SPECKHARD

SPECKHARD

Macedonian Name for the Macedonians Only

By J.S.G. Gandeto

Greeks have nothing to do with the name "Macedonia".

As a matter of fact, until the late nineteen eighties in Greece, the name "Macedonia" or "Macedonians" was avoided like the plague; To the Greeks Macedonia did not exist. There was no Macedonia and there were no Macedonians. They felt that the ethnic cleansing of the ethnic Macedonians living in Greece was successful; the repopulation of Macedonia with recently transplanted Christians from Asia Minor was completed and the eradication of anything Macedonian from the newly acquired territory of Macedonia was an accomplished fact. Gleefully, they must have concluded that this

subject was dead and buried and there was no reason to dwell on this topic anymore.

I remember visiting a restaurant in Windsor, Canada in the late nineteen seventies, where we met a patron who was quite cordial and pleasant fellow at first, but as soon as we revealed our identity as Macedonians, this fellow abruptly became indignant; his facial expression changed and you could tell that he was brewing with anger inside and was visibly quite disturbed. He hurriedly got up, bolted towards the exit and as he was leaving the restaurant shouted: "there is no Macedonia; there are no Macedonians."

This illustrates that Greeks before the break up of Yugoslavia felt quite comfortably secured in the notion that Aegean Macedonia [Greek occupied Macedonia] was fully Hellenized and the file on "Macedonia" securely wrapped up and locked up inside their national archives. And as long as the other "Macedonia" (in the Yugoslav federation) was under the firm control of their 1912-13 partners in crime, the Serbs, they believed that they had nothing to fear about. The fact that one of the sixth constitutive republics of Yugoslavia was called "Macedonia" and her inhabitants called themselves Macedonians did not register any alarm in the Greek government. But as soon as the break up of Yugoslavia was imminent and the Greeks learned that Macedonia will become a separate country, they fetched an idea that the name "Macedonia" belongs to them and the real ethnic Macedonians cannot use it. Taking advantage of the difficulties and the precariousness of the position in which the Republic of Macedonia found itself, Greeks embarked on a campaign to prove to the world that the name "Macedonia" exclusively belongs to them since the ancient Macedonians, who conquered and enslaved Greece for centuries, became not just "Hellenes" but the champions of Hellenism overnight. The Republic of Macedonia, regrettably, did not put up a serious challenge to this Greek charade. Thus, Greeks, now emboldened by their initial success proceeded to push further. Desiring to destabilize the country to the point of disintegration, they imposed economic embargo hoping for administrative collapse of the country through economic strangulation. The fact that neither the ancient Greeks nor the ancient Macedonians ever considered each other as brethren was lost to them.

The fact that their own Greek 19th century historiographers rightly excluded the ancient Macedonians from the Hellenes and considered them as conquerors of Greece was dismissed in favor of the new political thinking that "Macedonians" and "Macedonia" were always Greek. Whence, we must ask ourselves the following: (a) why this sudden and highly speculative shift in Greek thinking (b) what is the reasoning behind such a highly unusual, politically unethical, conventionally immoral and historically unprecedented Greek request of the Republic of Macedonia to change its name and (c) do they think that the writings of the ancient chroniclers can be cooked and manipulated like they cooked and manipulated their financial disclosures to the EU?

Why all of a sudden were Greeks awakened with a desire to be called "Macedonians"? Why, indeed? Why go against their previously held 19th century position where they viewed the ancient Macedonians as people of a different nationality quite separate from the Hellenes? Why disrespect their own "Greek sons" who felt that Macedonians were a separate ethnic group of people who conquered Greece and did not share in the richness of the Hellenic nation? Why dismiss the works of their earlier Greek nation builders and historiographers like Paparrigopoulos, Gregorios Paljuritis, lambros Antonijadis, Koubourlis, Politis, Oimaras? Why go against the proclamation of their first Greek President Yannis Kapodistria who called for a sovereign and independent Macedonian State? Why instead of "occupied territory" as King Georgios I called the Aegean Macedonia (which the Greeks received from the west as a gift, as payment for their services as bulwark against the "communists' advances" from the east), today they claim that Macedonia was always Greek?

For many people this issue about the name is a trivial and unimportant thing deserving neither time nor attention. For us, though, the ethnic Macedonians, it is of a pivotal importance. It is of pivotal importance because the name issue is just the tip of the iceberg. Underneath its apparent, innocuous name change demanded by the Greeks, lurk hosts of venomous implications with calamitous consequences for all Macedonians. The Greek plan envisions and hopes to accomplish the following objectives: (1) eradication of our

existence as people, (2) obliteration of our identity as Macedonians and (3) annihilation of anything Macedonian, including, most importantly, our Macedonian language. This is a well planned, methodically prepared and systematically executed Greek plan of action employed since 1913. With the acquisition of Macedonia, after the Balkan Wars, the Greek government embarked on Hellenizing the newly acquired territory. Willy-nilly, the population of ethnic Macedonians had to conform to the envisioned Greek doctrine -"they must be made Greeks" and so the brutal policy of forced assimilation began in earnest, sparing neither the rod nor the hand. This in effect is but a continuation of that policy.

The Greek "good neighborly behavior", preached by today's Greek politicians, is nothing short of a poisonous libation offered through and supported by the actions of the naive European bureaucrats and corrupt, forked-tongued politicians.

Let it be known that Greeks' objective is not the change of the Macedonian name.

The name is just the staging ground for their sinister attack on the ethnic Macedonians. It is the attack on (a) the Republic of Macedonia because of its citizens who claim and identify themselves as ethnic Macedonians and (b) it is an attack on the ethnic Macedonians who currently live in Greece. These people, these ethic Macedonians who endured decades of persecution, state sponsored assimilation and persistent, degrading humiliation in the hands of the Greek authorities, have recently awakened and started to assert their identity as ethnic Macedonians. This is the crux of the matter. This is what Greece fears the most.

But Greece will not be in this position if not supported by some European nations. Some of these nations who support Greece in this irrational demand about the name of the Republic of Macedonia (there are 129 nations in the world who have no problem calling Macedonia by its constitutional name), have done it because of economic advantage. Greece has obliged to buy huge amounts of French weaponry and expensive German-built submarines for exchange of their support. Too bad that the forged financial reports on Greek economy got entangled in a web of perennial lies and

fabrications and did not pass the test. Greece's late engagement with communist China did not raise an eyebrow in the west either. Fact is that the massive financial help and political support Greece has received from the western countries in the past one hundred or so years, was, strictly speaking, because of her stand against the communists. The hypocrisy of these western European bureaucrats is overwhelming: they criticize other countries about human rights violations but remain conspicuously silent on Greece.

What puzzles me the most, though, are their constant deflections of the truth: instead of saying that Macedonia's accession into the European Union is delayed because of the Greek veto, they say that Macedonia's entry into the union hinges on the name problem. We have no problem with the name; 129 other nation in the world, among which are Canada, USA, China, Russia, India, just to name a few, have no such problem. Do the math; how many billions of people have no such problem? The problem is not the name of Republic of Macedonia but the Greek veto. Stop hiding behind your finger. Stop being a dull, unimaginative and recalcitrant pencil pusher. If you represent Europe and claim that you uphold all the conventions on human rights issues, then, stand up and be counted.

Do not be a hypocrite. Do not close your eyes on countries that implement bigoted policies and exhibit racist behavior. Nothing diminishes your integrity more than a hypocritical stand on important human rights issues. A wise man once said: pray not to be stronger than your brother but to fight the demons within you. Yes, the demons within us. That's the gist of the problem.

I couldn’t agree with you more Joe and thank you for allowing me to use segments of your book in my articles.

So, after all that has been said and done, should we still be “negotiating” our country’s name with the Greeks?

J.S.G. Gandeto’s book “The Theft of a King Who Stole Alexander” is available through;

http://www.outskirtspress.com/thetheftofaking

This is a book that every Macedonian needs to own and must read. Since I purchased it I could not put it down.

J.S.G. Gandeto was born in Lubojno, Macedonia. Educated at Ss Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. He immigrated to United States and continued his studies at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan and Nova South-Eastern University in Fourth Lauderdale, Florida where he received his post graduate degrees. He recently completed his 29th year as an educator and has since retired and is continuing to pursue his passion in writing. In 2002 he published his first book Ancient Macedonians - Differences between Ancient Macedonians and the Ancient Greeks. In 2005 he published the romantic novels One Golden Ray upon the Rock and in 2007, The Wolves of Trappers Bluff.

In the Macedonian Language he has published the following novels: Spasa's Light in 2004, Saraf in 2009 and Rosamarina's Grave in 2010. Book of poems Muabeti in 2003, poemata Ko Jagne in 2005 and Majka -Egejka in 2009. Currently, he is preparing for publication his latest novel Folded Impressions.

3. The Name Game – Winners and Losers

One and a half decades later and no end to the name game between Macedonia and Greece. With more than 120 countries recognizing Macedonia with the name “Macedonia” it would appear that the Macedonians are winning. But what are they winning? The name which they already own?

The real winners of this game are the Greeks. Greece concocted the name game to stall the Republic of Macedonia from gaining its rightful place in the world and from joining international organizations and so far has succeeded but to what end?

In the end Macedonia may win the name game but on its way there it has lost many opportunities like entering NATO a decade ago, joining the EU five years ago, bringing stability to the region and attracting foreign investment years ago; assets which the country desperately needs to get out of its economic and security rut. November 1, 2007 the “big day” for “final decisions” has come and gone with no decision on the name game. It appears no side is willing to budge; so what’s next?

I can understand why Macedonia wants to be called Macedonia and why Macedonia is caught in this position of having to “negotiate” for something “non-negotiable” but what I can’t understand is why Greece is so bent on forcing Macedonia to change its name?

All reasons to date given by Greece for this fixation don’t amount to a hill of beans so what is the real reason for this insistence? Greece has its own name “Greece” or “Hellas”, a name which it chose for itself which identifies it with its past. Macedonia has no other name to historically identify with so I can understand why it is fighting to keep it.

When Greece wrote its national myth about itself it left no room for the Macedonians, even though hundreds of thousands of its citizens felt Macedonian.

Mistakes were made on both sides. Macedonians made the mistake of agreeing to negotiate over something “non-negotiable” but I can

understand why. This agreement was made under duress when Greece imposed an economically crippling embargo on Macedonia demanding that Macedonia agree to this; “or else”! If given a choice of starving and freezing to death over “negotiating your name” which would you choose?

Greece on the other hand, picked this fight because it was sure it would win but surprise, surprise the world did not give in to Greek temper tantrums.

Greece may want to continue to play this game, may even want to up the stakes by getting involved in Macedonian affairs through outsiders or even through its neighbours, but Greece by now should have realized that when you pick a fight chances are you are likely to receive a few punches back or you may even lose the fight altogether. Also, one who picks a fight is less likely to receive sympathy from those watching.

Macedonia will join NATO as Macedonia because of its current contribution to NATO and because Macedonia has proven to be a loyal and reliable ally, an asset to NATO, something that Greece once was. So how long will Greece play the “name” card and what is Greece prepared to lose over it? Only Greece knows!

4. Macedonia and Greece – Not about ancient History! It’s all about Human Rights

Macedonia is an ancient land with a unique and separate history from Greece that stretches back a thousand years before Christ. Best known of Macedonia is King Philip II who conquered the Ancient City States, expanded Macedonia’s territory, unified the various tribes he conquered to the north and east and made great political, economic and military strides transforming Macedonia from an ordinary state into a super power. Then his son Alexander the Great made Macedonia into a great empire spanning from Eastern Europe to the western borders of China.

Macedonia like all Balkan states is also a land overrun by conquerors, adventurers and colonists including the Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans who dominated it for many centuries but could not erase its autochthonous name which has survived to this day.

Ever since Macedonia fell into Roman hands the Macedonian people have struggled to free themselves but never harder than in 1903 when the entire Macedonian nation rose against the Ottoman occupier in a glorious but disastrous fight. Failing to gain their independence, Macedonians fell prey to their ambitious neighbours the Greeks, Serbians and Bulgarians who in 1912 under the guise of liberation sent their armies to invade Macedonia. Then with the help of the Macedonian people they expelled the Ottomans but instead of liberating Macedonia they occupied it and fought one another for a greater piece of it.

The war between Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria ended with the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest. In spite of protests from the Macedonian people the three partitioned Macedonia into three pieces and annexed it for themselves.

Accordingly Greece took the lion's share of: 35.169 sq. kilometers (51%); the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes retained 25.774 sq. kilometers (39%); and Bulgaria was allowed to take, after minor revision, 6.798 sq. kilometers (10%).

During World War II (1941-1945) the Macedonian people in the entire geographical region of Macedonia took part in the anti-fascist coalition under the promise from the Atlantic charter that “all nations who take part in the struggle against fascism shall choose their own form of government and shall be afforded means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries, and which will afford assurance that all people in all lands may live out their lives in freedom”.

Only Yugoslavia kept its promise and allowed the creation of a Macedonian Republic within the framework of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. Greece and Bulgaria ignored their promises and after the conflict they resumed their claims that Macedonians don’t exist and as such refused to recognize the ethnic Macedonian minorities living in their respective states.

With the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the late 1980’s, the Republic of Macedonia, through a referendum, declared its independence and in 1991 became a sovereign and independent state. The Macedonians in Greece and Bulgaria, on the other hand, are still not recognized and no rights have been afforded to them, not even the most basic human rights which are due to them in accordance with international norms to which Greece and Bulgaria are signatories and are obliged to uphold.

Since the Republic of Macedonia declared its independence in 1991, Greece has waged propaganda campaigns against the Macedonian people and has insisted that Macedonians not use the name “Macedonia” because the name “Macedonia” exclusively belongs to Greece. Without any shred of proof Greece is using this excuse to block the Republic of Macedonia from joining international institutions.

There is no justification or precedence for what Greece is doing because Macedonia historically never belonged to Greece.

Since the name “Macedonia” is tied to the Macedonian ethnic identity no one but the Macedonians have the right to decide what to call themselves.

Macedonia is a biblical land and has been known as Macedonia for three-thousand years since the beginning of the first millennium BC. Even though Macedonia today is divided between Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia and Albania, the indigenous ethnic Macedonians whose ancestors were born in Macedonia still see Macedonia, not Greece, Bulgaria or Serbia, as their homeland. All ethnic Macedonians living in Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, the United States, Canada, Australia and the world over who have roots in Macedonia feel they belong to Macedonia and have the right to choose what to call their birthplace which ties them to their historic past. In other words, not Greece, not Bulgaria, not Albania, not even the Republic of Macedonia has the right to choose a name for the ethnic Macedonian people’s homeland. Only the ethnic Macedonians themselves, as a whole, have that right.

The international community needs to be aware of this and of the international laws that afford the Macedonian people the right and freedom to self express and live as equals to all nations on this planet. Human rights for all Macedonians NOW!

No matter how hard Modern Greeks try to prove otherwise, the Macedonian issue with Greece today is about human rights and not about Ancient History!

5. How serious is Greece about the negotiations?

Almost twenty years have passed and Greek authorities are still blocking the Macedonian people from using the name “Republic of Macedonia” for their country.

So, on the surface it would appear that the Greeks in authority are pretty serious about the name and are hard at work “negotiating” with Macedonian authorities to find a “mutually acceptable” solution. At least that is my understanding according to an article published on January 25th, 2011 in the Macedonian online website which quotes Greece’s Prime Minister saying “I am not an optimist over the prospects for swift settlement of the name dispute with FYR Macedonia. The other side refuses to accept a name with geographical qualifier for all uses. The Greek positions and initiatives in the issue are stable and constant. We will not stop in our efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution. We have a national strategy and clearly drawn red lines," said Papandreou while presenting the country's foreign-policy objectives.

If that were the case why then has a Greek Minister been quoted as saying something entirely different?

Here is what one of my readers sent me;

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldhansrd/text/80506-0016.htm

Column 532 is part of an interesting Speech by Lord Robertson (former NATO General Secretary and UK Minister of Defense), somebody considered a political big hitter and the sort of person who would know exactly what happens in NATO summits. If he says Greece Vetoed Macedonia, I’d take it as certain that they did, despite what the official (public) reports said. As a Labour member he would have had direct access to the PM and Minister for Defense (two men actually in the room at the time of the veto).

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm09032 6/debtext/90326-0017.htm#90326-0017.htm_spnew1

Column 529. Not Lord Robertson as I wrongly remembered it, but Robert Walter MP. The Greek Defense minister he mentions could have been Spilios Spiliotopoulos, Yiannos Papantoniou or possibly (but unlikely) Akis Tsochatzopoulos. I imagine you know a lot more about Greek politicians than I do, so you would know who the more likely culprit (and private supporter of the Republic of Macedonia) is.

Either way, both documents are freely available on the Parliament website, and as such open to public scrutiny.

Yes, Greece Vetoed Macedonia FACT. Yes, senior Greek politicians don't actually care about the issue, and simply use it to score internal political points (votes) FACT.

Quoted here are the references given above;

6 May 2008 : Column 532

In the previous debate, and probably in this one as well, we will talk about the reality of what is going on. My noble friend Lady Ashton outlined a number of the areas where the common foreign policy is working and the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, mentioned a few areas where there is great potential for the future.

One experience during my time in NATO has almost disappeared from the scene. It was an insurgency in the small country of Macedonia—still obliged by the United Nations to be called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It was scandalously—and I say that with great deliberation—excluded from an invitation to NATO membership at the recent Bucharest summit because of an unreasonable and indefensible veto by Greece on that country, simply because it will not change its name. However, in 2001, it was beset by an insurgency and all of the agencies came together—the European Union, NATO, the OSCE, the World Bank, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the European Union’s representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the noble Lord, Lord Ashdown. Everyone got involved.

Javier Solana and I went to Macedonia 11 times between March and November of that year. It got huge coverage and was the biggest story of that time. In the Times, Sir Simon Jenkins, wrote an article saying that it was an unmitigated disaster that we were getting involved in yet another Balkan swamp. The strap-line to his front-page article said, with the characteristic understatement for which Simon Jenkins is so well known, that I would not be content until the Balkans were aflame from the Adriatic to Istanbul.

However, all those agencies came together, worked together, on the ground at the highest and lowest levels. A peace plan was designed and, of course, Macedonia is now on the brink of both European Union and NATO membership. If people would like to learn a little more about it, the Royal United Services Institute has just published a small book by Mark Laity, who used to be my representative in Macedonia at the time, chronicling both what happened there and the lessons from it. It is well worth reading for those who would like to know, not about the scary prospects of European defense, but about how it works in action. I think that is of more relevance, frankly, than a lot of the scaremongering we have heard as each stage of the European integration debate has gone along.

However, I say, and I know that my successor would also say, had he been here in the House of Lords as well, that what the treaty proposes—the Berlin-plus arrangements and European defense as part of the common and foreign security policy—will strengthen and not compete with NATO. It will not duplicate NATO but provide assets that will be useful to NATO as a whole. Overall it will add to our capability as Europeans to be able to defend ourselves from the threats of the future rather than the enemies of the past.

26 Mar 2009 : Column 529

Robert Key: Will my hon. Friend share his perspective on the problem that Macedonia’s name holds for the Greeks, who hold the right to block any progress for that new democracy because of the disputed name?

Mr. Walter: I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention and share his frustration about the Greek veto over Macedonia’s participation

in NATO. If we can, we ought to knock some heads together. I remember being in Skopje not long ago with a former Greek Defense Minister, who as we walked into the meeting said that he could not give a stuff what they called their country, but as soon as we were in the meeting steadfastly defended the Greek line on the name. We have to move on, because such ridiculous problems— although the Turkey-Cyprus problem is not ridiculous to a Cypriot—are blocking the co-operation that is essential if we are to move forward. I understand where the political rationale for Turkey vis-a-vis the EU lies, but we all need to look at the bigger picture.

I believe Mr. Walter hit the nail on the head when he said “I remember being in Skopje not long ago with a former Greek Defense Minister, who as we walked into the meeting said that he could not give a stuff what they called their country, but as soon as we were in the meeting steadfastly defended the Greek line on the name.”

In other words the Greeks are “playing political games” with the Macedonians and not only “don’t care” about the “name” and what happens to Macedonia and the Macedonian people but at the same time hypocritically talk about “mutually acceptable solutions” and “good neighbourly relations”. What does this all mean?

According to my reader it means that the two large moderate parties in Greece almost always receive the same number of votes and are in balance and in order to “win elections” they need the support of the fringe, the nationalists and the extremists. So whichever party “panders” to the sentiments of these people usually wins the election. So, Macedonia has become a “whipping boy” for Greek politicians to score political points with Greek nationalists and extremists.

Here are some interesting links, courtesy of my reader - why wait for Athens wikileaks when UK leaks are just as informative.

London Wikileaks Cables