The Ashkali (), also Hashkali (), and Balkan Egyptians (; ; ) are Albanian-speaking Albanized ethnic cultural minorities (recognized communities), unrelated to each other, which mainly inhabit Kosovo, and in the case of Balkan Egyptians: Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Southern Serbia (geographical region) as well. Prior to the Kosovo War of 1999, the Balkan Egyptians or Ashkali people registered themselves as Albanians. During the Kosovo War, Kosovo's Ashkali people were displaced as refugees in Albania, Serbia and Macedonia and the whole of Western Europe, such as Germany and France. The Ashkali identity was created in 1999, as they tried to show their pro-Albanian stance and distinguish themselves from the Roma. History The origins of the Balkan Egyptians are obscure. It is said that the Ashkali people claim they have originated in Persia, in 4th century BC (Ashkal, Gilan, Iran). But some Balkan historians trace the origin of Balkan Egyptians to the Iron Age, citing vague references in Herodotus of the presence of Khener, an Ancient Egyptians dance group in the region. They also attribute archaeological structures in the area, notably in modern Ohrid and Bitola, as temples of the Goddess Isis, but the Mysteries of Isis was widespread in the Greco-Roman world. It is also possible, that the Balkan Egyptians are traces back to the Doms in Egypt, other versions are, that after the Ottoman–Egyptian invasion of Mani, Egyptian soldiers went to Albania and become the ancestors. However, historians maintain that during the Ottoman era the 'Balkan Egyptians' and other Balkan Roma were part of a single community, who called by the Ottomans Kıbti (literally 'Copts', reflecting the same group encompassed by the English ethnonym for the Roma, ('Gypsies'). They see the alternative origins as part of a larger phenomenon whereby groups such as the Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians, as part of an effort to achieve greater civil emancipation and to escape anti-Roma prejudice, made an effort to separate themselves from other Roma and constructed a novel history for their peoples. A 14th-century reference to a placename (Агѹповы клѣти, Agupovy klěti) in the Rila Charter of Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria was thought by some authors, such as Konstantin Josef Jireček, to be related to the Balkan Egyptians, possible descendants from the Doms in Egypt. In 1990, an "Egyptian association" was formed in Ohrid, North Macedonia, which was attended by representatives from different Balkan countries. The Ashkali and the Kosovo