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"In Macedonia," we read there, "there is a wild drama against a nation that does not mean to be slave to Greek, Yugoslav or Bulgarian imperialism" (19/10/1933). "It has been so many centuries since the Slavic element settled in Macedonia, and no one knows them today except that it was born in this place and will die in it. And they're neither a Greek, nor a Bulgarian, nor a Serb" (24/11/1932). "The Macedonians insist. They tighten their teeth, speak their Macedonian tongue with stubbornness, they dress their Macedonian with pride, they believe & hope, & they are silently fighting for their own Macedonia, for free Macedonia".
URL:
https://www.efsyn.gr/themata/fantas...85CAgVURRRw5fEfB1MUyIYxX8El_aJ_vyRIeZUaH_4GlI
"In Macedonia," we read there, "there is a wild drama against a nation that does not mean to be slave to Greek, Yugoslav or Bulgarian imperialism" (19/10/1933). "It has been so many centuries since the Slavic element settled in Macedonia, and no one knows them today except that it was born in this place and will die in it. And they're neither a Greek, nor a Bulgarian, nor a Serb" (24/11/1932). "The Macedonians insist. They tighten their teeth, speak their Macedonian tongue with stubbornness, they dress their Macedonian with pride, they believe & hope, & they are silently fighting for their own Macedonia, for free Macedonia".
URL:
https://www.efsyn.gr/themata/fantas...85CAgVURRRw5fEfB1MUyIYxX8El_aJ_vyRIeZUaH_4GlI
Poslednja izmena:
E vidish, ja razumem i srbe i bugare i ruse
A znash zashto?
Jer smo vas sve opismenili i dali vam jezik kojim chete da lajete na nas ka psi.
Makedonija je bila Makedonija prije no shto je iko od vas i znao za sebe.
I vi chete da prichate o poreklu Makedonaca.
Nadjite vashe drzave na starim mapama pa onda prichajte.
Svugde ima MAKEDONIJA a nigde Srbija ili Bugarija
Jel vas bilo u doba Aleksandra ?
A znash zashto?
Jer smo vas sve opismenili i dali vam jezik kojim chete da lajete na nas ka psi.
Makedonija je bila Makedonija prije no shto je iko od vas i znao za sebe.
I vi chete da prichate o poreklu Makedonaca.
Nadjite vashe drzave na starim mapama pa onda prichajte.
Svugde ima MAKEDONIJA a nigde Srbija ili Bugarija
Jel vas bilo u doba Aleksandra ?
qvey
Aktivan član
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Bez problema smo se mogli 1912 god zaustaviti na liniji Staro Nagorichane-Skoplje- Ohrid,ali Nikola Pashku nam zaprzhi chorbu i natera Petra da 1914 pred rat de fakto abdicira uz pomoch Rusa i onog megalo-manijaka Aleksandra stvorishe nekakvu..Slaviju koja bi grobnica Srpskom rodu mada se ne bash na tanjiru nudila...uvechana..Srbija...moglo se to tada postichi i ovde bi sada bilo 15 do 20 miliona Srba u...Srpskoj drzavi...
qvey
Aktivan član
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A koga ste Vi to Opismenili kada svakih 120 sekundi menjate ime Drzave. i Naroda.
Poslednja izmena od moderatora:
milsu
Domaćin
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Makedonci su zaseban etnicitet,ali su isto tako i spoj Srba,Bugara,Vlaha,Cincara,Cigana,Turaka,Grka,Albanaca.
milsu
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Говор Васила Стерјовског у албанском парламенту
1) RENE PICARD, “THE AUTONOMY OF MACEDONIA” (1457)
20th July 1916
URL:
https://thedocumentarynews.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/rene-picard-the-autonomy-of-macedonia/
"The idea of Macedonian autonomy is familiar to all those who are acquainted with Balkan history and politics. If we asked the Christians of Macedonia they would answer that autonomy was the most desirable solution for them.
There is and, in fact, there has always been a Macedonian spirit in Macedonia. Geographically, Macedonia has its own unity. Its borders are the following: to the south – Mt Olympus, the mountains on the north bank of the River.. Bistrica, Lake Prespa and Lake Ohrid; to the west -the Drim from Debar; to the north-west and north -the Sar Mountains, the highlands north of Skopje, the defile of Kumanovo, the mountains that mark the Serbo-Bulgarian frontier of before 1912; to the east -the Rhodope Mountains.
The borderline with Thrace on this side is not clear. The regions of Drama and Kavalla can either be adjoined to Macedonia or separated from it; the plain of Drama is populated mostly by Turks; the town of Kavalla, like all the ports, has a strong Greek colony. To the south, the Chalcidice Peninsula is geographically Macedonian, but ethnographically Greek; the line of lakes separates it by a natural border from the rest of Macedonia.
Within these borders Macedonia has the natural basins of Skopje, Bitola, Veles, Serez, Drama and Salonika with the mountains that separate them and the narrow valleys that unite them. The Christian population in the country side is Slav. It is known to be neither quite Bulgarian, although it is closer to the Bulgarians, nor quite Serbian. The Bulgarians themselves admit that the Macedonians differ from the other Bulgarians: they possess a more lively spirit, are more fond of politics and intrigue, more inclined to eloquence and the arts, also more cunning; in a word, they are a little Hellenized. The Macedonian politicians in Sofia are feared; many Bulgarians of old Bulgaria would be glad to see the Macedonian Bulgarians return to Macedonia. They accuse them of taking everything away from them, their jobs and privileges. ....."
2) RUDOLPH ARCHIBALD REISS ON THE MACEDONIANS (1467)
1918
URL:
https://thedocumentarynews.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/rudolph-archibald-reiss-on-the-macedonians/
"I said that I would rather call your Bulgarophones Macedonians. You call those people
Bulgarophones, owing to their language which is similar to Bulgarian. But, is it Bulgarian,
is it the same language spoken in Sofia? No. Macedonian is just as similar to Serbian as it
is to Bulgarian. I am not a linguist and I would not allow myself a personal judgment, but
disinterested Balkanologists have asserted to me that Macedonian is more similar to
Serbian than Bulgarian. It is possible that there are linguists who assert the opposite. But it
is a fact that the Macedonian language is spoken neither in Sofia nor in Belgrade. It is an
individual Slav language, just as we have the Romansch in Switzerland, spoken in Grisons,
apart from Italian. To my mind, the Macedonian can be called neither Bulgarian nor Serb,
but simply Macedonian."
20th July 1916
URL:
https://thedocumentarynews.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/rene-picard-the-autonomy-of-macedonia/
"The idea of Macedonian autonomy is familiar to all those who are acquainted with Balkan history and politics. If we asked the Christians of Macedonia they would answer that autonomy was the most desirable solution for them.
There is and, in fact, there has always been a Macedonian spirit in Macedonia. Geographically, Macedonia has its own unity. Its borders are the following: to the south – Mt Olympus, the mountains on the north bank of the River.. Bistrica, Lake Prespa and Lake Ohrid; to the west -the Drim from Debar; to the north-west and north -the Sar Mountains, the highlands north of Skopje, the defile of Kumanovo, the mountains that mark the Serbo-Bulgarian frontier of before 1912; to the east -the Rhodope Mountains.
The borderline with Thrace on this side is not clear. The regions of Drama and Kavalla can either be adjoined to Macedonia or separated from it; the plain of Drama is populated mostly by Turks; the town of Kavalla, like all the ports, has a strong Greek colony. To the south, the Chalcidice Peninsula is geographically Macedonian, but ethnographically Greek; the line of lakes separates it by a natural border from the rest of Macedonia.
Within these borders Macedonia has the natural basins of Skopje, Bitola, Veles, Serez, Drama and Salonika with the mountains that separate them and the narrow valleys that unite them. The Christian population in the country side is Slav. It is known to be neither quite Bulgarian, although it is closer to the Bulgarians, nor quite Serbian. The Bulgarians themselves admit that the Macedonians differ from the other Bulgarians: they possess a more lively spirit, are more fond of politics and intrigue, more inclined to eloquence and the arts, also more cunning; in a word, they are a little Hellenized. The Macedonian politicians in Sofia are feared; many Bulgarians of old Bulgaria would be glad to see the Macedonian Bulgarians return to Macedonia. They accuse them of taking everything away from them, their jobs and privileges. ....."
2) RUDOLPH ARCHIBALD REISS ON THE MACEDONIANS (1467)
1918
URL:
https://thedocumentarynews.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/rudolph-archibald-reiss-on-the-macedonians/
"I said that I would rather call your Bulgarophones Macedonians. You call those people
Bulgarophones, owing to their language which is similar to Bulgarian. But, is it Bulgarian,
is it the same language spoken in Sofia? No. Macedonian is just as similar to Serbian as it
is to Bulgarian. I am not a linguist and I would not allow myself a personal judgment, but
disinterested Balkanologists have asserted to me that Macedonian is more similar to
Serbian than Bulgarian. It is possible that there are linguists who assert the opposite. But it
is a fact that the Macedonian language is spoken neither in Sofia nor in Belgrade. It is an
individual Slav language, just as we have the Romansch in Switzerland, spoken in Grisons,
apart from Italian. To my mind, the Macedonian can be called neither Bulgarian nor Serb,
but simply Macedonian."
URL - ВАТИКАНСКА ЗБИРКА СО ТАЈНИ ДОКУМЕНТИ ЗА МАКЕДОНЦИТЕ: Епископ Македонски од татковината на Александар, Блаже Миневски:
https://denesen.mk/vatikanska-zbirk...eaGebG3IyUcQkkVKLM0BIq5EYIRPves7mvIUd-Uk2bRAg
Scholarships for Macedonians ... in 1619
A document dating back to 1624 talks about the renewal of the Illyrian College, which means the Slavonic College of Loreto (as explained to us by B. Minevski), which was founded in 1580. At first, 40 students attended the college at its inception.
In 1593, the same college was moved to Rome, and the number of students was reduced to 12.
In 1619, the Dalmatian bishops asked that Pope Paul V decide that the College should return to Loreto and at the same time allocate places to cadets
"Serbs, Bulgarians and Macedonians who in the future will have no reason to address the Holy See for scholarships".
https://denesen.mk/vatikanska-zbirk...eaGebG3IyUcQkkVKLM0BIq5EYIRPves7mvIUd-Uk2bRAg
Scholarships for Macedonians ... in 1619
A document dating back to 1624 talks about the renewal of the Illyrian College, which means the Slavonic College of Loreto (as explained to us by B. Minevski), which was founded in 1580. At first, 40 students attended the college at its inception.
In 1593, the same college was moved to Rome, and the number of students was reduced to 12.
In 1619, the Dalmatian bishops asked that Pope Paul V decide that the College should return to Loreto and at the same time allocate places to cadets
"Serbs, Bulgarians and Macedonians who in the future will have no reason to address the Holy See for scholarships".
Book by Nada Boskovska - Yugoslavia and Macedonia Before Tito Between Repression and Integration:
http://books.memoryoftheworld.org/#...fore Tito: Between Repression and Integration
PDF:
http://calamitousannunciation.memor...via and Macedonia Before - Nada Boskovska.pdf
Abstract: Held together by apparatchiks and, later, Tito's charisma, Yugoslavia never really incorporated separate Balkan nationalisms into the Pan-Slavic ideal. Macedonia-frequently ignored by Belgrade-had survived centuries of Turkish domination, Bulgarian invasion and Serbian assimilation before it became part of the Yugoslav project in the aftermath of the First World War. Drawing on an extensive analysis of archival material, private correspondence, and newspaper articles, Nada Boskovska provides an arresting account of the Macedonian experience of the interwar years, charting the growth of political consciousness and the often violent state-driven attempts to curb autonomy.
http://books.memoryoftheworld.org/#...fore Tito: Between Repression and Integration
PDF:
http://calamitousannunciation.memor...via and Macedonia Before - Nada Boskovska.pdf
Abstract: Held together by apparatchiks and, later, Tito's charisma, Yugoslavia never really incorporated separate Balkan nationalisms into the Pan-Slavic ideal. Macedonia-frequently ignored by Belgrade-had survived centuries of Turkish domination, Bulgarian invasion and Serbian assimilation before it became part of the Yugoslav project in the aftermath of the First World War. Drawing on an extensive analysis of archival material, private correspondence, and newspaper articles, Nada Boskovska provides an arresting account of the Macedonian experience of the interwar years, charting the growth of political consciousness and the often violent state-driven attempts to curb autonomy.
Citati iz knjige ^^
Str. 213-214:
One of the main concerns of the authorities was that the Macedonian
teachers spoke ‘in dialect’ with the children and could instil in them a false
national consciousness. The school supervisor in Bitola complained on
26 March 1927 to the director of a school that Jerina Markovicka, a teacher
of the third class born in Strumica, was frequently using ‘dialect’ as the
‘written language’, just like her students. In addition the children openly
said: ‘We are Macedonians and speak the Macedonian language.’ The teacher
was suspected to have taught them this. She explained in her response on
27 June 1927 that the children had asked to her surprise: ‘Mrs. Teacher, we
can’t understand what you are saying, we would like you to speak
Macedonian with us.’
Str. 216:
In 1929, the move made by the director of the citizens’ school in Kochani
against one of his teachers, who was ‘Macedonian and as such unfavourable for
the region there’ and stayed away from all national demonstrations, proved to
be a boomerang. The teacher was able to clear his name subsequently, but the
denouncer received a reprimand from the Education Minister because he had
described the teacher as a ‘Macedonian’ in official correspondence. The lapse
by the director demonstrates that unofficially among the Serbs it was usual to
use the term ‘Macedonian’.
Str. 234:
In 1938 a good student refused to write anything on the essay topic ‘Why
I must love my Fatherland’. In the course of the ensuing investigation he
commented that for Yugoslavia he had no feelings and he could not describe
something he did not feel. On the orders of the Education Ministry, this
student was permanently banned from all the high schools in the country. The
Teachers’ Council, however, would not have classified his offence so severely.
The author of the report also had to confirm that the students only spoke
the ‘correct standard language’ in the presence of the teacher; ‘the rest of the
time in the school, on the street, and in their homes, they deliberately don’t
want to express themselves correctly and only speak the local dialect, which
has been ruined by Bulgarian propaganda’. The teacher had even heard one
student ask another on the street if he was not ashamed to speak Serbian.
Str. 213-214:
One of the main concerns of the authorities was that the Macedonian
teachers spoke ‘in dialect’ with the children and could instil in them a false
national consciousness. The school supervisor in Bitola complained on
26 March 1927 to the director of a school that Jerina Markovicka, a teacher
of the third class born in Strumica, was frequently using ‘dialect’ as the
‘written language’, just like her students. In addition the children openly
said: ‘We are Macedonians and speak the Macedonian language.’ The teacher
was suspected to have taught them this. She explained in her response on
27 June 1927 that the children had asked to her surprise: ‘Mrs. Teacher, we
can’t understand what you are saying, we would like you to speak
Macedonian with us.’
Str. 216:
In 1929, the move made by the director of the citizens’ school in Kochani
against one of his teachers, who was ‘Macedonian and as such unfavourable for
the region there’ and stayed away from all national demonstrations, proved to
be a boomerang. The teacher was able to clear his name subsequently, but the
denouncer received a reprimand from the Education Minister because he had
described the teacher as a ‘Macedonian’ in official correspondence. The lapse
by the director demonstrates that unofficially among the Serbs it was usual to
use the term ‘Macedonian’.
Str. 234:
In 1938 a good student refused to write anything on the essay topic ‘Why
I must love my Fatherland’. In the course of the ensuing investigation he
commented that for Yugoslavia he had no feelings and he could not describe
something he did not feel. On the orders of the Education Ministry, this
student was permanently banned from all the high schools in the country. The
Teachers’ Council, however, would not have classified his offence so severely.
The author of the report also had to confirm that the students only spoke
the ‘correct standard language’ in the presence of the teacher; ‘the rest of the
time in the school, on the street, and in their homes, they deliberately don’t
want to express themselves correctly and only speak the local dialect, which
has been ruined by Bulgarian propaganda’. The teacher had even heard one
student ask another on the street if he was not ashamed to speak Serbian.
Poslednja izmena:
Radanje makedonske nacije - Dragan Taskovski
Radjanje makedonske nacije - Dragan Taskovski
sumljiv_tip
Domaćin
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- 3.735
Radjanje makedonske nacije - Dragan Taskovski
Naum Evro i Kosta Grupcev pripadali su "Тајниот македонски комитет"-u, koji je formiran u Sofiji u Bugarskoj, ciji su pripadnici smatrali sebe Bugarima. Termin "Makedonac" po njima je predstavljao samo regionalnu varijaciju "Bugarina", a ultimativno za cilj je imao da lokalno slovensko stanovnistvo lakse "proguta" bugarsko nacionalno ime. Neki clanovi ovog drustva kasnije ce promeniti plocu i prici srpskoj strani.
psmaniac
Veoma poznat
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- 14.523
Судећи по овом надгробном споменику породице Цветковић-к-ски,
пре би се рекло да се још увек описмењујете.
Greece’s Macedonian Slavic heritage was wiped out by linguistic oppression – here’s how
April 19, 2018
URL:
http://theconversation.com/greeces-...-out-by-linguistic-oppression-heres-how-94675
Petros Karatsareas
Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics, University of Westminster
"My own paternal grandfather’s family name became Karatsareas from Karachorov. My maternal grandfather’s one became Kantzouris from Kanzurov. The area of Karadzova was renamed Almopia with its main town of Subotsko becoming Aridaia. The dance Puscheno was called Leventikos or Lytos. The aim was to leave no visible trace of Macedonian Slavic in public records."
April 19, 2018
URL:
http://theconversation.com/greeces-...-out-by-linguistic-oppression-heres-how-94675
Petros Karatsareas
Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics, University of Westminster
"My own paternal grandfather’s family name became Karatsareas from Karachorov. My maternal grandfather’s one became Kantzouris from Kanzurov. The area of Karadzova was renamed Almopia with its main town of Subotsko becoming Aridaia. The dance Puscheno was called Leventikos or Lytos. The aim was to leave no visible trace of Macedonian Slavic in public records."
URL:
https://denesen.mk/pismo-od-egejska...znaat-bugarski-tuku-nashiot-makedonski-jazik/
A letter from Aegean Macedonia from 1862: "Our people here do not know Bulgarian, but our Macedonian language"
I'll write to you more often, but I don't know Bulgarian, our people here don't know Bulgarian - a letter from Enidzhe Vardar on September 10, 1862.
The language of the Macedonians in Aegean Macedonia was not Bulgarian, but Macedonian, or as stated in the original „Мачедонски език“.
https://denesen.mk/pismo-od-egejska...znaat-bugarski-tuku-nashiot-makedonski-jazik/
A letter from Aegean Macedonia from 1862: "Our people here do not know Bulgarian, but our Macedonian language"
I'll write to you more often, but I don't know Bulgarian, our people here don't know Bulgarian - a letter from Enidzhe Vardar on September 10, 1862.
The language of the Macedonians in Aegean Macedonia was not Bulgarian, but Macedonian, or as stated in the original „Мачедонски език“.
- Poruka
- 14.806
Makedonci nisu Srbi , ali za 20 godina pola ce da ih pobegne u Srbiju a pola u Bugarsku, a tu teritoriju,
ce preuzeti Siptari, i mozda koji milion migranata, ako mi budemo pametni pa podignemo ogradu kao Madjari,
inace mogu da zavrse i kod nas.
Ko hoce povratak u 15 vek , neka podrzi to.
ce preuzeti Siptari, i mozda koji milion migranata, ako mi budemo pametni pa podignemo ogradu kao Madjari,
inace mogu da zavrse i kod nas.
Ko hoce povratak u 15 vek , neka podrzi to.
Gledston
Aktivan član
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Битно је само вратити се у време пре Берлинског конгреса...
URL:
http://www.ekathimerini.com/235622/...urity-or-genetic-mirage-the-case-of-macedonia
HELEN ABADZI
Ancestral purity or genetic mirage? The case of Macedonia
The year 2018 has transformed relations between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia (RoM). The Prespes agreement, signed on June 12, attempts to resolve the Macedonia name dispute, so that Greece will permit RoM entry to the European Union and to NATO. It was followed by a vote by the RoM Parliament on September 30 to change its name to “North Macedonia.” Direct flights between the two capitals started on November 1.
The Yugoslavian state of Macedonia became independent in 1993. Greek governments have been opposed to the inclusion of the term “Macedonia” in the country’s name. They argue that its citizens are Slavs who speak a Bulgarian dialect, unlike the ancient Macedonians who were Greek and spoke a Greek dialect. Alexander the Great could not possibly be related to Slavs, who moved to the region in the 6th century AD.
The moves to solve the impasse have been met with resistance in both countries. RoM is informally called Macedonia, and its citizens resent the change of name. Nationalist sentiments are fueled by an onslaught of fake and distorted news, aimed at stoking mutual anger and distrust. The drums of war are rolling, and some Greeks could try to defend their besmirched honor in the abducted name of Macedonia, as if the region were Helen of Troy.
But what if Helen were a mirage? The ancient playwright Euripides developed the scenario that “Eleni” had never been in Troy; the gods had placed an idol in her place. The famous Nobelist George Seferis used the metaphor to argue that thousands of people died fighting for an “empty shirt.”
The metaphor is again apt. The spoiler gods are the DNA codes of the inhabitants. They ride on a chariot of genomics, a biology branch aimed at decoding the human genome and its variations. And they dispel myths of ancestral purity and direct descendance from glorious men. This is story that emerges.
Homo sapiens settled Europe in about three migration waves. The first wave came from Africa about 43,000 years ago; the men were hunters and the women were gatherers of plants. They were gradually displaced or absorbed by a second migration, 9,000 years ago, that came from the Near East. These Neolithic-age settlers were farmers with families who merged with the first wave.
About 5,000 years ago, a third migration wave originated from the Caucasus Mountains. Perhaps 90 percent of the migrants were men, who were herders and rode horses. They were warlike and bred with local women, either by force or by choice. They mainly spoke Indo-European languages that morphed into Greek, Illyrian, Thracian, Phrygian and others. In Macedonia and Epirus these tribes settled near each other and intermarried. According to ancient historians (Strabo), many residents were bilingual in the 4th century BC.
Philip II and his son, Alexander the Great, descended from mixed families and also married non-Greek women. Contemporary RoM was inhabited mainly by Paionians, who allied themselves with Athens and were militarily subjugated by Philip. Paionians seem to have become eventually Roman citizens. (A 5th century AD Paionian resident wrote in Greek.) Furthermore the borders of an entity called “Macedonia” changed multiple times over the centuries.
Tribal migrations continued for the next 1,500 years or so, bringing Germans, Slavs and ultimately Turks to Europe. Like the earlier Indo-Europeans, the Slavs were numerous and fought hard, so they appear to have been mainly males. Research from Poland and elsewhere suggests that Slavs married local women, whose maternal lineage descended from the second migration wave. So on one hand, the male Macedonians of the 4th BC century may be only remotely related to the male Slavs of the 6th century AD. But on the other, the mothers of both ethnicities have been largely in Europe since the Neolithic era. Women may have changed ethnicity, language and religion, but the mitochondrial DNA points to the origin.
More research is under way, but existing DNA analyses show similar distributions of haplogroups in Greece and RoM. Thus it can be roughly stated that Greek and RoM citizens are closely related at least on the maternal side.
Furthermore, a lack of relationship is impossible, even on the paternal side. The earth around the start of the Common Era numbered perhaps 300 million humans, and today’s 8 billion descend from them. In fact mathematical ancestry estimates suggest common ancestors for entire countries. Thus, it seems genetically impossible to distinguish Greek Macedonians from Slavic Macedonians.
So the belief that ancient Macedonia was exclusively Greek is a mirage. In their most glorious moments, the Macedonian men and women shared the space with Illyrians, Paionians, Thracians, Celts, Phrygians and others. And surely many of them spoke the languages of their neighbors and relatives.
Science changes the discourse about Macedonia. Can the two sides use it to overcome folk beliefs? There are huge political and environmental issues that must be jointly tackled. If globalist Alexander were alive, he might advise both sides to ignore provocations and the empty shirt of racial purity. Probably everyone born in the region shares ancestors with him. Greece and North Macedonia can best honor him by forming a lasting alliance.
Helen Abadzi is a Greek educational psychologist and an employee of the World Bank. This essay represents the author’s views.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/235622/...urity-or-genetic-mirage-the-case-of-macedonia
HELEN ABADZI
Ancestral purity or genetic mirage? The case of Macedonia
The year 2018 has transformed relations between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia (RoM). The Prespes agreement, signed on June 12, attempts to resolve the Macedonia name dispute, so that Greece will permit RoM entry to the European Union and to NATO. It was followed by a vote by the RoM Parliament on September 30 to change its name to “North Macedonia.” Direct flights between the two capitals started on November 1.
The Yugoslavian state of Macedonia became independent in 1993. Greek governments have been opposed to the inclusion of the term “Macedonia” in the country’s name. They argue that its citizens are Slavs who speak a Bulgarian dialect, unlike the ancient Macedonians who were Greek and spoke a Greek dialect. Alexander the Great could not possibly be related to Slavs, who moved to the region in the 6th century AD.
The moves to solve the impasse have been met with resistance in both countries. RoM is informally called Macedonia, and its citizens resent the change of name. Nationalist sentiments are fueled by an onslaught of fake and distorted news, aimed at stoking mutual anger and distrust. The drums of war are rolling, and some Greeks could try to defend their besmirched honor in the abducted name of Macedonia, as if the region were Helen of Troy.
But what if Helen were a mirage? The ancient playwright Euripides developed the scenario that “Eleni” had never been in Troy; the gods had placed an idol in her place. The famous Nobelist George Seferis used the metaphor to argue that thousands of people died fighting for an “empty shirt.”
The metaphor is again apt. The spoiler gods are the DNA codes of the inhabitants. They ride on a chariot of genomics, a biology branch aimed at decoding the human genome and its variations. And they dispel myths of ancestral purity and direct descendance from glorious men. This is story that emerges.
Homo sapiens settled Europe in about three migration waves. The first wave came from Africa about 43,000 years ago; the men were hunters and the women were gatherers of plants. They were gradually displaced or absorbed by a second migration, 9,000 years ago, that came from the Near East. These Neolithic-age settlers were farmers with families who merged with the first wave.
About 5,000 years ago, a third migration wave originated from the Caucasus Mountains. Perhaps 90 percent of the migrants were men, who were herders and rode horses. They were warlike and bred with local women, either by force or by choice. They mainly spoke Indo-European languages that morphed into Greek, Illyrian, Thracian, Phrygian and others. In Macedonia and Epirus these tribes settled near each other and intermarried. According to ancient historians (Strabo), many residents were bilingual in the 4th century BC.
Philip II and his son, Alexander the Great, descended from mixed families and also married non-Greek women. Contemporary RoM was inhabited mainly by Paionians, who allied themselves with Athens and were militarily subjugated by Philip. Paionians seem to have become eventually Roman citizens. (A 5th century AD Paionian resident wrote in Greek.) Furthermore the borders of an entity called “Macedonia” changed multiple times over the centuries.
Tribal migrations continued for the next 1,500 years or so, bringing Germans, Slavs and ultimately Turks to Europe. Like the earlier Indo-Europeans, the Slavs were numerous and fought hard, so they appear to have been mainly males. Research from Poland and elsewhere suggests that Slavs married local women, whose maternal lineage descended from the second migration wave. So on one hand, the male Macedonians of the 4th BC century may be only remotely related to the male Slavs of the 6th century AD. But on the other, the mothers of both ethnicities have been largely in Europe since the Neolithic era. Women may have changed ethnicity, language and religion, but the mitochondrial DNA points to the origin.
More research is under way, but existing DNA analyses show similar distributions of haplogroups in Greece and RoM. Thus it can be roughly stated that Greek and RoM citizens are closely related at least on the maternal side.
Furthermore, a lack of relationship is impossible, even on the paternal side. The earth around the start of the Common Era numbered perhaps 300 million humans, and today’s 8 billion descend from them. In fact mathematical ancestry estimates suggest common ancestors for entire countries. Thus, it seems genetically impossible to distinguish Greek Macedonians from Slavic Macedonians.
So the belief that ancient Macedonia was exclusively Greek is a mirage. In their most glorious moments, the Macedonian men and women shared the space with Illyrians, Paionians, Thracians, Celts, Phrygians and others. And surely many of them spoke the languages of their neighbors and relatives.
Science changes the discourse about Macedonia. Can the two sides use it to overcome folk beliefs? There are huge political and environmental issues that must be jointly tackled. If globalist Alexander were alive, he might advise both sides to ignore provocations and the empty shirt of racial purity. Probably everyone born in the region shares ancestors with him. Greece and North Macedonia can best honor him by forming a lasting alliance.
Helen Abadzi is a Greek educational psychologist and an employee of the World Bank. This essay represents the author’s views.
A traditional Slavic Macedonian song from the region of Edessa in North-Western Greece. At this project: Vocals | Chrysoula Papadopoulou, Maria Angeli, Aspassia Anagnostopoulou, Zografia Karekou, Valia Tsirigoti Violin | Claudia Rossini Davul, def | Myrto Alevizou Tambura | Chrysoula Papadopoulou Arrangement, recording, photo | Chrysoula Papadopoulou Homemade recordings, Athens 2019.
