Monday, March 30, 2009

Athens reply to fYRoM FM

Greece on Monday announced that the country's foreign minister again emphasised to her counterpart in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM) that Athens considers the "name issue" as the paramount problem standing in the way of fully normalised bilateral relations.

In her reply, dated March 24, Greek Foreign Dora Bakoyannis reminded that Athens has demonstrated a sincere volition over recent years to develop normal and productive bilateral relations.

"Let me remind you in this respect that Greece has demonstrated, in practice, her willingness and preparedness to settle the issues that divide our two countries, as well as to build good neighbourly relations and to establish close cooperation in all fields with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," Bakoyannis states.

Moreover, in broaching the eyebrow-raising proposal by fYRoM FM Antonio Milososki earlier this month for the establishment of a bilateral committee to "examine" historical issues, Bakoyannis was crystal clear:

"... I would like to emphasize that history is a science that establishes historical truth through scientific methods. It cannot and should not be subject to political expediency or any other political considerations. In this sense, history is not negotiable. The history of the ancient world has already been written and documented, over the centuries, through laborious scientific research by acclaimed international historians and archaeologists. It cannot be rewritten by a bilateral committee."
In concluding her letter, Bakoyannis focuses directly on the resolution of the 19-year-old "name issue", noting that "...the catalyst for the improvement of the relations between our two countries is the long overdue definitive settlement of the 'name issue', in all its aspects. This would pave the way for the fulfilment of the European and the Euro-Atlantic perspective of your country, in accordance with the collective and unanimous decisions taken by the member-states of NATO and the EU," she said, citing the 2008 Bucharest summit joint communiqué and a European Council decision in June 2008.
Additionally, she said improvement of bilateral relations and increasing bilateral cooperation between the two neighbouring states necessitates "...respect of the fundamental principles on which good neighbourliness is based, as provided by the Interim Agreement."

Moreover, Bakoyannis pointed to the significant level of Greek private sector investments and business activity in the landlocked one-time Yugoslav republic while at the same time decrying what she called "numerous difficulties and obstacles (faced by Greek businesses and entrepreneurs there), including discriminatory and 'red tape' practices, acts of harassment and intimidation, even a boycott against their products..."

source:ANA-MPA

Friday, March 27, 2009

Krste Misirkov : Slav Macedonians identified as "Slavs" and "Macedonians with geographical definition"

Krste Misirkov in his book "On Macedonian matters" (Chapter:Can Macedonia turn itself into a separate ethnographical and political unit? Has it already done so? Is it doing so now?) was clear as about the ethnical identification of the Slav Macedonians and theirs language:

If the formation of the South Slav peoples was a mechanical and political process it would not be impossible that it might recur in present times. Within the South Slav language complex there are several branches outside the Serbian and Bulgarian political units; these are the Macedonian dialects. These branches, since they are closely allied, naturally have some connection linking them more closely with Bulgarian in the east and Serbian in the north.

These branches have been given various names at various times but it was not until the last quarter of the nineteenth century that these names overlapped so much as to displace one another. These various names did not properly catch on, and gradually they began to give way until finally they were replaced by the natural description Slav" with a "Macedonian" reflection from the geographical area in which they were distributed.

The people who spoke these dialects had once been called "Slavs" and later either "Serbs" or "Bulgarians" until the rivalry between these two names made them both alien to the Macedonian Slavs, who started calling themselves after the old geographical name of their country.

The name Macedonian was first used by the Macedonian Slavs as a geographical term to indicate their origin. This name is well known to the Macedonian Slavs and all of them use it to describe themselves. Since the formation of nationalities is a political and mechanical process, all the necessary conditions exist for Macedonia to break off as an independent ethnographic region.



There is not any question as regards theirs identifications.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

OSCE : FYROM has too Many Voters!!!!


“It is impossible for a country of 2 millions to have ,,,,,1.8 million voters. That has to be addressed,” said the Pia Christmas Muller, the Vice-President of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in the Europe Parliamentary Assembly and the Coordinator of short-term observers in FYROM’s local and presidential poll said on Monday, just one day after Sunday’s first round of presidential and local election.
FYROM officials in responce said diffrent comical things such as :
  • this is a 15 year-old issue and we still have not heard a concrete idea about which methodology to apply
  • the problem lies in about 300,000 voters.

More in balkaninsight.com

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The "Truth" in Footnotes: An Example of "Macedonization" of Primary Sources


"Britanski dokumenti za istorijata na makedonskiot narod" ["British Documents on the History of Macedonian People"], Ed. H. A. Poljanski, Vol. 1, Skopje 1968, p. 197.

The volume one of the book covers the 1797-1839 period. The particular document whose part is presented above is: John Morier to James Fox, a letter from Ioanina, 4-VI-1806.

by Vasko
AMAC Forums

Monday, March 23, 2009

A strong call to Obama Administration from the Greek-Americans as regards the illegal entity in Cyprus’ militarily occupied area.

Posted: March 21, 2009 at 23:15 PM EST (28:15 AM GMT)

Washington.- By Apostolos Zoupaniotis

Greek American Community reacted strongly on reports for a possible meeting between Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Washington. Eleven leaders of the National Coordinated Effort of Hellenes (CEH) in a letter sent to President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden issued a strong warning, pointing out that “that certain officials in your Administration are considering actions that are on the verge of extending the Bush Administration doctrine even further by establishing a Cyprus policy that contradicts both of your clearly articulated views on the issue.”.

The Greek American leaders call President Obama and Vice President Biden to “intervene before they cause America problems that will take years to correct”.

Expressing the feelings of the Greek American Community, the ask Obama and Biden to “overturn these misguided actions by people in your Administration. The Greek-American community that has been so committed to your Presidency and Vice Presidency, and the hope that they believed it would bring to the militarily occupied nation of Cyprus, will be devastated.”

The strong warning comes just days before the meeting of the Greek American leadership with President Barack Obama, during the White House celebration of the Greek Independence Day. Archbishop Demetrios who is going to be leading the Greek American delegation is having a meeting on Monday with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at the Department of State. In addition to the issues of the religious freedoms and human rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate that are violated by Turkey, Archbishop Demetrios is expected to raise the objections of the community to a meeting between Hilary Clinton and Mr Talat.

According to Hasan Ercakica, spokesman of Mr Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader is going to meet Hillary Clinton on March 30. While in Washington, Mr Talat will have meeting with Barack Obama’s National Security Advisor James Jones and leading members of U.S. Congress.

According to Mr Ercakica the meetings were confirmed on Thursday, although State Department spokesman Robert Wood avoided any answers at the briefing.

“I don't have anything for you at this point, whether there will be a meeting or not. I just don't know”, was Mr Wood’s reply to a question by Greek News Washington correspondent Lambros Papandoniou.

Cyprus Government spokesman Stephanos Stephanou said that “we are monitoring the issue and those who must act are acting. As always, he continued, we examine and analyze any developments which in one way or another affect Cyprus”.

Stephanou noted that “it is too early to come to any conclusions, bearing in mind that we have not seen anything yet as regards the crux of the matter.”

On Friday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held a telephone conversation with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis. According to diplomatic sources Secretary Clinton explained the reason behind her intention to meet with Talat and reassured that there is no change of the U.S. Cyprus policy. According to unconfirmed information a similar call was made to Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou.

“Too little too late”, was the reaction of a Greek American leader asked by Greek News.

According wll informed sources the meeting was suggested by U.S. Embassy in Nicosia as an American helping hand to Mehmet Ali Talt whose Turkish Republican Party trails by some distance the resurging National Unity Party (UBP), headed by hardliner Dervis Eroglu, in the upcoming “elections”.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was also pushing for a meeting between Talat and Clinton in an effort to boost his ratings, convincing Hillary to receive him in Washington.

Talat was invited to Washington just after the Greek Cypriot rejection of the Annan Plan in 2004, where the then Secretary of State Colin Powell did his best to make him feel welcome, addressing Talat as “Mr Prime Minister”.

THE LETTER

March 20, 2009
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The Honorable Joseph Biden
Vice President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Obama and Vice President Biden:

It has come to our attention that certain officials in your Administration are considering actions that are on the verge of extending the Bush Administration doctrine even further by establishing a Cyprus policy that contradicts both of your clearly articulated views on the issue. Please intervene before they cause America problems that will take years to correct.

Your Administration has not yet held high level contacts with either the President or the Foreign Minister of Cyprus. Thus, we are shocked to learn from a statement by the Turkish-Cypriot spokesman in Cyprus that they are now on the verge of establishing this Administration’s de facto recognition of an illegal entity in Cyprus’ militarily occupied area, while ignoring the internationally recognized Cyprus government. We understand that they plan to do this through high level Administration meetings with the leader of the pseudo-state before meetings with the President or Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus.

You said to us in 2007, Mr. President, that America was “able to rely on Cyprus in the War on Terror and we were able to rely on Cyprus during the Lebanon Crisis.” Cyprus again demonstrated its support for U.S. security efforts by recently stopping an arms shipment from Iran to Hamas at U.S. urging. The last time Cyprus took such an action, Syria retaliated by taking a step toward de facto recognition of the occupied area of Cyprus by establishing ferry boat service to the north. If the people in your Administration follow through with these meetings, particularly before meeting with the government of Cyprus, our country will have punished Cyprus in the same way Syria did, by taking a step toward de facto recognition of the occupied area.

We know that you want, as you said to us, a “solution to the situation in Cyprus…based on the rule of law, not on force, one that is based on UN resolutions passed on the Cyprus issue, and on the very principles and standards of the EU….” Yet, the occupied area of Cyprus, with which your people are aligning you, is an anathema to those principles -- forced into place by more Turkish troops on that little island than America has in Afghanistan. Such de facto recognition will further solidify Turkish insistence on unreasonable Cyprus settlement provisions that virtually all Democrats on the Senate European Affairs Subcommittee objected to and which even a majority of the Republicans on that Subcommittee called “unacceptable to western democracies” in a letter to President Bush.

We understand that the Administration supports Turkey’s eventual accession into the European Union, as does the Republic of Cyprus. Pursuing anything that suggests de facto recognition of the occupation regime would not only be contrary to countless UN Security Council resolutions, but it would perhaps force the Republic of Cyprus to reconsider its stance with regard to Turkey and the EU.

Please overturn these misguided actions by people in your Administration. The Greek-American community that has been so committed to your Presidency and Vice Presidency, and the hope that they believed it would bring to the militarily occupied nation of Cyprus, will be devastated.

Sincerely,

Andrew
A. Athens
Philip Christopher
Andy Manatos
Peter Papanicolaou
Nikos Mouyiaris
George Tsunis
Tasos Zambas
Endy Zemenides
Zenon Christodoulou
George Dovellos
Michael Galanakis



Courtesy of Greek News, a Greek-American weekly newspaper

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Alexander Mania Grips FYROM

The following is an interesting article that describes how the government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M) is constructing a mythical historiography in order to appeal to the masses. The Gruevski administration is promoting the notions that the Slavic population of F.Y.R.O.M are descendants of the ancient Macedonians and are the originators of the "White Race". The notions being promoted by F.Y.R.O.M's government hint of the ideologies that were exhibited by the likes of Mussolini and Hitler who appealed to ideals involving genealogical lineages and 'pristine' genetic bloodlines. The F.Y.R.O.M government looks akward using the 19th century nation building tactic of promoting a mythical national historiography in the context of 21st century Europe

Read the whole article here: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0321/p01s01-wogn.html

Some of the more telling excerpts from the article are:

In an intense media campaign, locals are told that ethnic Macedonians are the proud direct descendants of Alexander, and thus a people responsible for spawning the white race of planet Earth, from the Caucasus "to the seas off Japan," according to a public service spot on national TV.

Even "God" has gotten involved. A nine-minute TV ad starts with a petition from Macedonia to the heavens: "Our neighbors distributed thousands of books across the world, containing false history and portraying a wrong picture about Macedonia. ... Only you know our pain." The Almighty then responds: "From you, Macedonians, descendants of Macedon, I conceived the white race. All that stretches to the seas off Japan is conceived from your genes."



The following is an excerpt from the TV ad that the article describes. This TV ad appeared on state sponsored television. This 1930's style fascist ideology does not belong in 21st century free and progressive Europe.




Beyond theatrics, the program deeply troubles many scholars and intellectuals here– who are being sidelined – for its promulgation of myth as truth. The new taxpayer funded Alexander ideology has no serious texts

Unlike Serbia's Kosovo story, based on centuries of poetry and legend,the Macedonian ideology is being both invented and presented at the same time. There is no outside scholarly consensus, no textual tradition; the result is a kind of history-free history. The top-down, debate-free imposition of the new history is itself seen as illiberal and authoritarian.



by Chris Phillipou in maktruth blog

Saturday, March 21, 2009

FYROM propagandists falsify Thomas Gordon work.

Nationalists from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M) along with their diaspora cohorts constantly inundate internet forums and blogs with obscure references to "Macedonians" in historical texts with the implication that the authors of the texts were referring to 'ethnic Macedonians' akin to those who currently self describe as such.

Prior to the mid to late 19th century the descriptor "Macedonian" had no ethnic significance. It was a geographic descriptor used to describe inhabitants of the region regardless of their ethnicity. Unfortunately, in the minds of nationalists from F.Y.R.O.M and her diaspora, everyone from Alexander the Great to Gotse Delchev was an 'ethnic Macedonian'!

An example of a nationalist who scours historical texts for any references to "Macedonians" and then posts the reference in multiple internet forums as proof for a continuous and archaic "Macedonian" ethnos is an individual who posts under the pseudonym of "Jordan Piperkata". The following is taken from Mr. Piperkata's website where he has taken a quote by Thomas Gordon of out context in order to imply that an "ethnic Macedonian" was spotted during the early 19th century!

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To begin with, is it not amusing that the same nationalists who claim that the "Macedonian" ethnicity has existed in continuity for dozen(s) of centuries while dominating the demographics of the region have to resort to posting references to footnotes found in obscure 19th century accounts to support their claim of a constant regional dominance?

A few points regarding this reference:

1. Thomas Gordon goes into great detail describing the races and population groups of European Turkey. Nowhere does he mention a "Macedonian" race or ethnicity. Why would Mr. Gordon, who documented his first hand observations of the region during the early 19th century, not describe what Mr. Piperkata and his compatriots would claim was one of the most significant ethnic groups in the region of European Turkey at the time?

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2. Thomas Gordon categorized the revolutionary figures Diamantis, Gazzos and Kara Tassos as "Macedonians". These people were captains of the Armatoles that fought the Ottoman Turks and it is blatently obvious when one reads the extensive descriptions of the various conflicts they were involved in that these people were not "ethnic Macedonians". After all, would Mr. Piperkata et al. be so bold as to claim that individuals with names such as Diamantis, Gazzos and Tassos were 'ethnic Macedonians'?

3. Makedonski, the figure who Mr. Piperkata claims that Thomas Gordon presented as an "ethnic Macedonian", is referred to in other contemporary texts. Since Thomas Gordon does not elaborate on Makedonski's background I will now present an excerpt from a 19th century book called the "The Secret Societies of the European Revolution 1776-1876" by Thomas Frost written in 1876. On page 67 Frost makes Makedonski's background very clear:

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From the available evidence taken from the Frost and Gordon books we can safely conclude:

1. Gordon used the term "Macedonian" as a Geographic descriptor. He used it to describe Greek revolutionary leaders such as Diamantis.

2. Makedonski was a Russian of Greek background from Macedonia as Frost tells us.

This is yet another example of a "Loch Ness monster style sighting" of a "Macedonian" in the historical literature that turns out NOT to be an 'ethnic Macedonian' once the subject is put into context and the relevant contemporary literature is examined. The likes of Mr. Piperkata will continue to post references to the most obscure passages in order to lend credence to their far fetched mythical historiography which claims that the "Macedonian" ethnos is centuries old and rooted in ancient Macedon of Alexander's era. If that was the case Mr. Piperkata would certainly not have to resort to posting obscure references to 19th century books' footnotes in order to substantiate his far fetched claims!

by Chris Phillipou

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

RADKO demands crackdown on Macedonism

RADKO, the right-wing Bulgarian organization in FYROM demanded end to the Pseudomacedonism by sending a 28 page petition to the Government, President’s office, Constitutional Court in which a historical and political argument is given.
RADKO demands inclusion of the categories “Bulgarian people” and “Bulgarian language” in Constitution’s preamble.
Vladimir Pankov of RADKO stated: “To us, Bulgarians, a state carrying a name of ‘Republic of Macedonia’ in which Bulgarian population suffers from repression, police observation and maltreatment, discrimination and genocide, is not needed“.

edited by Vasko Gligorijevic

source : kanal5

Monday, March 16, 2009

Risto Stefov´s historical revisionism of the Greek War of Independence in Macedonia

by Tymphaios
in American Chronicle
Historical revisionism is sometimes beneficial. One has to look at new evidence and in its light reinterpret events and challenge previously held beliefs. Historical falsification goes a step further, in that one falsifies original evidence or fabricates "facts" or even acts on personal belief. Though some of the arguments in FYROM, such as the arguments about the Miladinov brothers recording for the first time "Macedonian" folk tales can be considered revisionist and have attracted scholarly debate, reprintings of old ethnological maps with altered labels for the placenames and ethnicities lie firmly in the realm of falsification.

We have been accustomed to claims of Alexander the Great or the ancient Macedonians being not Greek but FYROM-Macedonian. A more recent online diatribe from Risto Stefov gives an account of the FYROM-Macedonian heroes of a 1821-22 uprising in Macedonia: The leaders of the uprising were Marko Bochvaro, Jovan Farmakis, Zafiraki, Anastas Karatasho, Angel Gacho, Dijamandi and the monks of Sveta Gora (http://www.maknews.com/html/articles/stefov/stefov144.html). If you think you do not recognise who these were, Risto Stefov means with these names Markos Botsaris, Ioannis Farmakis, Zafeirakis Theodosiou, Anastasios Karatasos, Angelis Gatsos, Diamantis Nikolaou and the monks of Mt Athos.

His article "Macedonian Struggle for Independence Part 12: Turn of the 19th Century and the Negush Upris" (he means Naousa Uprising) reads like a comedy of errors in which all the Greek names (including placenames) have been changed into FYROM-Macedonian and the heroes of the Greek Independence have led an apparently FYROMian struggle against the Turks, judging from what Stefov writes. One has to use his imagination to try to identify the actual names of the Greek leaders. We are even being told that the leaders of the rebels took an army of Macedonians (he means FYROMians) with them to continue the fight in the Peloponnese when the FYROMian revolution in Macedonia collapsed. So the War of Greek independence, documented in history for nearly two centuries, in which many philhellenes, including Lord Byron died, has turned into a FYROMian uprising against the Turks for FYROMian independence. As if that was not enough of a historical falsification, Stefov refers to an earlier uprising of the Serbs around 1804-1807 in Belgrade and elsewhere, as FYROMian. The Serbian uprising led eventually to independence and the recognition of the new state of Serbia in 1817-1830. Perhaps the European powers made a mistake not to recognize FYROM instead. The European Powers must have also made a mistake to recognize a Greek Kingdom in the conference of London in 1832 and of course the Sultan repeated the same mistake in the Conference of Constantinople of 1832. They should have recognized FYROM, according to Stefov. Greeks of course, and seemingly also Serbs, do not exist for him. They can be turned into FYROMians by the clever trick of writing their names any way he likes.

The Greeks also misled, according to Stefov, European intellectuals such as Percy Byshe Shelley, George Gordon Byron and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, artists such as Peter von Hess and Eugene Delacroix and the numerous philhellene volunteers who died for the freedom of Greece, to think it was the Greeks who had revolted, rather than the FYROMians. Or elsewhere he accuses the philhellenes for promoting the idea that it was the Greeks who had fought for independence, rather than the FYROMians and Albanians. And yet elsewhere, that the Greeks did not speak Greek but had to learn it from king Otto and his administration, when the Bavarian prince was appointed king of Greece in 1832.

Among the sources currently freely available on the internet, Encyclopaedia Brittanica considers Markos Botsaris a hero of the Greek War of Independence: a Suliot who fled to Corfu in 1803 (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/75167/Markos-Botsaris). Encyclopaedia Brittanica also refers to Botsaris as a friend of Lord Byron. Markos's brother Kostas (Constantine) Botsaris, who fought at Karpenisi in a battle that led to the capture of Mustai Pasha and the destruction of his 4000 strong force, lived to become a general and senator in the Greek kingdom. He died in Athens on the 13th of November 1853. Markos' son, Demetrios Botsaris, born in 1813, was three times minister of war during the reigns of Otto of Greece and George I of Greece. He died in Athens on the 17th of August 1870. His daughter, Katerina "Rosa" Botsaris, was in the service of Queen Amalia of Greece.

Aside from contemporary accounts, the Suliotes were considered Greeks even by their enemies. Beli Pasha, son of Ali Pasha, sent letters to his father from April to December 1803 calling the Suliotes "Romans", "Romioi" and "Romegans" (Romegous), that is, ethnic Greeks. Ahmed Moufit, great-grandson of Ali Pasha's sister Siachnisa wrote angrily about how the Suliotes invited Ali Pasha's attack in 1789 because they called themselves Christian Greeks and had become tools of Russia.

Markos Botsaris in any case was an Epirotan. The Macedonian leaders of the revolution were all members of the Philike Etairia, and therefore were fighting by definition for the Greek cause.

Did the Europeans recognize this was a Greek cause? Shelley writes in his preface to Hellas in 1821:
"The modern Greek is the descendant of those glorious beings whom imagination almost refuses to figure to itself as belonging to our kind, and he inherits much of their sensibility, their rapidity of conception, their enthusiasm, and their courage… The flower of their youth returning to their country from the universities of Italy, Germany, and France, have communicated to their fellow-citizens the latest results of that social perfection of which their ancestors were the original source."

Byron who traveled to Greece twice and died in that war, had financed and led a force of Suliots. He wrote:
"Fill high the bowl with Samian wine!

On Suli's rock, and Parga's shore,
Exists the remnant of a line Such as the Doric mothers bore;
And there, perhaps, some seed is sown,
The Heracleidan blood might own."
George Gordon Lord Byron, The Isles of Greece, 1821


Byron in the same poem "dream'd that Greece might still be free". The Macedonians (Greeks) were fighting for the freedom of Greece not for FYROM.

Risto Stefov ought to appreciate that this kind of falsification of European history does not serve his aim to promote the image of FYROM. Stefov may rant as much as he likes about the greatness of the ancient and modern Macedonians, but it does not help when on inspection they turn out to be Greeks. He makes his own cause seem foolish. But it is not just that he himself and his uneducated followers seem foolish, rather it reflects upon his compatriots as a whole. Freedom of speech ought to come together with a certain degree of freedom of education and of social responsibility. FYROM needs to exist in the 21st century not just as an ever more bizarre invention in Risto Stefov´s mind. The men Stefov uses for his self-promoting propaganda sacrificed everything with the highest of ideals in their minds. It is an insult to Greeks and to any civilized person that their names are twisted about and their aims turned upside down, as if they had been victims of some indoctrinating campaign fighting for the enslavement of their people or whatever one is to think from Stefov´s un-history. If it were meant only as historical fiction, then Stefov should point this out to avoid misunderstandings. However, in view of his other writings, writing a piece of fiction was almost certainly not his intention. Stefov and his followers need to appreciate that to exist in modern Europe FYROM needs not falsified history but a respect for modern Europe and modern policies.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Athens' response to UN report


GENEVA (ANA-MPA) --

Greece's permanent representative to United Nations on Friday responded in detail to a handful of findings listed in recent report by an independent UN expert on minority issues focusing on the EU and NATO member-state, taking the opportunity to again reiterate Athens' standing positions.

Amb. Frangiskos Verros, speaking before the UN's Human Rights Council, first thanked the UN expert, Gay McDougall, for opening the way "to a frank and constructive dialogue on a number of issues concerning the implementation of human rights standards towards minorities (in Greece)", as he noted.

In reference to the Muslim minority in the extreme northeast Greek province of Thrace, Verros reminded that the Greek government "respects the right of every person to self-identify. However, such self-identification should neither be arbitrary nor at the expense of the right of self-identification of other groups."

He was commenting on claims, mostly put forth by successive Turkish governments, to identify the entire Muslim minority as "Turkish", instead of the internationally recognised "Muslim minority" as foreseen in the landmark 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which refers to a Greek minority in Turkey and a Muslim minority in Greece.

"It is a fact that the Muslim minority in Thrace consists of three distinct groups, those of Turkish, Pomak and Roma (gypsy) origin. Each group has its own distinct spoken language and cultural traditions, which are fully respected. Thus, any attempt to identify the entire Muslim minority in Thrace as 'Turkish' is unacceptable, not only for political reasons, but also because it does not objectively reflect the actual composition of the whole minority," he said, speaking in Geneva.

Verros also charged that any effort by the "Turkish-origin component" of the minority to impose its own cultural characteristics and traditions on the Pomak and Roma communities contravenes modern human rights standards vis-?-vis minority protection.

Moreover, he defended the appointments of muftis, Muslim quasi-judicial officials, as conducted in an absolutely transparent manner, while calling efforts to organise "elections" by certain individuals in the province illegal, pointing to, among others, the exclusion of women and most of the minority's members.

Additionally, he said the Greek government will study possible readjustments with regards to the current and partial application of Sharia law (domestic unions, inheritance etc.) for members of the Muslim minority in Thrace, noting that "Greece takes seriously into account the need to strengthen the substantive review and control by domestic courts of the conformity of muftis' decisions with the Greek constitution and international human rights treaties."

In a separate issue, Verros outlined Greece's categorical and unwavering opposition to any recognition of a "distinct or linguistic minority in Greece by the name 'Macedonian', since the name Macedonian is used in the cultural/regional sense by Greek Macedonians living in the region," Verros' reference to the province of Macedonia, Greece's largest, which more closely approximates to geographical and historical Macedonia.

"Thus, the term 'Macedonian' to denote such an identity in Greece not only fails to respect Hellenic cultural heritage and the identify of 2.5 million Greek Macedonians living there, but also threatens to create a serious confusion or even a potential clash over identities in the whole region," he said, adding:

"Greece believes that references in the report to the name 'Macedonian' to denote an ethnic 'minority' living in the Greek region (province) of Macedonia or a 'language' spoken in this region should have been avoided. These references should not be interpreted as implying a determination that such a minority or language exists in Greece, but claims emanating from the individuals concerned ... Let me add that the political party ("Rainbow" or "Ouranio Toxo"), which claims to represent the so-called 'Macedonian minority', obtained in the Greek parliamentary elections of 1996 a very small number of votes, which further decreased to 1,139 votes in the 2000 elections," Verros said, in reference to the last time the specific political formation stood in national elections.

In concluding, he emphasised that all Greek citizens are free to manifest their traditions and culture, saying festivities and cultural events are regularly held in the Florina region of northwest Greece, where the tiny political party is headquarters.

Friday, March 13, 2009

McDougall´s UN Report - unilateralism regarding Greek minority issues

Displaying a memorial report [1] of unilateralism and unprecedented revisionist mood, American UN envoy Gay J. McDougall "discovered" a Turkish and Macedonian minority in Greece and called for the Greek government to "respect" their language and to give them their rights.

An impressive and suspicious at the same time fact, is that she throws the Lausanne treaty[2] in the garbage can, a treaty that establishes the status quo of the Greek-Turkish relations for the last 86 years, probably because she wants to find a way to review it.

In her report, the American who had visited Greece in September, literally speaks with venomous words for the so called 'supposedly homogeneous Greece' supporting that Greece mostly consists of at least three minorities, namely Turkish, "Macedonian" and the Roma. She also attacks against the Greek State for "attempting to establish the idea of an ethnically homogeneous state".

Not only urges the Greek government to recognize the "Macedonian" minority but also to protect the rights and their language and asks for the review of the Lausanne treaty (a treaty that even Turkey has recognize in it's own signature that there is no such thing as a ''turkish minority'') and the recognition of such a minority. In her report also describes the ''limitations of the minorities rights in Greece'' and calls for the Greek State to review it's behavior towards them.

We should also give further attention to the fact that the report does not comes for a ''usual suspect'' meaning the U.S. agency or U.S. government agency, but from the UN, despite the fact that the report has been written from an American citizen.

Especially in the issue of the recognition of a ''turkish minority'' which actually means the change of the content of the Lausanne treaty, special attention should be given from the Greek side because any review even to one article causes a rivew of the entire Lausanne treaty, in what ever this might mean for the Greek islands of East Aegean.

A lot of arguments were caused during her visits in Macedonia and Thrace. Besides the so-called «independent» expert of the United Nations for minorities Ms Gay McDougall had chosen to keep in mind, mainly the views of the protestants instead of the Greek government. Ms McDougall was in Greece from 8 to 16 of September 2008 in order to prepare a report on minorities in Thrace and in Florina.

The report of the independent expert's was released during the 10th Conference of the UN Human Rights Council, held in Geneva. A careful reading, proves that Mrs McDougall takes the most extreme elements of the Muslim minority (Turkish view) for granted but also attempts to validate the existence of «Macedonian» minority in Greece, a claim which is strongly promoted by the Nationalist Prime Minister of FYROM Mr. Nikola Gruevski.

In order to justify her interest in the supposedly "oppressed" minorities in Greece, this "independent" expert considers that «her concerns focus in the extent to which legislation, policies and practices meet their obligations under international law on human rights, including rights for minorities, which go beyond the bilateral treaties and agreements. The decision that a particular group should be protected as a minority has no impact on interstate relations. Minorities are the founding groups of Greek society, not a foreign element »

After a brief "human rights seminar", Mrs McDougall cuts to the chase and asks for the Greek government "not to disagree in the existence of Macedonian and Turkish minority in Greece and to focus on protecting the rights of self-determination, freedom of expression and freedom of trade union of those communities. Their rights (meaning the specific «minorities») must be kept in accordance with the Declaration on Minorities and the core of international human rights. Greece must fully comply with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, specifically when those decisions provide that unions must be able to use the words «Macedonian» and «Turkish» and express their national identities freely ".

Moving within (supposedly) independent scientific spirit, she characterizes the perception that minority issues should be determined by "old international treaties" outdated, referring indirectly to the Treaty of Lausanne. Mrs McDougall cite the Greek government that the perspective of minorities is restrictive and does not cover modern standards because it remains attached to the historic view of the ethnic minorities created by the dissolution of empires.

The government does not recognize a ''Macedonian'' ethnic minority existence living in Central and Western Macedonia ... Successive governments pursue a policy of denial of the "Macedonian" ethnic community and the "Macedonian" language which is not recognized nor taught ..» referring in the report, which also projects the requests of extreme clubs for a reference of toponyms in "Macedonian" language as well, even using the example of Florina / Lerin

The Greek government can neither recognize a minority with the same name, as the majority, nor build non-Greek schools and churches with the same name. Greek courts have offered to open cultural centers for their minority, under a different name (than Macedonian). They have refused. As long as they use the term "Macedonian" to describe their nationality, their minority in Greece cannot be recognized as such, since the same name is used by the Greeks of Macedonia to describe themselves for much longer that the written history of any Slavic tribe.

In order to support her arguments concerning the alleged existence of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace, the «independent» Mrs McDougall takes advantage of the existence of the Turkish Consulate in Komotini, indicating that «.. from the moment the members of the Muslim minority are Greek citizens, it has been allowed to Turkey to maintain a Consulate in Western Thrace and to interfere in the affairs relating to the Muslim minority .. ».

However it is important to note that the independent expert «buries» the reports of the Pomaks and Roma, who complained that they receive heavy pressure in order for them to speak the Turkish language and to define themselves as Turks!

This report raise some questions that need answer from Mrs McDouggal:.

  1. Since the visit of this «independent expert» in Greece was official in order to present a report in the UN for Greece, then how is it possible not to inform the official state for her actions but instead acted as if she was a representative of a foreign power in the country? How is it possible for her to present a report as a result of an official visit from the UN when the only people who were «accompanying» her were the Rainbow party representatives that got her away like she was a fugitive? In final analysis, it is possible to speak for minorities when during the «historical» meeting in a cafeshop she spoke with 15-20 people who were presented as a whole «minority»?
  2. How It is possible in an official document of the UN to mention that Muslim is a Turk and that «people» of western and northern Macedonia are not Greek? A representative of the UN may use «sources», which only cause erroneous impressions without even approaching people who have an opposite view. How it is possible since in a way she conducts an «anthropological» research to close out the one side and from the other side simply refers to the positions of the Greek government as «impersonal» and has not shown the slightest interest in talking to everyday local people?
  3. Since the «independent expert» is really interested for any human rights of any «oppressed» human and since she stated that the Pomaks indeed are being opresses from the Turks, why doesn't she mentions that the «Turks / Muslims» are actually a factor of «oppression» and that for any reason they are not the ones who have been «oppressed»? In other words, her conclusions may not make clear that «Muslims» are not equal to «Turkish» ?
  4. Ultimately, how it is possible for an «independent researcher» not to see how the concept of «minority», not only in our region, but especially on it, has a deep historical, political and military role particularly where boundaries are changing and people lost ? Did she ever hear the "Macedonian salad" expression?
  5. Is it an accident that extreme nationalist clubs of Fyrom, like the extreme-right party of Gruevski 's VMRO and AMHRC and MHRMI organisations "celebrated" for the content of the report?
  6. How is it possible for her to reject the cultural identity of 2,5 million Greeks of Macedonia, over a small group pf Slavmacedonians?

With this report Gay J. McDougall shows that she has no respect as regards the Greek cultural Identity, but the only that she cares is the US political views since her report complies with the reports that have published from the US State Department and not with the UN views.

Written by Akritas
Edited by Ariadni_Nefeli

Endnotes

1]- A/HRC/10/11/Add.3, 18 February 2009

2]- The Lausanne Treaty was signed on 24 July 1923 by the British Empire, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania, and the "Serbo-Croat-Slovene" State on one part and Turkey on the other. The treaty provided for the independence of the Republic of Turkey but also for the protection of the ethnic Greek minority in Turkey and the mainly Muslim minority in Greece (Turks, Pomaks and Roma).

Thursday, March 12, 2009

A Greek academic response to Victor Friedman's views on Macedonia and Balkan multilingualism

A group of Greek academics respond to a Balkanalysis.com interview (12/14/08) featuring University of Chicago Professor of Slavic Languages & Literatures and Linguistics Victor Friedman, and focusing on Balkan history and culture. Taken from Hellenic Electronic Center.

Ime romeos e xeuro plus glose Fazio degli
Uberti, Il Dittamondo, 3.23.36
March, 2009

In his interview on Balkanalysis.com (12/14/2008) [1], Linguistics professor and Balkan Studies scholar Victor Friedman portrays Greeks as a most undemocratic and oppressive nation, from ancient to present time, and places the role of Greece in the Balkans in a most negative light. The core of his arguments seems to lie in what he considers suppression of multilingualism and minorities in Greece, which he associates with the current dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on the name of the latter country. As scholars and academics, some of us students of Macedonian history and culture, we wish to offer an alternative perspective and rebut Friedman's views and assertions in regard to the identity of the modern Greek nation and the true nature of the current dispute between Greece and FYROM. It should be noted that, prior to our decision to write this letter, we invited Dr. Friedman to debate his views in the Hellenic Electronic Center/Professors' Forum*, but he declined our invitation.

Friedman's overt bias is best exemplified in his remark "Greeks get away with this 'cradle of democracy' image! Give me a break! Ancient Greece was a slave-owning society," which defies further comment. It is indeed unfortunate that such a statement came from a scholar.


We will not respond with similar sensationalism here. Rather, we will remain close to the facts and scholarly sources, and address those points made by Friedman which might sound reasonable to a reader who is not familiar with the past and the recent history of the Southern Balkan region.


1) Friedman states that "Greeks have been trying to destroy the Slavic culture and its literacy since the Middle Ages".


Quite to the contrary, the Greeks of Byzantium and the post-byzantine period immensely and crucially contributed to the development of the Slavic cultures of Russia, Bulgaria, and Serbia, during their conversion to Christianity [2]. Remarkably, Friedman neglects to acknowledge that the written Slavic languages were developed by two Byzantine Greek monastic scholars and linguists, Cyril and Methodius of Thessaloniki. Among others, Friedman also displays sheer disregard for: a) the pivotal contributions to Russian literature and philosophy by 15th century Athonite luminary monk Maximus Graecus (Μάξιμος ο Γραικός) [3]; b) the learned Greek brothers, Ioanniky and Sofrony Likhud (Λειχούδη), founders of Moscow's first institution of higher learning, the Slavic-Greek-
Latin Academy, in 1687 [4]; and c) the centuries-old devotion of the Mother Church (Patriarchate of Constantinople) and Greek clergy to their Slav brethren, as embodied in the published works of the 19th century influential theologian and scholar Konstantinos Oeconomos (Κωνσταντίνος Οικονόμος εξ Οικονόμων)[5], a strong advocate of the historical ties and close kinship between Greeks and Slavs through the centuries.
2) In his rather bookish and rigidly circumscribed view about linguistically divergent constituencies in Greece, Friedman challenges the very essence of Modern Greek identity by disregarding -in a historical sense- the inclusive tradition of Romiosyni, the natural precursor of the Modern Greek nation. The concept of Romiosyni is, in many respects, akin to a 'Greek Commonwealth', which transcends racial, tribal, and regional linguistic barriers. In failing to bring this concept into consideration when it comes to the historical context of multilingualism in the Balkan region, Friedman echoes earlier claims by—let us note—Greek scholars such as the late Loukas Tsitsipis [6] of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the late Kostas Kazazis [7] of the University of Chicago. Friedman -who is no stranger to Arvanitika, Vlahika and Slavonic dialects in the geographic region of Macedonia- fails to acknowledge that linguistically variegated groups such as Vlach-, Arvanite-, and Slavonic speakers in Macedonia, members of the Ottoman Rum millet and loyal followers of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, were not "Hellenized" subjects (by way of coercive or repressive assimilation) but rather they comprised dominant forces decisively partaking in the fermentation process leading to the shaping of Modern Greek identity and the dissemination of Greek letters in Ottoman Rumelia long before the eruption of ethnic feuds, divisions, and regional nationalisms [8, 9].
3) Friedman alludes to Greek indifference or even resistance to learning foreign languages, unlike other Balkan peoples. It is surprising that a Linguistics scholar uses the (presumed) lack of a Greek proverb to the effect that 'languages are wealth' as evidence that Greeks do not value multilingualism. This kind of rhetoric does not constitute a sound linguistic argument, and though possibly appealing to a lay-person, it reflects a way of thinking (called "strong relativism") that has been largely discredited in current Linguistics.

To go back to scholarly sources, in his book "Bilingualism and the Latin Language" Cambridge University Press, 2003 [10], John N. Adams, Senior Research Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, asserts that whilst "it has long been the conventional opinion that Greeks were indifferent or hostile to the learning of foreign languages, recently it has been shown that that view is far from the truth. Latin in particular was widely known, as has been demonstrated by Holford-Strevens and on a massive scale by Rochette." [11]

With reference to the modern history of the Greek Nation (Γένος), members of the Rum millet and Romiosyni, ranging from those belonging to the high echelon of diplomats and luminaries of the Sublime Porte (viz. the Phanariots) to the ubiquitous Balkan merchants and retailers in the Ottoman Rumelia, were in fact polyglot (Greek-, Vlach-, Albanian-, Slavonic-, and/or Turkish-speaking, many of them acquainted with Russian, French, German and/or English). Noteworthy in this regard was the precocious (18th century) Greek 'renaissance' in Moschopolis/Moscopole (present day Albania) [12] and the
19th/early 20th century Greek cultural dimension in Pelagonia (Krushevo and Monastir/Bitola; present day FYROM) [8, 9]. These centers fostered the dissemination of Greek culture and letters, promoted by bilingual or polyglot speakers with fervent Greek national identity. Vestiges from this, once flourishing, community are still present today
in FYROM.

The famous Protopiria (Primer), an Albanian-German-Modern Greek-Vlach dictionary written by the polymath cleric and scholar Theodoros Anastasiou Kavaliotis (Kavalliotes) [13], was the forerunner of comparative linguistics in the Balkans. It was printed in 1770 in Venice, and stands as a reminder of the widespread multilingualism in the flourishing Grecovlach center of Moschopolis/Moscopole and across the territories of the Ottoman Rumelia (the geographical region of Macedonia included).

Reference is made herein to the published works by Thomas Paschidis (1879) [14] and Mihail Lanbrinydis (1907) [15], which capture the collective memories of Arvanite and Vlach Greeks during the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. These works offer a palpable proof of the Greek-Albanian kinship perceived by the 19th century Greek scholars. Noteworthy in this regard are the demonstrative sentiments of Thomas Paschidis, a bilingual -possibly polyglot- Greek Epirote/Arvanite luminary, towards his Grecovlach and Bulgarian brethren. His book contains an appendix in Arvanitika using Greek characters, which is especially informative and enlightening [14].

Given the above, we contend that claims for the presence of divergent identities of Greeks, Arvanites, Vlachs, and so-called Macedonian Slavs, based solely on linguistic grounds, should be viewed with cautious circumspection and within the context of time and space. In particular, it is somewhat surprising that Friedman did not consider the massive diffusion of Arbereshe (Arvanite) speakers southward into the Helladic Mainland and the Peloponnese during the 14th and 15th centuries (and the most relevant Stradioti saga). The remarkable fermentation and integration of Arbereshe/Shqiptare-speaking populations with Greek-, Vlach/Armin-, and Slavonic-speaking members of the Rum millet during the ensuing centuries remains at the core of Romiosyni and Modern Greek ethnogenesis.

Thus, from a modern historic and anthropological perspective, the rigidly circumscribed and sharply delimited ethno-linguistic 'definitions' and compartmentalizations brought forward by Friedman are open to critical reappraisal. Importantly, they are, to a large extent, alien and irrelevant to the Greeks of Arvanite or Vlach origin, whose identity has been shaped by their collective participation in the Modern Greek Experience during the past two (and possibly more) centuries.

The "Declaration of the Northern Epirotes from the Districts of Korytsa and Kolonia Demanding Union of Their Native Province with Greece -- Pan-Epirotic Union in America, (Boston, 1919)" is a testament to the perception of their Greek identity among Albanian-, Vlach- and Greek speakers in Southern Albania/Northern Epirus http://www.helleniccomserve.com/pdf/Declaration%20of%20Northern%20Epirotes%20i n%2019%5B1%5D...pdf
Whilst the vision of the 18th century Grecovlach luminary Rigas Velestinlis Thettalos (Feraios) for the creation of a post-Ottoman Balkan Federation/Commonwealth, transcending regional and linguistic differences, did not materialize, the idea -nonetheless- reflected the sentiment of many emancipated Greeks at the time. But the ethnic/national 'awakenings' and the divisive forces were already underway, heralding the partial disintegration of Romiosyni followed by a protracted and intractable course of regional feuds and dissensions, which unfortunately live up to this day. The emergence of the ethnocentric national(istic) narrative of 'Makedonism' is symptomatic of delayed 'awakening' thanks -in part- to the contributions by scholars like Dr. Victor Friedman.

4) Friedman's argument that "the Greeks came up with a line claiming the Macedonians could not claim the name Macedonia unless they were descended from the Ancient Macedonians" is a sheer misrepresentation. The basis of the dispute between Greece and FYROM lies on the open attempt by the FYROM government to appropriate a very significant part of the Greek history (see examples: http://faq.macedonia.org/history/ and http://www.macedonia-timeless.com/). As part of its newly constructed national narrative, FYROM has opted to trace its historical roots to classical antiquity, underrating the predominantly Slavonic cultural heritage of the majority of its population, which is shared with its Bulgarian brethren. In the words of Dr. Evangelos Kofos, Greece's leading authority on Modern Macedonian History, this all-encompassing doctrine of 'Makedonism' is "encroaching upon an illustrious past, which had been recorded in the annals of Hellenic heritage, almost a millennium prior to the arrival of Slavic tribes in the region" [16] (N.B. There was no Slavic presence in Macedonia until nearly 1,000 years after the time of Alexander the Great).

Aside from the grandiose ideations traceable to antiquity, there is yet another darker side to the ethnocentric national narrative of 'Makedonism'. Central to the problem at hand is the morbid obsession with race, DNA, HLA haplotypes, and the likes, underlying a broader racial purity narrative. In the video below, one can see footage from a staged propaganda-style inspirational film titled "Makedonska Molitva" (Macedonian Prayer), which was aired on the government-run MTV1 - National TV, First Channel television station of Skopje. Note that the video culminates in a crescendo blending biblical apocalyptic delusions with overtly racial overtones from a different era. Thus, using Hellenized terms, the narrator speaks God's words to the children of the Sun and Flowers telling them that Mother Earth gave birth to three races: "Makedonjoide = white race, Mongoloide = yellow race, Negroide = black race (all others being mulattoes)." And God went on to say to the Makedontsi that, "All white people are your brethren because they carry 'Macedonian' genes." [17] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZJ62MGF7xI
It is indeed regrettable that Friedman has opted to downplay the gravity and long-term implications of a morbidly nationalistic narrative nurtured in the primary and secondary school curricula of FYROM.

Greeks throughout the world do not harbor any enmity or hostility toward FYROM nationals, and yearn for a peaceful and productive coexistence between the two peoples.
Greece has an earnest desire for mutual respect and the realization of a lasting political solution with its northern neighbor. Greece does not deny the nationals of FYROM their identity (or identities). In this dispute, Greece is only compelled to delineate the distinction between the ethno-cultural domains of Greek Macedonia and FYROM. With this in mind, we wish that the people of FYROM start questioning the state propaganda and reflect upon their recent history. They were victimized for half a century under a totalitarian regime and were nurtured under a propagandistic educational system. In keeping with this entrenched tradition, Article 6 of the Law on the Scientific Research Activity, as published in the "Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia" Nos.13/96 and 29/02, proscribes the development of any scientific research on the ethnic identity of the citizens of FYROM. We believe that such obsessive preoccupation with national identity in the 21st century, coupled with misrepresentation of history, only harms the citizens of FYROM.

As a geographic region, Macedonia has long been known for its ethno-linguistic diversity for which the time-honored term "Macedonian salad" was coined. Hence, Macedonia is neither a single country nor the cradle of a single nation, but a geographic region (with protean borders throughout history) parts of which belong nowadays to three states, each with its distinctive cultural heritage, national identity, and collective memory. It is most disturbing that Skopje claims the entire geographic Macedonian region of modern times as part of that nation's "tatkovina" (fatherland), thus effectively laying claim to unredeemed territories in Greek Macedonia [18]. This is not a "hidden agenda". The government of FYROM has published and circulated a state map showing FYROM to extend over Greek territory, including Thessaloniki [19].

The Hellenic identity of ancient Macedonia is indisputable; it is supported by historical, archeological, and linguistic evidence. For the socio-political and historical facts, the most authoritative source is the classic work of the leading scholar on the history of ancient Macedonia, the late Prof. Nicholas Hammond's book, The Macedonian State, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1989. As regards the language, by 5th century B.C. Attic Greek was standardized as the language of Ancient Macedonia (Makedon). For instance, of the 1,044 inscriptions included in the fascicle Inscriptiones Thessalonicae et Viciniae (ISBN 3 11 0018594) -one of the most painstaking and complex volumes of the Berlin corpus, encompassing all the inscriptions of ancient Thessaloniki from the 3rd century B.C. to the 7th or 8th century A.D.- most are Greek, while a few are Latin (personal communication with Dr. John C. Rouman, Professor Emeritus of Classics at the University of New Hampshire) [20]. When considering the pre-5th century B.C. language (for which evidence is more fragmentary), the current consensus seems to be that it was a Hellenic dialect. The term "Hellenic" has been proposed by Professor Brian Joseph (Ohio State University, 1999, 2001) [21] to refer to the linguistic sub-family within the Indo-European languages that comprises Ancient Macedonian and the rest of the Greek dialects. This classification has been adopted by the LINGUIST list (the official electronic site of Linguistics); see
http://www.linguistlist.org/forms/langs/GetListOfAncientLgs.html and
http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/get-familyid.cfm?CFTREEITEMKEY=IEG
On the first site, it is additionally cautioned that "Macedonian is the ancient language of the Macedonian kingdom in northern Greece and modern Macedonia during the 1st millennium B.C. Not to be confused with the modern Macedonian language, which is a close relative of the Slavonic Bulgarian [emphasis ours]." For additional references on the subject, see G. Babiniotis, "Ancient Macedonian: The Place of Macedonian among the Greek Dialects" in : A. M. Tamis (ed.), Macedonian Hellenism, Melbourne 1990, pp. 241-250; C. Brixhe, A. Panayotou, "Le Macedonien" in: Langues indo-europeennes, ed. Bader, Paris, 1994, 205-220; and J. Chadwick, The Prehistory of the Greek Language, Cambridge 1963.

5) Friedman's assertion that the Greek State has implemented repressive measures against the "Macedonian minority" in Greece is politically motivated. Most importantly, it misrepresents the real demographic situation in the Northwestern prefectures of Greek Macedonia, by not taking into account the fact that the use of variant local Slavonic-like idioms/dialects is widespread among bilingual, indigenous Greek Macedonians with unambiguous Greek identity. These bilingual Greek Macedonians (also known as Grecomans or Grkmani) along with Grecovlachs were the backbone of Romiosyni and Hellenism in the region during the 19th and 20th centuries. Friedman should by now be cognizant of the fact that when it comes to Macedonian identities it ultimately boils down to choices of national affiliation, as, not infrequently, even members of the same family may profess divergent ethnic/national identities. And even though Greece disputes the existence of a "Macedonian minority" on the grounds of definition, the self-described "party of the Macedonian minority in Greece", Rainbow-Vinozhito, enjoys full recognition by the Greek state (and receives a negligible number of votes in elections). Vinozhito's members are free to openly express their grievances and dissenting opinions.

The problem of FYROM is further compounded by the fact that a large proportion of its population, and a number of the Slavophone inhabitants of Greece, collaborated with the Italian and German occupation forces (1941-1944) [22] and by the rekindling of old family feuds and grievances dating back to the days of the Greek Civil War (1945-1949). These have nowadays resurfaced thanks to the bitter politics embraced by a third generation of politicians in Skopje, belonging for the most part to the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party [16, 22]. Some of them, like current Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, identify themselves as "Aegean Macedonian" (Egejski) political refugees, based on their family roots in Greek Macedonia [16]. At issue are claims for restitution and/or repatriation, subjects that other states with autonomist Axis collaborators (such as the Czech Republic and Poland) refuse even to discuss [22, 23]. Whilst during the past thirty years the Greeks have managed to heal some of the Civil War wounds, there are still fresh memories, even among members of the Greek Communist Party, about the subversive actions of Makedonski autonomist bandsmen of NOF endangering the territorial integrity of Greek Macedonia. By playing the Egejski card half a century later, in the midst of negotiations over the thorny 'name issue', Skopje shows an increasingly intransigent and confrontational -rather than constructive- approach.
We conclude by emphasizing that sensationalism and sheer bias, as displayed in Friedman's interview, serve neither historical truth nor a constructive scholarly or political discourse; and they certainly do not help the people of FYROM. No intellectual and scholar should feel comfortable accepting, let alone promoting, such rhetoric.


ENDNOTES

1. Victor Friedman on Macedonia: the Balkanalysis.com Interview
http://www.balkanalysis.com/2008/12/14/victor-friedman-on-macedonia-the-balkanalysiscom-interview/
2. "Byzantium nurtured the untamed tribes of the Serbs, Bulgars, Russians and Croats and shaped them into nations. It gave them its religion, its institutions, its traditions, and taught their leaders how to govern. Indeed, [Byzantium] gave them the essence of culture -written language/script and philology." F. Dvornik, Les Slaves, Byzance et Rome au IXe siecle, II, Paris 1928 and P.P. Charanis, The development of Byzantine Studies in the United States. Acceptance lecture by Professor P. Charanis upon his conferral of Doctor honoris causa by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (14.3.1972), Thessaloniki, 1973, 34. Cited in Achille Lazarou, Ellinismos kai Laoi Notioanatolikis (NA) Evropis. Diachronikes kai Diepistimonikes Diadromes. Tomos A'. Lychnia Publishers, Athens, 2009, p. 218 [ISBN 978-960-930950-9].
3. Antonios-Emilios Tahiaos O Athonitis Monahos Maximos o Graikos. O Teleftaios ton Vyzantinon sti Rossia, published by the Society for Macedonian Studies, People's Library, Thessaloniki 2008. http://www.ems.gr/ems/client/userfiles/file/EKDOSEIS/MAKEDONIKI_LAIKI_BIBLIOTHIKI/Taxiaos_ Maximos_Graikos.pdf
4. Before coming to Moscow, the Greek brothers studied in Venice and Padua. At the Moscow Academy, Ioanniky taught physics while his brother Sofrony taught physics and logic in the Aristotelian tradition, while also emphasizing the works of Byzantine philosophers. The Greek brothers embodied the so-called "Greek" trend that prevailed in Russian culture prior to the radical reforms introduced by Peter the Great. Unlike the "Latin" tradition, which emanated from medieval Western scholasticism with a slant toward rhetoric and poetry, the Greek trend focused heavily on philosophy, history, and natural sciences. The rich and fertile rivalry between these two scholarly and scientific traditions was a prevailing feature of Russian culture during the late 17th century [Source: Alexander Vucinich, Science in Russian Culture: A History to 1860, Stanford University Press, 1963]
5. P. Matalas, Ethnos kai Orthodoxia. Oi peripeteies mias schesis. Apo to 'Elladiko' sto Voulgariko schisma. Panepistimiakes Ekdoseis Kritis, 2002
6. Lukas D. Tsitsipis. A linguistic anthropology of praxis and language shift: Arvanitika (Albanian)
and Greek in contact. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998. Also, see Victor Friedman's "The Albanian Language in Its Eastern Diaspora." Arvanitika kai Ellenika: Zetemata polyglossikon kai polypolitismikon koinoteton [Greek: Arvanitika and Greek: Problems of multilingual and multicultural communities], Vol. 2, ed. by Loukas Tsitsipis. Livadeia, Greece: European Union & The Prefecture of Levadeia, 1998,
pp. 215-231.
7. Kostas Kazazis'obituary by Victor Friedman posted on the website of Society Farsarotul, a United States-based political activist group promoting the so-called independent Aromanian movement http://www.farsarotul.org/nl25_5.htm
8. Antonis M. Koltsidas' monograph entitled Greek Education in Monastir - Pelagonia Organisation and Operation of Greek Schools, Cultural Life. [English Translation by Janet Koniordos] published by the Society for Macedonian Studies, Macedonian Library - 105, Thessaloniki 2008
http://www.ems.gr/ems/client/userfiles/file/EKDOSEIS/MAKEDONIKI_BIBLIOTHIKI/Koltsidas_Monast
iri_Pelagonia.pdf
9. See Christos D. Katsetos' article entitled Vlahoi. Rahokokalia tou Ellinikou ethnous (Vlachs - The backbone of the Greek nation) published in the Athens newspaper Apogevmatini (on 11 November, 2007, p. 17) http://www.vlahoi.net/content/view/257/109/
10. See the excerpt from the Introduction of J.N. Adams' book. http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/17714/excerpt/9780521817714_excerpt.pdf
11. See Rochette's treatise Les Romains et le latin vus par les Grecs. http://www2b.ac-lille.fr/langues-anciennes/telechargement/20Latinetgrec4eme.pdf

12. See Lazarou, op. cit., p. 293 [vide supra]. Prokopios Dimitrios Pamperis Moschopolitis, «Απαρίθμησις Λογίων Γραικών», Hamburg, 1772. Reprinted by Karavias Publishers, Athens, 1966 http://www.rarebooks.com.gr/book.asp?catid=361
13. Theodoros Kavaliotis, founder of the New Academy of Moschopolis, was the author of a quadrilingual dictionary entitled Protopiria. Das dreisprachige Worterverzeichnis von Theodoros Anastasiu Kavalliotes aus Moschopolis, gedruckt 1770 in Venedig: albanisch-deutsch-neugriechischich-aromunisch/ neu bearbeit, mit dem heutigen Zustande der albanischen Schriftsprache verglichen_ [Protopiria (Πρωτοπειρία)= Primer. Three Lists of Words in Three Languages, which was printed in 1770 in Venice: Albanian-German-Modern ('Nea') Greek-Armin/Vlach; New edition, with the today's Situation of the Albanian written Language].
14. Thomas Paschidis, «Οι Αλβανοί και το μέλλον αυτών εν τω Ελληνισμό) - Μετά παραρτήματος περί των Ελληνοβλάχων και Βουλγάρων»), υπό Θ. Πασχίδου [Shqiptaret dhe e ardhmja e tyre ne helenizem - Me shtese mbi grekovllehte dhe bullgaret] Th. Paskidu, 1879 [The Albanians and their future in Hellenism -With an appendix on Grecovlachs and Bulgarians]. Reprinted by Karavias Publishers, Athens, 1981 http://www.rarebooks.com.gr/book.asp?catid=356 http://www.shqiptarortodoks.com/tekste/albanologji/Paskidu_1879.pdf
15. Mihail Lambrinidis, «Οι Αλβανοί κατά την κυρίως Ελλάδα και την Πελοπόννησον (Υδρα-Σπέτσαι)», υπό Μιχαήλ Λαμπρυνίδου, 1907[Shqiptaret ne Greqine qendrore dhe ne Peloponez Mihail Lambrinidou, 1907] [The Albanians in Mainland Greece and Peloponnese (Hydra-Spetsae)]. Reprinted by Karavias Publishers, Athens, 1981 http://www.rarebooks.com.gr/book.asp?catid=357 http://www.shqiptarortodoks.com/tekste/albanologji/Lambrinidu.pdf
16. See analysis by Dr. Evangelos Kofos of the ICG Report "Macedonia's Name: Breaking the Deadlock" http://blogs.eliamep.gr/en/kofos/analysis-icg-report-macedonia's-name-breaking-the-deadlock/#more-92 Also, see essay by the same author entitled 'The Unresolved "Difference over the Name": The Greek perspective'. In: Kofos E, Vlasidis V (Eds) Athens-Skopje: An Uneasy Symbiosis, 1995-2002. Research Centre for Macedonian History and Documentation at the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, Thessaloniki, 2005 http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/InterimAgreement/Downloads/Interim Kofos.pdf

17. See claims about the 'Sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks' in state-sponsored ethnogenetic studies. http://www.makedonika.org/processpaid.aspcontentid=ti.2001.pdf
18. Kofos, ibid
19 Vance Stojcev. Voena Istorija Na Makedonija: Skici. Sojuzot na drustvata na istoricarite na RM i
Voenata akademija General Mihailo Apostolski, ISBN 9989776075 (9989-776-07-5)/ Military History of
Macedonia. Military Academy General Mihailo Apostolski, ISBN 9989134057 (9989-134-05-7)
20. Excerpted from the letter of Dr. Rouman to the New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson (dated 2002). Dr. Rouman was for five years, both at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, research assistant during Professor Charles F. Edson's protracted and difficult project, focusing on the editing of all the inscriptions of ancient Thessalonica from the third century B.C. to the seventh or eighth century A.D. for the German Academy of Berlin. For his meritorious contribution Dr. Edson was awarded the prestigious Charles Goodwin Award of Merit of the American Philological Association.
21. Brian Joseph (1999), Ancient Greek in: J. Garry, C. Rubino, A. Faber, R. French (editors), Facts Aboutthe World's Languages: An Encyclopedia of the World's Major Languages: Past and Present, New
York/Dublin, H. W. Wilson Press, 2001
22. See article by Aristide D. Caratzas titled Oi nazistikes rizes tou VMRO (the Nazi origins of VMRO)published in the Athens newspaper Ethnos (2.8.2009)
http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=11378&subid=2&tag=8334&pubid=1370687 Also, see article by the same author entitled "Why the Greek People Cannot Easily Accept FYROM's Claims" published in The National Herald (30.8.2009) http://rieas.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=739&Itemid=41
23. See commentary by Evangelos Kofos titled "Unexpected Initiatives: Towards the resettlement of aSlav-Macedonian minority in Macedonia?" (Originally published in the Athens newspaper To Vima onJune 25 , 2003) http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Opinion/comm 20030710Kofos.html


SIGNATURES
Martis, Nikolaos, Former Minister of Macedonia/Thrace.
Agathos, Spiros N., Professor, Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve,
BELGIUM.
Albrecht-Piliouni, Effie, Professor of Linguistics, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA. Albrecht, Ulrich, Professor of Mathematics, Auburn University, Auburn, AL USA. Anagnostopoulos, Stavros A., Professor of Civil Engineering, Head, University of Patras,
26500, Patras, GREECE.
Anastassiou, George, Professor of Mathematics, University of Memphis, USA. Anastassopoulou, Jane, Professor, NTUA, GREECE.
Andreadis, Stelios T., Ph.D., Professor, Bioengineering Laboratory, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, New York, USA.
Antoniou, Antonios, Dr. Dent., D.M.D., Dental Surgeon, Lemesos, CYPRUS.
Arkas Evangelos, Ph.D., CEO Prometheus Technology Inc. London, UK.
Aroniadou-Anderjaska, Vassiliki, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Dept. of APG and Dept. of Psychiatry, F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, Bethesda,
MD, USA.
Athanassouli, Georgia, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Physics, University of Patras, GREECE.
Baloglou, George, Associate Professor of Mathematics (retired, SUNY Oswego), Thessaloniki, GREECE.
Balopoulos, Victor, Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Thrace, GREECE.
Barbas, John T., Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA,
USA.
Billis, Euripides, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, National Technical University of Athens,
Athens, GREECE.
Bitros, George C., Professor of Economics, Emeritus, Department of Economics, Athens, University of Economics and Business, Athens, GREECE.
Botsas, Lefteris N., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Economics Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA.
Boundas, Constantin V., Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, CANADA.
Bouros, Demosthenes, MD, Ph.D. FCCP Professor of Pneumonology, Chairman, Dept, of Internal Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, GREECE
Bronstein, Arna, Associate Professor of Russian, Dept. of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA.
Burriel, Angeliki R., DVM, MSc, MSc, PhD, MRCVS, GREECE.
Bucher, Matthias, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, ECE Dept., Technical University of Crete,
Chania, Crete, GREECE.
Cacoullos, Theophilos, Emeritus Professor, University of Athens, Athens, GREECE.
Caratzas, Aristide D., Historian, Academic Publisher, Athens/New York.
Chaniotakis, Nikos, Professor of Chemistry, University of Crete, Crete, GREECE.
Christodoulou, Chris, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Cyprus, 75 Kallipoleos Ave, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, CYPRUS.
Christodoulou, Manolis A., Professor of Control Laboratory, Technical University of
Crete, Chania, Crete, GREECE.
Chrysanthopoulos, Michael, Ph.D., Historian, Hagiographer, Thessaloniki, GREECE. Cladis, John B., Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics, Lockheed Martin Space Physics Lab, Palo
Alto, California, USA.
Clairmont, Richard, Dr., Senior Lecturer of Classics, University of NH, USA.
Constantinides, Christos, Professor Emeritus, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wyoming, USA.
Constantinou, Philip, Ph.D., Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. National technical University of Athens, Athens, GREECE.
Constantopoulos, Yannis, Professor of Universite Libre du Bruxelles, Belgium and
Hellenic Naval Academy, GREECE.
Coucouvanis, Dimitri, Professor of Chemistry, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.
Daglis, Ioannis A., Ph.D., Research Director, Institute for Space Applications National Observatory of Athens, Penteli, GREECE.
Damianou, Pantelis, Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Cyprus, 1678, Nicosia, CYPRUS.
Danginis, Vassilios A., Ph.D., Director of Engineering, SMSC, Hauppauge, NY 11788,
USA.
Deltas, Constantinos, Professor of Genetics, Chairman of Biological Sciences, Head, Laboratory of Molecular and Medical Genetics, University of Cyprus, Kallipoleos
Nicosia, CYPRUS.
Demetracopoulos, Alex C., Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Patras,
265 00, Patras, GREECE.
Demopoulos, George P., Ph.D., Eng., FCIM, Professor and Gerald Hatch Faculty Fellow, Associate Chair and Graduate Program Director, Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, McGill University, Wong Building, 3610 University Street, Montreal, QC
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Dimopoulos, Nikitas, PhD, PEng, FEIC, Professor and Lansdowne Chair in Computer Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Victoria PO BOX 3055, Victoria B.C. V8W 3P6, CANADA.
Dokos, Socrates, Dr., Senior Lecturer, Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales Sydney, AUSTRALIA.
Doulia, Danae, Professor of Nat. Techn. University of Athens, Athens, GREECE. Dritsos, Stephanos E., Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, 26500,
Patras, GREECE.
Economou, Thanasis, Senior Scientist, Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, IL, USA.
Efthymiou, Pavlos N., Professor, Dr. ret. nat., Faculty of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR - 541 24 THESSALONIKI,
GREECE
Episcopos, Athanasios, Associate Professor, Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, 10434, GREECE.
Eriotis, Nikolaos, Associate Professor of Accounting, University of Athens, Philothei,
GREECE.
Fleszar, Aleksandra, Assoc. Professor of Russian, University of New Hampshire,
Durham, NH, USA.
Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, Maria, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA.
Fotopoulos, Spiros, Professor, Electronics Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Patras, GREECE.
Foudopoulos, Panayotis, Ph.D., Electrical Engineer, National Technical University of
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Fthenakis, Vasilis, Director, Center for Life Cycle Analysis, Earth and Environmental Engineering Department, Columbia University, 926 S.W. Mudd, 500 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Gatzoulis, Nina, Supreme President of the Pan-Macedonian Association (USA) and Professor, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of New Hampshire, USA.
Gavalas, George, Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, USA.
Gavras, Irene, MD, Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine,
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Georgakis, Christos, Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Bernard M. Gordon Senior Faculty Fellow of Systems Engineering, TUFTS University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.
Georges, Anastassios T., Professor, Department of Physics, University of Patras,
GREECE.
Georgiou, Demetrius A., Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, GREECE.
Giannakidou, Anastasia, Professor of Linguistics, Dept. of Linguistics, University of
Chicago, USA.
Grammatikos Theoharry, Associate Director, Methods and Processes Improvement, European Investment Bank, 100, blvd Konrad Adenauer, L-2950, Luxembourg.
Groumpos, Petros P., Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Patras, GREECE.
Halamandaris, Pandelis, Ph.D., Ed.D. Professor Emeritus, Brandon University, Deputy Director, University of Manitoba Centre for Hellenic Civilization, CANADA.
Hassiotis Sophia, Ph.D., Civil Engineering Program Director, CEOE, Stevens Institute of
Technology, Hoboken, N.J. 07030, USA.
Horsch, Georgios M., Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering University of Patras, Patras, GREECE.
Ioannou, Petros, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering-Systems, University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Iliadis, Lazaros S., Associate Professor, Democritus University of Thrace, GREECE.
Kakouli-Duarte, Thomais, Ph.D., President, Hellenic Community of Ireland, and Lecturer, Environmental Bio-Sciences, Dept. of Science and Health Institute of
Technology, Carlow, IRELAND.
Kamari, Georgia, Professor, Division of Plant Biology, Department of Biology, University of Patras, GR-265 00, Patras, GREECE
Kambezidis, Harry, Dr., Research Director, National Observatory of Athens, Athens,
GREECE.
Karabalis, Dimitris L., Professor, University of Patras, GREECE. Karageorgis, Demetris, Information Science Teacher, Nicosia, CYPRUS.
Karagiannidis, Iordanis, Ph.D., Assistant Researcher, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Karakatsanis, Theoklitos S., Ph.D., Electrical Engineer N.T.U.A, Assistant Professor D.U.TH., Dept. of Production Engineering & Management, School of Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, GREECE.
Karatzios, Christos, M.D. C.M., FRCPC, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, McGill University Health Centre, Division of Infectious Diseases, Montreal Children's Hospital; Associate Member, Special Immunology Division, Centre Universitaire Mere-Enfant de l'Hopital Ste Justine, University of Montreal, Quebec, CANADA.
Karayanni, Despina A., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of Patras, Department of Business Administration, GREECE.
Karpathakis, Anna, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology, CUNY, New York, USA.
Katsetos, Christos D., M.D., Ph.D., FRCPath, Professor of Pathology, Drexel University College of Medicine and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Katsifarakis, Konstantinos L., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GREECE.
Katsifis, Spiros, Ph.D., FACFE, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Biology, University of Bridgeport Bridgeport, CT, USA.
Katsoufis, Elias C., Associate Professor of Physics, School of Applied Sciences, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, GREECE.
Katsouris, Andreas, Professor of Ancient Greek Philology, Division of Classical Philology, University of Ioannina, GREECE.
Kitridou, Rodanthi C., MD, FACP, MACR Professor Emerita of Medicine (Rheumatology), USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Komodromos, Petros, Lecturer, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Cyprus, CYPRUS.
Konstantatos (Kostas), Demosthenes J., Ph.D., M.Sc., M.B.A., Telecommunications,
Greenwich, CT, USA.
Kottis, George C., Emeritus Professor, Athens University of Economics and Business Science, Athens, GREECE.
Kugiumtzis, Dimitris, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
GREECE.
Koussis, Antonis D., Ph.D., Research Director, Institute for Environmental Research, National Observatory of Athens, Metaxa & Vassileos Pavlou, GR - 152 36 Palaia Penteli,
Athens, GREECE.
Koutroumbas, Konstantinos, Ph.D., Researcher, Institute for Space Applications & Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Palea Penteli, 15236 ATHENS-
GREECE.
Koutselini, Mary, Dr , Department of Education, University of Cyprus, CYPRUS. Kouzoudis, Dimitris, Lecturer, Engineering Sciences Department, University of Patras,
26504 Patras, GREECE.
Kritas, Spyridon K., DVM, Ph.D., Dipl. ECPHM Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, GREECE.
Kritikos, Haralambos N., Professor Emeritus, Department of Systems and Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA, USA.
Kyriacou, George A., Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, GREECE.
Kyriakou, Anastasia, Plant Pathologist, Agricultural Research Institute, Lefcosia,
CYPRUS.
Ladikos, Anastasios, Professor, Department of Criminology and Security Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA.
Lagoudakis, Michail G., Assistant Professor, Technical University of Crete, Chania,
GREECE.
Lambrinos, Panos, Professor of Mathematics, School of Engineering, Democritus, University of Thrace, Xanthi, GREECE.
Lampropoulos, George A., Ph.D. Adjunct Professor, ECE Dept., University of Calgary,
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Lampropoulou, Venetta, Professor of Deaf Education, Deaf Studies Unit, Department of Education, University of Patras, GREECE.
Lazaridis, Anastas, Professor Emeritus, Widener University, One University Place, Chester, PA 19013, USA.
Leventouri, Theodora, Dr., Professor, Department of Physics, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA.
Lialiaris, Theodore S., BSc, MD, Ph.D., Assoc. Professor of Medical Biology and Cytogenetics, Medical School of Democritus University of Thrace, GREECE.
Lolos, George J., Professor, Physics Department, University of Regina, CANADA.
Lymberopoulos, John Ph.D., Leeds School Summer Dean, Professor of International Business & Finance Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA.
Manias, Stefanos, Professor, National Technical University of Athens, Dep. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Electrical Machines and Power electronics Laboratory,
Athens, GREECE.
Manolopoulos, Vangelis G., Assoc. Professor of Pharmacology, Democritus University of Thrace, Medical School, Alexandroupolis, GREECE.
Maragos, Petros, Professor, National Technical University of Athens, School of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Athens , GREECE.
Melakopides, Costas, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of
Cyprus, Nicosia, CYPRUS.
Mermigas, Eleftherios, Professor, ASCP, Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University
at Buffalo NY, USA.
Metallinos-Katsaras, Elizabeth, Ph.D. RD, Associate Professor, Nutrition Department, Simmons College, Boston MA, USA.
Michaelides, Stathis, Ph.D., P.E. Professor and Chair, Mechanical Engineering University of Texas at San Antonio One UTSA Circle San Antonio, TX, USA.
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Michopoulos, Aristotle, Dr., Greek Studies, Hellenic College, Brookline, MA, USA. Miller, Stephen G., Professor Emeritus, Classical Archaeology, University of California,
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Mylonakou-Kekes Iro, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational, Sciences, Faculty of Primary Education, University of Athens, 13A Navarinou, 10680 ATHENS, GREECE.
Milonas, Nikolaos, Professor of Finance, University of Athens, Marousi, GREECE.
Moulopoulos, Konstantinos, Dr., Associate Professor of Physics, University of Cyprus,
CYPRUS.
Mourtos, Nikos J., Ph.D., Professor, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, San Jose State University, One Washington Square San Jose, CA, USA.
Nasis, Vasileios T., Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Drexel University College of Engineering, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Nenes, Athanasios, Associate Professor, Schools of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA.
Newman, Constantine, Reverent Dr., Classics Professor-University of New Hampshire,
USA.
Newman Anna, Professor of Classics-University of New Hampshire, USA.
Nikolakopoulos, Konstantin, Professor, Institute of Orthodox Theology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, GERMANY.
Panagiotakopoulos, Chris T., B.Sc., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Educational Technology, University of Patras - School of Humanities and Social Sciences Department of Education, Archemedes Str., 265 04 Rio Patras, GREECE.
Panagiotakopoulos, Demetrios, Professor of Civil Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, GREECE.
Panagiotopoulos, Dimitrios P., Assoc. Professor, University of Athens, Attorney-at-Law, President of International Association of Sports Law, GREECE.
Papadopoulos, George K., Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Epirus Institute of Technology, Arta, 47100, GREECE.
Papadopoulos, George, Professor Emeritus, Applied Electronics Laboratory, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Patras, GREECE.
Papadopoulos, Kyriakos, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA.
Papamarkos, Nikos, Professor, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, GREECE.
Papavassiliou, Dimitrios P., MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics Pediatric Cardiology, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center. New York, NY, USA.
Papazoglou, Georges, Professor of Palaeography, Chairman - Department History and Ethnology, Democritus University of Thrace, KOMOTINI, GREECE.
Patitsas, Steve, Ph.D., Assoc. Professor, Physics Department, University of Lethbridge,
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Patitsas, Tom Athanasios, Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics and Astronomy Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, CANADA.
Pelekanos, Nikos, Professor of Materials Science and Technology, University of Crete,
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Pelides, Panayiotis, Ph.D., Consultant Anesthesiologist, American Heart Institute,
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Persephonis, Peter, Professor, Physics Department, University of Patras, GREECE.
Phufas, Ellene S., Professor, English/Humanities SUNY- ECC Buffalo, NY, USA.
Pintelas, Panagiotis E., Professor of Computer Science, Dept. of Mathematics, University of Patras, Patras, GREECE.
Pittas, Stamatios, Head of Marketing Dept., KOSTEAS GROUP OF COMPANIES,
Chalkis, GREECE.
Plionis, Manolis, Ph.D., Research Director, Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics, National Observatory of Athens, GREECE.
Pnevmatikatos, Dionysios, Assoc. Professor, ECE Department, Technical University of
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Polychroniadis, K.E., Professor, Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GREECE.
Poularikas, Alexander D., Professor Emeritus (University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama), Houston, Texas, USA.
Pozios, John LL.B., MBA, Director, Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba, CANADA.
Psaras, GK, Ph.D., Professor, Section of Plant Biology, Department of Biology, University of Patras, Patras, GR 265 00, GREECE.
Psyrri, Amanda, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT,
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Rantsios, Apostolos T., Ph.D., Dipl., Past President, World Veterinary Association,
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Rapsomanikis, S., Ph.D., Professor, Director, Laboratory of Atmospheric Pollution, Control Engineering of Atmospheric Pollutants, Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, GREECE.
Raptis, Aristotle, Professor, University of Athens, GREECE.
Rigas, Fotis, Ph.D., Associate Professor, National Technical University of Athens,
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Roilides, Emmanuel, MD, PhD., Assoc. Professor, 3rd Dept. Pediatrics, University of Thessaloniki, Hippokration Hospital, Thessaloniki, GREECE.
Romanos, Michael, Ph.D., Professor of Economic Development, School of Planning, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Rontoyannis, George P., Professor, Dept. Phys Ed Sports, Science University of
Thessaly, GREECE.
Rouman, John C., Dr., Professor Emeritus of Classics.
Sarafopoulos Dimitrios, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, GREECE.
Samaras George, Professor, USA.
Samothrakis, Periandros, Ph.D., P.E., Hydraulic Engineer, Frederick, Maryland, USA.
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Savvas, Minas, Professor Emeritus, San Diego State University, SanDiego, CA, USA.
Siafarikas Panayiotis, Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Patras
Patras, GREECE.
Sideris, Kosmas, Ph.D., Civil Engineer Lecturer, Democritus University of Thrace,
Xanthi, GREECE.
Simitses, George J., Professor Emeritus of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of
Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Siolas, John G., Ph.D., Educator, New York, USA.
Sivitanides, Marcos P., Ph.D., CCP. Associate Professor, Information Systems, McCoy College of Business, Texas State University San Marcos, Texas, USA.
Skias, Stylianos G., Assist. Professor, Democritus University of Thrace, GREECE.
Skodras, A. N., Professor, Head of Computer Science, School of Science & Technology Hellenic Open University, 13-15 Tsamadou, GR-26222 Patras, GREECE.
Sotiropoulou, Georgia, PhD, Assoc. Professor, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, University of Patras, Rion-Patras 26500, GREECE.
Staikos, Georgios, Assoc. Professor, Laboratory of Organic Chemical Technology Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, University Campus - Rion,
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Stavrou, Esther, Ph.D., Associate Clinical Professor, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York, USA.
Stephanopoulos, Greg W.H., Dow Professor, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering,
Cambridge, MA, USA
Syrimis, Michael, Assistant Professor, Department of French and Italian, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Tassios, Dimitrios, Professor Emeritus, National Technical University of Athens, Athens,
GREECE
Tavouktsoglou, Athanasios N., Ph.D., Professor, Concordia University, College of
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Templar, Marcus A., M.A., M.S., Balkans expert, Illinois, USA
Thramboulidis, Kleanthis, Assoc. Professor, Software Engineering Group (SEG) -Electrical & Computer, University of Patras, PATRAS, GREECE
Triantaphyllopoulos, Demetrios D., Professor, Department of Archaeology and History, University of Cyprus, CYPRUS.
Tryphonopoulos, Demetres P., A/Dean, School of Graduate Studies, Professor, Dept. of English, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, N.B., CANADA
Tsakiridou, Cornelia A., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Philosophy, Director, Diplomat-In-Residence Program, La Salle University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Tsatsanifos, Christos, Ph.D., Civil Engineering MSc., D.I.C. M.ASCE. Athens,
GREECE
Tsigas-Fotinis, Vasiliki, Ph.D., Professor of Education, Caldwell College, Caldwell, New Jersey, USA
Tsihrintzis, Vassilios A., Ph.D., P.E., P.H., Professor of Ecological Engineering & Technology, Director, Laboratory of Ecological Engineering & Tehnology, Chairman, Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi 67100, GREECE
Tsaroucha, Alexandra, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi 67100, GREECE
Tsinganos, Kanaris, Professor, Department of Physics, University of Athens, Athens,
GREECE.
Tsohantaridis, Timotheos, Ph.D., Professor of Biblical Studies and Greek, George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon, USA.
Valanides, Nicos (visiting scholar at DePaul University, Chicago, USA), Associate Professor (Science Education), Nicosia, CYPRUS.
Velivasakis, Emmanuel E., PE, FASCE, President, PANCRETAN ASSOCIATION OF
AMERICA & HELLENIC AMERICAN NATIONAL COUNCIL, New York, USA

Vardulakis, Antonis, Professor, Department of Mathematics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GREECE
Varkaraki, Elli, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Centre for Renewable Energy Sources,
GREECE
Vasilos, Thomas, Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA.
Velgakis, Michael, Professor of Physics, Engineering Science Dept., University of Patras,
Patras, GREECE.
Vlavianos, Nickie, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Calgary, Calgary,
CA, USA.