As always it´s highly amusing to read another one of Risto Stefov´s articles.

Starting from the opening statement, one notes the factual distortion present. For an individual who allegedly doesn´t care about what Greeks may claim about themselves; he certainly seems to waste much time and energy intentionally distorting texts and manipulating history in his articles and books, and distributing his propaganda.

Right after his first bout of hypocrisy, Stefov continues by distorting his very own claims. While he intentionally misinforms us by claiming that he´s never supported some twisted direct descendance from the ancient ´Makednoi´ theory; he conveniently forgets about his article: “Evidence of the Existence of Macedonians Throughout the Ages” in which in his opening statement in the introduction is: “This document was prepared in response to Greek allegations that Macedonians do not exist and have ceased to exist since the so called “Slav invasions” of the fifth and sixth centuries AD.

The logical question of why would any individual who allegedly doesn´t, nor has ever supported the “continuity theory” ever waste time to gather and intentionally distort sources to prove that the modern day population of the FYROM has every right to title themselves and claim heredity from the Makednoi?

Stefov’s opening statement which attempts to refute Greek allegations and the insinuation of providing proof that the Macedonians have existed, since Slavic invasions doesn´t do much for his case.

It is obvious that he is at the very least intentionally misinforming readers of his true objectives.

Stefov and his followers constantly insinuate that Greeks allegedly strive to present the FYROM population as Bulgarians (he should know the difference between Bulgars and Bulgarians) and Slavs.

While this is partially true, what Stefov intentionally neglects to mention is that Greeks are simply reproducing what his ancestors themselves had stated.

We could take for example the organization called BMARC (Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Revolutionary Committee) all members of which, today, are considered as fine FYROM patriots. It is this very organization, (their very own national heroes) which totally legitimize our reference to the true ethnicity which they detest.

In its 1896 statute BMARC states:

Art. 1. The goal of BMARC is to secure full political autonomy for the Macedonia and Adrianople regions.

Art. 2. To achieve this goal they [the committees] shall raise the awareness of self-defense in the Bulgarian population in the regions mentioned in Art. 1., disseminate revolutionary ideas - printed or verbal, and prepare and carry on a general uprising.

So the question asked must be, which is the population FYROM national heroes aimed to raise the awareness in and title Bulgarian; if not the forefathers of the population that today attempt to usurp a history and heritage which they have no connection to?

Stefov also accuses Greeks of titling the population of FYROM as Slavonic.

But what defines a Slav?

Slavs are an ethnic group connected by language, customs, traditions, beliefs.

We know beyond doubt that the population of FYROM does speak a Slavic language. We also know from their own authors like Tanas Vrazhinovski and Vladimir Karadzoski that FYROM folklore is predominantly Slavonic.

Both authors give numerous examples of worship of Slavonic deities and place names directly related to these deity´s names. Customs as any Bulgarian or Serb may confirm are also highly similar, if not identical.

So identical that we may safely conclude that the population of FYROM is indeed Slavonic and the attempt to present the use of the ethnonym ‘Slav’ as some form of insult, simply indicates the extent of propaganda aimed at (not to an international audience), but as its main target group has the FYROM youth. In some futile attempt to teach the FYROM population to hate their true origins and believe that their only true destiny is indissolubly connected upon usurping a history and culture which is totally alien to them is unacceptable.

Yet another fallacy promoted by Stefov for his audience is the case in which Philip of Macedon didn´t unite as so many true historians have accepted (see Thomas R. Martin, Lewis Vance Cummings, Richard Gabriel, Alan Fildes, Joann Fletcher, Robin Lane Fox…etc) but conquered. If that isn´t enough, he also resorts to fallaciously extending Philip´s empire further North to incorporate the lands of FYROM and by doing so legitimize his claims.

While it is true that these lands have seen various conquerors and settlers, what Stefov neglects to mention, is that while the above may have partially influenced the locals with their own culture, they never did manage to alienate them from their own. Something we clearly see in the alleged descendants of the Makednoi. Stefov and his believers have totally failed to provide a single logical explanation as to how any since trace of cultural connection to those they claim descendance from is non-existent.

During the last years the main FYROM offensive in the name debate is centralized on the following logic: “since we can´t prove a connection to the ancients, we´ll centralize on disproving yours”, which is exactly what we see Stefov doing today.

Unfortunately his attempts are caught either constantly celebrating ignorance or due to malicious intent, falsifying facts. Stefov claims that the name/term Greeks was ignored until after the Roman conquests which is when it was allegedly coined. Its puzzling how an alleged authority in history, who has published so many books about ancient history, could possibly ignore the reference of the eponym ‘Graikos’found in Hesiod´s Catalogue of Women or the village ‘Graia’ noted in Homer´s Catalogue of ships or even the later reference to the Graeci in Aristotle´s Meteorological. This is yet another well known quasi-historical attempts to approach the issue which Stefov is renowned for. Had he tried to tackle the issue on its factual basis, he wouldn´t centralize on the Latinization which has been passed down to the majority of language but the term which classicists acknowledge as the proper denomination and that is that of Hellenes (even though they have been used interchangeably). But even uttering the term ‘Hellenes’ is simply unthinkable for Stefov; for he would then have to deal with Hesiod´s reference to a ‘race of the Hellenes’ (works and days), a race of Hellenes which would disprove the very basis of his theory of various city-states alien to each other, not forming a single body of people.

While it is conveniently true that Greece wasn´t used by Ancient Greek geographers to describe the region in question, we know of several of them that use the term ‘Hellas’ (Agatharchides, Pausanias and Strabo being some of the more well known examples). If we were to look towards Roman writers with Pliny the Elder´s Natural History being one of the finest examples, we´d find that throughout his entire work and especially books 3-5 which are geography related, the term ‘Greece’ is constantly used to define the region.

One really has to wonder why Stefov tries to alienate an entire people from their heritage with such void argumentation. So the term ‘Rhomios’was used by the Greek population to define themselves, what does this actually prove?

While the term Rhomios may indeed be partly alien to their ancestors, one can´t neglect to note that it derives from the ‘Constitution Antoniniana of Caracalla’ which allowed all freemen of the Roman provinces to obtain Roman citizenship and that it is directly related to the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) which they were subjects. A term forged to represent their citizenship but also their Greek ancestry (see Andreas Osiander´s Before the State), hence why it (and not ‘Rhomaios’) was also used to strictly designate the subjects of Greek ancestry and them alone. It is also interesting to note the perception of some of the empire´s neighbors. Armenians, Russians, Georgians, Jews and even Ottomans titled the subjects ‘Graikoi’, Yunan, Yavani , or the authors Theodorus Studitus, Anna Komnene, George Gemistos Plethon, Michael Psellus and Theophanes Confessor all used the ethnonym Hellenes; terms directly linked to their ancestral roots which they recognized then, but today this author (Stefov) with some highly questionable arguments tries to refute the facts.

Stefov continues to unsuccessfully tackle the demographics of Greece. If under his logic the Slavic presence in the Balkans gives the Slavic population of FYROM some right to usurp a history; heritage and claim descendance from the ancient Makednoi (even through their very customs, traditions and folklore) prove them totally alien to it. Then how can someone even try and attempt to alienate the Vlachs from the Ancient Greeks?

While theories on their origin vary and one could argue their autochthonous origin, doesn´t their presence in the region which is dated prior to the time when the Slavs were nothing but mere invaders(Procopius) give them the right to claim ancestry?

Stefov makes reference to the total population of Greece upon its liberation while exaggerating and distorting possible population statistics. There is no accurate account of the possible ethnic makeup of the population, therefore any argument either for or against homogeneity would be ridiculous. One would notice that while Stefov doesn’t make any reference of Greeks as being a part of the population, he adds Turks; which as it is well documented, were non-existent since in their vast majority had fled upon the rebellion and Slavs. Then again such claims by Stefov who has previously promoted the totally outdated and disregarded ‘Fallmerayer theory´, anything seems possible.

Finally, there needs to be a mention of the Albanians. Since the only census which provides us with data is that of 1928 we must take that into consideration. In a 1928 census we find that the total amount of self-identified Albanian-speakers (and not ethnic Albanian origin) is approx. 19,000. A population of 19,000 in 1928 when Greece had liberated its lands and had a total population of some 6.2 million. Stefov claims that the Albanians were obviously the majority in the region in the early 1800´s; hence his reference to them and no reference to the Greeks. One must ask of what happened to the Albanians?

Well, we could take into account the statements of the Albano phone population itself, who in 1836 Christophoros Perraivos recorded their self-identification as purely Greek and were recognized as such by Alexandros Ypsilantes; who in his letter makes reference to their ancestors that fought in the battle of Marathon.

Finally, it must be noted that people like Risto Stefov, while providing an entertaining read, continue to distort Greek history (in a way similarly described above) and must not be taken seriously.

by www.macedoniaontheweb.com

info@macedonian.com.au

www.macedonian.com.au

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/78259

We have been accustomed to witness every day new false and, in certain cases ludicrus, allegations from FYROM’s propaganda in their struggle to distort the view of Plutarch about ancient Macedonians of being another Greek tribe, as it was evidently shown before in this blog.

As usual FYROM’s propaganda tends to use text taken out of context in their attempt to falsificate and alter the meaning of Plutarch’s works. However they always fail.

Some of their most common texts to use are the following excerts:

Alexander was only twenty years old when he inherited his kingdom, which at the moment was beset by formidable jealousies and feuds, and external dangers on every side. The neighboring barbarian tribes were eager to throw off the Macedonian yoke and longed for the rule of their native kings: As for the Greek states, although Philip had defeated them in battle, he had not had time to subdue them or accustomed them to his authority. Alexander’s Macedonian advisers feared that a crisis was at hand and urged the young king to leave the Greek states to their own devices and refrain from using any force against them. [p.263]

[Alexander chose the opposite course] Plutarch never said that Philip “united” the Greeks, but he states that Philip “defeated” them in battle.

Cassander’s fear of Alexander ‘In general, we are told, this fear was implanted so deeply and took such hold of Cassander’s mind that even many years later, when he had become king of Macedonia and master of Greece, and was walking about one day looking at the sculpture at Delphi, the mere sight of a statue of Alexander struck him with horror, so that he sguddered and trembled in every limb, his head swam, and he could scarcely regain control of himself.’ [p.331]

Before we refute their deliberate use of these texts out of context, lets highlight some crucial points about Plutarch’s work:

Anyone with the slightest knowledge of Plutarch’s work knows that:

Quote:

http://www.e-classics.com/plutarch.htm

You would find also that there is also the “The Age of Alexander” which is a “special edition” of nine Greek lives roughly concomitant with Alexander and his time.Take a look in page 5 which are these 9 Greek lives.

1. AGESILAUS
2. PELOPIDAS
3. DION
4. TIMOLEON
5. DEMOSTHENES
6. PHOCION
7. ALEXANDER
8. DEMETRIUS
9. PYRRHUS

The Macedonian Demetrius, known as the “Besieger“, had no ties with the Macedonian Argead Royal house. He was an ordinary Macedonian, yet he was still part of the 9 Greek Lives since obviously he was Greek.

So in the most commonly used Plutarch’s book by FYROM’s propaganda, they havent bothered themselves looking even…in the title and to whom Plutarch is refering to. Its as irrational and insane as someone quoting a book called “Julius Ceasar - Roman Biographies” to prove that Julius Ceasar is not…Roman!!!

http://books.google.ca/books?id=Lnur0BjQO2oC&pg=PP1&dq=age+of+alexander+plutarch&ei=BkDUSOHSGKS2yQTa4sTTAw&hl=el&sig=ACfU3U2N-3YPIvUw_UVcs4SLzIBvmJWYiw#PPP1,M1

Secondly in the text he used taken out of context, we read

Therefore like always Plutarch distinguished Macedonians from Barbarians like he did always in all his works. For instance:

Quote:

As usually the amateur FYROMian propagandist scouldnt be more ignorant of the battle of Chaeronea where the combatants in both sides were…Greeks!!!

Chaeronea
Combatants

Side A’
Macedonia, Thessaly, Epirus, Aetolia, Northern Phocis, Epicnemidian Locrians*

Side B’
Athens, Beotian League (Thebes, etc), Euboean League, Achaean League, Corinth, Megara, Corcyra, Acarnania, Ambracia, Southern Phocis.

Neutral sides
Sparta, Argos, Arcadia, Messene. The three last had alliances both with Athens and Philip but their pro-macedonian activity of 344/3 BC showed they were leaning towards Philip. However they didnt sent aid to Chaeronea in Philip’s side because of the blocking in Isthmus by Corinth and Megara. Sparta had withdrawn almost entirely from Greek affairs in 344 BC.

[*] Elis had an alliance with Philip though they didnt take part in Chaeronea but showed their pro-macedonian feelings by joining their forces with Philip in the invasion of Laconia in the autumn of 338 BC.

Notice that we are dealing simple and plain with a Greek CIVIL WAR from the frustration of FYROM’s Illusionists.

Seems there are still ignorant people out there that dont know that “Unification” during the classical ages was always forceful.

In the next quote they think they found something.

Sadly FYROM’s propagandists seem never to have read any ancient source. If they did they would have read quotes like the one of Spartan Brasidas talking about Atheneans:

The common definition of  “taking text out of context” is to remove a passage from its surrounding matter in such a way as to distort its meaning. In other words a shorter extract or phrase is used purposedly in an attempt to respresent the views of the person being quoted inaccurately. The latter became an effective tool on the hands of FYROM’s propagandists. Since the overwhelming evidence was against their illusions de grandeur, they had to invent an effective way to present the facts distorted in their favour. Hence misinterpreting their positions became a usual tactic.

If a person being quoted disagrees with their position, FYROM’s propagandists will present quotes that suggest that instead, this person is…supportive of this position.  Material that ostensibly bolsters this position is often taken out of context. Exposition that is at odds with the argument being made in the same text is excluded or otherwise obscured.

For example lets take a look in one of the main shelters of FYROM’s propaganda in the net, Historyofmacedonia.org. The following quote is taken out of Strabo’s work to show allegedly that Strabo…didnt consider ancient Macedonians as Greek.

This quote is used by FYROM’s propaganda as a ‘proof’ of the alleged non-greekness of Macedonians but if someone examines it a little better he will find its deliberately taken out of context.

Here is the complete text.

[12] There is an ancient story of the Armenian race to this effect: that Armenus of Armenium, a Thessalian city, which lies between Pherae and Larisa on Lake Boebe, as I have already said,26 accompanied Jason into Armenia; and Cyrsilus the Pharsalian and Medius the Larisaean, who accompanied Alexander, say that Armenia was named after him, and that, of the followers of Armenus, some took up their abode in Acilisene, which in earlier times was subject to the Sopheni, whereas others took up their abode in Syspiritis, as far as Calachene and Adiabene, outside the Armenian mountains. They also say that the clothing of the Armenians is Thessalian, for example, the long tunics, which in tragedies are called Thessalian and are girded round the breast; and also the cloaks that are fastened on with clasps, another way in which the tragedians imitated the Thessalians, for the tragedians had to have some alien decoration of this kind; and since the Thessalians in particular wore long robes, probably because they of all the Greeks lived in the most northerly and coldest region, they were the most suitable objects of imitation for actors in their theatrical make-ups. And they say that their style of horsemanship is Thessalian, both theirs and alike that of the Medes. To this the expedition of Jason and the Jasonian monuments bear witness, some of which were built by the sovereigns of the country, just as the temple of Jason at Abdera was built by Parmenion.

Strabo, Geography

Strabo talks about the story of Armenus who accompanied Jason in Armenia. In other words at the time of Argonautic expedition which of course happened centuries *before* the Macedonian migration from Pindos and *obviously* at the time being, Thessalians were “in the most northerly and coldest region” since Macedonia didnt exist. Its really embarrasing for them since Strabo is more than clear that ancient Macedonians were Greeks and Macedonia was “of course a part of Greece“.

Like the example above explicitly shown, the art of “taking text out of context“ not only fails to take account of the particular place, time and circumstance which often is crucial to understanding what someone really means or intends but it also fails to take account of even the other words which immediately surround it and which form a part of one single act of writing or even a speech. To Ignore the context can often be a mere error but taking text out of context as was shown above is plainly a Wilful Distortion.

By Nikolaos M.

These series of articles will expose to public eyes how Skopjan Propaganda works. Especially the massive internet campaign used by Skopjan propagandists with sole aim to deceive the readers while misrepresenting and manipulating well-evidenced historical events to fit their petty nationalistic agenda. It is sometimes hard for the unsuspected reader who is frequently confronted by deceitful attempts to believe false claims disguised to sound truthful. These series of articles aim to familiarise you with techniques of Skopjan Propaganda so that you become able to assess the strength of any argument you may encounter and thus determine of its validity.

As we are perhaps aware by now, Human Rights - at least in their contemporary manifestation - are a set of individual and collective rights that have been formally promoted and protected through international and domestic law since the UN declaration of Human Rights in 1948. This of course doesnt negate, arguments theories and protections of such rights, were not in existence for much longer. Generally Human Rights often seem to all of us substantial to our sense of what is morally acceptable. Human Rights NGOs like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are essentially beyond any criticism because what they defend is theoritically obviously just. Even so, Human Rights NGOs like for instance Human Rights Watch are held accountable about corruption, espionage and being politically subjective, rather than objective. This article will not examine the latter, actually its not its aim but will just underline the fact that HR NGOs still remain the benchmark against which the decency of a country is measured.

The latter is exactly the sole reason why Skopjan propaganda tends to centralize upon it.  Each report from Greek Helsinki Human Rights Watch blaming Greece is automatically invoked as quasi-sacred document by the Skopjan propagandists. Contrary each report from Human Rights Watch blaming FYROM for Human Rights violations is conveniently omited or the argumentative armoury by the usual Internet defenders of FYROM is summoned with the rather clumsy excuse of “HRW is not aware of the situation exactly“.

For instance, quite hypocritically, Skopjan propagandists find it so easy to defend wholeheartly those Slavo-Macedonians who collaborated with the Axis occupation forces. These were joining Italian fascist-sponsored militias that terrorized the Macedonian countryside in Greece (aside from the fact after Germany’s defeat, they found themselves allied with the Greek communists during Greek Civil War) and naturally were driven out of the country, as this action used by the Greek state was not unique in the post-war context of dealing with Nazi collaborators and enemies of the state. According to their unique point of view as been advanced in internet forums , these people are ”unjustly” driven out of the country and its their “human right to return” while entirely hypocritically during the conflict of 2001 between FYROM and Albanian paramilitary groups the Human Right Watch reports were clear to the events taking place in FYROM and brought to light reports like:

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2001/06/25/macedo94.htm

Human Rights Watch (New York, June 25, 2001):
Excerpt from the “MACEDONIA PARAMILITARY 2000 ORDER”:

“We order all Shiptars [derogatory term for ethnic Albanians-tr.] who have objects for sale-shopkeepers here and around the Kwantaskhi bazaar-to leave within three days, and for those Shiptars from Aracinovo, the deadline is 24 hours. After this deadline, all the shops will be burned, and if someone tries to protect [them], the same will be killed without warning.”
“We inform Shiptars of the Macedonian republic that for every killed police officer or soldier 100 Shiptars who do not have citizenship or who took citizenship after 1994 will be killed. For every police officer or soldier disabled, 50 Shiptars will be killed. For every wounded police officer or soldier wounded, 10 Shiptars will be killed, no matter what gender or age.”
“We inform Shiptars who do not have citizenship or got it after 1994 to leave Macedonia before June 25 this year, at midnight. After this deadline, we will start with the cleansing– “The Longest Night” courtesy of Macedonia Paramilitary 2000.

“This pamphlet is exactly the kind of thing that could lead to widespread ethnic violence. The government and international community have to stop it now.”
[Holly Cartner, HRW Executive director Europe and Central Asia division]

If someone thinks this was just an isolated reaction of a Skopjan paramilitary group, events prove otherwise.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2001/06/08/macedo192.htm

“Anti-Albanian sentiment in Bitola is rapidly growing into a campaign by extremists to rid Bitola of its ethnic Albanian population. Witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch stated that the rioters had yelled slogans including “Death to Albanians,” “Pure Bitola,” “Albanians Out of Bitola,” “Get Out Albanians,” and other such statements. The rioters told some of the ethnic Albanians that they had a week to get out of town before being targeted again. Many ethnic Albanians have fled their homes in Bitola in the aftermath of Wednesday’s riot because they are afraid of further attacks.  
 
“Bitola’s ethnic Albanians are scared to death of what could happen next,” said Cartner. “Urgent action is required to protect this vulnerable population from further attacks.”  

Examples to reveal obvious double standards in FYROM’s political agenda regarding “human rights” violations are countless. Think of the constant accusations from FYROM’s side against Greece and Bulgaria’s policies for the alleged undermining of “Rainbow-Vinozhito” and “OMO-Ilinden”. It is coming from the same state who found it so easy to ban at once the Bulgarian Organization “Radko” on the grounds that its activities promoted “racial and religious hate and intolerance” and “violated the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia”. These are the exactly the same people that hide behind the banner of ‘human rights‘ and the ‘right to self determination’ only to push their political objectives. Hypocrisy was never absent from FYROM official policies.

By Nikolaos M.

Control of the Bulgarophile population (who self-identified Bulgarian) in the Southern-most area of the Kingdom of Serbia known as Vardarska Banovina, was of the utmost importance for Serbs who used political and educational propaganda in a systematic way in order to keep Vardarska Banovina from uniting with the Kingdom of Bulgaria in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
 
Essentially, where Serbs mixed with Bulgarians, a different idea of Macedonism evolved. This Macedonism differed from the Macedonism of Bulgarian intellectuals like Krste Misirkov, the Verhovist Committee supporters, and the VMRO revolutionnaries known as Komitadjis. The Macedonism of these people was pro-Bulgarian and involved either the immediate union of ALL the region of Macedonia (in European Turkey) with the Kingdom of Bulgaria (as the Verhovists wanted), or the preliminary autonomy of this region with eventual annexation by the Kingdom of Bulgaria (as the VMRO wanted). This was all a continuation of the old and failed dream of a ‘Greater Bulgaria’ envisioned by Russia through the overturned, and therefore preliminary, Treaty of San Stefano. The idea of first autonomy and then annexation with a motherland can be seen in modern times with Kosovo and Albania. Many Albanians want to see the union of these two Balkan states. Consequently, there is no Kosovar ethnicity…it either is Albanian or Serbian depending on where one lives in Kosovo. Similarly, there was never a ‘Macedonian ethnicity’…it was either Greek or Bulgarian depending on where one lived in Macedonia, which church they followed, or what motherland one pledged allegiance to.
 
Serbian-inspired Macedonism had as its roots a creation of a non-Bulgarian way of thinking for the Slavs in the region of Macedonia - a creation of a ‘Macedonian ethnicity’ that would be pro-Serb. This is evident in the way the Serbians referred to the people in Vardarska Banovina as either South Serbs or eventually simply ‘Macedonians’. This propaganda started in the late 19th Century and flourished under Communist Yugoslavia with the renaming of Vardarska Banovina into ‘The People’s Republic of Macedonia’ in 1944. It is also evident in Yugoslavian leader Tito’s choice of the local Western Bulgarian dialect spoken in the area of Bitolia to become the ‘Macedonian language’ in 1944. This dialect had differences from proper Bulgarian and could be easily manipulated and codified into a new language. Many Bulgarian, Greek, Turkish, and Albanian elements were removed and were replaced with Serb elements. Many Bulgarian letters were changed to Serb letters. As such the differences between this dialect and Bulgarian were emphasized and the similarities (although many) were purposely ignored. Communism (then) fueled, and state-sponsored nationalism (now) continues to fuel Macedonist irredentism from Yugoslavia (then) and FYROM (now) towards all its neighbours but especially towards Greece with its large warm sea port of Thessaloniki.
 
Below are 2 examples of Serb-inspired Macedonism. One is officially state-sponsored (letter to the Serb Education Minister in 1888) and the other is local (through Belgrade supporters in towns and villages in Vardarska Banovina):

Стојан Новаковић, Stojan Novaković

(1842-1915)

Serbian Minister to Turkey 1886 – 1895

Prime Minister of Serbia 1895 – 1900

Serbian Minister to Russia 1900 – 1909

Prime Minister of Serbia 1909 – 1915

Leader of the Progressive Party of Serbia 1906 – 1915

Novakovic’s dispatch to the Serbian Education Minister 21/05/1888

“Since the Bulgarian idea, as it is well known to all, is deeply rooted in Macedonia, I think it is impossible to shake it completely by opposing it merely with the Serbian idea…this idea would be incapable of suppressing the Bulgarian idea…that is why the Serbian idea will need an ally that could stand in direct opposition to the Bulgarianism…this ally I see in the Macedonism or to a certain extent in our nursing the Macedonian dialect and Macedonian separatism…”

Serbian Propaganda

Spirodon Gopčević’s 1889 Macedonia and Old Serbia, a polemical travel book, contains several conversations with illiterate Slavs [in Macedonia, European Turkey], such as the following exchange between Gopčević

 and some peasants in [the village of] Pajzanovo:

•               

“ -And all [Pajzanovers] are Serbs like you?

-Serbs like us???

-Well, aren’t you speaking Serbian with me?

-By God, I don’t know, we are speaking ‘Bulgarski’. [Bogami, ne znam; mi govorimo Bulgarski]

-‘Bulgarski’, that may be, but not Bulgarian, which is a totally different language.

[Bulgarski - to može biti, ali ne Bolgarski, što je jedan sasvim drugi jezik.]

Everyone looked at me with amazement.”

·       Makedonien und Alt-Serbien, by Spiridon

·        

·        

·       Gopčević

, 1889, page 58.

Ø     In: Krsté Misirkov’s 1903 Call for Macedonian Autocephaly: Religious Nationalism as Instrumental Political Tactic, by Alexander Maxwell, Studia Theologica V, 3/2007, pages 147 – 176.

 By Christos

These series of articles will expose to public eyes how Skopjan Propaganda works. Especially the massive one used in the internet by Skopjan propagandists with sole aim to deceive the readers while misrepresenting and manipulating well-evidenced historical events to fit their petty nationalistic agenda. It is sometimes hard for the unsuspected reader who is frequently confronted by deceitful attempts to believe false claims disguised to sound truthful. These series of articles aim to familiarise you with techniques of Skopjan Propaganda so that you become able to assess the strength of any argument you may encounter and thus determine of its validity.

I am certain none of you has missed tens of Skopjan internet warriors whinning in internet forums about being the “victim” of an alleged Foreign agenda (the “bullies” labeled by Skopjan propagandists tend to change each time accordingly to whom they want to diminish) towards him and his people both in the past and present. In fact this soap drama has been played intensively over and over that is has becoming one of the most usual and predictable ways of Conduct from Skopjans during a discussion.

The most important reason for this attitude lies in the fact that the mainstream mind in FYROM, has been imposed to consider himself and his people to be the actual, true victims of history. It has become an Inferiority Complex to the average Skopjan mind. In fact that is exactly how they have been raised to believe either by their family environment or by their educational system. This certainly pressuposes that being themselves the victims, the “others” will be usually portrayed as the “perpetrators” and will be somehow easier to diminish them. These two perspectives always go hand by hand and will always be a backward factor of this relatively new state.  The worst perspective remains that the constant repeating of this action has transformed these people sadly into believing it.

Unfortunately for our wannabe propagandists, it doesnt work. Attempting to play the Victim card with the intention to create pity for evidence in an argument is simply futile. Playing the victim does not serve as evidence for a claim nor it does constitute a substitute for evidence to anyone, except of the poor minds of the propagandists who use them.

By Nikolaos M.

We have already mentioned intensively the issue of the Greek abducted children in many previous articles [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. Today we will provide a wide collection of contemporary Greek newspaper articles related to the abduction of Greek children from Communist guerillas.

Many Thanks to our good friend Peter from Australia for his contribution.

Along with lies and myths claimed by Skopje’s spin doctors and revisionist historians about ancient and modern history, there exists a calculated alteration of facts regarding their church which was created in 1967 and is not recognized by any other Christian denomination by the name it wants which is ‘The Orthodox Church of Macedonia’. In the same breath, we find that they believe St. Paul preached to them and not the real Macedonians (i.e. the Greeks); they believe Sts. Cyril and Methodius were ‘Slavo-Macedonians’ and the Glagolitic alphabet these saints created was not Old Church Slavonic but simply ‘Macedonian’, and they also believe that St. Clement of Achrida was ‘Slavo-Macedonian’.

The following is from pg. 14 of the book ‘ ‘Macedonian Things’ and ‘Irredentist Things’ ‘ by Chysostomos Papastavros, published in 2008. It shows a calendar published by the FYROM Ministry for Expatriates aimed at the ‘enslaved by the Greeks’ Aegean Macedonians in Kastoria, Greece. The ridiculous borders on insanity as one realizes that all the saints pictures were displayed as reverse or mirror images of the original Greek. This mirage was intended to create an impression that the saints’ names and other holy writings were indeed in a Cyrillic alphabet which then they claim as the original ‘Macedonian’. But when the image is displayed prperly (bottom left), one can clearly see the Greek writing ‘O Ayios Klimis’ or ‘Saint Clement’!!!
 

COVER PAGE OF THE BOOK:
 
Church in the monastery of Saints Anargyroi in Kastoria, Greece built in 1084 A.D. The facade of the iconastasis was made in 1453 A. D. Please note the ‘Aeparthenon’ sun of the Virgin Mary at the base of the cross. This was the Sun of Artemis and the Sun of the Macedonian Dynasty (Sun of Vergina) in the pre-Christian era and shows that this symbol has been Greek for thousands of years!

Many thanks to Christos

What was going on? The Greek Governor General of Macedonia [USE OF TERM “MACEDONIA” BY THE GREEK STATE PRIOR TO 1989 - ONE MORE LIE FROM FYROM EXPOSED] said that no refugees were streaming into Yugoslavia, charged that Slav terrorists were raiding Greek villages. From Rome the Chicago Daily News’s Balkan-wise Leigh White cabled: Marshal Tito had apparently launched his long-planned drive to expand federal Yugoslavia at the expense of Greek Macedonia. From Athens the New York Times’s European Chief Cyrus Sulzberger reported: “There is a pattern behind these events linked to the politically homogeneous Governments of Greece’s three northern neighbors [Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Albania], who are all ideologically tied to the Soviet Union.” Was Russia, through her Balkan satellites, resuming a historic push toward a warm-water port on the Aegean Sea?”

Monday, Jul. 23, 1945
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,803589,00.html

“During the Greek civil war (1946-49). when Communists burned, looted and terrorized in northern Greece, the Reds kidnaped some 40,000 Greeks and carried them off to the satellite countries. The prisoners are now beginning to come back. The move began as a trickle from Yugoslavia (now Greece’s ally), then more came from Hungary, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria. By last week the number of refugees repatriated by the Communists had reached 3,600.”

Time, Monday, Feb. 28, 1955
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,861218,00.html

“In Salonika last week, the huge concert studio of Radio Macedonia had been turned into a makeshift courtroom.” [USE OF TERM “MACEDONIA” BY THE GREEK STATE PRIOR TO 1989 - ONE MORE LIE FROM FYROM EXPOSED]

Monday, Mar. 22, 1948
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,804479,00.html

“The Russian-controlled Sofia radio, meanwhile, broadcast an appeal to ELAS to try its hostages as “war criminals,” enemies of the people of Athens. It also launched a drive for an autonomous Macedonia (which might include Greece’s No. 2 port of Salonika), with a capital at Skoplje—which is in Yugoslavia.” [ANY COMMENT FROM THE GREEK COMMUNIST PARTY KKE??]

Monday, Jan. 29, 1945
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,933966,00.html

“Partitioning of Greece is foreshadowed by the deportation of thousands of Greeks from Thrace and Macedonia, by an influx of Bulgarians to occupy the abandoned homes and farms.”

Monday, Nov. 24, 1941
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,801287,00.html

“In Geneva, Switzerland, the World Committee of the Y. M. C. A. met and figured up the value of its properties—$193,236,000. To the National Council in the U. S. it reported that of these holdings $154,542,000 were in this country. In 52 countries served by the Y. M. C. A., more than 7,000 officers are employed; in the U. S. alone more than 5,000. Coincident with this report was the arrival in the U. S. of Gennadios, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Thessalonica and Archbishop of Macedonia[USE OF TERM “MACEDONIA” BY THE GREEK STATE PRIOR TO 1989 - ONE MORE LIE FROM FYROM EXPOSED], for an inspection of Y. M. C. A. activities here.”

Monday, Apr. 05, 1926
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,751418,00.html

“The Greek Government crisis was weathered.

Out walked Premier Papanastasiou (TIME, July 28) and in trotted Premier Sofoulis, ex-Governor of Macedonia, followed by five staunch supporters: ”
Monday, Aug. 04, 1924
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,718771,00.html

By Ioannes Gregoriades.