Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC)

[TrueMacedonian]

Another fine Review AMHRC. Can't wait for the next issue to come out

[AMHRC]

Thanks TM; here is an important article from inside this issue on the recent Bulgarian census, written for the AMHRC Review by Stojko Stojkov of OMO "Ilinden" Pirin:

THIRD CENSUS IN BULGARIA FOLLOWING THE FALL OF COMMUNISM
Stojko Stojkov, OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN
DREAMS
It seems ironic to me that the day I have sat down to write about the census in Bulgaria, is March 3. Just two days have passed since the end of the census. Today is a national holiday in Bulgaria. March 3 – the day when the preliminary (it never entered into force) Treaty of San Stefano was signed. It is a treaty without legal and real meaning; however it carries huge mythical weight. It is a burden from which the Bulgarian state cannot free itself. The dream of Macedonia; a dream in which there is no place for Macedonians, much like in the census itself.
It has always been difficult for those who have wanted to spoil this dream. This is because such people consider themselves to be Macedonians and because they recognise that such persons do exist. Their protest is like a screech in the dream; a screech that nobody wants to hear. But I will return now to reality.
It is a well-known fact that in the censuses of the last seven decades in Bulgaria, the Macedonian minority is present. The exception to this was the last census of the Zivkov era in which no minorities existed, as the totalitarian dream had been achieved having established a single Bulgarian socialist nation. However in the other censuses, Macedonians existed. The numbers varied from 5,000 to 187,000 depending on how dangerous it was to declare oneself a Macedonian. That which is not widely known is that despite this fact, a separate Macedonian category has never been allowed in any census in Bulgaria. However even without a separate category and without permission, in opposition to the threats and bans, and in the face of the dissatisfaction of the authorities, the Macedonians have somehow succeeded in fighting for their place in the various censuses. This is a fact which does not trouble Bulgaria as it continues to negate our existence.

MEASURES
The advent of democracy in Bulgaria 20 or so years ago gave birth to many hopes among us Macedonians too. There was an especially high hope during the time of the first post-communist census in 1992. However our hopes were dashed. I remember an atmosphere of panic and threats was present in the local media at the time of that census. There were alarming reports in the media that in some villages in Pirin Macedonia (the village of Ilindentsi was cited, but there were others too), up to 80% of the inhabitants declared themselves Macedonians. Furthermore, in cities such as Sandanski and Petrich, the number of persons declaring themselves Macedonians was between 20-30%. These figures were reported like there was an outbreak of some kind of epidemic and thus the authorities were called upon to take measures. And what were they asked to take measures against? Against the right to free self-identification. Evidently measures were indeed taken. In place of preliminary results which were expected to show at least 50,000 Macedonians, in the end officially only 10,807 persons declared themselves Macedonian. Years later the emblematic anti-Macedonian figure and recent government minister, Bozhidar Dimitrov, having been asked in an accusatory manner by an observer, about how it is possible that there were even 10,000 Macedonians included in the census results, said that had measures not been taken, the figure would have been 45,000. The Macedonians in Bulgaria know all too well the different types of measures that were taken by the authorities in this regard.
Later in 2001, the measures taken were even more successful. There was even a staged public and media investigation against the political party, OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN for disseminating informational flyers during the census period. With that, a climate of fear was created, unfavourable for free expression. The 2001 measures were repeated and expanded.

And this is what they entailed:
1. Creating an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty before and during the census.
2. Sending out public signals that Macedonian self-identification is considered an anti-Bulgarian and anti-state act.
3. Manipulation during the census, including:
- Recording a person’s ethnicity as “Bulgarian” without asking them.
- Not recording a person’s ethnicity at all.
- Using a pencil to record answers.
- Persuading census officials that there cannot be or there should not be declarations of Macedonians recorded.
- Administrative recordings made in absence of a person.
- Pressuring state employees to change their census questionnaires and in place of Macedonian, declare their ethnicity to be Bulgarian.
Emblematic of the last point was the example of the mayor of the village of Kromidovo, Petrich County, Borislav Filatov, who was compelled to change Macedonian to Bulgarian on the census form in order to maintain his position as mayor.

DEJA VU
This somewhat long introduction is required to understand what exactly is going on in this third “democratic” census because the same tactics are being employed as in the past.
It all began during the trial census conducted in September 2010. The experts from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) applied the principle of self-identification of the citizens at the previous censuses and in accordance with European standards, included a separate “Macedonian” category in the possible answers for the ethnicity question on the electronic questionnaire.
The reaction: a vicious media campaign, the tendering of the resignation of the Director of the NSI (the resignation was not accepted), the dismissal by the Prime Minister of five senior public servants (three with the rank of assistants) from the NSI, as well as the public appearance of the government Minister, Bozhidar Dimitrov on the national television station, BTV, where he openly rejected free self-identification, insisting that it should be limited and in accordance with “scientific criteria”. Therefore a most unfavourable atmosphere was created in which the government sent a very clear message that self-identification as a Macedonian is unacceptable and is punishable; a message which put not only citizens in a very difficult situation, but also the census officials who, through the dismissal of some of their colleagues from the NSI, received a clear warning.
This forced Macedonian organisations in Bulgaria to issue a categorical declaration in which some essential conditions would have to be met in order for them to recognise the census results:
1. To include a separate “Macedonian” category in the questions on ethnicity and language.
2. The government to condemn the statements of Minister Dimitrov and publically guarantee free self-identification in the census.
3. To reinstate the five dismissed NSI officials.
In addition to these conditions other arguments were presented to the authorities including irregularities in past censuses and how they can be avoided on this occasion. There was not a single response to the letters sent to the various Bulgarian authorities (including most importantly to the Prime Minister and the NSI), nor were any of the conditions fulfilled. As a result the number of organisations supporting the aforementioned declaration increased. The final list included: the United Macedonian Organisation “Ilinden” PIRIN, the Society of Repressed Macedonians in Bulgaria, TMO VMRO – Independent, the Macedonian Christian Brotherhood “St Elijah”, the Cultural Society “Nikola Vapsarov”, the Cultural Society “Ilinden”, the Cultural Society “Tsar Samoil”, the newspaper “Narodna Volja” and the publication “Makedonski Glas”.
In the immediate period prior to the start of the census, Macedonian organisations disseminated 25,000 informational flyers calling upon people who felt Macedonian to freely and without fear, self-identify as such in the census. In opposition, there emerged the nationalist political party VMRO who via the local media, threatened to take the authors of the flyer before the Public Prosecutor, while the informational campaign itself was characterised as a provocation and an offence. This news was reported on the front pages of newspapers and so the unfavourable atmosphere to freely self-identify was “refreshed” once again, just prior to the census.
Adding to this was another incident. On 31 January 2011, the day before the start of the census period, the Macedonian publication “Makedonski Glas” with a circulation of 2,500 copies was confiscated at a printing house. To date, no reason has been given for this scandalous act and violation of the freedom of the press. The confiscation itself was conducted in an illegal manner by persons who refused to produce an official written order, refused to identify themselves and did not issue a document noting the confiscation. Instead, they decided to arrest employees in the publishing house and held them for questioning for a whole day in the local office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Blagoevgrad.

NOBODY IS ALLOWED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
To date there has been no response in relation to the official complaints lodged with the authorities. The Ministry of Internal Affairs denies any involvement in the incident. The Public Prosecutor is still to give an answer. The only thing that is known at this stage from the oral statements of the confiscators is that they are members of Bulgarian State Agency for National Security.
Having in mind that this edition of the publication was dedicated to the census and that it was confiscated just a day prior to the start of the census period, the reason for the confiscation is clearly evident. The method is well known to us – in 2009 the Bulgarian authorities did the same thing to the election campaign material of the Macedonian political party in Greece, Rainbow (Vinozito). Having had the material printed in Bulgaria, the party’s campaign material was confiscated on the Bulgarian side of the Bulgarian/Greek border. The material was never returned. Evidently we are talking about a pre-existing criminal practice in which the Bulgarian authorities literally steal advocacy materials from Macedonian organisations.
This was yet another clear signal of what the position of the state is in relation to the rights and efforts of Macedonians to express themselves as they feel. This official position was once again confirmed with the activation of the national television station which broadcasted a five hour program on 7 January 2011, just a week before the start of the census data collection from domiciles (the electronic census lasted until 9 February 2011), in which it was “proven” the Macedonians do not exist; everyone is Bulgarian.
Even with the confiscation (perhaps ‘robbery’ would be a more accurate word) of the publication, the abnormal conditions that had been created by the state meant that it was always going to be difficult for the Macedonian organisations to recognise the results of this census. However the manner in which it was conducted, the large number of manipulations and irregularities recorded during the census period once again confirmed the basis for not recognising the census results.

A CENSUS THE BULGARIAN WAY
A more detailed report on this is currently being prepared. However enough material already exists to draw the following conclusions:
1. The census was held in an atmosphere where the official and publically expressed position of the state that the Macedonian minority (as well as the Macedonian nation, Macedonian language, history, etc) does not exist.
2. The census was held in a decades long established atmosphere in society which views self-identification as a Macedonian as national treason, disloyalty, an anti-Bulgarian and anti-state act.
3. The census was conducted with the Bulgarian government publically expressing a negative position in relation to identification as a Macedonian and rejecting the right to self-identification.
4. The census was conducted in an atmosphere where fear and mistrust prevailed among the Macedonians and uncertainty among the census officials in the field.
5. The contents of the census questionnaires, each having a unique serial number, including data such as personal identification number, address, place of work etc creates a basis for citizens to seriously doubt the guarantees of anonymity, as well as fearing an eventual misuse of the data.
6. There is no transparency in the way in which the census results are processed, nor is there any control over the process in which the final results are collated etc.
7. A number of irregularities were noted during the census period, including:
- The refusal of census officials to record persons as Macedonians. There was even a case where the census officials threatened to come back with the police and issue a fine to the citizen who “refused” to take part in the census.
- Filling in the census questionnaire with a pencil.
- Attempts to manipulate citizens by telling them that there was no place to record them as Macedonians because there was no separate “Macedonian” category.
- Attempts to skip over questions relating to ethnicity and language. These questions are voluntary and if there are not filled in it is assumed that the citizen did not wish to identify.
- The administrative collection of data in the absence of the person in question (especially in villages).
And so, what kind of results are we to expect from such a census? One thing is certain – they will be unrealistic and minimal with respect to the Macedonians. Bulgaria has missed an opportunity to face the truth and to free itself from a burden of lies. Instead it wishes to continue the San Stefano dream.

Stojko Stojkov

Special thanks to David Vitkov of the AMHRC for translating this article from the original Macedonian to English.

[TrueMacedonian]

Greek Evidence on a Distinct Macedonian LanguageMacedonian Identity and Language
By Ivan Hristovski

Politicizing ancient history for modern propaganda purposes is a trademark standard in Greece; especially when one takes into account the numerous unsubstantiated claims about Macedonia. Claims that span from antiquity to the present a litany of falsifications designed to establish an ideal historiography in support of an absurdity: 'a pure, ethnic Greek Macedonia‘.

Anthropologist Loring Danforth asserts with clarity that "According to the Greek nationalist position (which is rejected by the vast majority of scholars and diplomats around the world), because Alexander the Great and the ancient Macedonians were Greeks, and because ancient and modern Greeks are bound in an unbroken line of racial and cultural continuity, it is, therefore, only Greeks who have the right to identify them-selves as Macedonians, not the Slavs of southern Yugoslavia. Therefore, many Greeks deny the existence of a Macedonian language, a Macedonian nation, and a Macedonian minority in Northern Greece." (Danforth, 2001: 89) Maintaining such myths in Greek society has serious consequences as Danforth confirms "...the Macedonian minority of northern Greece has been the victim of what could be called 'symbolic ethnic cleansing,' a policy by which the Greek government simply denies the existence of the Macedonian minority in Greece and attempts to assimilate it into mainstream Greek society. In this way, the Greek government seeks to maintain the fiction that Greece is an ethnically pure and homogenous state inhabited exclusively by Greeks." (Danforth, 2001: 90)
This extreme Greek form of nationalism has created a highly toxic environment of fear, intolerance, racism and violence towards the Macedonians and other ethnic minorities. I shall now quote a sentence from Gerda Lerner's book Why History Matters; it succinctly expresses an essential aspect of relations between Macedonians and the Greek authorities: "Selective memory and the distortion of history have long been powerful tools of oppressive regimes" (Lerner, 1997: 206). So it is against the grain of Greek selective memory and distortion of history that we consider the following Greek evidence that demonstrates the existence of a distinct Macedonian identity and language.

One of the most outspoken nationalists in support of the Greek anti-Macedonian struggle (as the Greek author, Dimitris Litoxou, has termed it) during the early 20th century, was Ion Dragoumis. Dragoumis, whose family moved from Albania to a vil-lage outside of Lerin (in Macedonia) in the 16th century, was a diplomat, writer, and politician in the Greek government (Dragoumis, 2005). He was also the brother-in-law of Pavlos Melas who perished in Macedonia during the Greek anti-Macedonian struggle (1904-1908) and thereafter became a 'martyr' for Greeks. Dragoumis wrote a book titled Martyrs‘ and Heroes‘ Blood in 1907, in it "Dragoumis wrote in broad, general categories of 'Greek' and 'Bulgarian'. Yet occasionally, particularly when articulating a detailed ethnographic point, he also spoke of the 'Macedonians of Macedonia' and the 'Vlachs of Hellenism'." (Karakasidou, 1997: 91) Indeed, Dragoumis argues that "Macedonian" is the correct term for the language used by the inhabitants of Macedonia, which the Bulgarians, he says, misleadingly call "Bulgarian" (Mackridge, 2009: 301). Peter Mackridge, Emeritus Professor of Modern Greek at the University of Oxford, points out "In view of Dragoumis' attitude, it is ironic that today Greek officials and Greek linguists refuse to countenance the existence of a Macedonian language" (Mackridge, 2001: 54).

Indeed, Pavlos Melas himself describes the language of the people in Macedonia as "Macedonian" in a letter to his wife (Mackridge, 2001: 48):".....Pirzas translated emotionally, loudly, and with a lot of passion, as Kottas spoke in Macedonian. The teacher got the children to sing something. We couldn't tell if the language was Macedonian or Greek. All the schoolchildren know how to read and write (Greek), but hardly any know how to speak it...I learnt a few Macedonian words that I say to women and mothers, which pleases them..." (Mela, 1964: 202).

Moreover, the current Greek stance on the Macedonian language becomes totally untenable when one notes the results of the Greek census in 1920, the Abecedar episode and more recent UN documents. In the Greek census of 1920, the Macedonian language (without any prefixes or suffixes) was listed as a language spoken by some of the population in Greece. Parts of the official census results were published and therefore recognised by the Greek state. They can be found in the General Archives of the Greek state and a copy is provided below:



The Abecedar was a language primer prepared due to sharp criticism from the League of Nations on Greece's poor treatment of its Macedonian minority. Athens appointed a three - member commission in the Ministry of Education to prepare a primer for the schools. "Abecedar appeared in Athens in 1925 in the Lerin-Bitola dialect but in the Latin rather than Cyrillic alphabet" (Rossos, 2008: 143). With the new language primer Greece was able to 'prove' that it was complying with the requests of the League of Nations in regard to its treatment of the Macedonian minority. Upon its creation Bulgarian and Serbian objections against the new language primer, were quickly manifested. A Bulgarian representative described the Abecedar as “incomprehensible” but the Greek representative, Vasilis Dendramis, "defended it on the grounds that the Macedonian language was 'neither Bulgarian nor Serbian, but an independent language' and produced linguistic maps to back this up" (Rossos, 2008: 143).
"The very fact that official Greece did not, either de jure or de facto, see the Macedonians as a Bulgarian minority, but rather as separate is of particular significance. The Abece-dar, which actually never reached the Macedonian children, is in itself a powerful testimony not only of the existence of the large Macedonian ethnic minority in Greece, but also of the fact that Greece was under an obligation before the League of Na-tions to undertake certain measures in order to grant this particular mi-nority their rights." (Andonovski: 1)

More recently, a 1977 UN report from the Third United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names held in Athens demonstrates that in the not so dis-tant past Greece not only recognized the Macedonian language but also recognized the Macedonian Cyrillic alphabet as well. Since the early 1990‟s Greece's stance in the UN towards the Macedonian state has been nothing but hostile and this has involved frighteningly racist attempts to re-name not only the state but also the language. However in 1977 Greece signed a UN document: "Recognizing further that in Yugoslavia the romanization of the Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian cyrillic alphabets has long been employed in official gazeteers and maps" and "Recommends that the systems that are given in the annex to this resolution be adopted as the international systems for the romanization of Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian geographical names in Yugosla-via." (E/CONF.69/4: 29) There was no objection by Greece in 1977 to the existence of the Macedonian language.

Notably, in spite of the current official racist state of denial, practically minded businessmen in the part of Macedonia located within the borders of Greece, have at times found it more useful to simply accept reality. For example, in 1977 the Washington Post ran a story on how Greek businesses in Solun (Thessaloniki) had posted signs on their shop windows that Macedonian is spoken: Alevropoulos's American and Italian blue jeans go for $33 a pair. They come in all shapes and sizes, as do his Yugoslav buyers. A sign in his win-dow announces that Macedonian, the language of Yugoslavia's southern-most republic, is spoken. The language is now a requirement for all of his clerks. In the large department stores of Glaoudatos and Dimitriadis, price tags are in both Greek drachmas and Yugoslav dinars. Clerks speaking Macedonian are given preference in hiring.

Another interesting testimony making it abundantly clear that Macedonian was spoken throughout southern Macedonia (the part that Greece annexed in 1913) comes from Spirou Melas' Oi Polemoi 1912-1913 who wrote:
"Occasionally, up by chicken-chasing, the cackle, the sounds, all of a sudden a village woman would appear and start to curse in her own heavy (difficult) Macedonian language. The soldiers offered her money, and searched for whom they should com-pensate for the damages, and also to buy bread, wine, tsipuro, butter, cheese and other eatables. Instead they got in return the same stereotypical answer, that they first heard outside Nausa (Negush) where they met the first slavic speaking villager, who answered us with his head bent down, the answer we got wherever we went, from the outskirts of Thessaloniki (Solun) and all the way to Florina (Lerin), it was the same melancholic answer to all our demands: Nema, there is none." (1972: 157)

Moreover, Greek sources also prove revealing on the issue of the existence of a Macedonian ethnic identity. In the novel Life in a Tomb (1924) the author, Stratis Myrivilis, wrote about the trench warfare against the Bulgarians in World War I and Myrivilis includes a scene in which the narrator is recuperating at the house of a family who live north of the Greek border. After saying something about their language
he tells the reader that "they don‘t want to be either Bulgar, or Srrp, or Grrts. Only Makedon Ortodox" (Mackridge, 2009: 303). In later editions, Mackridge (2009: 303) writes "Myrivilis excised the last sen-tence because he no longer felt it to be politically advisable to include it" and that "The novel was banned from 1936 until the end of the Second World War; subsequent editions do not include this sentence."

In 1925, Salvanos, Greek Chief of Staff of the tenth army division in Western Macedonia, wrote a study of the 'ethnographical composition' of the county Lerin. In it he describes those with a Greek consciousness that was strengthened due to propaganda and those with a Bulgarian sentiment similarly strengthened due to Bulgarian propaganda. Another group he notes, the majority of the people, were indif-ferent to either nationality and were more concerned with their daily lives. "The latter, he maintained, called themselves Macedonians (Makedones)" (Karakasidou: 129).

By the 1950's, the Greek-Canadian Historian, L.S. Stavrianos, summed up the situation in general in his well known book The Balkans since 1453, where he describes the majority population of Macedonia at the turn of the 20th century "...as distinctly Macedonian. These Macedonians had a dialect and certain cultural characteristics which justify their being classified as a distinct South Slav group." (1958: 518)
A common practice developed in early 20th century Greek texts, of referring to Macedonians as "Bulgarians". Yet there is also evidence derived from Greek authors, on the inappropriateness of this label. In 1913 a book was published by George Demetrios entitled When I was a boy in Greece. Demetrios refers to the local Macedonian movement for Macedonian independence, as the Macedonian Committee, throughout his book as well as making mention of the languages he spoke: "I could speak Turkish and the Macedonian dialect as well as my own Greek tongue." (1913: 131) Demetrios further describes these people that spoke this Macedonian dialect as "Being neither Turkish nor Greek, we called them Bulgarian, but their language is not Bulgarian, but the Macedonian dialect, and I found loveable people among them, honest, hospitable, and kind" (1913: 132).

One of the reasons for the application of the Bulgarian label, is no doubt connected to the fact that during the first decade of the 20th century, many Macedonians attended Bulgarian Exarchate churches (the establishment of Macedonian Orthodox churches was not permitted). At this time, there was a struggle between the states of Bulgaria and Greece, to win over the hearts and minds of Macedonians, for the purpose of justifying annexationist desires. The Greek Anthropologist, Anastasia Karakasidou, by interviewing local residents from Guvezna (now called Assiros) in the part of Macedonia today located within the borders of Greece, illustrated how this interstate power struggle over Macedonia, impacted upon the local selection of labels: "Local residents used proper (though equally unspecified) nouns that referred to national groups such as Ellines (Greeks), Servyi (Serbs), Tourkyi (Turks), and Voulgharyi (Bulgarians). Some, however, especially those whose families came from Gnoina/Palehora, used the term Makedhones (Macedonians) in reference to the Slavic-speaking population of the area prior to 1913. But those who did so insisted unequivocally that such people had a sort of commonality which marked them as somehow different from others. When pressed to clarify such distinctions, Assiriotes overwhelmingly insisted that the local Slavic-speakers had spoken a language similar to yet dis-tinct from Bulgarian. Yet nonetheless, most still referred to them and to the Slavic-speakers in general as "Bulgarians" (Voulgharyi) or "Bulgarian-speakers" (Voulgharophonyi), two broad and politicized labels that date to the ideological and military conflict between Greece and Bulgaria over Macedonia at the turn of the century." (1997: 106)

Yet a Macedonian revolutionary leader, Nikola Karev, from the town of Krushevo in Macedonia, made himself abundantly clear to a Greek jour-nalist in a 1903 interview:

Are you Macedonian? I ask him.
- Yes.

And subsequently Greek.
-I do not know about this. I am Macedonian.

Direct descendent to Alexander the Great? I reply ironically.
-Yes. (Acropolis, 8 May, 1903 unpublished. See Tatetradya Tu Ilinden, by George Petsivas who published the interview in his book.)

Today, perhaps the most important 'Greek' evidence demonstrating the existence of Macedonians in Greece, is derived from the response engendered by the persistent racist denials of the Greek state and its lackeys: "The official Greek claim that no Macedonian minority exists is contradicted by clear and forceful assertions by members of this minority that they do exist and that they are Macedonians and not Greeks." (Danforth, 2001: 91)

Bibliography

Andonovski, Hristo. Foreword to the photoprint edition of Abecedar (1925—1985) http://www.makedonika.org/whatsnew/F...80%941985).pdf

Danforth, Loring. The Macedonian Minority in Northern Greece, in Jean S. Forward (ed.) Endangered Peoples of Europe, The Greenwood Press, 2001.

Demetrios, George. When I was a boy in Greece, Norwood Press, 1913.

Dragoumis, Mark. Ion Dragoumis, the Misguided Patriot, Athens News 29/Jul/2005 page A11- http://www.athensnews.gr/old_issue/13141/13346

Lerner, Gerda. Why History Matters: Life and Thought, Oxford University Press, 1997.

Litoxou, Dimitris. Grchka anti-Makedonska Borba, AzBuki, Skopje, 2004.

Karakasidou, Anastasia. Fields of Wheat, Hills of Blood, Chicago Univer-sity Press, 1997.

- Cultural Illegitimacy In Greece: The Slavo-Macedonian 'Non-Minority', in Richard Clogg (ed.) Minorities in Greece, Hurst & Company, 2002.

Mackridge, Peter. Language and National Identity in Greece 1776-1976 Oxford University Press, 2009.

- Macedonia and Macedonians in Sta Mystica Tou Valtou (1937) By P.S. Delta, in David Ricks, Michael Trapp (eds.) Dialogos: Hellenic Studies Review Volume 7, Frank Cass Publishers, 2001.

Mela, Natalia. Pavlos Melas, Athens, 1964.

Melas, Spyros. Oi Polemoi 1912-1913 Birēs, 1972.

Rossos, Andrew. Macedonia and the Macedonians, Hoover Institution Press, 2008.

Stavrianos, L.S. The Balkans Since 1453, Rhinehart & Company Inc., 1958.

United Nations, Vol. I. Report of the Conference, Athens, 17 August - 7 September 1977, United Nations Publication E.79.I.7 (1979), E/CONF.69/4.

The Washington Post (14th June, 1977 page A-17)

[Risto the Great]

I haven't has a chance to read it yet, but the AMHRC Review is always a good read and I suggest everyone read it.

[Phoenix]

Well done AMHRC and all contributors to the latest Review...

I enjoyed Tonia Miovska's interview with Vladimir Angelov, it was an interesting insight into Macedonian cinema since independence...I wonder if the AMHRC can get their hands on a similar type of interview, this time looking at the music industry in Macedonia...or other segments of artistic life in Macedonia (and diaspora) today.

Sometimes it appears that we're consumed by the fires of politics and the perpetual whirlpool that is greek stupidity, so much so, that we almost neglect the really good things that define us as Macedonians, the beautiful expression of the human spirit...

[TrueMacedonian]

Well done AMHRC and all contributors to the latest Review...

I enjoyed Tonia Miovska's interview with Vladimir Angelov, it was an interesting insight into Macedonian cinema since independence...I wonder if the AMHRC can get their hands on a similar type of interview, this time looking at the music industry in Macedonia...or other segments of artistic life in Macedonia (and diaspora) today.

Sometimes it appears that we're consumed by the fires of politics and the perpetual whirlpool that is greek stupidity, so much so, that we almost neglect the really good things that define us as Macedonians, the beautiful expression of the human spirit...

There is always the next issue Phoenix

[George S.]

does anyone know of a website that has macedonian cinematography with small video reviews(clips)??

[AMHRC]

Well done AMHRC and all contributors to the latest Review...

I enjoyed Tonia Miovska's interview with Vladimir Angelov, it was an interesting insight into Macedonian cinema since independence...I wonder if the AMHRC can get their hands on a similar type of interview, this time looking at the music industry in Macedonia...or other segments of artistic life in Macedonia (and diaspora) today.

Sometimes it appears that we're consumed by the fires of politics and the perpetual whirlpool that is greek stupidity, so much so, that we almost neglect the really good things that define us as Macedonians, the beautiful expression of the human spirit...

Thanks Phoenix - we shall try to accommodate you.

[Grotius]

Great edition AMHRC. I just read Stojko Stojkov's article. He has provided an illustrative account of the absurdity that is the regressive Bulgarian mindset, which unhappily sees Bulgarian authorities continue to mistreat, quite blatantly, the Macedonian population, whilst having pretensions of being a so-called 'democratic' state. What a joke.

Keep up the great work Stojko!

[Phoenix]

Thanks Phoenix - we shall try to accommodate you.

Thanks AMHRC, your customer focus is second to none.

[AMHRC]

We try Phoenix :-)) and for SoM, from inside this issue - a decent victory:


The Beginning of the End

By George Papadakis – journalist and member of the Presidency of EFA Rainbow (Vinozhito)



The year which has passed was without doubt one of the worst in the history of the modern Greek state. In the words of Trikoupis (Prime Minister of Greece) uttered more than one hundered years ago, “regretfully, we are bankrupt”; having reached technical bankrupcy under Georgios Papandreou, Papakonstandinou, as well us under Kostas Karamanlis, Kostas Simitis, Andreas Papandreou and other “national benefactors”. More and more people have begun to re-examine the picture they have of the whole system in which they live and are prepared to now “open” many former taboo-topics.

That this tendency is ever so present in a quiet mass of people who do not destroy footpaths or the property of others and who attempt to live in a dignified manner without burdening others, was noted in the recent local elections. Before the elections, almost nobody gave Yiannis Boutaris (candidate for Mayor Thessaloniki/Solun) and Giorgos Kaminis (candidate for Mayor of Athens) a chance of winning – but they did. Their victories have injected some much needed oxygen into Greek society and this has especially been the case for those who are different from the majority, or simply said, support a multicultural, multilingual and multiethnic future for this country. From their previous positions, both of the aforementioned elected candidates have encountered the Macedonians in Greece, their history, language and rights. Of course the solutions to the problems of the Macedonians will not come from the Mayors of Thessaloniki/Solun or Athens, however any ‘wind of change’ which tries to get rid of the intolerable policies which have plagued our society is always welcome

But if Boutaris and Kaminis cannot provide a solution to the problems of the Macedonians in Greece, then who can? The Macedonians themselves, of course! And how can that happen? By giving an opportunity to Macedonians to be elected to important municipal positions; by giving an opportunity to the Macedonian political standard-bearer (EFA-Rainbow) to participate in the taking of political power in the newly enlarged municipalities in Northern Greece; and finally by giving them an opportunity to actively participate in the struggle for that which they are entitled however which has been denied to them ever since the Macedonian territories were incorporated into the modern Greek state.

A beginning has been made in Ovchareni/Meliti (a village in Lerin County) by a member of the Central Council of EFA-Rainbow, a Macedonian activist and significant financial supporter of the party, Pande Ashlakov (Panagiotis Anastasiadis) who with a large majority was elected the President of Ovchareni/Meliti. It was strange and funny that despite the fact that Pande Ashlakov was part of the PASOK supported electoral list of Olga Mousiou Milona for the Municipality of Florina/Lerin, Mousiou distanced herself from Ashlakov soon after the elections when the well-known media fascists called upon her to publically declare whether she knew that he was a member of EFA-Rainbow!

In responding to a media statement from the Macedonian party, Mousiou, the candidate for the Mayor of Florina/Lerin tried once again to reiterate that her views on this question are “purely patriotic and Greek and that they are the official positions of the Greek government and PASOK”. In attempting to justify herself (to whom?), Ms Mousiou revealed that she accepted Pande Ashlakov in her list to gain the votes of the large Ashlakov family and their friends. She may have gotten these votes, however elected to the position of Mayor was the regime-favourite and ever so cautious Ioannis Voskopoulos who was careful not to include a single Macedonian activist on his list.

This bizzare - and one might even say crazy – affair continued when the now leader of the opposition in the Muncipal Council of Florina/Lerin, Mousiou, “warned” the newly elected President of Ovchareni/Meliti that he will not be able to do as he pleases because the key role will be played by the 33-member Municipal Council, while the new Mayor will be the “final guarantor and executor of the decisions”. In other words, even though in the context of the election campaign Ioannis Voskopoulos was her opponent (and thus an undesired option), Mousiou has now joined forces with him for the purpose of preventing the “enemy” from realising their plans. She therefore prefers to turn against her own list if that is what is required to be a “pure patriot and Greek”. If that is not schizophrenia, I don’t know what else to call it.

What is it that Ms Mousiou, Mr Ioannis Voskopoulos, the secret police (NIS/EYP) and the entire (para)state are afraid of? What could Pando Ashlakov possibly do that would raise so much panic? He certainly does not plan to take Ovchareni-Meliti, Neokazi-Neohoraki, Dolno Vrbeni-Itea, Krushoradi-Ahlada, Setina-Skopos, Zabrdeni-Lofi, Banitsa-Vevi and other villages in his municipality and unite them with the Republic of Macedonia. Nor could he (nor does he want to) declare a revolution against the entire Greek state. In a recent discussion we had, he made it known to me that he would operate strictly within the limitations of the local, state and European laws and that he would exercise all of his legal powers. A combination of Greek and European legislation gives rise to possibilities which are valued not only by the Macedonians but all residents in this municipality. If the ambitious plan of the new President continues, then his re-election is almost certain. Then we will no doubt see the (para)state – which was somewhat asleep during the course of this election campaign – active and relentless.

However there is another parameter to this matter, which is even more significant. The Macedonians are already acquiring access to the mechanisms of political power. If the experiment which is Ocvhanreni-Meliti succeeds, then mathematically it is certain that others will also imitate it. Already the neighbouring villages such as Petoratsi-Tripotamos are looking towards Pando, ready to follow his example and cooperate with him. In a few years, we will speak of very different conditions in relation to elections in the Municipality of Lerin or Voden. For the “non-existent Macedonians”, the beginning of the end of the bankrupt policies of the modern Greek state is already here.

Happy New Year.

PS: In all her confusion, the unfortunate Ms Mousiou recognized – for the first time from a Greek politician and despite her relatively low rank – that she recognizes, alongside others, the Macedonian names of the cities and villages of the Lerin/Florina county. Why doesn’t she try a little harder to make the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the state administration aware of these names, so that the entry into Greece of many Macedonians with these names on their passports is no longer denied?

[Soldier of Macedon]

A beginning has been made in Ovchareni/Meliti (a village in Lerin County) by a member of the Central Council of EFA-Rainbow, a Macedonian activist and significant financial supporter of the party, Pande Ashlakov (Panagiotis Anastasiadis) who with a large majority was elected the President of Ovchareni/Meliti.

AMHRC, just to confirm, this is for the local elections in Greece and not the European elections that Vinozito has regularly participated in, correct? If so, then this is a massive breakthrough.

This bizzare - and one might even say crazy – affair continued when the now leader of the opposition in the Muncipal Council of Florina/Lerin, Mousiou, “warned” the newly elected President of Ovchareni/Meliti that he will not be able to do as he pleases because the key role will be played by the 33-member Municipal Council, while the new Mayor will be the “final guarantor and executor of the decisions”.

What exactly is within the means of Ashlakov, as president of Ovcharani? What sort of initiatives in support of human rights can he now bring to the table (at least for discussion, if not action)?

[AMHRC]

Yes SoM, it was in the recently held local Greek elections; a very important victory that was managed in spite of extremely difficult/unfair electoral conditions/laws.

Ashlakov will be able to promote increased Macedonian cultural activity and will be able to cater more to the needs of the inhabitants of the village in this regard. I don't want to say anything more concrete than that at this stage, because I don't want to preempt the new mayor.

More importantly, if his presidency goes well over the next 5 years, it will encourage other villages to consider electing openly pro-Macedonian candidates. In this regard, Ashlakov's victory might turn out to be a really major breakthrough as you and Papadakis suggest.

Lastly, it is possible that the AMHRC will at some point in the not too distant future, invite Pando Ashlakov to Australia, so that he can in more detail discuss with our community, the benefits of his new position.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Great news regarding all of the above, thanks for the feedback AMHRC.

[AMHRC]

One Year of Nova Zora

ONE YEAR OF NOVA ZORA!

4 May 2011

Solun/Salonika, Melbourne and Toronto - the editorial board of Nova Zora, a pro-Macedonian monthly newspaper published in Greece, together with the Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC) and Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) are proud to mark the one year anniversary of the publication of the first issue of Nova Zora.

Over the last twelve months, the AMHRC and MHRMI have worked closely with the newspaper’s editorial team, thus ensuring the successful publication and distribution of the newspaper each month in Aegean Macedonia. To mark this historic event, Nova Zora’s editorial board issued the following statement yesterday:

One year of regular monthly issues, 250,000 copies, tens of thousands of visits to the website www.novazora.gr. One year full of sinister attempts to undermine and discredit our efforts and our names. One year full of threats and full of attempts to wipe out our newspaper.

However the year garnered even more support from Macedonians and democratically minded Greeks. Large numbers of people have participated in the process of producing the newspaper, via meetings, providing advice, distributing the newspaper, offering voluntary aid and contributing to its content.

The year was also full with words of encouragement to continue our mission. There has also been a large and hopeful presence of the youth – a shining beacon for the future. One year where some light has shone in the general darkness of various issues (political, historical, cultural, human rights etc).

We the Macedonians are here and we will carry on the struggle!

AMHRC and MHRMI will continue to support Nova Zora into the second year and beyond, and Macedonians around the world are encouraged to also lend support, both morally and financially.

Issued by the Editorial Team of Nova Zora, together with the AMHRC and MHRMI


Nova Zora is a pro-Macedonian newspaper based in Solun/Salonika, Aegean Macedonia, Greece. http://www.novazora.gr

Established in 1984 the Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC) is a non-governmental organisation that informs and advocates before international institutions, governments and broader communities about combating racism and promoting human rights. Our aspiration is to ensure that Macedonian communities and other excluded groups throughout the world, are recognised, respected and afforded equitable treatment. http://www.macedonianhr.org.au

Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (formerly Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada) has been active on human rights issues for Macedonians and other oppressed peoples since 1986. http://www.mhrmi.org