example of Ashkali: they were object of violent attacks by Albanians and had no choice anymore but to identify as Albanian. Persecution and exclusion from the Albanian community seems to be the initial point for organising under the new ethnonym. This can be seen as an ethnic conversion or involuntary situational switching (Elwert 1995: 6). Arepresentative from Prishtina claims that not only after the war but also during the 1990s, when Albanians started parallel schools, health care system and a shadow government, Ashkali in eastern Kosovo were excluded. They were left to themselves. Educated Ashkali left the country to Macedonia, Serbia and Western European during the 1990s (Ashkali interviewee PrishtinaI2010:2). Those Ashkali activists did not see the need to declare themselves to be different from Albanians before the 1990s because they agreed on the agenda of increasing the number of Albanians in opposition to the Serbian population. They had all the same rights as Albanians had, and due to the conflict with the Serbian regime, there was not the time to focus on diversity among the

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Albanian speaking population (Ashkali interviewee Prishtina I2010: 2f). The Egyptians claim the same today: they were Albanians before 1999. Having in mind the ethnic key system of Yugoslavia, it would not have been very wise to declare themselves to be different from Albanians before the 1990s to apply for a job since there were given quotas for all recognised ethnic loyalties (MappesNiediek 2005: 85f.). Ashkali was not recognised as an ethnic group at that time and declaring as such would not result in any privileges. Nevertheless, one interviewee from Prishtina remembers that in the census of 1981, the papers of Ashkali who declared themselves to be Albanian were marked as non-Albanian because they were seen as Gypsies. He interprets this incident as proof that Ashkali were never accepted by Albanians as real Albanians (Ashkali interviewee Prishtina I2010: 1). This perceived lack of recognition as Albanians is part of the scepticism of Ashkali and serves as a need for distinguishing between Albanian and Ashkali. In consequence, the excluded started to develop a positive consciousness as Ashkali when the exclusion got even violent. Other Egyptian and Ashkali interviewees confirm their discrimination by their Albanian fellowmen as well, even before the war in Kosovo. Although they felt Albanian before 1999, they were called Magjup from time to time. After 1999, referring to a third ethnic group and even claiming having the same culture with the Albanian majority, might have helped to avoid the negative stereotypes about Gypsies. As usual for European Antiziganism,12 Gypsies are regarded as the Other of the nation even if they speak the majority language as mother tongue. When in Europe the building of territorial states began, the Nomads, who were regarded before as Christian pilgrims, were since then perceived as vagabonds and beggars who are condemned to tramp without religion and fatherland (Herzig 1996: 334). Although there are no Nomad Gypsies in Kosovo anymore, the stereotype of disloyal people without a fatherland is still influential. It is not astonishing that the exclusion of them coincides with the beginning of the Kosovar state and nation building. Whenever rumours about Ottoman spies spread in pre-modern Europe, Gypsies were under suspicion as they are suspected of having collaborated with the enemy. In times of conflict, as in Kosovo during the 1990s, the demarcation decides who the external and internal enemy is. The bigger the demarcation between nations, the bigger the vertical demarcation within a nation (Uerlings 2008: 15) is. Also in South-eastern Europe, Antiziganism has a prehistory: during the Ottoman Empire, Gypsies (Muslim and Christian) had to pay a poll tax (cizye)
12. Antiziganismus is a term which has been used in Germany since the 1980s in order to name the stereotypes of the majority society towards those who the majority perceive as Zigeuner (Gypsies). In English it is also called Anti-Gypsism.

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as had the Christian but not the Muslim population in the Empire. It was less than that of the Christian Gypsies but still they were obviously suspected of not being real Muslims and regarded as one community, existing of Christian and Muslim Gypsies (Ginio 2004: 118). The Ashkali movement works similarly to the Egyptian one but is not as active in publishing journals and books as Egyptians in Kosovo and Germany. Ashkali have a few agents, most of whom are living outside of Kosovo: in Serbia, Germany or Switzerland. One key agent is Sabit Rahmani from Dubrava, near Ferizaj/Uroevac, who founded the Ashkali party in December 1999 (It was called Ashkali Albanian Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDAshK), at the time) (Balcer 2007: 259). The name does not conceal the strategy to gain the trust of Albanians (von Holtey 1999). One of Rahmanis uncles was the leader of the LDKs branch in Dubrava (Balcer 2007: 253). The uncle might have been helpful for contacts with Albanian post war elites who supported the newly founded PDAshK. Since 2007, Rahmani is no member of parliament anymore because he is accused of embezzling money from his party members (Koha Ditore 2003; Rexhepi 2006). In 2002 the partys name was changed to Partia Demokratike Ashkali e Kosovs (PDAK, Ashkali Democratic Party of Kosovo) (Balcer 2007: 259). Since then they have deputies in the Kosovo assembly. Apparently also Rahmani was according to one interviewee from Peja and Qerim Abazi a member of the Egyptian association before (Egyptian interviewee Peja I 2010: 11 and Abazi Egyptian interviewee 2012). The Egyptian interviewee accuses him of having founded the Ashkali party only because he had no secure position in the Egyptian party and for manipulating poor, uneducated people in the East who do not know anything about their origin and falsely believe Sabit Rahmani. Abazi, though, regards Rahmanis strategy as a reaction to the situation in Kosovo in 1999 and sees fear as a motive for organising as Ashkali (Abazi Egyptian interviewee 27.1.2012). The second key agent is Berat Qerimi from Lipjan, who has lived in Germany as a Guestworker for forty years and realised after the war that he should do something for those he feels close to (Qerimi, Munich 2011: 8). He claims he never considered himself to be Rom because he does not speak Romani. Qerimi declared himself to be Albanian before and during the 1990s because of the language and sees only slight differences between Albanians and Ashkali: the colour of skin (Qerimi, Munich 2011: 1). While he was active in the KosovoAlbanian club Rilindja in Munich, he also paid 3 per cent of his income to the shadow government during the 1990s. Every Kosovo-Albanian was supposed to pay this tax, in Kosovo as well as abroad, in order to finance the parallel system (Judah 2008: 73; Clark 2000: 103). Since he was retired, he has more time to spend in Kosovo and is the president of the Kosovo-based PDAK. Qerimi emphasises the strong relation between Ashkali and Albanians during

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the 1990s and proves it by showing receipts of his tax payment and pictures with him and Rugova, the informal president of Kosovo during that time. This is, though, contrary to the statement of the Ashkali interviewee from Prishtina who claimed that Ashkali were not included in the parallel system. The reason might depend on Qerimis diaspora situation. The third key agent for Ashkali is Dino Toplica, who was born in Prishtina 1955 and went to elementary school in Prishtina but finished high school in Novi Sad, Serbia. He is now head of Matica Akalija/Amza e Ashkalive (Head office of Ashkali) in Novi Sad (Berisha 2011). Toplica is lobbying mainly in Serbia for Ashkali as a distinct ethnic group, although his reference is Kosovo. On the homepage of Matica Akalija/Amza e Ashkalive Kosovo is called the mother of Ashkali13 (Matica Ashkalija n.d.) He is the one who publishes about the origin of Ashkali and argues with Egyptian representatives about the real ethnonym. On the starting page, a running headline informs the visitor that Qerim Abazi is illiterate and manipulating people (Matica Askalija n.d.). He claims that Egyptians are in reality Gypsies, nowadays Roma, because they were called names referring to Egypt (Toplica n.d.). He refers to the academic literature about Gypsies and Roma and the earlier terms with association to Egypt. They became translated into Gypsy and the currently used term Roma. According to his logic, those who refer to these earlier terms must be of Roma origin. Apparently, he does not regard his position as chair of the Roma Congress Party in Novi Sad till at least 2004 (European Roma Rights Centre 2004) contrary to his argumentation. The Ashkali party Democratic Ashkali Party of Kosovo (PDAK) does not have a website nor are there any publicly known elites in Kosovo who write regularly. Only the newly founded Ashkali Party for Integration (PAI) has a homepage where they refer positively to the founder of PDAK, the absent Sabit Rahmani and to a Persian origin as well(Partia Ashkalive pr Integrim 2011). Adem Demai14 from Podujeva seems to be an Albanian supporter of the Ashkali (Balcer 2007: 253). He was the political spokesperson of KLA until 1999. This view is supported by reports about Demai demanding full legal and cultural equality for Roma and Ashkali at a conference in Mitrovica in 2004 (Sadiku 2004). In conclusion, since those who are called Gypsies by the majority always became excluded from the nation in times of nation building, the same happened to all so called Gypsies in Kosovo, independent of their self-declaration as Albanian and their native language being Albanian. This is a common phenomenon of Antiziganism in Europe. After Roma and Egyptian were
13. Kosova sht nna Ashkalive. Kosovo is female in Albanian: Kosova. 14.Demai is called Mandela of Kosovo because of his long arrest, with some disruptions, in Yugoslav prisons from the 1960s till the 1990s.

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discredited as an ethnonym after 1999 due to the perception of being collaborators with the enemy, some people remembered the older and nearly forgotten group name Ashkali. Certain key agents from Kosovo and diaspora built NGOs and parties but also stressed proximity with the Albanian majority. Through post war violence, not only the perpetrators but also the victims have increased their groupness. This is the reason we have today three groups who are perceived as Gypsies: Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians. But the boundaries between the communities range from strong to weak. 5. Competition of ethnonym and origins Ashkali as well as Egyptians distance themselves from Roma because of the language and claimed cultural differences which are not further analysed here. One example is the celebration of Vasilica on 13 October, the Serbian New Year (Egyptian interviewee Peja II: 4). Since it is a religious holiday, it may be celebrated by Orthodox Roma. Another example is St. Georges day (urevdan, also called Hederlezi) which is proclaimed and celebrated on 6 May by Roma around the world. Other interviewees, though, state that St. Georges day was celebrated by Ashkali and even by Albanians as the beginning of spring (Egyptian interviewee Peja I: 8). This means, the fact that someone celebrates St. Georges day does not make any body Rom. The distinction between Ashkali and Egyptians, though, is not that easy: they share the same linguistic and religious markers and have the same experiences with exclusion as Gypsies by the Albanian community. Therefore, Iwill further analyse how representatives of both communities argue for differentiation. It will be also shown that cooperation with other ethnic groups does not follow necessarily the lines which were shown in sections 3 and 4, above. In party politics, regional boundaries can be stronger than historic relations to certain communities. Benedict Andersons concept of imagined communities (1983) is helpful for understanding. Although he refers to nations, his theory can be applied to ethnic groups as well. Among small ethnic communities, members of the elites might know each other but also perceive those people to whom they are not familiar as part of their imagined ethnic groups. Sometimes they regard people as members of the same community despite the fact that they use other identifications. Georg Elwerts concept of we-group as a term for communities identifying as a nation or as an ethnic group helps to understand the construction of ethnic groups which are not primordial but have to be created through selfdescription (Elwert 1989: 446). Once created, he argues in a later paper, people are not bounded at one distinct we-group but usually have different ethnic

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identities and situationally switch between groups, sometimes even involuntary (Elwert 1995: 6). He pointed out that switching between different groups is a common process which contradicts the perception of deeply rooted traditions and stability, which is claimed by the actors but is also often adopted by researchers (Elwert 1995: 2). Ethnic and national we-groups usually regard themselves as people of the same origin (Elwert 1989: 441). Egyptians have a better-developed narrative of origin while Ashkali try to keep up with them. Both, Ashkali and Egyptians, try to get rid of the Roma/Gypsy stigma and do not want to be associated with them. Additionally, since they do not speak Romani, identification with Roma organisations is not very attractive. Roma organisations regard India as the country of origin and refer to linguistic research, which started with J.C.C. Rdiger (Rdiger 1782) and Grellmann (1787) in the eighteenth century. Since linguists have discovered that Romani is an Indian language (Boretzky 2002: 927), the assumption that Roma must have a historical connection to what is nowadays India and Pakistan is without doubt. Egyptians are working on the proof that they are from Egypt as their ethnonym suggests. Since in Kosovo they speak the same language as the Albanian community, the only proof of distinction is the search for archaeological sources about the early presence of Egyptians in South-eastern Europe. With the term Egyptian it is easier to refer to Egypt than with Ashkali to refer to any existing country. The Association of Egyptians from Macedonia draws a continuos line from Ramses II (12791213 BC) via Alexander the Great (35623 BC) to the Copt (existing since 451 ad) as descendants of or reasons for the existence of Egyptians in the Balkans (Egyptian interviewee Mlheim 2011). The first source that mentions Gypsies appeared in the fourteenth century as Egyptian which was translated as Cigani (Gypsy) (Petrovi 1975: 124). It is absurd, though, to investigate and focus on the origin of populations that have been present in a country for centuries. We cannot trace the origin of every people, as if there is a cradle for every group, nor do we know if Roma lived somewhere else before India and ever spoke another language than Romani. The whole notion about one origin, one language and one descent suggests that groups of people are continuously endogamous and never mix or interact with other groups. We can observe that the obsession with origin is relevant in studies about Roma/Gypsies and therefore a frame of reference for all those who are subsumed as Roma or Gypsies. In order to claim difference to the majority and certain rights after being excluded from the majority, the only choice in a world of nation states is to claim being member of a different nation and origin. As other ethnic and national groups in South-eastern Europe do, Roma and Egyptians argue about the question who was first in Kosovo: Qerim Abazi

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states in an interview not only that his father claimed he is Arab from Egypt but also that he found out from academic books about the much earlier arrival of Egyptians on the Balkan peninsula than Roma. This means for him that Egyptians are together with Illyrians the oldest people there (Bulatovi 1998). South-eastern European historiography, like for example the Greek, Albanian and Macedonian, makes efforts to prove that they are the oldest people in the region. Macedonians as well as Greeks refer to Alexander the Great. The wish for Egyptians to prove their old history is comprehensive in the South-eastern European context. Ashkali who deny that Egyptian can be applied as an ethnonym to them, argue that there is no Egyptian but only Arabian nation and Egyptian cannot be used as a nation or ethnonym (Qerimi Munich 2011). The Ashkali narrative of origin is not as well developed as that of Egyptians, which might be due to the fact that it is much easier to connect Egyptians with Egypt than Ashkali with any existing place outside Kosovo. Apparently, both ethnic groups need a place outside South-eastern Europe to refer to in order to justify their existence. The Ashkali narrative claims that they are descendants from the Arsacids (Pers. Aknn), also called Parther, who ruled in presentday Iran and parts of the surrounding countries from 250 BC to about 226 AD (Encyclopaedia Iranica 2012). This hypothesis complies with linguistic theories about Roma, having lived in Persia before the Islamic invasion in the ninth century (Tscherenkov and Laedrich 2004: 17 ff.). But the hypothesis is used to prove distinction from Roma. Earlier narratives stated Italy as origin as it is claimed on the membership card of the Udruenje Hakalije (Association of Hashkali) from 1998 (Egjiptianet n.d.). Today, Abedin Toplica refers to oriental countries like Persia, Sudan, Morocco and other Arab lands as the origin (Toplica n.d.: 2). Some Ashkali interviewees are still not sure and mention Ashkelon as well (nowadays in Israel) as a potential origin, but it seems that the narrative about a Persian origin won out, at least among the elite and those who are working on the construction of a common Ashkali origin. As proof of a Persian origin, Berat Qerimi, as well as Abedin Toplica, refers to a list of Persian words in Albanian as proof not only that Persian influenced Albanian but also that it must have been the Ashkali who brought Persian words to the Balkans (Matica Akalija n.d.). In this process of constructing origin and inventing traditions, also some logical mistakes happen when Ashkali claim that they lost their language and adopted Albanian while bringing Islam to Kosovo. One Ashkali representative from Obiliq explains this intercultural exchange like that: Albanians were Catholic while Ashkali were always Muslims. When Albanians in Kosovo are nowadays mainly Muslims, it is because they took Islam from Ashkali while Ashkali took Albanian as their language. (Ashkali interviewee Obiliq 2010: 9). He ignores the fact that conver-

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sion in Kosovo took place during the Ottoman Empire in order to construct a distinct history and cultural contribution of Ashkali. Since they claim they arrived in the Balkans in the fourth century, this would have happened two centuries before Mohammads birth (Marushiakova and Popov 2001: 475). For Egyptians, this unstable narrative of origin among the Ashkali community is proof of the invention of an Ashkali community who are, in the opinion of Egyptians, former Egyptians who were forced by Albanians to declare to be Ashkali after 1999. Qerim Abazi blames Ashkali to be traitors who switched from Egyptian to Ashkali in order to avoid discrimination after he took part in Rambouillet as Egyptian and they have been seen therefore as collaborators with the Serbian regime (Abazi 2009: 2). After having described the different narratives of origin and the effort to prove it, we could expect that representatives of both communities believe in these origins but we are taught otherwise: asking Ashkali about the difference of Ashkali and Egyptians, they usually answer the existence of two different groups is only for political reasons in order to receive another reserved seat for Egyptians in the assembly or due to a competition of ethnic groups in general. These arguments also function vice versa with Egyptians who claim that Ashkali are the same but because of funds from International community, two competing ethnic groups have developed (Egyptian interviewees Gjakova II 2010: 4). One Ashkali interviewee even sees no difference at all except the belief in different origins:
look that is differentiation between Ashkali and Egyptians: Itold you why they have been declared to be Egyptian: because the Egyptian community think that they originate from Egypt. The Ashkali community has a different opinion: that they originate from Iran. It is only this distinction between these two communities. (Ashkali interviewee Prishtina I2010: 7)

This statement might be confusing, taking into account that both communities argue a lot about the question of origin and accuse one another of being Roma (Toplica n.d.) or using the wrong ethnonym (Zemon 2001: 43). The quote shows that the origin is not quite convincing for all and is even among the members of the community seen as a question of belief. As Ifound out later, the family of the above quoted interviewee declared themselves to be Egyptian and was active in the Association of Egyptians in Kosovo until 1999. This might explain the reduction of his origin on belief. Nowadays, only the interviewees uncle is still Egyptian while his father, one of the very first Egyptians, declares himself to be Ashkali as well (Abazi Egyptian interviewee 27 Jan. 2012). Although Egyptians do not claim to be a nation and do not refer to a certain territory, we can discover a nation building. Egyptians in Kosovo are very well connected with Egyptians from the neighbouring countries like Macedonia,

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Albania, Serbia and Montenegro. They have seminars and round tables together, spread promotional material about the origin and culture of Egyptians. In interviews they stress the existence of Egyptians in other Balkan countries while claiming that the term Ashkali is used only in Kosovo. This is given as a proof that Ashkali is not the correct ethnonym for the Muslim, Albanian speaking group which is called Gypsy by the majority (Egyptian Interviewee Peja I2010: 4). This leads to the assumption that Egyptian as ethnonym is more attractive to those who rather want to be part of a transnational group which exists in all neighbouring countries as well. 6. Geographical differences and loyalties as a key for identification and party politics The region in which the Ashkali and Egyptians live seems to be of importance to the question of identification as either Ashkali or Egyptian. The first generation of Egyptians, who fled Kosovo in 1999, was from both parts of Kosovo (Zemon 2001: 39f.). Since Egyptians are seen as collaborators with the Serbian regime, we would have probably expected them to live in Serbian enclaves, as Balcer (wrongly) claims (Balcer 2007: 253) but on the contrary: they are nearly only living in the more homogenous and Albanised west.15 No Egyptian NGO or members of IRDK are active in the East which is ethnically more heterogeneous and with most of the Serbian dominated areas in Kosovo. Following Balcer, the so-called Gypsies were less integrated into Albanian society in the East than in the West, with exception of Ferizaj/Uroevac and Podujeva/ Podujevo (Balcer 2007: 253). After the war, ethnic tensions continued longer in the East than in the West (Egyptian interviewee Peja I2010: 10). In eastern Kosovo, Roma live mainly in areas whose majority is Serbian while Ashkali are in Albanian dominated areas in the East (with the exception of Lipjan/Lypjan), and not at all in the Serbian regions. Egyptians almost exclusively live in the West with very few numbers in Ferizaj/Uroevac in the eastern part: the highest percentage in Gjakova/akovica (5%) and Istok/Istog (4%); in Deani/Dean are more Egyptians (0.6%) than Roma (0.1%) as well as in Klina (2.36% Egyptians, 1.24% Ashkali, 0.3% Roma). In Peja/Pe, though, which is one of the Egyptian centres, Roma and Ashkali constitute a bigger part of the population (each 2%) than Egyptians (1%). Nevertheless, the Egyptian party IRDK seems more attractive and got 1.43% of the votes in Peja/Pe than
15. Rrafshi i Dukagjinit is the western part of Kosovo which is called Metohija in Serbian; Rrafshi i Kosovs is the eastern part, called Kosovo polje in Serbian. Kosovo polje is also the Serbian name for the city called Fush Kosov in Albanian and the place of the battle of Kosovo polje. In order not to confuse too much, Iwill use the west or western Kosovo for Rrafshi i Dukagjinit and the east or eastern Kosovo for Rrafshi i Kosovs.

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the Roma party PREBK with 0.36%. Only in Gjakova/akovica, Egyptians held important positions in the municipality like Municipal Community Officer, Community Social Issues Officer, Community Development officer and Deputy Chairman of the Municipal Assembly (ECMI Ethno-political Map 2010). Roma, Ashkali as well as Egyptian agents agree that the biggest Roma settlements are in Prizren (western Kosovo) and Gjilan (eastern Kosovo), the highest numbers of Egyptians are in Peja, Istog and Gjakova (western Kosovo) and that Ashkali have their centres in Ferizaj and Fush Kosov (all in eastern Kosovo). This means that Egyptians are nowadays predominantly located in western Kosovo while Ashkali are mainly living in eastern Kosovo. This is confirmed by the Ethno-political Map of ECMI (ECMI Ethno-political Map) who published the estimated numbers for the Kosovo population and their ethnic affiliation in all municipalities of Kosovo in 2008 and 2010 (ECMI Ethno-political Map). An Egyptian interviewee claims that the only differences between Ashkali and Egyptians is in fact the region in which they live (Egyptian interviewee PejaI2010: 5). Although Ashkali are living in Albanian dominated areas and Roma in Serbian dominated areas, we cannot conclude, though, that Ashkali were always living with Albanians and Roma always with Serbs. The question whether to identify with one or another group depends also on the surrounding majority. Among Serbs, Roma have a better standing than Ashkali and Egyptians. This does not mean, though, that Roma are treated better by the Serbian population:
Although the majority of these IDPs are Roma, their primary language is often Albanian - making them targets of abuse and harassment from Serb radicals in the North. In itkovac, several Roma were beaten and threatened with guns in early 2003. ARoma family was assaulted; the mother was urinated upon. In ezmin Lug, gangs of Serb youths have assaulted Roma. (Balkan project 2003)

Albanian speaking Roma are regarded, as other Albanian speakers as well, as iptari16 (pejorative for Albanian). In the Serbian dominated northern part of Kosovo, the Ashkali activist Qerimi regards Ashkali to be forced to declare themselves to be Roma who are more accepted than Ashkali (Qerimi 2009). If forced or voluntarily, of those who call themselves Roma in the Serbian dominated northern part of Mitrovica, there are agents who admit that they do not speak Romani but use Albanian at home and Serbian in daily life. In the logic of distinction between Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians communities, they would belong to the Ashkali or Egyptian community but introduce themselves
16. iptari derives from the Albanian word for Albanians: Shqiptar, although in Serbian it is Albanci. It always had a negative connotation although Yugoslav authorities used it until the 1960s in order to distinguish Kosovo-Albanian from Albanians in Albania. Today it is used in Nationalist discourse.

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as Roma. By this example, we can conclude that ethnic affiliations as Roma or Ashkali depend as well on the hierarchy of ethnonyms in the region and the ethnic affiliation of the surrounding majority. For Ashkali and Egyptians, the region seems to be important for identification with one group and depends as well on the hierarchy of ethnic affiliation: in the West, the term Ashkali obviously has the same negative connotation as Magjup in the East, as an Egyptian representatives from the West stress. In the West another term exists: Gabel (Alb. Nomadic Gypsy) which Egyptians regard as the term for Roma. Roma representatives from Prizren deny this differentiation (Roma interviewee Prizren 11 Sept. 2008). Qerim Abazi, a central person of the Egyptian Association of Kosovo, considers Ashkali (or Hashkali) to be a term used by Roma for assimilated, Albanian speaking darkskinned people who are more integrated into the Albanian society (Abazi 2009: 3). Given that in his view Ashkali is a negative attribution by Albanians in the West, it is comprehensible that Ashkali is not an option for self-attribution. Those who are called Magjup in the West prefer the self-attribution Egjiptian (Egyptian). This explains the existence of Egyptians in western Kosovo. In the East, though, Ashkali claim that Hashkali is an old and neutral term for those who speak Albanian but who are seen as Gypsies. Berat Qerimi explained in 1999 that Roma call Ashkali Arlije (Clewing 1999). Arlije is a subgroup of Roma and derives from the Turkish word yerli which Courthiade translates with autochthonous and connects it to Egyptians/Ashkali as well (Courthiade 2003: 5). This contradicts the existence of Roma groups in Prizren for example, consisting of mainly Arlije Roma. Magjup is regarded by Ash kali from the East as an attribution for Roma while Ashkali is reserved for Albanian speaking Gypsies. We already assumed that even before the war in Kosovo, a consciousness among Ashkali and Egyptians of being different from Roma existed. The existence of two different negative terms, Magjup and Gabel in western Kosovo and Ashkali and Magjup in eastern Kosovo, confirms the assumption. Vukanovi who mentioned Akalija in 1983, lists also Edjupci as a term for Roma in Macedonia but does not include Egipani or Egjiptian as they call themselves now (Vukanovi 1983: 13848). The geographical loyalty is also visible in the party politics of the minority parties. Ashkali have currently two parties in the assembly: the Democratic Party of Ashkali in Kosovo (PDAK) with one deputy, Danush Ademi, and the Ashkali Party of Integration (PAI) with Etem Arifi, from Lipjan (Republic of Kosovo Assembly 2010). Earlier, from 2007 to 2010, Arifi was deputy for PDAK, together with Danush Ademi and Hafize Hajdini (Republic of Kosovo Assembly 2007).17 From 2001 to 2007, Sabit Rahmani represented the PDAK
17. PDAK gained three seats in 2007. They hold the Ashkali seat, the seat for either Ashkali, Egyptian or Roma and another one through high electoral results.

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(from 2001 to 2004 as PDAshK, together with Faik Marolli). With Ademi he was part of the parliamentary group with the Serbian Independent Liberal Party (SLS), the Serbian Democratic Party of Kosovo and Metohija (SDSKIM) and the Gorani party Gradjanska Iniciativa Gora (GIG). Nowadays only Arifi, now as deputy of PAI, is left in the group, which is called SLS group. The other two Ashkali parties (UDAK and BDA) act only on the municipal level and gained seats in 2009 in Ferizaj, Shtime and Lipjan (ECMI Ethno-political Map). The cooperation with the Serbian Parties is, contradictorily, also good to historic relations with Albanians. The SLS was founded in 2006 and gained five seats in the assembly in the 2007 elections (Republic of Kosovo Assembly 2010). Then and today it is the largest party representing Serbs in Kosovo. In the local elections of 2009, the party achieved the majority of votes in three municipalities with a Serbian majority: Graanic/Graanica, Shtrpc/trpce and Kllokot/Klokot. Deputies of SLS in the assembly are from Serbian dominated areas as well (Republic of Kosovo Assembly 2010). The Serbian Liberal Party aims to protect the interests of the Serb communities in Kosovo-Metochia but does not recognise Kosovos independence (Balkan Insight 2010). Since 2010, the party is part of the Kosovar government (Republic of Kosovo Assembly 2010) and provides two ministers (Balkan Insight 2010). The only Egyptian party in the Kosovar assembly is the New Democratic Initiative (IRDK), which has been in a parliamentary group with the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) since 2001 (Republic of Kosovo Assembly 2001). Deputy for IRDK has always been Xhevdet Neziraj (from 2004 to 2007, together with Bislim Hoti). Since 2010, there has been a second Egyptian party, the League of Egyptians in Kosovo (LEK) who, in contrast with the IRDK, uses Egyptian as part of the partys name. The founder is Bislim Hoti, former deputy of IRDK. Although it campaigned in the elections in 2010, it could not gain a seat in the assembly. The AAK was founded by Ramush Haradinaj, a former KLA commander. As other parties as well, it was rather an ad hoc foundation, based on Haradinajs great support in the West during the war (Zulfaj et al. 2008: 31). Haradinaj became prime minister in December 2004 and resigned in March 2005 when he was accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY (New York Times 2008). His supporters are mainly in the West, where he comes from, but he was not successful with progress outside this area (Balkan Insight 2010). AAK bears war values and most of the party members are from KLA. Haradinaj represents strong nationalism and is the key figure in the party (Zulfaj et al. 2008: 32). Bearing in mind that Egyptians were seen as collaborators with Serbia by Albanians, the cooperation between those two parties might be surpris-

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ing. Egyptian representatives explain the cooperation by regional boundaries: Haradinaj is from the West where most Egyptian party members and NGOs are living. The PDK prime minister, Thai, is from Drenica, the hilly region where KLA was founded. He would, therefore, not care for the West (Egyptian interviewee Gjakova I2010: 7). From cooperation with Haradinaj, Egyptians expect support for their case as inhabitants of the western region. To conclude, besides the efforts to prove foreign origin as Egyptian or Ashkali, the differences between Ashkali and Egyptians are not as relevant, even for the members of the group, as we could have assumed and are reduced on beliefs and the region. In creating a narrative, Ashkali take Roma and Egyptians as an example and try to find linguistic proof as well. Regarding the region, Egyptians and Egyptian NGOs are mainly located in the West while Ashkali settlements and NGOs are mainly in the East. Obviously, the popularity of the ethnonyms depends on the region of Kosovo, but also on the hierarchy of terms for Gypsies among the majority population. Because of regional loyalties and expectations of protection, Egyptian and Ashkali parties cooperate with those communities with who they are not regarded close: the Ashkali party PDAK does not cooperate with Albanian but with Serbian parties, while the Egyptian IRDK does not cooperate with Serbian but with an Albanian party. 7.Conclusion According to Barth and Elwert, a basic condition for establishing an ethnic group is the identification by others as a member of the ethnicity. Albanians and Serbs have not yet fully recognised Egyptians and Ashkali in everyday life although the terms are codified in the Kosovar constitution. This identification is based more on self-attribution than on attribution by others. The identification with one or another group and the recognition of the other group is not completed neither among the communities themselves. Both ethnic groups regard the other one as part of their own. This means that the boundaries are not as clear as they are claimed to be when elites of Ashkali and Egyptians, as well as the constitution of Kosovo, speak of two different communities. Despite these fluid borders, representatives of both groups are working on a specific narrative of origin, like all national communities in South-eastern Europe. The belief in origin and the use of the ethnonym seems to be the only difference. We observe the same antiziganism and stereotypes of Gypsies as not being part of the nation, in Kosovo as everywhere in Europe. Since Gypsy has a pejorative connotation and members of the named group want to be part of a society as well, new ethnic groups are being developed. Which terms are used depends on the hierarchy of the existing names and the pursued strategy: those who favour using an existing term which marks their connection

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to Kosovo, will go for Ashkali. Those who prefer being part of a transnational network will go for Egyptian. The hierarchy of appellations as well as the party politics depends on the region within Kosovo. They do not have to be congruent with the assumed proximity with other communities: although Egyptians are regarded as being closer to Albanians, they cooperate with the party of an Albanian war veteran while Ashkali, who stress their affinity with Albanians, cooperate with Serbian parties. Nevertheless, we could disprove the general assumption that Egyptians and Ashkali in Kosovo first identified as Roma and then became Egyptians and Ashkali, although we know examples of Ashkali and Egyptians in Serbia who considered themselves Roma for some time and then decided for Ashkali or Egyptian. This is because to be Roma in Serbia is more attractive than to be Ashkali or Egyptian, since Roma are perceived superior to Ashkali and Egyptians. In Serbia and the Serbian parts of Kosovo, the situation and status of Roma is slightly different, so that organising as Roma is attractive for Ashkali and Egyptians, too. The boundaries between Roma and Ashkali/Egyptians are more fluent than in Kosovo (Lichnofsky 2011: 289). Additionally, the Roma identification is also open for people who do not speak the language. But in Kosovo, Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians have in common the attribution by others as Magjup. This does not mean, though, they identified as Magjup or Rom before. Ashkali seems to have been a term with a better reputation than Roma, even before the war. In an Albanian environment, similarities with the Albanian language and culture and the Albanian ethnic hierarchies are more important than with the Serbian. Therefore, we come across Ashkali who identified as Egyptians before 1999 and switched between these two groups, as well as between Albanians and Ashkali or Egyptians, but not that much between Roma and Ashkali or Egyptians. Those who are called Gypsies by the majority do not act differently from the other communities in any way. Whether individuals in Kosovo call themselves Bosniac or Gorani, Serb or Montenegrin and whether someone in Vojvodina identifies as Croat or Bunjevac, as Romanian or Vlah is subject of the same debates and strategies as in the case of Ashkali and Egyptian. This leads to the conclusion that the perception of groups in South-eastern Europe in ethnic terms only prevents us from perceiving other boundaries and identification. Concerning Kosovo, Magjup and Hashkali seem to be social identifications rather than ethnic. However, during the conflict in the 1990s and the awkward position and later exclusion from the Albanian nation, members of this social community had no other choice than using the frame of ethnicities and nations in order to fight for the right of their existence as human beings.

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Interviewees (Oral Ego-documents)

Abazi, Qerim (Egyptian), male, ca. sixty, Singen, 27 Jan. 2012. Ashkali Interviewee, male, mid-forties, Prishtina, I26 Aug. 2010. Ashkali Interviewee, male, mid-thirties, Prishtina, 17 and 25 Aug. 2011. Ashkali Interviewee, male, mid-thirties, Obiliq, 24 Aug. 2010. Egyptian Interviewee, female, mid-forties, Mlheim, 18 Apr. 2011. Egyptian Interviewee, male, beginning of twenties, Gjakova I,7 Aug. 2010. Egyptian Interviewees, female, mid-twenties and beginning of thirties, Gjakova II, 9 Aug. 2010. Egyptian Interviewee, male, beginning of thirties, Peja I,11 Aug. 2010.

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Egyptian Interviewee, male, mid-fifties, Peja II, 11 Aug. 2010. Qerimi, Berat (Ashkali), male, c.sixty, Munich, 16 July 2011. Roma Interviewee, male, mid-forties, Prizren, 11 Sept. 2008.

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Zulfaj, Jeton, and Mulliqi, Brikena, and Shala, Mentor, and Tahiri, Petrit. 2008. Political Parties in Kosovo: Profile and Ideology. Prishtina: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. 15Apr. 2008.

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