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I don’t know much about Albanians, but considering they are of Muslim background then they probably are more similar to Bosnians or Turks?
I don't know the history in detail, but I believe that Albanians are descendants of ancient Illyrians and their language is distinct in that sense, unlike the rest of the Balkan peninsula where Slavic has dominated since the invasions of the 600s, I believe, less Greece, of course, but some assert that many Greeks are of Slavic descent.
The Turks did not invade until around the 1300s. Not sure what "Muslim" has to do with this. Not sure to what extent Turkish has influenced the Albanian language, or Slavic for that matter, but there must be some words and expressions that one can point to.
It seems that Soviet-style governing ideas came to dominate in the 1940s-1980s period, does that make Albanians like Russians? To what extent has Russian influenced the Albanian language? Still, even during the period of Soviet domination, the Albanians continued with a certain distinctness, but so did other peoples of the Balkans. To what extent did Albanians continue a distinctness during the Turkish period? I don't know, but probably to a significant extent in view of the pattern of Soviet times.
Maybe someone with knowledge can answer those questions and elaborate.
I don't like any of the three choices, because it seems that Albanians are mostly distinct, but I would have to go with Greece among them only because I did encounter Albanians when I lived in Greece, mostly peaceful interactions, though my experiences are narrow.
I don't know the history in detail, but I believe that Albanians are descendants of ancient Illyrians and their language is distinct in that sense, unlike the rest of the Balkan peninsula where Slavic has dominated since the invasions of the 600s, I believe, less Greece, of course, but some assert that many Greeks are of Slavic descent.
The Turks did not invade until around the 1300s. Not sure what "Muslim" has to do with this. Not sure to what extent Turkish has influenced the Albanian language, or Slavic for that matter, but there must be some words and expressions that one can point to.
It seems that Soviet-style governing ideas came to dominate in the 1940s-1980s period, does that make Albanians like Russians? To what extent has Russian influenced the Albanian language? Still, even during the period of Soviet domination, the Albanians continued with a certain distinctness, but so did other peoples of the Balkans. To what extent did Albanians continue a distinctness during the Turkish period? I don't know, but probably to a significant extent in view of the pattern of Soviet times.
Maybe someone with knowledge can answer those questions and elaborate.
I don't like any of the three choices, because it seems that Albanians are mostly distinct, but I would have to go with Greece among them only because I did encounter Albanians when I lived in Greece, mostly peaceful interactions, though my experiences are narrow.
Hope this helps, a little.
I wasn’t referring to the language but the culture as the OP stated, and yes religion plays a huge role in culture, just look at the Serbs, Croats and Bosnians. They all objectively are the same ethnic group and speak more or less the same language, but culturally they are all distinct because of the role that religion plays in their communities. (Serbs are Orthodox, Croats are Catholic and Bosnians are Muslim). And yes politics do influence culture as well, or rather the culture influences the politics. So yes I would assume based of the political past Albanians are closest to Serbs since Greece and Italy were capitalist democracies. But of course Serbs and Albanians don’t have the greatest relations considering Kosovo, which I don’t want to get into since that is a hornets nest.
I would have to say Greece. Serbia is just too different. And Italy is way way way different. Macedonia or Bulgaria or even Montenegro would be more apropos.
Albania is quite distinct culturally from its neighbors, so this is going to be difficult.
But there's a historical Albanian community in Italy with little Albanian settlements sprinkled all over Southern Italy. There are also a lot of recent Albanian migrants in Italy. It's worth noting that there are considerably more Albanian Catholics than Albanian Orthodox Christians. I think this creates some not insignificant links between Albania and Italy.
On the flip side of course Italy has been a NATO/EU nation for the last 75 years and even the rural Mezzogiorno is more developed than rural Albania. The experience of isolation under Communist rule likely gives today's Albanians a lot of shared points with other Balkans people. But then again, the relations between Albanians and their Slavic neighbors are fairly poor and marked by conflict. So while (perhaps because?) Albanians and Serbs live in close proximity they don't have much time for each other.
I don't know the history in detail, but I believe that Albanians are descendants of ancient Illyrians and their language is distinct in that sense, unlike the rest of the Balkan peninsula where Slavic has dominated since the invasions of the 600s, I believe, less Greece, of course, but some assert that many Greeks are of Slavic descent.
The Turks did not invade until around the 1300s. Not sure what "Muslim" has to do with this. Not sure to what extent Turkish has influenced the Albanian language, or Slavic for that matter, but there must be some words and expressions that one can point to.
It seems that Soviet-style governing ideas came to dominate in the 1940s-1980s period, does that make Albanians like Russians? To what extent has Russian influenced the Albanian language? Still, even during the period of Soviet domination, the Albanians continued with a certain distinctness, but so did other peoples of the Balkans. To what extent did Albanians continue a distinctness during the Turkish period? I don't know, but probably to a significant extent in view of the pattern of Soviet times.
Maybe someone with knowledge can answer those questions and elaborate.
I don't like any of the three choices, because it seems that Albanians are mostly distinct, but I would have to go with Greece among them only because I did encounter Albanians when I lived in Greece, mostly peaceful interactions, though my experiences are narrow.
Hope this helps, a little.
Bale, in my op i said "dont overdo it with elaboration" because i want votes to be unbiased.
Bale, in my op i said "dont overdo it with elaboration" because i want votes to be unbiased.
But the elaboration is the interesting part. Bale's response was was the best & most well-informed and insightful, IMO. Besides, your choices were too narrow.
There's a lot more to Albanian culture than Islam. Albanian culture goes back thousands of years before Islam, and before Sovietism. The rural culture (which was everything, basically, for most of the Albanian people's history) was the same as throughout the Balkans: sheepherding, hunting, gathering. This lasted well into modern times, as it has elsewhere in the Balkans. Up to the current day, even.
Linguistically, Albanian has ties with Romanian that go back thousands of years, as well. So I'd vote for Romania, just on general principle.
Sorry if this post is too "elaborate" for your preference. I couldn't restrain myself. This would be a great topic, if it weren't for the somewhat arbitrary restrictions. Don't be surprised if us peasants rise up and revolt against your seemingly despotic attempts to control our freedom of speech. It's a discussion forum, after all, not so much a voting forum (with pre-chosen ballot items reminiscent of Soviet times, dare I say).
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 09-23-2021 at 08:33 AM..
Most Albanian Muslims are not observant in the way those from the Arabian peninsula are.
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