President Carolos Papoulias unfortunate (or deliberate) gaffe
Gandeto
December 08, 2009
In the past eighteen or so years I have become accustomed to reading ferocious statements full of hate from Greek bloggers found on various web-sites against ethnic Macedonians. The prevailing bigotry expressed and the amount of chauvinism present is so overwhelming that one has no other recourse but to dismiss it as sheer, behind-the key-board braggadocio and ascribe it to a lingering and overgrown infantile pomposity.
Experience though, teaches us not to become affected by the severity of insults hurled our way; as it affords us the luxury to distance ourselves from these bottom-dwellers whose primary aim is to propagate their deep-seated hate and nourish their prejudicial stereotyping. Moreover, our educational system empowers us to be tolerant and respectful of other´s religious and ethnic diversity and at the same time, elevates our own moral standards by selecting and maintaining an acceptable level of decency in maneuvering in today´s milieu of ever-aggressive electronic discourse.
But to maintain the high level of cool-headedness and employ restrained professionalism in the face of such an incessant barrage of degrading verbal attacks is not easy. It is not easy to remain aloof and dispassionately detached from insults that bite and tear into the fabric of your own personal existence. As an individual and as a human being, it slowly and progressively erodes your trust in certain segments of society in general and in particular governmental institutions specifically. The daily volume of hypocrisy and venom injected through the printed media against us is of a significant intensity that at the end compels you to address it.
Conventional wisdom dictates that with web sites´ bloggers your best bet is to ignore them hoping that they, having no partner to dance with, will fade away eventually; with high school bullies your only choice is to one day summon enough courage and stand your ground, confront them and hope for the best; and with street thugs the first thing you do is assess the situation and then, you either fight as best as you can or run as fast as you can.
But if the insulting party is the head of state who denies your existence and deprives you of your own mother´s tongue, then you must acknowledge and recognize that the rules of engagement have been grossly violated and that the international systemic norms and principals that govern all human interactions have suffered irreparable damage.
Here, I must ask my readers to consider and evaluate the Greek President Carolos Papoulias´ statement given to a newspaper reporter in Prague.
On his three-day visit to the Czech Republic, the Greek President Carolos Papoulias, when asked by the reporter to comment on the ongoing Macedonian-Greek dispute about the name of Republic of Macedonia, had the following to say about the Macedonian people:
"They are constantly referring to a Macedonian nation and a Macedonian language, thus forming a hostile front before Greece and Bulgaria. They are trying to pass themselves off as prominent representatives of the Macedonian people and are using their rhetoric to impose a tendency of "liberating the Macedonian people from Greek and Bulgarian occupation."
Thus, breaking it down for the sake of the argument, this is what Mr. Papoulias objects to:
(a) He objects to the Macedonian nation being called Macedonian
(b) He objects to the Macedonian language being called Macedonian
(c) He states that by referring to our nation as Macedonia and to our language as Macedonian, we form a hostile front against Greece and Bulgaria,
(d) That Macedonians from the Republic of Macedonia are trying to pass off as prominent representatives of the Macedonian people and that the
(e) Macedonian people are using their rhetoric to impose a tendency of liberating Macedonian people from Greek and Bulgarian occupation.
Dear Mr. President Papoulias,
Allow me to respectfully respond to your unfortunate gaffe:
(a) We, the people who inhabit the land of the country called Macedonia and recognized by more than 126 countries in the world amongst which includes the USA, Canada, Russia, China, India and England, refer to our nation as rightfully Macedonian. We did not re-baptize ourselves after 1913. We did not re-name our Macedonian land from "Occupied territories" to "Northern Province" to "Greek Macedonia". We were not re-invented by the western intellectuals; we were not told to believe that we were the inheritors of famous progenitors; we were not led to believe that we were superior to our neighbors. We were not told to call ourselves Macedonians in 1986. We did not come from the shores of the Asian continent. We were always here, much earlier than the 6th century AD that western quasi-intellectuals dare to admit.
(b) Our language is called Macedonian. Whether you or your partner Bulgaria care to consider it as factual evidence is quite irrelevant. You may continue to deny it but it will be an unwise decision doomed to fail in the near future. It seems to me that your project to eradicate and eliminate any trace of ethnic Macedonians in your country did not fully materialize. We learned our language from our grandparents and they have learned it from their grandparents and so on and so on for a millennium.
(c) We "form a hostile front" against Greece and Bulgaria because your two governments still hold a sizable ethnic Macedonian population under your governance whose human rights you do not recognize and whose existence you deny. We form a hostile front against any country that denies its citizens the right to self-identify. We cannot erase from our collective memory that Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia partitioned our Macedonian land in 1913 with the generous help from the Western European countries, who today, are deliberately trying to wash-off their conscience by allowing Greece to dictate and exhibit fascizoid tendencies. Serbia, to its credit, voluntarily relinquished its stolen share in 1941. You two are next.
(d) We do not try to "pass off as permanent Macedonians". We are the Macedonians. It is Greece who is trying to pass off settlers from Asia Minor as "Macedonians". This is your new phenomenon introduced in 1986 to confuse and blur the ethnic identity of the real Macedonian people living in Greece today. However, Mr. President, we do not object when other people want to call themselves Macedonians. This is nothing new, our ancient progenitors, the ancient Macedonians, had experienced similar infusion of other ethnicities into their Macedonian fold. You can call yourselves Macedonians if you so desire but please Mr. President do not think for a moment that you will force us to abandon our Macedonian name and roots.
(e) We are not trying to "liberate" anyone living in Greece or Bulgaria. First of all, we do not possess the capacity to do it, nor do we entertain any idea of invading Aegean and Pirin Macedonia any time soon. Second, the liberalization process will come from within. When Europe matures to a truly functional democracy, liberates itself from the old colonial thinking and does away with practiced hypocrisy, then, we may expect that the true democratic winds, one day, may reach Greece too. After all, how long can one group of people hold in bondage another one, and
(f) Third, instead of disseminating hate and seeding intolerance among the Balkan States, we should work together to eliminate prejudice, mistrust and fear. Blockades, vetoes and erected obstacles may work for a short time but in a long run, they are unprofitable and bring disastrous consequences.
Until next time…
Experience though, teaches us not to become affected by the severity of insults hurled our way; as it affords us the luxury to distance ourselves from these bottom-dwellers whose primary aim is to propagate their deep-seated hate and nourish their prejudicial stereotyping. Moreover, our educational system empowers us to be tolerant and respectful of other´s religious and ethnic diversity and at the same time, elevates our own moral standards by selecting and maintaining an acceptable level of decency in maneuvering in today´s milieu of ever-aggressive electronic discourse.
But to maintain the high level of cool-headedness and employ restrained professionalism in the face of such an incessant barrage of degrading verbal attacks is not easy. It is not easy to remain aloof and dispassionately detached from insults that bite and tear into the fabric of your own personal existence. As an individual and as a human being, it slowly and progressively erodes your trust in certain segments of society in general and in particular governmental institutions specifically. The daily volume of hypocrisy and venom injected through the printed media against us is of a significant intensity that at the end compels you to address it.
Conventional wisdom dictates that with web sites´ bloggers your best bet is to ignore them hoping that they, having no partner to dance with, will fade away eventually; with high school bullies your only choice is to one day summon enough courage and stand your ground, confront them and hope for the best; and with street thugs the first thing you do is assess the situation and then, you either fight as best as you can or run as fast as you can.
But if the insulting party is the head of state who denies your existence and deprives you of your own mother´s tongue, then you must acknowledge and recognize that the rules of engagement have been grossly violated and that the international systemic norms and principals that govern all human interactions have suffered irreparable damage.
Here, I must ask my readers to consider and evaluate the Greek President Carolos Papoulias´ statement given to a newspaper reporter in Prague.
On his three-day visit to the Czech Republic, the Greek President Carolos Papoulias, when asked by the reporter to comment on the ongoing Macedonian-Greek dispute about the name of Republic of Macedonia, had the following to say about the Macedonian people:
"They are constantly referring to a Macedonian nation and a Macedonian language, thus forming a hostile front before Greece and Bulgaria. They are trying to pass themselves off as prominent representatives of the Macedonian people and are using their rhetoric to impose a tendency of "liberating the Macedonian people from Greek and Bulgarian occupation."
Thus, breaking it down for the sake of the argument, this is what Mr. Papoulias objects to:
(a) He objects to the Macedonian nation being called Macedonian
(b) He objects to the Macedonian language being called Macedonian
(c) He states that by referring to our nation as Macedonia and to our language as Macedonian, we form a hostile front against Greece and Bulgaria,
(d) That Macedonians from the Republic of Macedonia are trying to pass off as prominent representatives of the Macedonian people and that the
(e) Macedonian people are using their rhetoric to impose a tendency of liberating Macedonian people from Greek and Bulgarian occupation.
Dear Mr. President Papoulias,
Allow me to respectfully respond to your unfortunate gaffe:
(a) We, the people who inhabit the land of the country called Macedonia and recognized by more than 126 countries in the world amongst which includes the USA, Canada, Russia, China, India and England, refer to our nation as rightfully Macedonian. We did not re-baptize ourselves after 1913. We did not re-name our Macedonian land from "Occupied territories" to "Northern Province" to "Greek Macedonia". We were not re-invented by the western intellectuals; we were not told to believe that we were the inheritors of famous progenitors; we were not led to believe that we were superior to our neighbors. We were not told to call ourselves Macedonians in 1986. We did not come from the shores of the Asian continent. We were always here, much earlier than the 6th century AD that western quasi-intellectuals dare to admit.
(b) Our language is called Macedonian. Whether you or your partner Bulgaria care to consider it as factual evidence is quite irrelevant. You may continue to deny it but it will be an unwise decision doomed to fail in the near future. It seems to me that your project to eradicate and eliminate any trace of ethnic Macedonians in your country did not fully materialize. We learned our language from our grandparents and they have learned it from their grandparents and so on and so on for a millennium.
(c) We "form a hostile front" against Greece and Bulgaria because your two governments still hold a sizable ethnic Macedonian population under your governance whose human rights you do not recognize and whose existence you deny. We form a hostile front against any country that denies its citizens the right to self-identify. We cannot erase from our collective memory that Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia partitioned our Macedonian land in 1913 with the generous help from the Western European countries, who today, are deliberately trying to wash-off their conscience by allowing Greece to dictate and exhibit fascizoid tendencies. Serbia, to its credit, voluntarily relinquished its stolen share in 1941. You two are next.
(d) We do not try to "pass off as permanent Macedonians". We are the Macedonians. It is Greece who is trying to pass off settlers from Asia Minor as "Macedonians". This is your new phenomenon introduced in 1986 to confuse and blur the ethnic identity of the real Macedonian people living in Greece today. However, Mr. President, we do not object when other people want to call themselves Macedonians. This is nothing new, our ancient progenitors, the ancient Macedonians, had experienced similar infusion of other ethnicities into their Macedonian fold. You can call yourselves Macedonians if you so desire but please Mr. President do not think for a moment that you will force us to abandon our Macedonian name and roots.
(e) We are not trying to "liberate" anyone living in Greece or Bulgaria. First of all, we do not possess the capacity to do it, nor do we entertain any idea of invading Aegean and Pirin Macedonia any time soon. Second, the liberalization process will come from within. When Europe matures to a truly functional democracy, liberates itself from the old colonial thinking and does away with practiced hypocrisy, then, we may expect that the true democratic winds, one day, may reach Greece too. After all, how long can one group of people hold in bondage another one, and
(f) Third, instead of disseminating hate and seeding intolerance among the Balkan States, we should work together to eliminate prejudice, mistrust and fear. Blockades, vetoes and erected obstacles may work for a short time but in a long run, they are unprofitable and bring disastrous consequences.
Until next time…
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