Here is a translation of the above text into English:
-You cannot own every town/city that is inhabited by Greeks. If so Massalia would be yours, as well as Edessa
-The same observation more or less I make of you.
You want to make the area of Monastiri yours, because there are towns there where Macedonian* is spoken, which you call Bulgarian.
- Many towns! All the towns in the area speak Bulgarian!
Do they wish to be Greeks or not?
And since they do want(to be Greek), Im not sure if language is enough proof of a peoples ethnicity.
First off, the language in question is not spoken by all, but only some Macedonian villagers. Those who speak it, do so only in their houses not in public(agora), where they speak Greek. And finally, this language is not Bulgarian, but a mix of slavic and Greek. It is not Bulgarian, Bulgarian does not exist even in Bulgaria. The cities of Macedonia are clearly Greek, the people of the area are Greek, the history of the area is Greek, and the actual land(earth/dirt) is Greek.
- I can not understand, and I never will, this idea that you have that the Macedonians lost their language and picked up Bulgarian.
-I can not see how the Bulgarians who are Ouvo(?)-Tartars lost their language and took...
*the exact translation from Greek is Macedonian language
Ние македонците не сме ни срби, ни бугари, туку просто Македонци. Ние ги симпатизираме и едните и другите, кој ќе не ослободи, нему ќе му речеме благодарам, но србите и бугарите нека не забораваат дека Македонија е само за Македонците.
- Борис Сарафов, 2 септември 1902
Ion Dragoumis is equating Church affiliation into nationality.
What are your thoughts?
Of course he would. His family are originally Albanians so he would have to go along with Rigas the fat Vlachs sentiments in order to keep the illusion working.
Haha. I have sometimes thought what it would be like to learn to speak Greek. Questions go through my mind like would I think any differently about them? Any differently about their history, their attitudes? I think I could only benefit from it in the end. I have often thought about studying Orthodox theology - there is an Orthodox School in Sydney, but I believe it is mostly in Greek.
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