The Statistical Battle for the Population of Greek Macedonia

by Iakovos D. Michailidis
from the book "Macedonian History"

Population Shifts in Contemporary Greek Macedonia by Iakovos D. Michailidis

Population Shifts in Contemporary Greek Macedonia by Iakovos D. Michailidis

Source:"The History of Macedonia" ,publ. Museum of Macedonian Struggle, 2010

The role of the Communist International in the hatching of the “Macedonian nation”.

By Spyridon Sfetas

Abstract from the article “The Birth of ‘Macedonianism’ in the Interwar Period” and the book “The History of Macedonia, Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, 2010”.

In historiography the view that the 'Macedonian nation' was a creation of Tito is widespread. This position can of course not be denied, since the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) had particular reasons for promoting 'Macedonianism' in Yugoslav Macedonia as a counterweight ideology to Bulgarian-Serbian competition in the interwar period. The need to detach the Slavs of Macedonia from Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian influence with the creation of a collective Slav-Macedonian identity had already been underscored in the early 20th century by a number of Slav intellectuals, such as Krste Misirkov, Stefan Dedov, Diamandi Misajkov and Dimitrija Cupovski. Foreseeing that the antagonism between Serbs and Bulgarians was continuing at the expense of the local population and that it only perpetuated Turkish rule, they sought to have the Slavs of Macedonia acknowledged as a separate community (millet). Even so, the political conditions of the early 20th century did not favour the advocacy of Slav-Macedonianism as a new collective ethnic identity, and its early proponents had very little impact on the masses. The political and ideological origins of 'Macedonianism' were essentially posed by the Third Communist International (the Comintern) in the interwar period. It is documented that the Communist International saw the Macedonian question as a tactical issue, relating to the political conditions of the time.[1] The publication of important documents for the period 1923-1925 from the Comintern archive has essentially confirmed the view that there were specific reasons as to why the Communist International was promoting a United and Independent Macedonia within a Balkan Soviet Republic. These were to assist IMRO in its attempt to create a unified front between the Bulgarian Communists, the Bulgarian Farmers and Bulgarian-Macedonian organizations for the advance of the revolution in Bulgaria, the establishment of a government of workers and farmers and the destabilization of the Balkan states.[2] According to the Communist International, the Macedonian organisations in Bulgaria should not only disassociate themselves from the influence of Bulgarian 'bourgeois' political elements, but also estrange themselves from Bulgarian nationalism. Criticising the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) for the neutral stand it took during the coup against the agrarian government of Aleksandr Stambolijski, Karl Radek expressed himself in the following way at the plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International (12-13 June 1923) in Moscow:

Pan-Macedonian Association USA letter to Washington Times

June 14, 2010

Re: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/3/the-irresponsible-neighbor/

Dear Editor,

We do agree with Richard Rahn’s statement in his June 3, 2010 article in the Washington Times titled, The Irresponsible Neighbor: Greek Profligacy Hits Bulgaria and Macedonia: “Whether you are a homeowner or a country, it is better to have responsible rather than irresponsible neighbors”. However it is more important to have neighbors that do not steal their neighbors’ property, money, credit cards and social security numbers. With such articles as Mr. Rahn’s in the Washington Times, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (the FYROM) is encouraged to commit such crimes: usurp its neighbor’s history, identity and culture.

We found the article profoundly insulting to Greece and to Hellenism as a whole. It is historically unfounded, profoundly biased and misleading. Mr. Rahn should know that Macedonia is a Greek province. We consider any mention of “Macedonia and Greece” as two separate.....

The National Struggle against the Turkish Conqueror until 1830

The relative religious freedom accorded by the Turks and their toler­ance of Greek economic and social promotion were not enough to blunt the Greeks hatred for their conquerors. The Turks encountered Greek culture in Macedonia conquered it and tried to uproot it. To achieve their aim, they adopted very harsh ruling methods that made the living conditions of Greek subjects unbearable.

Most of the land in the fertile plains and valleys belonged to large pri­vate estates (ciftliks) of Moslems. Those Christian villagers who worked on these estates were serfs. In return for the right to cultivate a few acres, they surrendered a significant part of their production to the Muslim estate owner. Usually, the estate owner employed armed bands and doubled as the Ottoman state tax collector. He collected the state s share of the production, a right granted him —for a fee— by the sultan s treasury. Often, the same estate owner dictated the decisions of the local Muslim religious courts. In that case the pressure to his tenants became completely uncontrollable.

The craftsmen, professionals and merchants enjoyed better living con­ditions. However, they were.....

Where Loring Danforth failed..

«The social anthropologist Loring Danforth wrote in the early 1990s that "serious national historiography [of FYROM] rejects the iedea of any direct continuity between the ancient and modern Macedonians". [The Macedonian Conflict, page 187]
The American scientist failed, to understand  the importance of this link, which both South Slavic invalidate the current unit (and mounting from Belgrade), causing, of course, the discomfort of the old regime members, such as Kiro Gligorov, the other gave in the young Republic oldest and richest property titles of the Macedonia name.
Danforth also failed to understand that...

AHI Requests Secretary Clinton to Clarify Inflammatory Article on FYROM in State Department’s Official Publication

WASHINGTON, DC—The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) released a letter it sent today to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressing the Institute’s discontent with State Magazine’s April 2010 cover story “Skopje, Ancient Macedonia builds modern democracy,” by Stephanie Rowlands. AHI’s letter identified five points of contention with Rowlands’ article.

“We respectfully request clarification of certain inflammatory and irredentist content of the article,” wrote AHI President Aleco Haralambides and Executive Director Nick Larigakis. 

The five points of contention demonstrate “serious flaws” with the article in the areas of 1) Geography, 2) “Macedonian” Identity, 3) FYROM as a “Tolerant” Player in the Region, 4) FYROM’s “Peaceful Development,” and 5) the U.S.-FYROM “Strategic Partnership.”

“As published, ‘Skopje, Ancient Macedonia builds modern democracy’ will only contribute to FYROM’s ongoing intransigence to solve an issue of vital importance to U.S. interests,” wrote Haralambides and Larigakis. “Furthermore, it leads one to question if the content of State Magazine is to be taken as official policy of the Obama Administration.”

Read the  AHI’s letter to Secretary Clinton.....

To the Germans journalists

Because of this.....

I shall remind you that your cultural monuments Auschwitz and Treblinka still have the Deutsche flag at the top...eternal.

Letter to Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton from Macedonian organisation regarding an unacceptable from the Department of State’s official publication

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton
State Department
United States of America

Dear Madame Secretary,

We, the representatives of the Pan Macedonian Association USA, one of the largest Greek-American organizations are writing you this letter on the heels of an article published in the US Department of State’s April 2010 issue of State Magazine, whose contents we find highly offensive and provocative. The article in question was written by Stephanie Rowlands, the wife of Ryan Rowlands who is the public affairs officer at the US Embassy in Skopje. It is titled “Skopje, Ancient Macedonia builds modern democracy”, is found on page 20-25 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/138927.pdf yet it is curiously flagged as the “Post of the Month” and is showcased on the front page of the magazine. We will focus on a few things which we consider unacceptable to be coming from the Department of State’s official publication.

We can laugh off the mention of “Ancient Macedonia” and the first line of the article that states:....

Bring Them Back - English Version

Reunite Them! BRING THEM BACK!
Thousands of pieces of Greek antiquities are hosted in the British Museum. Our campaign does not ask for the return of those.
We ask for the return of the Parthenon Marbles in Greece and the Reunification of the Monument.
We, the users of the Internet obtain power and we are able to mobilize the international public opinion. Our goal can be achieved this way.
Do you believe this is fair? If yes, help this goal come true.
Say your own BRING THEM BACK!

http://www.bringthemback.org/

Kidnapped Greek curator is freed by Taliban

By Dilawar Khan Wazir
BBC News, Peshawar

A Greek national kidnapped by the Taliban eight months ago in Pakistan has been released, officials say.

Athanassios Lerounis was abducted while based in the northern district of Chitral, where he worked as the curator of a heritage museum for several years.

He was taken across the border to the Afghan province of Nuristan.

His captors demanded the release of militants held by Pakistan in exchange for his freedom but officials say no militant exchange was made.

"He has been released by the successful efforts of Pakistani security agencies," Rahmatullah Wazir, the top administrative official in Chitral, told the BBC.

The curator was living in the Kalash valley to pursue his interest in an ancient "lost tribe" when he was kidnapped by armed men on 7 September 2009.

The Kalash tribe have European features and still practise a pagan religion resembling that of ancient Greece.

They are said to be descendants of Greek soldiers from the army of Alexander the Great, who passed through this region nearly 2,000 years ago.

Mr Lerounis had been living among the Kalash since 2001. Sponsored by the Greek government, he managed a museum which highlighted the tribe's culture and Greek connections.

Locals point out that before the kidnapping Mr Lerounis had experienced no trouble and was well liked by the locals.

The Chitral district, where he was based, is widely seen as untouched by the Taliban insurgency which has ravaged the rest of the North West Frontier Province.

Paidomazoma: the gathering of the Greek Children

In 1948, Cominform, the first official forum of the international communist movement since the dissolution of the Comintern, put into action a plan to take hostage to communist countries children from Greece during the Greek civil war. The aim was to re-educate the children as well as blackmail the populace and the Greek government towards reaching a settlement leading to a partition of Greece and the subsequent creation of an internationalist "Macedonian" Republic. This move has favoured by the Yugoslav dictator Josip Broz Tito and had been a Comitern policy aimed at destroying the national states of the Balkans through the creation of internationalist republics. Today several FYROM sources claim........

The Greek position on the FYROM naming dispute according to Georgios Koumoutsakos

The Greek position on the FYROM naming dispute, described by the Greek member of the European Parliament Georgios Koumoutsakos (Group of the European People's Party - Christian Democrats) in an interview for the FYROMacedonian A1 Television, 04.02.2010

PART1

Rabid attacks against the Greek President and Deputy MFA laced with hatred and profanities

The language used in a stream of op-eds, press releases and postings in mainstream websites of the Muslim Minority of Western (Greek) Thrace and the Makedonski (Slavomacedonian) communities in Greek Macedonia and trans-Atlantic diaspora, raises eyebrows, points --once again-- to deeply entrenched psychological pathologies and dampens enthusiasm about the prospect of a nearing solution.


Three representative examples are presented below:

The solution of the "Republic of Northern Macedonia" U.S. proposed

The package also  includes changing the language to "northmacedonian"  The intention of the U.S., where a positive response in Athens, be referred to as the FYROM as "Republic of Northern Macedonia" allegedly informed the Greek Prime Minister as the chairman of U.S. Barack Obama and Foreign Minister Hillary Clinton. Information indicates, however, that the Papandreou reserved respond after weigh all the data.

Under Step, Washington appears willing to reconsider its stance on the FYROM name, recognizing that the enlargement of NATO in Southeast Europe can not proceed if there is no solution.

In this context, the B.Obama and H. Clinton informed the Greek Prime Minister that if they accept the proposal may ......

Skopje's Award for its Racist Behavior and the Treaty of St. Germain-en Layé of 1919: EU Application of Double Standards on the Name Issue

 By Marcus A. Templar

In Business Law, the principle nemo dat quod non habet means that no one may give what one does not have; nevertheless, this principle goes a little further. This rule stays valid regarding stolen goods, even if the bona fide purchaser does not know that the seller has no right to claim ownership of the object of the transaction. Thus if goods are stolen, the buyer does not get ownership even if there was no indication that they were stolen. Accordingly, the consequence of the above principle is that a person who does not own property, that is a thief, may not confer the stolen property to another person except with the true owner's permission. The same applies in International Law.

The legal status of each country is that of an artificial person. In the case of the name dispute between Skopje and Greece, the UNSC resolutions have indicated that because Greece complained that the name Macedonia, its derivatives, and its property – historical, social, and even spiritual- belongs to Greece by inheritance, Skopje may not bear the same name without the permission of its owner. Since the owner does not allow any country to bear it, Skopje had to ........

Arrest of a Slav Macedonian far-right nationalist for anti-Hellenic reviews as regards Antonios Samaras

For more than a year the new president of Greek Centre-Right Party Antonios Samaras would be attacked through YOUTUBE. There were dozens of posts with photos and video statements, which were accompanied by anti-Hellenic mockingly comments.

Mr. Samaras had sued in order to identify the perpetrator. At the prosecuting and removing secret authorization, the Board of Electronic Crime (Greek Police) identified the electronic traces of the offender by sending relevant documents to Interpol. It was found that this is a 22 years old far right-nationalist Slav Macedonian and member of the FYROM Army, which was identified and formed the file against the prosecuting authorities in Skopje at FYROM. A few days ago it was the trial court in Skopje, but the 22 years old s not appeared in the courtroom. The case postponed and is expected in the coming days be called back for trial.

source:taxalia.blogspot.com and newsit.gr

Betrüger in der Euro-Familie

Yet another day marked by paroxysmal manifestations about the Greek financial debacle in the German media. The crisis is real and (to a large measure) the utter disappointment and resentment of Greece's European partners is fully justified. But the German wrath has gone too far.
First came the gloomy, almost humiliating, interview of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in der Spiegel. The arrogant, condescending and prosecutorial style of the journalist conducting the interview is obvious. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,679415,00.html

And then came this week's edition of the Munich-based FOCUS weekly magazine bearing the sensationalist title "Betrüger in der Euro-Familie" ("Swindlers/defrauders in the European Family" -- "Απατεώνες/καταχραστές στην Ευρωπαϊκή οικογένεια") on its cover page along side with an appalling image depicting Aphrodite of Milos (Venus di Milo) giving "the finger" whilst being wrapped, from the waist down, in the Greek flag. In fairness, this is beyond poor taste satire. It is an insult to the Greek flag and the dignity of the Greek nation. http://www.focus.de/magazin/videos/focus-titel-betrueger-in-der-euro-familie_vid_15672.html

On a more sober note, I would like to share a quote by my esteemed colleague Dr. Marios Evriviades, Political Scientist at Panteion University of Athens:"The Greeks may be all the Germans say (and worse) but in their history they [Greeks] neither invented gas ovens nor did they put them in use 24 hrs a day for five years in the middle of the 20th century. These same Greeks, incidentally, were the first to inflict on fascists their first organized defeat when Europe lived in fear and despair."

Christos D. Katsetos, MD, PhD, FRCPath
http://www.drexelmed.edu/Home/AboutOurFaculty/ChristosKatsetos.aspx

«Macedonia is as Greek as the Acropolis» South Australia Premier Rann says

Adelaide, 10.02.2010

“I will speak of Macedonia being Hellenic and nobody will silence me, because it is something I believe in”. This was the answer of the PM of South Australia Mike Rann, to the reactions of citizens coming from FYROM.

Mr. Rann has been supporting in every possible way the Greek side on Macedonia and Cyprus, outraging the citizens of Australia who come from Turkey and FYROM.


“It is important because no one is entitled to steal another nation’s history or culture,” Mr Rann said.

Mr Koloski, president of the self proclaimed “United Macedonian Diaspora”, told The Advertiser that his people had been “slandered” and demanded an unconditional apology. He also met the Minister of Multicultural Affairs, Michael Atkinson in Adelaide and issued a letter of protest to Mr. Rann.

Mr. Rann stated in the past that “Macedonia is as Greek as the Acropolis”The newspaper of Adelaide “The Advertiser” published an article whereby reference is made to Mr. Rann’s speech during the Dimitria Greek festival in the western suburbs in November in which he stated that FYROM’s president Giorgi Ivanov is“stirring up trouble in the most dangerous way” and affirms his commitment to Adelaide’s Greek voters and promises his Government will “remain firm and unswerving in our support for your cause”.

Source: ANA – MPA

Letter to Human Rights US Department of State from Macedonian organisation.

February 1, 2010

Mr. Mike Posner President of Human Rights
C/o Ms Emily Stanfield Executive Assistant to the President
Human Rights Department
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Mr. Posner,

We would like to bring to your attention the injustices and violations against the historical and cultural identity that we feel are occurring against the 2.500.000 Greeks of the Greek administrative region of Macedonia, who are ethnologically and linguistically Greek, consider themselves ethnically Greek, and are proud of their Macedonian cultural identity for millennia. Our people recently are attacked by a self-proclaimed “Macedonian” ethnic identity of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (the FYROM). Being ethnically Greeks from the Greek administrative region of Macedonia, we would like to express grave concern about attempts to appropriate our cultural and historical Macedonian identity in this region, emanating from a newly independent state that occupies only a small part of the ancient geographical region of Macedonia.

With this letter we state that the Macedonian identity belongs exclusively to Greece on cultural and historical terms and it is extremely inappropriate and threatening to Greece to allow an ethnic self-proclaimed “Macedonian” identity at the northern borders of Greece. Under no circumstances should......