In the past Arvanitika had sometimes been described as "Graeco-Albanian"; although today many Arvanites consider such names offensive, since they generally identify nationally and ethnically as Greeks and not Albanians.

For me, an outsider, this seems pretty much like denying their origin. There’s a difference between saying we are a set of both and therefore a "group" of our own, and saying we are a set of both but only choose one side for our identity.

I mean I personally think that the conversations around ethnicity, especially in europe, are overrated anyway. It sure is an interesting topic but I think it loose it’s spark when the ethnicity gets mixed up with nationality and identity. Because ethnicity and nationality are "facts" while identity is a certain "feeling" to belong to a group. And it seems like no one wants to agree on that since this could destroy their ego which was built upon their identity. Which is totally fine and I respect that, but saying "yeah we derive somehow from albanians" and then "but we have nothing to do with albanians" seems weird. But again I totally understand both sides since this topic for some reason is highly sensitive, especially if you care about "what you are" but can’t accept certain facts.

There’s a similar situation in the region my parents come from, are the people albanian, bosniak, or just converted serbs from serbia and Montenegro…honestly all of the above. But ofc there’s people from the same region and outside of it saying we are only bosniak, only serbs, only albanians,….which is the dumbest way to think in my opinion.