From: michael.polymenakos@factory.com (Michael Polymenakos) 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.yugoslavia,soc.culture.greek,soc.culture.europe
Subject: Yellow journalism at its (notionalistic) best
Date: 27 Aug 92 23:26:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Invention Factory's BBS - New York City, NY - 212-274-1243v.32bis
Reply-To: michael.polymenakos@factory.com (Michael Polymenakos) 


SK>From: sk@groo.sunbim.be (Sasa Konecni)
SK>Parts from : THE NEW BULLY OF THE BALKANS for the benefit of
SK>the readers who can not access the original( a beautiful piece
SK>of professional journalism)

 Gimme a break.

SK> (Pictured A statue of Goddess with a machine-gun)

 Very professional. Very objective. Who publishes this rag, anyway? It
 seems to be the only publication that you are quoting from.

SK>ex-Yugoslav Macedonia, and the potentially catastrophic
SK>consequences of the EEC's destabilising policy towards it. But

 Oh yes. EEC, USA and the UN are walking toward an abyss, and only
 the wise leaders of Skopjie, Sasa and Mr. Malcolm know better.

SK>Greek state. The early Slav invasions, which reached far into
SK>Peloponnese and left settlements which spoke Slav well into
SK>the 15th century, are preferably ignored. So, too, are the

  Oh, and they all decided to forget Slav and learn Greek, all
  while under Turkish rule. Gimme a break.

SK>     In the early 19th century, the population of Athens was
SK>24% Albanian, 32% Turkish and only 44% Greek. In the early

  Yellow journalism at it's best. In the beginning of the 19th
  century, Athens was a village of a few hundred people. In
  such a situation every birth or death shifts the average. In any
  case, the Turks left with the population exchanges, and the
  Arvanites (not Albanians) are still living in the area.

SK>20th century, Salonica was 60% Spanish-Jewish, 18% Turkish and
SK>18% Greek. Things have changed since then.... But just

  Pre-1913. And since there were at least 4% armenians in Salonica
  in the early 20th century, that would leave 0% Slavs. And you have
  been saying things about a "slav minority in Salonica".

  Pre-1913, there were hundreds of thousands of Greeks living in Vardar.
  They are not there today, just as the Slavs of Macedonia are no
  longer in Macedonia. Reviving claims based on 80-year old figures
  is the main reason for the Greek concerns.

SK>to a proper Greek name; the choice they offered him was
SK>between "Pericles" and "Byron".[???]

   Byron is not even a Greek name. Are you telling me that Greece forced
   Slavs to become Englishmen?

SK>     The consequence (or rather, the basis) of this policies
SK>is that Greece is that rare thing, almost unknown in Europe, a
SK>country with no national minorities. They do not exist; the
SK>Greek government says so. For such a phenomenon to be found in

  That is why there are 2 to 4 Moslem delegates in the Greek parliament
  after every election, and there are Turkish language schools in
  Thrace where the Greek government pays $$ to buy and distribute
  the same books that are used in Turkey? That's why there is a higher
  persentage of turkish-speaking persons who know how to read and
  write in Greece than there is in Turkey?

SK>Greece is certainly not like other countries. Sitting at a
SK>cafe in a Slav village near Florina [Lerin], in northern
SK>Greece, surrounded by people talking in the Slav Macedonian

  Florina is 15Km from the border. Which side of the border is the
  village on? I suspect that he is talking about a village in Vardar
  near Florina. In any case, one village does not a numerous minority make.
  It is interesting that he does not name the village though. I really
  believe that he is playing games with distances (Ie Florina is in
  northern Greece, but the village discussed is not).

SK>>From "The Spectator" of 15th of August, 1992

SK>= Sasa Konecni                     e-mail: sk@sunbim.be           =


Michael.

---
 . SLMR 2.1a . Back Up My Hard Drive? I Can't Find The Reverse Switch!