A simple guide to the Macedonian issue (Greece - FYROM dispute)
Gandeto
December 13, 2008
A simple guide to the Macedonian issue (Greece - FYROM dispute)
This article was sent to the Chronicle on Dec. 3, 2008 by the Australian Macedonian Advisory Council.
The AMAC's role is to promote the truth concerning the Macedonian issue in Australian and international fora.
Let´s call them by their real profession: Greeks masquerading as Macedonians (usurping the name and the kingdom of Macedon) whose job is to cut and paste received propaganda for distribution overseas for the purpose of "educating" the world about the greekness of Macedonia. However, the more they try to make you believe their story, the more they embarrass themselves and the harder they fall in their own entrapment—the grave they dig for Macedonia and the real Macedonians.
I´ll leave their post as is, I´ll change nothing at all; but what I will do instead, as a response to their article, is bring to the readers´ attention Alexander the Great´s letter sent to Aristotle concerning his thoughts about the Greeks.
This is the content of their article:
"By using the geographical term 'Macedonia', the expansionists in Skopje have always sought to convert that term into a national name for a Slav nation. In the course of that process, they have also attempted to deprive the Greek people of its lawful rights over a considerable portion of its cultural identity. For 45 whole years, the name Macedonia has become the principal means for promoting the territorial and cultural expansion of Skopje at Greece's expense.
Today, Greece has many serious reasons for refusing to recognise the so-called 'Socialist Republic of Macedonia'. The most important of these reasons are as follows:
First, the fact that for forty years Skopje was the leading edge of Tito's policy of expansion: a policy which in other respects relied on a simplistic and ignorant view of the history of the area. This, with justice, creates a feeling that expansionist designs on Greece are being harboured.
Second, the claim made by Skopje that "the whole of Macedonia has never been liberated" and that "only that part of it which is controlled from Skopje" is free, is an indirect but clear questioning of Greek sovereignty.
Third, the use by Skopje of the denomination of Greek Macedonia is also a questioning of Greek sovereignty, especially in conjunction with Skopje's persistent refusal to accept the placenames used in the area since the Balkan Wars.
Fourth and last, by using the name Macedonia Skopje is lodging a cultural claim against Greece, since what is geographically 'Macedonian' is being appropriated so as to turn it into 'nationally Macedonian'.
Alexander the Great is a key figure for Macedonian (Greek) cultural heritage. His legend survived both the Christian rule of the Byzantine Emperors and the Muslim rule of the Ottoman Sultans. His extraordinary abilities and unprecedented military achievements inspired the peoples of the Balkans, Asia Minor, and the Near East as far as Afghanistan before and after the creation of nation-states. However, only the Greeks can argue convincingly that Alexander was an authentic product of the Greek classical era, a king who traced his origin to the Ancient Greek Heroes and shared the culture of the Greek city-states. At the head of a united Greek expeditionary force, spear headed by the elite Macedonian army, he brought the Greek culture to the fringes of India and has justifiably been used for centuries as a symbol of Greek civilisation."
This is part of Alexander The Great´s letter sent to his teacher Aristotle:
"The sober truth is that our Macedonia was constantly
threatened from the north by the Thracian barbarians,
they could have attacked us at any unfavorable moment
which the Greeks would have used to violate their
treaty and break away from Macedonia. It was absolutely
necessary to subdue Thrace so that Macedonia should
have her flank covered in the event of Greek treachery."
Alexander corresponding with Aristotle
Please, contrast the above statement from Alexander´s letter with the assertions made by the Greek fellow:
However, only the Greeks can argue convincingly that Alexander was an authentic product of the Greek classical era, a king who traced his origin to the Ancient Greek Heroes and shared the culture of the Greek city-states. At the head of a united Greek expeditionary force, spear headed by the elite Macedonian army, he brought the Greek culture to the fringes of India and has justifiably been used for centuries as a symbol of Greek civilisation
Note: Can one be treacherous against oneself?
Is this clear and concise enough statement for today´s Greeks to realize that Macedonia was never a Greek land and that Alexander the Great was not their king?
Based on the above, it should be a red flag to any of you Greeks not to use Macedonia in a same breath as Athens, or Sparta, or Thebes and such. You have no connection to Macedonia. Macedonia belongs to the Macedonian people not to impostors like you.
"Greek treachery" implies without any ambiguity, the whole of Greece,
encompassing all of the city/states. And, no, Alexander did not disseminate Greek culture anywhere. He was a killing machine and in 10 short years he did not have a time to get a drink for himself without being bothered by some jealous Greek. He dismissed your ilk in 330 BC, did not trust you and sent you packing back to Greece. What you were ironically referring to, though, was your involvement with the Persian King Darius where more than 50,000 Greeks fought on his side against Alexander´s Macedonians. Greeks were with Darius in Asia long before Alexander set foot at Granicus.
There is no need for any further elaboration.
So Greek brothers, where is the beef? Aren´t you ashamed to claim as your king a person who enslaved you and who did not give a fig for Greece or for Hellenism?
Until next time…
This article was sent to the Chronicle on Dec. 3, 2008 by the Australian Macedonian Advisory Council.
The AMAC's role is to promote the truth concerning the Macedonian issue in Australian and international fora.
Let´s call them by their real profession: Greeks masquerading as Macedonians (usurping the name and the kingdom of Macedon) whose job is to cut and paste received propaganda for distribution overseas for the purpose of "educating" the world about the greekness of Macedonia. However, the more they try to make you believe their story, the more they embarrass themselves and the harder they fall in their own entrapment—the grave they dig for Macedonia and the real Macedonians.
I´ll leave their post as is, I´ll change nothing at all; but what I will do instead, as a response to their article, is bring to the readers´ attention Alexander the Great´s letter sent to Aristotle concerning his thoughts about the Greeks.
This is the content of their article:
"By using the geographical term 'Macedonia', the expansionists in Skopje have always sought to convert that term into a national name for a Slav nation. In the course of that process, they have also attempted to deprive the Greek people of its lawful rights over a considerable portion of its cultural identity. For 45 whole years, the name Macedonia has become the principal means for promoting the territorial and cultural expansion of Skopje at Greece's expense.
Today, Greece has many serious reasons for refusing to recognise the so-called 'Socialist Republic of Macedonia'. The most important of these reasons are as follows:
First, the fact that for forty years Skopje was the leading edge of Tito's policy of expansion: a policy which in other respects relied on a simplistic and ignorant view of the history of the area. This, with justice, creates a feeling that expansionist designs on Greece are being harboured.
Second, the claim made by Skopje that "the whole of Macedonia has never been liberated" and that "only that part of it which is controlled from Skopje" is free, is an indirect but clear questioning of Greek sovereignty.
Third, the use by Skopje of the denomination of Greek Macedonia is also a questioning of Greek sovereignty, especially in conjunction with Skopje's persistent refusal to accept the placenames used in the area since the Balkan Wars.
Fourth and last, by using the name Macedonia Skopje is lodging a cultural claim against Greece, since what is geographically 'Macedonian' is being appropriated so as to turn it into 'nationally Macedonian'.
Alexander the Great is a key figure for Macedonian (Greek) cultural heritage. His legend survived both the Christian rule of the Byzantine Emperors and the Muslim rule of the Ottoman Sultans. His extraordinary abilities and unprecedented military achievements inspired the peoples of the Balkans, Asia Minor, and the Near East as far as Afghanistan before and after the creation of nation-states. However, only the Greeks can argue convincingly that Alexander was an authentic product of the Greek classical era, a king who traced his origin to the Ancient Greek Heroes and shared the culture of the Greek city-states. At the head of a united Greek expeditionary force, spear headed by the elite Macedonian army, he brought the Greek culture to the fringes of India and has justifiably been used for centuries as a symbol of Greek civilisation."
This is part of Alexander The Great´s letter sent to his teacher Aristotle:
"The sober truth is that our Macedonia was constantly
threatened from the north by the Thracian barbarians,
they could have attacked us at any unfavorable moment
which the Greeks would have used to violate their
treaty and break away from Macedonia. It was absolutely
necessary to subdue Thrace so that Macedonia should
have her flank covered in the event of Greek treachery."
Alexander corresponding with Aristotle
Please, contrast the above statement from Alexander´s letter with the assertions made by the Greek fellow:
However, only the Greeks can argue convincingly that Alexander was an authentic product of the Greek classical era, a king who traced his origin to the Ancient Greek Heroes and shared the culture of the Greek city-states. At the head of a united Greek expeditionary force, spear headed by the elite Macedonian army, he brought the Greek culture to the fringes of India and has justifiably been used for centuries as a symbol of Greek civilisation
Note: Can one be treacherous against oneself?
Is this clear and concise enough statement for today´s Greeks to realize that Macedonia was never a Greek land and that Alexander the Great was not their king?
Based on the above, it should be a red flag to any of you Greeks not to use Macedonia in a same breath as Athens, or Sparta, or Thebes and such. You have no connection to Macedonia. Macedonia belongs to the Macedonian people not to impostors like you.
"Greek treachery" implies without any ambiguity, the whole of Greece,
encompassing all of the city/states. And, no, Alexander did not disseminate Greek culture anywhere. He was a killing machine and in 10 short years he did not have a time to get a drink for himself without being bothered by some jealous Greek. He dismissed your ilk in 330 BC, did not trust you and sent you packing back to Greece. What you were ironically referring to, though, was your involvement with the Persian King Darius where more than 50,000 Greeks fought on his side against Alexander´s Macedonians. Greeks were with Darius in Asia long before Alexander set foot at Granicus.
There is no need for any further elaboration.
So Greek brothers, where is the beef? Aren´t you ashamed to claim as your king a person who enslaved you and who did not give a fig for Greece or for Hellenism?
Until next time…
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