Issue #14 April 2012 ISSN 1839-8707 MHR Review

ContentsContents Macedonian Human Rights Review no.14, published in April 2013 as a review of December 2012 to February 2013

pg32 3 An Appeal to the European Parliament for Equitable Treatment of the Republic of

6 A Declaration in Protest against the removal of the words: “in view of the non-recognition of the existence of the Pomak and Macedonian minori- ties,” from the Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly on the Post mon- itoring of Bulgaria.

9 Letter to The Hon. Brendan O’Connor MP, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship from David Vitkov

10 Letter to David Vitkov from Dermot Casey, Assistant Secretary, on behalf pg23 of The Hon. Brendan O’Connor MP

11 Talat Xhaferi: Macedonia’s New Defence Minister by Tom Vangelovski

13 The Secrets of ... the Map by George N. Papadakis

15 Who was Liberated in 1912? by Akis Gavrilidis

17 MHRMI and AMHRC Call for the Reinstatement of All Original Macedo- nian Names in Mala Prespa and Golo Brdo

19 BOOK LAUNCH: English Translation of THE GREEK ANTI- - PART 1 by Dimitris Lithoxou

22 Your Support For Macedonian Human Rights

23 The Argument from Numismatics (Argumentum Numismaticum) by Jim pg19 Thomev

29 The Novel Kalesh Angja by Stale Popov Reviewed by Dr. Michael Seraphinoff

32 Did Tito Invent the and Their Language? by Ivan Hristovski

35 Muzikorama’s Australian Tour

pg29

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Dear MEP, speech’. In fact, of course, the Macedonian An Appeal media reports, alongside the reports and We, as representatives acting on behalf of findings of these other bodies, are about to the European members of the Macedonian communities, trying to end Greek and Bulgarian anti- whose very existence is denied and actively Macedonian intolerance. Parliament for negated by the authorities in and Bulgaria, wish to express our deep dissatis- The demands of Greek and Bulgarian faction with a significant number of the MEPs aiming to interfere with the way Equitable amendments proposed by the Greek and Macedonian history is taught are based on Bulgarian MEPs, in regard to the progress sheer nonsense and essentially involve an Treatment of report on the Republic of Macedonia – a attempt to truncate academic/scholarly free- country which the EU does not even have dom and ultimately, freedom of thought and the Republic of the decency to refer to by its official and speech – this is something that is unaccepta- ble from any EU member. It involves the democratically chosen name. ridiculous assertion that to teach that Mace- Macedonia Our disappointment is based, more than donians have a past, involves “stealing his- anything else, on the fact that the nature of tory” and even asserting that Macedonians the proposed amendments promotes a poli- exist, is viewed as some sort of tics of negation, not only of the Macedonian ‘provocation’. Yet we now have a situation minorities in Greece and Bulgaria, but of the where two EU member countries are actual- Macedonian nation itself. At the same time, ly attempting, via the European Parliament, all of that practically amounts to a negation to impose this draconian form of censorship of what are supposed to be core values of on another European nation. the new Europe – inclusiveness, tolerance, respect for diversity and in particular, re- Once again, it is crucial to note here, that in spect for people’s ethnic and national identi- the official historiographies of Greece and ty. Bulgaria, students are taught that the Mace- donian nation does not exist and that its his- Below the surface of demands for the Re- tory actually belongs to Greece and Bulgar- public of Macedonia to work for ‘good ia. That really is teaching to hate! neighbourly relations’, there is a destructive nationalism – as those who are making the Bulgarian parliamentarians, ministers and demands are representatives of countries, high state functionaries permit themselves to Greece and Bulgaria, which are refusing to use the most offensive epithets in relation to reciprocate. We need to remind you that members of Bulgaria’s Macedonian minori- these countries and their European repre- ty (and indeed the whole Macedonian na- sentatives are the ones refusing to recognise tion) – like “traitors”, “national traitors” etc, the existence of a Macedonian nation, lan- simply because we identify as Bulgarian guage and the Macedonian minorities resid- citizens with a Macedonian ethnic identity. ing in their countries – even though they And now Bulgarian MEPs, who should be have been found guilty of violating the defending our rights as Bulgarian citizens, rights of their Macedonian minorities by the are abusing their position of power, by at- European Court of Human Rights. tempting, with the aid of the European Un- ion, to serve their national prejudices which The Media, Hate Speech, History and involve a denial of the existence of a Mace- donian nation, by making Macedonia’s par- Good Neighbourly Relations tial acceptance of them as the conditional One cannot rightly regard Macedonian basis for Macedonia’s European integration. news media reports about the mistreatment Similar abusive language is used by Greek of the Macedonian minorities in Greece and politicians and especially by members of Bulgaria, as examples of ‘hate speech’. Greece’s neo-NAZI “Golden Dawn” party, Moreover, if one consults a series of find- which took 18 seats at the last national elec- ings and statements made against Greece tions held in Greece. and Bulgaria, by the European Court of Hu- man Rights; the Commissioner for Human It is no accident that there are no essential Rights; various bodies connected to the differences in the amendments from the Council of Europe, the UN and various ultra-nationalistic circles of “ATAKA” and NGO’s, one would also have to regard these the other Bulgarian representatives, as in bodies as responsible for spreading ‘hate Bulgaria, there is a mainstream anti-

Macedonian consensus. Thus the prob- to freely decide on whether to be treated in and Bulgarian MEPs, are based not on a lems at hand will not be found in the Re- such a manner or not” and according to concern for the advancement of democra- public of Macedonia, but rather in Greece that, to the extent that members of a minor- cy, the rights of individuals or minorities, and Bulgaria, states which refuse to accept ity do not want to be treated in such a man- but rather, on the promotion of nationalistic our existence and ‘naturally’, this is what ner, the state is then not in a position to political goals to be achieved at the ex- causes difficulties in the maintenance of force such a status upon the group in ques- pense of a much smaller and weaker ‘good neighbourly relations’. tion, nor can somebody else seek such a neighbour. status on its behalf. Thus, in the absence of A Macedonian political party in Bulgaria a request before the Macedonian govern- We believe that Greece and Bulgaria, as and a number of Macedonian organisa- ment by those possessing a Bulgarian eth- members of the EU, should be leading by tions in both Greece and Bulgaria, have nic identity, it is not possible for other insti- example in respecting the rights of their been attempting to obtain official registra- minorities. Yet, despite a myriad of at- tutions, like the EU, to intervene. tion for around two decades and still have tempts to gain official recognition, Greece not been registered in spite of a series of If those citizens of the Republic of Mace- and Bulgaria refuse to recognise our exist- findings in favour of their registration by donia possessing a Bulgarian ethnic con- ence. Both countries actively and officially the European Court of Human Rights. sciousness pursue official minority status deny our existence and have refused to from the Macedonian government and if it implement the Framework Convention in Yet Bulgaria and Greece have the audacity follows that their application is rejected, relation to our and other minorities. In fact to carry on as if they possess some sort of then EU intervention would be appropriate Greece refuses to recognise the existence moral high ground when they seek to order and even we would seek to support such of any ethnic minorities residing within its a neighbouring sovereign nation state to an intervention, as our organisations are borders and absolutely refuses to ratify the change its name – that is, when they are fundamentally based on the protection of Framework Convention. And while Bul- seeking to take away its rights to self- human and in particular, minority rights. garia has officially ratified the Convention, identification, sovereignty and to impose

The demands of Greek and Bulgarian MEPs aiming to interfere with the way Macedonian history is taught are based on sheer nonsense and essentially involve an attempt to truncate academic/scholarly freedom and ultimately, freedom of thought and speech – this is something that is unacceptable from any EU member.

However, this has not occurred. Rather, we it does not apply it to all minorities and the censorship on its society by taking away its have the Bulgarian state presuming, with- country’s foreign minister regularly makes rights to freedom of speech, thought and out first asking their permission, to speak public claims asserting that Bulgaria has no even the right to erect historical monu- on behalf of Macedonian citizens and in minorities. Moreover, at the request of Bul- ments of its own choosing etc. The implicit actuality, the essence of the matter involves garian representatives, on the 22nd of Janu- meaning of all this is that Macedonians are the Bulgarian state pretending to represent ary 2013, two minorities were actually something less than human – and indeed, Macedonian citizens who have obtained erased from the PACE Resolution on Post how else can one justify the taking away of Bulgarian passports, in order to gain the Monitoring Dialogue with Bulgaria – the these basic human rights!? benefits, especially employment opportu- erased groups were the Macedonians and Good neighbourly relations need to be nities, of EU membership. the Pomaks. based on mutual respect and equality of Thus this is a case of Bulgaria utilising the While it might be convenient for Bulgarian treatment, as is required by the current ba- economic hardships of Macedonian citi- and Greek MEPs to express concern for ses of European values and not on the basis zens, for the purpose of executing an ag- human rights matters located beyond the of the misuse of power to impose one’s gressive nationalistic policy against its borders of their respective states, we call nationalistic will over a small and weak neighbour – so much for ‘good neighbour- upon them to do right by the minorities neighbour. ly relations’. inhabiting their own countries, by appeal- It is to be understood that we respect the ing to their own governments to finally rights of all minorities seeking recognition. The Irrelevance of and the Nationalistic recognise their existence. It is time for However, those rights need to be pursued Hubris contained in many of the Greek these Greek and Bulgarian MEPs to ex- in a manner made clear by the and Bulgarian MEP Proposals press concern for us, for we are citizens “Framework Convention”, in article 3.1 and voters from the countries they repre- The majority of the abnormally large num- sent! How absurd it is for representatives which states: “That every individual be- ber of amendments proposed by the Greek longing to a national minority has the right of countries that actively negate our exist-

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ence to express concern about the rights of lead to new causes of instability in the Bal- and EFA-Rainbow/Vinozhito, minorities in other countries! kans and perhaps even new attempts to forcefully change national borders. Co-presidents of OMO “linden”- PI- There has been but one case in Macedonia RIN: Stojko Stojkov, Angel Bezev, Ivan of the non-registration of a Bulgarian asso- It is simply unacceptable for Europe to Singartijski, Botyo Vangelov, Krum ciation, which the EHCR found to be a seriously consider acting against its own Filatov. violation – and we in principle support the interests by placing conditions upon Mace- The Political Secretariat of EFA- registration of this body, in spite of serious donia that require it to undermine basic Rainbow/Vinozhito: Pavle Filipov Vos- concerns about its public promotion of freedoms like the rights to self- kopoulos, Dimitri Ioannou. notions which regard the Macedonian na- determination/identification, freedom of (This letter was distributed among EU tion to be “... a cancer (parasitic muta- academic research, freedom of speech etc. parliamentarians throughout February tion) ... these parasites ... are eating the The European Parliament needs to tell its and March 2013. Translated from Mace- organism [of the Bulgarian nation] ... the donian by George Vlahov of the AM- only way to stop the spread of the cancer is Bulgarian and Greek members that EU membership cannot be a tool for the imple- HRC.) timely surgical intervention with the aim of physically removing it..." (From an official mentation of their intolerant nationalistic desires and they should be reprimanded for OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN is a political party programmatic statement by the association supporting the rights of the Macedonian in question: Radko Program issued 5 July not recognizing their Macedonian minori- ties. minority in Bulgaria. It has been banned 2009, http://www.radkomk.com/ since 2000, despite a 2005 European Court PROGRAMA.pdf). The following proposed amendments, of Human Rights Judgement ruling that And for all that it needs to be pointed that should be viewed in the context of the in- the decision was a violation of the Europe- our situation in Bulgaria is not remotely formation we have presented in this letter, an Convention on Human Rights. For comparable to that of the Bulgarians in no’s: 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 29, 37, more information please visit Macedonia, whose existence in Macedo- 42,72, 73, 75, 77, 82, 84, 88, 120, 149, 167, www.omoilindenpirin.org. nia, is not negated. All minorities in Mace- 182, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 194, 200, donia are officially recognised and free to 201, 202 and thereby rejected. The European Free Alliance – Rainbow/ express their existence in Macedonian cen- In Conclusion Vinozhito is a political party struggling for suses – unlike the censuses held in Greece 1. Under the guise of seeking ‘good neigh- the rights and recognition of the Macedoni- and Bulgaria. Minorities in Macedonia bourly relations’ and ‘preventing hate an minority in Greece. The party has offic- have rights accorded to them that Greece speech’, Bulgarian and Greek nationalism es in Florina/Lerin and Edessa/Voden. For and Bulgaria’s UNRECOGNISED minor- have launched a new attack against Mace- more information please visit ities can only dream about. donian identity and against freedom of www.vinozito.gr, or by email: vi- [email protected] or on +30 23850 46548. Furthermore, in Bulgaria and Greece there speech, of the media and of academic re- are over a dozen Macedonian associations search. which remain unregistered and decisions, 2. Acceptance of the amendments in ques- in some cases made over a decade ago by tion, will impose upon Macedonia, a series the ECHR ordering the registration of of anti-democratic conditions, in addition these bodies have not been implemented – to the already existing EU refusal to re- and we are supposed to be European citi- spect the Republic of Macedonia’s official zens! self-chosen name. In the long term, this We implore all of you, to check our asser- will lead to a further destabilization of the tions for yourselves, ask your Greek and Balkans. Bulgarian colleagues if their respective 3. The coordinated actions of the Greek countries officially recognise the existence and Bulgarian MEPs are designed to ne- of their Macedonian minorities. gate the national identity of Macedonians As European citizens we appeal to the Eu- everywhere, including the Macedonian ropean Parliament to treat Macedonia equi- minorities inhabiting those countries. tably and with the respect it would afford 4. Even though we are European citizens, to any sovereign nation. Anything less will our existence remains unrecognized and compromise the fundamental basis of Eu- indeed, Greece and Bulgaria actively work rope as inclusive and as focused on the to negate our existence and we appeal to protection of democracy and human rights. the European Parliament to finally put an These attempts to undermine the basis of end to this abuse. our Macedonian identity and thereby our actual existence and dignity, are an embar- Respectfully and sincerely, the political rassment to Europe and if accepted, will secretariats of OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN

A Declaration in Protest against the removal of the words: “in view of the non-recognition of the existence of the Pomak and Macedonian minorities,” from the Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly on the Post monitoring of Bulgaria.

2 March 2013 2000; by the local court of Sofia in 2007; cerned with protecting the rights of Mace- and by other lower level courts, for exam- donians in Bulgaria. In the name of the organizations of the ple between 2008 – 2010; by ministers and Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, we ex- other authorities. In practice, from 1963 until the present, the press our enormous disappointment and position of the Bulgarian dictator, Todor shock at the removal of our minority from B) By the refusal to introduce a category Zhivkov: “that Bulgaria has no Macedoni- the final resolution. We are shocked, as the for Macedonians in Bulgarian censuses an minority and nor is it possible for it to problems facing our minority and its nega- and the rejection of all proposals to intro- have one”, has remained in force. tion in Bulgaria, are registered in numerous duce such a category, with the argument that such an ethnic group “does not exist”. II. Thus the removal of our minority from acts in the Council of Europe; in the reports the text will not contribute in the least to an of ECRI and by the Commission for Moni- In relation to that, we mention the example of the removal from their posts in 2010, advance in our rights, rather, it will be used toring the Framework Convention, over as a means to further discriminate against the course of the last 13 years; in many five public servants in the National Statisti- cal Institute, because they permitted the us and it will serve to embolden our nega- statements by the Commissioner for Hu- tion. In other words, the request of the Bul- man Rights; and was also the subject of creation of categories for “non-existent ethnicities”, especially Macedonians, in the garian representative was motivated by a nine court hearings at the ECtHR, in desire to serve the politics of negation. which, dozens of incidents of the negation draft census. of the rights of members of the Macedoni- C) By refusing to accept the operation of III. The assertion that there exist “several an minority of Bulgaria were recorded. the Framework Convention in relation to registered entities – NGO’s of people who Macedonians. identify themselves as Macedonians” is In this context, it was entirely logical to quite cynical – our organizations are not include the sentence quoted in the heading D) There is not one political party in exist- registered, even though some of them have at the beginning of this declaration, in the ence which recognizes the existence of our been struggling to become registered for PACE resolution. We have no objections minority or that is concerned about defend- more than 20 years. In fact, they are com- to the text devoted to minorities in the reso- ing the rights of our minority. Moreover, pelled to operate as unregistered bodies, lution, though we categorically protest attempts to register such parties have been with all the limitations that imposes upon against the removal of our minority and rejected. Two such parties have attempted them. And the reason for their non- also against the cynical and manipulative registration over the last 13 years and regis- registration, according to the Bulgarian arguments which were employed in favour tration was refused precisely because of courts, is that the Macedonian minority of the removal of the Macedonian minori- their stance on Macedonians – OMO PI- “does not exist”, and therefore, on that ba- ty. RIN and OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN. Registra- sis, there cannot be any such organizations. tion laws have been changed on multiple It is because we believe the delegates were IV. The argument in support of official non manipulated into approving the final form occasions in order to prevent the registra- tion of these parties. In this regard, a further -recognition, that there is no systemic bu- of the resolution, that we present this re- reaucratic machinery available to enable sponse. change to the laws is being contemplated by the Bulgarian parliament at present. recognition, is not acceptable. There is no I. Official recognition of the Macedonian need for any special processes in relation to minority in Bulgaria is necessary because E) The negation of our existence is not the recognition of a minority, all that is Bulgaria implements an official politics of treated as hate speech, no legal action has needed is good will and concrete positive negation and denial, which manifests itself been taken by the state against anyone who actions. The question relating systemic has engaged in public denial of our exist- matters would become applicable once all in the following ways: ence. Rather, such negations are readily Bulgarian institutions recognize our exist- A) Our existence has been denied by the accepted and we have been the object of ence, for the practical management of Bulgarian parliament, with an official dec- public condemnation for our choice of those rights emanating from the fact of our laration in 1990; by Bulgarian Presidents, identity. Indeed, our self-identification is recognition. via official public statements made to the treated as treason and alike. media; by the Constitutional Court in V. The assertion that everyone in Bulgaria F) Via the refusal to register NGO’s con- is free to express their ethnic affinity is not

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practically true. In Bulgaria there are no for minorities in Bulgaria. Macedonian Christian Brotherhood “St. official documents containing categories Prokorok Iliya” (Mr. Emil Eftimov) for ethnic affiliation. In the census, catego- VII. We believe that special attention ries for Macedonians and for most other needs to be given to the question about the KPD “Nikola Vaptsarov” (Mr. Damian minorities do not exist. The declarations of apparent existence of an official list of rec- Rizakov) ognized minorities, in relation to which the people presenting themselves as Macedo- KPD “Ilinden” (Mr. Krum Filatov) nian are not accepted; they are treated as Bulgarian state implements the Frame- hostile and are used as a reason to discrimi- work Convention. For, if such a list truly Macedonian Club for Ethnic Tolerance nate against such people. exists, then it will evidently confirm the (Mr. Angel Radonov) official non-recognition of the remaining VI. The recognition of Macedonians can not listed minorities. If such a list exists, Bulletin “Macedonian Voice” (Mr. Iliya easily be achieved in the following man- then it is necessary for it to be publically Delilakiev) revealed and annulled or be made legiti- ner: (Translated from Macedonian to Eng- mate by adding the minorities not presently a) An official declaration by the govern- on it. lish by George Vlahov of the AMHRC.) ment stating that it recognizes our exist- ence. Respectfully, b) An acceptance of the Framework Con- OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN (Mr. Stoyko Stoy- vention in relation to our minority. kov) c) The introduction of a category for Mac- The newspaper “People’s Will” (Mr. edonians in the next census. Georgi Hristov) d) The treatment of the negation of our TMO (Independent) “Ilinden” (Mr. Georgi minority as hate speech. Solunski)

e) The acceptance of a representative of The Association of Repressed Macedoni- Stojko Stojkov our minority in the relevant commission ans in Bulgaria (Mr. Stoyan Gerasimov)

9

The Hon. Brendan O’Connor MP 12 February 2013 Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

Dear Minister,

Reported upcoming visit to Australia of neo-Nazi “Golden Dawn” delegation

It has come to our attention that the Greek neo-Nazi political party “Golden Dawn” is planning to send a delegation to Australia to “open up an Australian office”. This disturbing news has been circulating in the Australian-Greek media, including the English edition of the Neos Kosmos newspaper (please see: http://neoskosmos.com/news/en/uproar-as-golden-dawn-set-to-open-australian-office).

As you may be aware, at present, the Golden Dawn political party has no less than 18 members in the Greek Parliament. The party preaches an openly “neo-Nazi” platform, promoting the supremacy of the Greek nation and hatred of others. According to a report sub- mitted by the Greek Helsinki Monitor (an based human rights organisation) to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racism and Discrimination (UN CERD), Golden Dawn is “openly neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic, racist and white supremacist and have been involved in many violent incidents against migrants, Macedonians ... as well as in desecration of Jewish monuments.” In the Greek Parliament, MPs belonging to the Golden Dawn party openly and frequently refer to Macedonians as “Gypsy-Skopians” (a disgusting term of abuse) and call for the destruction of the Macedonian state.

While such manifestations of intolerance and racism may be acceptable to Golden Dawn supporters and more widely to certain ele- ments within Greek society itself, they have absolutely no place in Australian society.

Minister, as you are aware, you have the statutory power under Section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 to refuse entry into Australia of persons who do not meet the character test as defined in the Act. We strongly believe that no sitting MP in the Greek Parliament belong- ing to Golden Dawn party or any office bearer of the Golden Dawn party would meet the character test requirements as defined in sub- section (6) of Section 501.

Namely, we believe that there is strong evidence to support the view that in the event that any such person as described above were al- lowed to enter or remain in Australia, they would:

(iii) vilify a segment of the Australian community; or (iv) incite discord in the Australian community or in a segment of that community; or (v) represent a danger to the Australian community or to a segment of that community, whether by way of being liable to become in- volved in activities that are disruptive to, or in violence threatening harm to, that community or segment, or in any other way.

Minister, bearing in mind that Greek passport holders can apply to enter Australia using the convenient online eVisitor system, we urge you to take preventative steps to identify potential visitors to Australia from the Golden Dawn party, so as to ensure that they are do not slip through the system and enter Australia.

Given that the media reports indicated an upcoming visit “soon” to Australia by Golden Dawn, we request that you to deal with this is- sue as a matter of urgency.

Yours sincerely,

David Vitkov Executive Member Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee Inc.

11 Talat Xhaferi: Macedonia’s New Defence Minister By Tom Vangelovski

Talat Xhaferi, a former commander of the counter protests the following day, also argued that because Xhaferi deserted the extremist Albanian National Liberation clashing with riot police, damaging police Macedonian army and fought against it, he Army (NLA) that instigated an armed at- cars and private vehicles, and burning bus- is unfit to lead the Ministry of Defence. tack against the Macedonian state in 2001, es. Sporadic clashes between Macedonians Further, it was Xhaferi that led Albanian was appointed as the new Macedonian and Albanians have ensued throughout the opposition to a Bill before the Macedonian Defence Minister on 18 February 2013. city since then, with 22 people injured Parliament that sought to provide state ben- The appointment was part of a reshuffle of (including 13 police officers) and 19 arrest- efits for police and military veterans of the Albanian Ministers within the Govern- ed. All major political parties have custom- 2001 war. Xhaferi made a mockery of the ment, resulting from several resignations of arily condemned the violence, each blam- process by submitting over 15,000 amend- Ministers who ran as mayoral candidates ing their opponents for ‘manipulating’ the ments and either remaining silent or recit- in the March 2013 local elections.1 situation for political purposes, but none ing poetry and other irrelevant material for managing to provide any actual details. hours on end during Parliamentary de- Xhaferi was an officer in the Yugoslav bates. army (JNA) from 1985 to 1991, and then While it caused outrage within the Mace- became an officer in the Macedonian army donian community, particularly amongst In response to Xhaferi’s appointment, Dos- (ARM) from 1992 to 2001.2 When the police and army veterans of the 2001 war, toinstvo has announced that it will collect 2001 war began, Xhaferi, like many other the appointment was not a surprise. Both 150,000 signatures needed to support a Albanian police and military personnel, SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE have led referendum on Xhaferi’s appointment.7 deserted the army and joined the NLA. governing coalitions with DUI, reconstitut- However, there have been conflicting re- Few details are available about Xhaferi’s ed out of the NLA. SDSM and VMRO- ports about this initiative, with some sug- actual role during the war, but it is under- DPMNE have both included senior DUI gesting that it will actually be targeted at stood that he was the commanding officer officials within the Government and have the Amnesty Law.8 As usual, nothing is of the NLA’s 116th Brigade, which was placed them in charge of key Ministries. In certain and rumours abound. Even so, stationed in the mountains surrounding fact, Talat Xhaferi was previously a mem- some local analysts have criticised the . Few, if any, actual clashes took ber of the Parliamentary Committee on move by Dostoinstvo, suggesting that it place in this region and reports suggest that Defence and Security4 and Deputy Minis- could provoke counter referendums.9 as few as 50 NLA combatants were actual- ter for Defence from 2004 to 2006 under These analysts, however, fail to explain ly present in the area.3 As such, it is unlike- the former Prime Minister, Vlado what these counter referendums might ly that Xhaferi or the 116th Brigade actual- Buckovski (SDSM).5 target and how they would succeed, con- ly engaged in combat, and claims from sidering the Macedonian majority. Others Xhaferi that he did are most likely to be While there was no opposition to his previ- (assuming that the proposed referendum political posturing aimed at his constituen- ous appointments, his latest has aroused will target the Amnesty Law) have noted cy. Macedonian sensitivities. Stojance Ange- that the Law on Referendums specifically lov, leader of Dostoinstvo (representing prohibits a referendum on the Amnesty Violent protests erupted in soon police and military veterans from 2001), is Law.10 Angelov is reported to have re- after the announcement of Xhaferi’s ap- particularly incensed at the appointment of sponded that Dostoinstvo is not seeking to pointment. Macedonians clashed with riot Xhaferi, denouncing it as a ‘humiliating 6 annul the entire Act, but rather one clause police, while Albanians responded with act’ and a ‘national catastrophe’. He has within it, without clarifying which.11 Re-

gardless, it is unclear whether such a refer- now senior DUI officials including party 4 Sobranie na Republika Makedonija, endum would be possible and, even if it is, leader Ali Ahmeti, are suspected of com- Committee on Defence and Security whether the Macedonian community has mitting acts of terrorism and war crimes 2008-2011, http://www.sobranie.mk/ the will to challenge the government and during the conflict. In addition, some of en/default-en.asp? the Albanian community on these issues. DUI’s Parliamentary representatives, such Item- as Xhevat Ademi, continue to be listed on ID=5D3D202E3CAF3F49B654D665 Further controversy has also been sparked the United States’ Specially Designated D0A402C5 (accessed 27 February by the discovery that Xhaferi has a crimi- Nationals List (SDN) which includes indi- 2013). nal record, due to an incident that occurred viduals who are guilty or suspected of in- 5 in 2008 when he prevented a policeman volvement in terrorism and war crimes.16 Sobranie na Republika Makedonija, from carrying out his official duties in Te- Predlog za izbor na clenovi na 12 None have been prosecuted as they have tovo. Xhaferi was convicted of obstruct- all received amnesty from the Macedonian Vladata na Republika Makedonija ing a policeman on 14 October 2010 and Government. (Celosen Text Na Matrijalot). received a six month suspended sentence, 6 conditional on not committing another The latest events have certainly raised a S. Marusic, “New Defence Minister offence within the next two years. Xhaferi number of moral questions about Macedo- Outrages Macedonian Veterans”, appealed this sentence, only to have the nian public life and positions of trust. How Balkan Transitional Justice, 20 Feb- Court of Appeals in Gostivar dismiss his is it that an armed extremist group that ruary 2013 13 plea and confirm the original verdict. used violence to pursue its political agenda 7 S. Marusic, “Macedonian Veterans can be awarded political legitimacy and Seek Referendum to Oust Defence Meanwhile, VMRO-DPMNE has come become an acceptable governing coalition under criticism in relation to Xhaferi’s con- Minister”, Balkan Transitional Jus- partner? How is it that one of its officials, tice, 26 February 2013. viction and what is seen as a double stand- who deserted the lawfully constituted mili- 8 ard. In May 2008, Minister of Interior (and tary in order to join an extremist group be Nova Makedonija, Referendum za police) Gordana Jankulovska, named an acceptable individual for such a sensi- meguetnicki temi e odenje po zica, 6 Xhaferi as responsible for serious incidents tive role as Defence Minister? Finally, how March 2012. in related to the Parliamentary elec- can an individual who has been convicted 9 ibid. tions. She is also quoted as claiming that of a criminal offence be appointed to a “Xhaferi threatened police officers and the position of trust within the highest levels of 10 ibid. See also Zakon za Referendum deputy commander of the police station in 14 government? I Drugi Oblici na Neposredno Grupcin with liquidation”. This is a very izjasnuvanje na Gragjanite Br. 81 serious accusation and yet the governing Ultimately, it is unlikely that much will 2005, Clause 28, Paragraph 1. party has promoted him to one of the high- change in Macedonian politics with Xhaf- est positions in government and placed eri as Defence Minister. DUI will continue 11 Nova Makedonija, Referendum za him in charge of the states’ most powerful to use the Framework Agreement to pur- meguetnicki temi e odenje po zica. security service. sue its policies of political and cultural Al- 12 banianisation in Albanian populated areas S. Dimovski, “Macedonian De- Considering the relative calm over the ap- and gaining as much political and institu- fence Minister Has Criminal Rec- pointment of , it seems that tional control within the central govern- ord”, Balkan Transitional Justice, 7 Xhaferi’s predecessor was a much more ment as possible. For Macedonia, it’s busi- March 2013. palatable choice for Dostoinstvo and the ness as usual. 13 Macedonian community more widely. ibid. Some suggest this is because he took no ______14 ibid. active participation in the 2001 conflict, 1 15 even though he was no stranger to contro- S. Marusic, “New Defence Minister In August 2012, Fatmir Besimi, th versy as Minister.15 However, this is an Outrages Macedonian Veterans”, attended a ceremony for the 11 anni- odd stance. Xhaferi’s views are no more Balkan Transitional Justice, 20 Feb- versary of the signing of the Frame- radical than those of Besimi or his party. It ruary 2013 (accessed 12 March work Agreement and laid flowers is unclear why such a heated response has 2013). before a monument to Albanian NLA occurred now and not in relation to 2 Sobranie na Republika Makedonija, fighters killed in the 2001 conflict. Besimi’s appointment or, more broadly, Predlog za izbor na clenovi na 16 US Department of the Treasury, the inclusion of DUI in successive govern- Vladata na Republika Makedonija Specially Designated Nationals List, ing coalitions since 2002. (Celosen Text Na Matrijalot), http:// http://www.treasury.gov/ofac/ It should not be forgotten that it was the www.sobranie.mk/ext/ downloads/t11sdn.pdf (accessed 14 NLA, reconstituted as DUI, which instigat- materialdetails.aspx?Id=a6300329- March 2013). Xhevat Ademi is re- ed a violent conflict to pursue extremist a199-45db-8c8a-6d17b6824bfa ported to have been head of the goals and is now a key proponent of the (accessed 27 February 2013). KLA’s ‘secret police’ in Macedonia, Framework Agreement which institution- 3 P. Petrovski, 2006, Svedostva, Kiro head of the ‘Albanian National Army alises extremist ideologies and violates Dandaro, Bitola, p. 231. (ANA)’ and a key organiser of finan- basic democratic principles. Further, key cial assistance for the NLA. figures within the NLA, some of which are

The Secrets of ... the Map

By George N. Papadakis

At the beginning of the 20th century, the for discipline. He never permitted any pil- semi-barbaric periods of history, their guerrilla leader Apostol Petkov Terziev laging by his guerillas and the punishments exploits handed down in the folk songs [commander of detachments of the Inter- for breaking this rule could be quite severe of the peasants.” nal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisa- – ranging from beatings to the firing squad Now let us compare the character sketch of tion, IMRO, which fought for the creation – and he always compelled the return of Apostol written by the exalted Penelope of an autonomous Macedonia] was un- stolen property. He had a special regard for Delta, who happens to be a great grand- doubtedly one of the most recognised fig- children, irrespective of their ethnic back- mother of the current premier of Greece, in ures in the liberation struggle of the Mace- ground and upon meeting children during her book “The Secrets of the Swamp”: donians in the part of Macedonia, today his revolutionary work, he would divulge located within the borders of Greece. He and spread among them, the contents of “… Apostol Petko Terziev was the most was born in Boimitsa which is located in his wallet. horrible leader of the committees, the Kukush region and came from a revo- bloody, ever-present and enmeshed in The American journalist, Albert Sonnich- lutionary family. He operated with great all killings. But nobody could catch him, sen, who met Apostol on his revolutionary success, around and on the lake of Enidzhe they couldn’t even find him. He was like ‘ground’ among the reeds of the lake in Vardar and it was for that reason that he the devil, you could feel him everywhere 1904, wrote: became known as the “Enidzhevardar but you could not see him anywhere. He Sun”. This appellation was fully justified, “Had I not known him personally, I had become a mythical figure who as apart from his enormous reputation could still have guessed his identity, for sowed fear everywhere …” among Macedonians and his opponents you see his portraits in all the taverns … And a little further on in the text, Apostol is among the and the Ottomans, this just in that brigand dress … Apostol was described as having a shaved head, rings intelligent leader, always remained unpre- Macedonia’s Robin Hood. For thirteen tentiously human. years he followed the war trail. In the on his fingers and other ornamental adorn- days before Damian Gruev organized ments/jewelry. You will say ‘but this is a He had even accepted to follow the in- novel and the author has the right to ex- the famous Central Committee, Apostol structions of some less competent but roamed the mountains, one of those pic- press herself as she wishes’. Fine, except more senior IMRO leaders, in order to set turesque brigands who have appeared the problem here is that this novel forms an example for others to follow in the need the basis of the view the majority of among oppressed peoples during all

Greeks possess about the so called Greeks were the first to attempt to de- “Macedonian Struggle”, which in reality, ceive (or as he stated, to “disorient” and was an unrelenting anti-Macedonian “influence”) Westerners (yes, the ances- campaign, that unfortunately continues in tors of those who today, artificially sus- various forms, in the present. tain our state with their money) by sub- verting reality and presenting it as they I was reminded about this fictional de- would like it to have been. And isn’t that scription of Apostol (who despite being a precisely what Penelope Delta does in “devil”, died tragically as a result of a her book? Is there really any difference? betrayal in the village of Krushare) when I recently read a speech given by the On the night of the book launch, the lo- Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dimitris quacious minister, it seems, wanted to Avramopoulos, during the launch of an- excel himself and he pushed on even other book, possessing the bombastic further. He revealed (not that we did not title “European Cartography and Politics: already know) that the “chief organizer” The Case of Macedonia”. The authors of of this attempt to deceive, was the Greek the book are the Minister for Regions, national historian par excellence, Kon- Evangelos Livyeratos and the PASOK stantinos Paparigopoulos. Another Euro-Parliamentarian and professor of “brilliant scholar” who is worshiped only Apostol Petkov Terziev archaeology at Aristotle University, within the borders of Greece, because Hrisula Paliadeli. In this work the authors outside those borders he is generally un- attempt, by examining ancient and con- known and has in any case, been thor- temporary maps, to ‘demonstrate’ the oughly and justly discredited. What did neo-Greek theorem that “Macedonia is this respected falsifier of history do? In Greek”. his attempt to deceive Europeans, he presented them with maps which were What is the connection between this not based on geography, but rather on the “scientific” book and the “harmless” fantasies of neo-Greeks about how they novel authored by Penelope Delta? Well, would like the national make up of the the answer is given by Avramopoulos in Balkans to appear! his speech at the book launch: And what is that we are talking about “… From 1870, parallel with other here, with this new text? A book, suppos- manifestations of national antagonism, edly scientific, but is in fact nothing but a there began a geographic or better put, tract designed again, not on the basis of cartographic war. In this war of the geography/cartography, but on a desire to maps, the politicians from the newly serve the so called “national interest”. created Balkan states attempted to This is schizophrenia! Poor Matthew disorient and to influence western Eu- Nimitz was sent a free copy of this new ropean scholars in regard to geogra- book, obviously in an attempt to sway phy. him on the Macedonian name issue. But The Greeks were the first in our wider I asked myself, why didn’t they also send area to defend themselves with histori- him a copy of “The Secrets of the cally argued positions in this war of Swamp”? Penelope Delta, also possesses the maps. Our national historian Kon- paranoid nationalist pretensions…. stantinos Paparigopoulos, was the one George N. Papadakis is a journalist who presented a map, underpinned by who writes for Nova Zora and is a the nationalist tendencies which pre- member of Vinozhito – a political par- dominated and not least on statistical ty struggling for the human rights of data …” Macedonians in Greece. Article trans- Impressive, don’t you think? Directly lated from Macedonian by George and without dodges, our uncle Dimitris Vlahov of the AMHRC. recognizes with great pride that the

15

Last year, the city of Solun/Salonika cele- would be to refer to it as a “military con- Who was brated “one hundred years since its libera- quest of Solun by the Greek army”. The tion”; though it would be more accurate to standardized usage of the term “liberated”, say that it was really the city’s authorities creates the false impression that prior to Liberated in who were celebrating. Indeed there were 1912, all was “slavery” and darkness or that some disputes about which authorities in any case, the earlier period is of no inter- 1912? should possess the responsibility for organ- est – the “true” history of the city begins izing the festivities – the Solun Council post 1912. Anything that occurred earlier alone or a wider collective involving the might be deemed relevant only if it contrib- By Akis Gavrilidis local authorities from the outlying regions, uted to the military conquest and the crea- etc. tion of the current situation. However, far more important than the disa- However, if we attempt to sketch a picture, greements to do with that issue, there is a so to speak, of the last hundred years and question which needs to be posed and pub- examine the results of the city becoming a lically discussed: what is the exact meaning part of Greek state territory, we would defi- of the term ‘liberation’, as used in this con- nitely confirm that it is untenable to main- text? tain that Solun was “liberated”, irrespective of which definition of the term is used. From the outset, it is clear that the usage of the term in this context conflates freedom/ In the first place, two decades after the liberty with the state, or more accurately, a “liberation”, the largest ethnic group was particular state. In a way, this is perversely almost totally ‘liquidated’. It is true that this related to one of Hegel’s elementary formu- was planned and realized by the NAZI’s, lations identifying liberty and the state; a though the remaining inhabitants do not Akis Gavilidis group of people and or a strip of land came appear to have been particularly concerned to be regarded as “liberated” on the basis of about this. On the contrary, many of them, a single criterion and that is whether they along with the local authorities, nationalists ended up in one particular state or another. and collaborationists, hurriedly worked The governing proviso being that the state towards eliminating all signs of the previous in question is “suitable”, which is deter- Jewish presence – taking for themselves mined on the basis of the ethnic origins/ what they wanted and destroying the re- national character of the people and land. mainder. Among the latter and of very sig- nificant archeological interest, were the Thus it is obvious that here we have an ex- Jewish graves, which were totally destroyed ample of a nationalist misappropriation of with a maniacal hatred in a short period of the term ‘liberty’ (or ‘freedom’), which time. Today, the majority of Solun’s inhab- involves a severely limited, exclusionary itants are not even aware that these graves understanding of its meaning. All the same, existed. On the space these graves occu- even with this overly narrow definition, it pied, cynically, the authorities erected the remains highly problematic to assert that city’s university, which carries the name Solun was “liberated” when the Greek ar- “Aristotle” and possesses a logo which rep- my entered the city in 1912. At the time in resents a Roman soldier who was declared question, it does not appear that the inhabit- a Christian saint after his death – even ants considered themselves to have been though he wasn’t known for being a man of especially “liberated”. When the Greek letters….. army invaded what was the Ottoman Em- pire and took the city by force, Solun was Another result was that a generation later, and had for many centuries been, inhabited the Greek state placed in Solun and the wid- by a variety of ethnic groups; of which, the er area, tens of thousands of refugees from most numerous and influential from a socio Pontus and Asia Minor and it was on their -political, religious and economic perspec- back that the state was given the opportuni- tive, were the Sephardic Jews – whereas ty to test, on a massive scale, the technology Christian Orthodox Greek speakers, were of the concentration camp. After the obliga- numerically in third place and made up no tory symbolic and physical quarantine, more than 25% of the city’s population. these people were strategically utilized as colonists to “Greekify” the wider territory, Therefore, even on the basis of convention- under strict surveillance, because of con- al ethno-state criteria, the most appropriate cerns about its “questionable Greek con- way to characterize what took place in 1912

science”. Today, this concern is generally that one is in a town which is under a cloud sented as Greek or at least Roman and not so publicly perceptible (if we exclude of acute uncertainty and that therefore, it is which negate the modern Greek story/ certain banners which appear at sporting necessary to continually impart just who is fiction. A classic example is the dozens of stadiums), though an obvious example in command and the glare of both locals minarets which can be seen as part of the demonstrating its continued existence, are and visitors is constantly directed towards city’s skyline in all photos up to the second the Metaxas [brutal dictator of Greece from the manufactured “Greek reality”. These decade of the 20th century. The one build- 1936 – 1940] like demonstrations which relentless attempts to convey a particular ing which could not be ‘ethnically were staged in the early 1990’s against the view indicate that the message has still not cleansed’ from historical memory is the Republic of Macedonia’s declaration of been completely accepted, that it has not White Tower, so it was converted into a independence. These events cannot be de- yet become spontaneous and obvious. ‘symbol’ by giving it a new significance, scribed as having anything to do with which conveniently serves to hide the old “liberation”. In other words, nearly all the statues one one: at its entrance there is an meets in Solun’s public spaces, exhibit “explanatory” plaque which informs the In addition to this sometimes silent and honor for a militaristic remembrance of the interested visitor that the structure is a “post other times noisy ethnic cleansing (and past; for a military conquest. Many of them -Byzantine” monument – all so as to avoid sometimes self inflicted ethnic cleansing) – represent various bandits, leaders of the so mention of the word ‘Ottoman’; usage of we need to mention the collapse of the mul- called “Macedonian Struggle” at the begin- th which, would be seen as ‘polluting’ the ti-ethnic Socialist Federation as a result of ning of the 20 century. Even though there city. the blocking of demonstrations, which are so many of these statues, they generally caused the death of many strikers, by the remain of no interest for the majority of If we turn our eyes and ears away from military in 1936. The same military which inhabitants. Apart from them, there are the these attempts to Greekify the city and to- supposedly “liberated” the city’s inhabit- obligatory statues of Alexander (on a wards the discussion of what has been ants and which seems to have aided in the horse), Philip, Pavlos Melas [a more fa- mentioned above, we can view a demon- murder of Grigoris Lambrakis [a popular mous leader in the so called “Macedonian stration of doubt, which cannot be escaped, advocate for Greek state democratic re- Struggle], Emanuel Papas and Koloko- rather, this doubt is strongly reinforced by form] in 1963 [which eventually led to a tronis. the massive attempts of the authorities to new military dictatorship in Greece]. control and drive the inhabitants into Greek Notably, someone recently went to the stat- parameters. This results in a need among One thing which continues to undermine ue of Kolokotronis and sketched some in- the city’s citizens to continually test them- the apparently complete control of social teresting graffiti over its surface and no one selves and each other, in a manner which I memory and the elimination of undesirable made any effort to remove this graffiti. don’t think can be accurately or usefully aspects of the past, is the arrangement of Thus it is that we had to wait 99 years to described as “liberation”. It seems more Solun’s landscape and especially the poli- pass from the “liberation” of Solun/ like slavery to me. ticking on questions to do with collective Salonika/Thessaloniki/Selanik, for some memory and monuments. practical doubt about the city’s ethno- Akis Gravilidis is a Greek scholar who Greek homogeneity, to be exhibited in the originally wrote this article for Nova When observing the choice of statues city’s public space. Zora. which grace (?) the streets and city squares of Solun and even the names and former Apart from the addition of new monu- Translated from Macedonian by names of these streets and squares, one ments, the control of memory is carried out George Vlahov of the AMHRC. forms the impression that the city is or has via the intentional demolition of all build- been until very recently, under occupation; ings and structures which could not be pre-

17 MHRMI and AMHRC Call for the Reinstatement of All Original Macedonian Names in Mala Prespa and Golo Brdo

Toronto, Canada and Melbourne, Australia (March 19, 2013) - Follow- ing the Albanian Parliament's long-overdue decision to reinstate the original Macedonian name of the village of Pustec, MHRMI and AMHRC call for the reinstatement of all Macedonian names in the regions of Mala Prespa and Golo Brdo in Albania. The Albanian government had previously renamed Pustec using the Albanian name "Liqenas" in an attempt to suppress the Macedonian identity of the region. Albania must also immediately end its state-sponsored persecution of its large Macedonian minority and ensure that Macedonians have instruction in the in all levels of education and throughout the coun- try, not just in official "minority zones". Ironically, European Union members Greece and Bulgaria continue their outright denial and blatant persecution of their Macedonian minorities. One hundred years after the fateful partition of Macedonia in 1913, Bulgaria and Greece are still attempting to eradicate the Macedonian identity without fear of repercussions from the European Union. Greece, in particular, forci- bly changed the names of all Macedonian people and toponyms into Greek in the 1920s, and any attempt to reclaim personal names by Macedoni- ans continue to be suppressed by the Greek government. MHRMI and AMHRC demand that the EU force its member-states to live up to their human rights obligations under international law. Furthermore, as the use of dual-names in other EU countries has become commonplace, MHRMI and AMHRC call on the EU to promote the use of the original Macedonian names of villages and other toponyms in Bulgaria and Greece.

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BOOK LAUNCH: English translation of THE GREEK ANTI- MACEDONIAN STRUGGLE - PART 1 by Dimitris Lithoxou Translated from Macedonian to English by Dr. Chris Popov, David Vitkov and George Vlahov of the AMHRC

Thursday March 7 at around 7pm in the It was announced that the book will be dominant national paradigms is still ig- function room of the Castle Hotel, located distributed to all tertiary and state libraries nored, discouraged, and sometimes even just a few doors away from the AMHRC around Australia and to many other ter- dangerous. Dimitris Lithoxou’s meticu- office in inner city North Melbourne, the tiary libraries across the Western world, lously researched book is as important as English translation of Dimitris Lithoxou’s via an international book distributing firm. it is instructive. His counter-narrative to Greek Anti-Macedonian Struggle, was Greek nationalist discourse deserves a The book can now be purchased directly launched before a crowd of around 150. broad audience both within Greece and from the AMHRC website: http:// outside it. As a modern European nation- Melbourne’s Indian summer was still in www.macedonianhr.org.au/wip/ state, Greece is strong enough to come to full swing and most of those present were index.php? terms with the dark side of its relatively sweating and sought refreshments from op- recent past, and Dimitris Lithoxou’s book the bar. Speeches introducing the text tion=com_content&view=article&id=11 is an important step in that direction. It were given by two of the translators, Dr. 1:amhrc-shop&catid=34:- should be read by anyone with an interest Chris Popov and George Vlahov, and by amhrccat&Itemid=50 in Greek history, Macedonian history, Professor Victor Friedman from the Uni- Two short comments on the book, by and the fate of the Macedonians of versity of Chicago. scholars renowned for their work in this Greece.” After the speeches a book signed by all of field: Professor Victor Friedman, University the translators was auctioned off and was of Chicago purchased by Mr. Rade Petreski for “In the United States, the examination $400.00. Thank you Rade! and deconstruction of national myths al- “In what the author calls a "reverse jour- ready has a long and venerable tradition. ney from myth towards history," Dimitris In Greece, however, such questioning of

Lithoxou draws on primary Greek ror in an alien, non-Greek land, and ulti- ile and vital habit of critical thinking.” sources – consular reports, private letters mately killed by one of his own men – is a and diaries – to turn the dominant heroic potent and timely reminder of the danger Professor Keith Brown, Watson Insti- narrative of Greece's Macedonian fight- that romantic ideals of expansive chau- tute, Brown University ers on its head. The tragic picture of na- vinism pose for human reason and decen- Some photos of the evening taken by tionalist icon Pavlos Melas that emerges cy – among perpetrators and victims the MHR Review’s roving photo jour- – a young man from a privileged back- alike. This book is vivid testimony to the nalist, Diane Kitanoski. ground, tormented by the isolation and enduring importance of open-minded physical hardships of a campaign of ter- archival research in preserving the frag-

SPECIAL GUESTS Commemorating the 65th anniversary of the plight of the Detsa Begaltsi and the DIMITRI JOVANOV editor of Nova Zora 100th anniversary of the fateful partition and member of Vinozhito of Macedonia TANAS TRAJANOV Macedonian Child Refugees (Detsa Begaltsi) were evacuated from member of Vinozhito from Kukush Greece as children during the Greek Civil War of 1994-1949. To escape the bombing of Macedonian villages by the Greek army, children aged 2-14 were evacuated by the Red Cross and settled across Europe. Most evacuations occurred 65 years ago, in 1948. SLAVKO MANGOVSKI The Detsa Begaltsi have consistently been denied entry into TV Sonce journalist and Greece simply because they assert their Macedonian ethnic identi- ty. MHRMI international coordinator After the Balkan Wars of 1912 - 1913, the Treaty of Bucharest tragically partitioned Macedonia among Serbia, Greece and Bul- garia, while a small part was given to Albania in 1919. Upon an- nexation of Macedonia's territory, each country began terrorist campaigns aimed at killing, expelling or forcibly assimilating the indigenous Macedonian population.

The Republic of Macedonia declared its independence from Yugo- slavia in 1991, while Macedonians in Aegean Macedonia (annexed by Greece), Pirin Macedonia (annexed by Bulgaria) and Mala Pres- WHEN pa and Golo Brdo (annexed by Albania) are still being persecuted Saturday, June 1st, 2013 at 7pm simply for being Macedonian.

MHRMI works relentlessly to help Macedonians overcome the hu- WHERE man rights buses that they face on a daily basis throughout all St. Clements Macedonian Church parts of Macedonia. MHRMI and our partners, the Australian Hu- man Rights Committee (AMHRC), are the only organizations in the 76 Overlea Boulevard, Toronto, ON Macedonian diaspora that finance and organize Macedonian hu- man rights activities in the Balkans. Among our many initiatives are: ADMISSION Adults—$50  the purchase and financing of the only Macedonian radio sta- tion in Lerin and TV station in Korca, Albania; Students—$20  the only Macedonian language classes throughout Aegean Children Under 12—Free Macedonia and Albania, including the opening of another kin- dergarten in Korca;  the funding of Nova Zora, Narodna Volja and other Macedoni- FOR TICKETS OR INFORMATION an newspapers and publications in Aegean Macedonia, Pirin 416.850.7125 Macedonia and Mala Prespa/Golo Brdo;  the crucial Our Name Is Macedonia campaign, which demands [email protected] an immediate end to the "name negotiations"; www.mhrmi.org  the operation of human rights offices for Macedonians in Bul- garia, Greece and Albania; www.facebookcom/mhrmi  demanding recognition and support for Macedonia and Mace- www.twitter.com/mhrmi donian human rights in Washington, Ottawa, Brussels and throughout the world.

MHRMI and AMHRC call on garia, Greece and Albania; Macedonians throughout the world Show to show their support for human  The crucial Our Name is Mace- rights for Macedonians throughout donia campaign, which de- the Balkans. mands that Macedonia end all negotiations over its name; and Your MHRMI and AMHRC finance and organize all Macedonian human  Funding successful election rights activities and work directly campaigns for Macedonian can- Support with every Macedonian human didates in Bulgaria, Greece and rights organization includ- Albania. For ing Vinozhito, OMO Ilinden PI- We also lobby strongly for recogni- RIN, MAEI, Nova Zora, Narodna tion of Macedonia and Macedonian Volja, Ilinden Tirana, the Home of human rights in Washington, Otta- Macedonian Macedonian Culture, and all others. wa, Canberra, Brussels and By supporting us, you are directly throughout the world, specifically: supporting the cause of human  Meetings with Canadian, Amer- Human rights for all Macedonians. ican, Australian and European Among our many initiatives are: heads of state and parliamentar- ians; Rights  Macedonian language classes in Aegean Macedonia and Alba-  Meetings with Foreign Affairs nia, including the opening of officials from Canada, Austral- another new kindergarten class ia, the US State Department, in Korca, Albania; Council of Europe, among many others;  In addition to the MHRMI/ AMHRC-purchased and fi-  Attendance at United Nations, nanced radio station in Lerin, OSCE and other international we recently opened a TV sta- human rights conferences and tion in Korca;  Meetings with UN Ambassador  The historic Detsa Begaltsi law- Nimetz to reiterate our demand suit against Greece for the re- that the international communi- turn of confiscated property, ty support the end to the "name citizenship and financial com- negotiations". pensation; Macedonians are organized, ener-  The funding of pro-Macedonian gized and determined to pursue newspapers and publications in their struggle for universal human Aegean Macedonia, Pirin Mac- rights. The biggest challenge we edonia and Mala Prespa; face is a financial one. Please show your support by joining  The landmark European Court the MHRMI Human Rights of Human Rights judgments Fund or the AMHRC's Macedonian against Bulgaria and Greece for Minorities Support Fund. violating Macedonian human rights; Thank you in advance.  The operation of human rights offices for Macedonians in Bul-

23

The Argument from Numismatics1 (Argumentum Numismaticum) By Jim Thomev

This article is based on a true story; In his short autobiography – very short indeed, as he was a tailor by profession, so very little happened by way of adventure – its source is explained in the detail Marko Tsepenkov (1830-1920) opens with a sentence that should be made the logo of all higher seats of learning: Мнозина философи има гоедари и мнозина гоедари станале According to the French philosopher Descartes, for an idea to be философи.2 (Many philosophers there be who are herdsmen, true it has to be “clearly and distinctly perceived” or understood. while amongst herdsmen many are true philosophers.) As he was primarily a mathematician, it was perfectly sensible of him not to confuse a circle with a square. This is a very useful piece In recent years, I have often puzzled over why the present of knowledge. Greek nation has persisted with the irrational and discriminatory policies against all minorities within its borders and the Macedoni- Far be it from me to be facetious, or over-serious, as I pre- ans everywhere else in the world as well. To no avail, I have tried fer the middle ground between these two attitudes, as moderation to work out why human gullibility is so limitless and hypocrisy the in all things except the truth, is my guiding principle in life. I could mask of so much evil and political skulduggery. perhaps best describe my position as a gentle but firm sense of iro- ny that combines good sense with decency. But of course there are Recently, I was so overjoyed when a relative by marriage sceptics who will assert that personal charisma is not possible un- (one of the good svatina) shared with me his experience of difficul- less there is deviation from such dull decency and common ties and problems with a Greek neighbour in the same street in a sense… northern suburb of Melbourne. I was so impressed I decided to present his story to a broader public. It is a tale that is as salutary as Now, as I have always considered the difference between any in the simple tradition of the parables that the Lord Jesus of the a person freely identifying as Macedonian and one freely identify- Christians made famous: simple in the extreme, with a beginning, ing as a Greek as two clear and distinct ideas, in the Cartesian sense middle and end, as all good story tellers have intuited, and as Aris- of the phrase, I have never had a problem distinguishing the two. totle the Stagyrite had written well over 2,300 years ago. (Of course “freely identifying” implies that no compulsion, intimi- dation, violence or terror is has been used by powerful agents.) Another rich source of happiness from this story that I shall unfold shortly, was the fact that its source was an exchange in Over the years, Descartes has been charged with numer- the Greek language with sloshes of Australian English from both ous intellectual crimes since he first explained with mind-numbing interlocutors, and retold to me in a combination of both standard th clarity his influential philosophy in mid-17 century. Among the and dialect Macedonian with many English embellishments and worst accusations are numbered his having ruined the French edu- the odd Greek phrase or expression thrown in. And in what fol- cation system to this day, fathering German philosophy and giving lows, I present it in my own quirky, roadside Australian English the Scotsman Adam Smith the idea of the “free market” from prose. which the whole world is groaning at the moment. So, if he has been that good – and these are only just some of the unmitigated Therefore I have to own up that the original exchange evils attributed to him - I reckon he is worth taking seriously as a between the neighbours or verbal sequence of the event is not what thinker. I could possibly present here, but a mutation of the story, thanks, to the channels through which it was communicated to me. In the first Now before I go any further, I can’t resist illuminating instance, there are the linguistic code switches. As well as this, how much chance is involved in who gets to be regarded as a great there are the contributions in the telling due to the highly individual thinker and how ideas can come from unexpected places and peo- personalities of the three players – the two original elderly men in ples. I will therefore quote one of the greatest writers/collectors of dialogue dealing with a hot topic, the Svate’s inescapably biased people’s literature in the Macedonian tradition. report aimed at impressing his interlocutor, and the vagaries of

temperament, creative capacities and pow- boastful tribe in the Balkans, Svateto had portant history that they have always stolen ers of understanding (or lack thereof) of had enough by now, but being a man of from them and have always falsely, wilful- yours truly, the person who has given the peace like all his compatriots wherever ly and wrongfully been claiming as Greek. tale its written form. These considerations, they find themselves in the world, told the needless to say, highlight the difficulties in insolent Con that he should not complain Con looked as displeased and upset as if he all historiography and all forensics where about the Macedonians. And he should not had been told as he was hoeing into a por- truth is to be established by evidence. call Macedonians “Skopjani” as this only tion of mousaka that what he was eating referred to the citizens of the capital city with such zest was in historical fact a Turk- Having clarified this much, we Skopje. It would be as stupid as calling all ish dish in origin, and that the dessert to can tell the story without anger or prejudice Greeks “Athenians”, which would only follow, the baklava, was an Arabian sweet and thereby avoiding all accusations of show a person’s ignorance and malice. prepared by Muslims from time immemo- having made little or no attempt to be even- rial. handed. As the Svate was being terrorised regarding his ethnic origin or identity by his Now, Con, of late, had become more sensi- Svateto and the Greek - let’s give Greek neighbour just before Christmas, he tive about being made fun of and of being the latter the false name of Konstantinos decided in the interests of peace and good treated with suspicion as soon as he let peo- Papakonstantinou, Con for short – have will, albeit against his better judgement, to ple know that he was Greek. He was astute been neighbours for decades in the Mel- speak to Con as though he were a reasona- enough to realise that it was linked to the bourne suburb of Reservoir. Always a diffi- ble human being. disrepute that the state of Modern Greece cult customer, Con believed the Greek line had fallen throughout the world as a result that there is no Macedonian ethnic identity, He therefore presented the follow- of the Euro-zone crisis; the patriots were and those that call themselves Macedoni- ing argument which should henceforth be unequivocally scorned as a nation of irre- ans have a “Slav” or “Bulgarian” or known among those whose capacity for sponsible layabouts who were living on “Serbian” or “Yugoslav” ethnicity; and thought is normal, as the Argumentum Nu- other people’s money since they had joined since the sovereign state the Republic of mismaticum. It runs as follows: the Euro-zone. So went the mortifying sto- Macedonia declared its independence in ries about Greek laziness, incompetence, September of 1991 after the break up of On the issue of whether Alexander was a deception, baseness, corruption and many Yugoslavia, Con the Greek, taking his cue Macedonian or a Greek, the Greeks them- other appalling characteristics of both the from the nationalistic Greek propaganda selves had already conceded to the Mace- ruling class and the Greek people in general from his country of origin, often used the donians, argued Svateto. They had in no that did the rounds in the world thanks to disparaging terms “Fyromians”, or uncertain terms admitted the fact that Alex- their financial collapse and the need for the “Skopjani”. ander was a Macedonian king and there- nation to be propped up by the western fore the Macedonians in the Republic of Europeans. As he stood in the street in res- From the outset of their acquaint- Macedonia had every right to name their ervoir outside Svateto’s house where he ance, the Svate had ‘clearly and distinctly airport or whatever else on their land took was no longer asked in as he had been, in perceived’ that the tension on the ethnic their fancy, after Ancient Macedonian ce- the first few years of residence in the area, issue would never be settled by Socratic lebrities, or famous places and events. The Con became uneasy with foreboding. dialogue between two rational creatures Modern Greeks did this sort of thing all the seeking truth in mutual respect under the time, so why shouldn’t the Modern Mace- After a few minutes, Svateto came illuminating light of reason. donians do it? out waving a gold coin slightly bigger and heavier than the Australian dollar coin he Consequently, our Svate, who had The alleged victim of Greek na- held between index finger and thumb. also been born in Greece not more than tionalistic brainwashing was so taken aback two decades since it had assumed its pre- he asked how it was possible that the A look of alarm appeared on sent borders by usurping half the territory Greeks had made such a concession. He Con’s face, as the Svate pointed to the from the collapsed Turkish empire, had asked whether he had missed something damning print on the coin. decided to live and let live without too about the round of talks over the name much interaction with the neighbour whom which the Greek government or media out ‘Here’, said Svateto in Greek, he had come to regard as an irreparable here in Australia had kept from him. which was the language they were com- victim of Greek chauvinist brainwashing. municating in. ‘Do you see what it says?’ At this point, the Svate told Con to In recent years, the Greek neigh- wait and be patient, while he went inside The coin was for a 100 drachmas bour often approached the Svate, in order his own house to fetch the evidence that minted in 1990; our Svate took the anxious to express his anxiety that the “Skopjani” there and then in that backstreet of Reser- Con through the message engraved and were getting out of hand. On the occasion voir, would demonstrate, once and for all, written on both sides of the coin: we are recording here, he had told the Svate that the Greeks had let the cat out of the bag ‘Here,’ he said pointing to the that the “Skopjani” were being very intran- on the name issue, and especially on who “heads” side of the coin (see fig.1), ‘is not sigent in claiming Alexander the Great, the Alexander was. He promised he would this Alexander the Great’s head in profile Macedonian conqueror of the East, as a show him concrete evidence written in with the ram’s horn over his right ear and hero for their own nation. golden letters, in the Modern Greek lan- his luxuriant hair bound by a ribbon to keep guage, that the Greeks had given back to it from blowing in the wind, as it would Having put up with insults and the modern Macedonians a piece of im- name-calling for years from the most have done every time he galloped around

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on his faithful Bukefalos? Is this not the Skopjani are likely to keep the name Greeks had gone feral when the Macedoni- “Megas Alexandros” written just over his Macedonia for their country. I heard that ans declared an independent nation with a head? And here – and this is my point to most of the United Nation members have flag that carried the sunburst from Phillip of you “file” (friend) – this phrase here, under- recognised it with that name – excuse me, Macedon’s sarcophagus…all the Greeks neath the profile of the great young hero’s but I find something stops in my throat and showed was their own barbarism, how head it writes – see for yourself – “Vasileus I can’t say the word Macedonian about deluded and stupid they were! Phillip of Makedonon” – wasn’t this coin minted by those people. My friend Aristides-who got MACEDON, not Hellas! Think about it!’ the Greek Government in 1990 (see fig.2) a Melbourne University education, told me telling the whole world that Alexander was that the Americans did some research and ‘But I never heard any of this,’ a Macedonian and not a Greek? So how they found the sound of the Slavic lan- said the Greek. can you or anyone else say that he was a guages - especially the one you and the ‘Of course not, Con! The ruling Greek king? If he was a Greek king it Skopjani speak in your home - damages class of Greece – the rich bastards – didn’t would have said so on this very currency, people’s ear drums.’ consult you when they got rid of the drach- which was the currency of the Greek- ‘Aristides did not get a university ma as soon as they smelled billions and Democracy – the Hellenic Republic of billions of Euro dollars and joined the Euro 1990! education – I know about him, the idiot even said we should call ourselves Darda- zone! Did they? They just pulled the wool ‘My God! The bastards, they have nians! – he’s just a fool who once crossed over everyone’s eyes after having appealed been shamming us all along!’ Con was from Swanston Street through the Mel- to their greed – and bye bye drachma!–and outraged, shocked, in a state of utter confu- bourne University grounds to the other side ayde, sto kalo! – not just the drachma they sion. when he wanted to catch a tram in Royal thought was useless now , but with all the Parade on his way to the Queen Victoria so-called 6000 year traditions, since our ‘Why are you so surprised that the market where he packed frozen fish.’ first parents Adam and Eve offended Yah- Macedonians with their independent nation weh, the jealous God of the Jews, with their with its democratically elected Govern- ‘Anyway, if he really heard things disobedience in the Garden of Eden! Do ment seated in Skopje have called the air- like that from the Americans it was proba- you get my drift?’ port in their capital Alexander the Great?’ bly some CIA agent in Greece having a pressed on the Svate. ‘Among others, you joke with him when he noticed what super- ‘And now your Greek govern- have your Greek Treasury to thank for that, Greeks are bred in Australia!’ ments have stuffed up big time, and are when it was still using drachmas! The making ordinary people pay through the Greeks are jumping up and down and have ‘But if you ask me, I can’t imag- nose and live in poverty! It makes a big, been running around the world telling eve- ine a sweeter and more beautiful language bad joke of all the boasting about your con- rybody there is no such thing as a Macedo- than Macedonian because it was the lan- nections with the glorious past…’ nian people or nation – that it was a com- guage I was spoken to by my nearest and dearest elders. I’m sure everyone, unless ‘You’re right there – i mala- munist plot or an attempt to take the land kizmeni! I poustides mas poulisan! They the Greeks won with much bloodshed in they have been so oppressed that they have been made to hate themselves, feel the have embarrassed the shit out of us Greek the Balkan Wars of 1912-13? You’ve patriots not living in the patrida… that’s heard all that rubbish, but the truth always same way about the language they used with their loving family.’ what my cousin Dimitri from Thessaloniki comes up no matter how much you try and was saying when he came out here and bury it!’ ‘Listen, Con, wake up to yourself! was hoping I could help him to emigrate ‘I never thought about any of The Greeks are so unreasonable they de- from Greece with his whole family!’ this!’ stroyed the economy of their own country and made everyone in the patrida a slave to ‘Fat chance of that happening ‘Of course not! You weren’t al- the western Europeans with their reckless these days, my dear friend. They don’t lowed to – just like everybody else in spending of other people’s money! And need wogs for the factories like they did Greece or any of your expatriates, or any- what could be more ridiculous and stupid just after the war. Australia had the best one else who has ties to Greece. They don’t than the Greeks complaining and carrying economy in its entire white history! The really have a democracy there in the patri- on about the sunburst on the flag of the white bosses needed brutes to work in the da – never have! The word ‘democracy’ Macedonians when on this very coin - look factories and fields, so the rulers, who entered the international vocabulary with again, mate! – it says Alexander is a Mace- weren’t exactly running a charitable organ- the Ancient Greeks, the English, Ameri- donian king – I’ll have to repeat the truth isation as no government ever does, just cans and French (in that order) have tried to because people have always poisoned your brought us dagoes and lowly types over in put it into practice, everyone, including mind by repeating lies just as the Nazis shiploads! You should know they couldn’t dictators praises it these days as a form of poisoned the German people about how get enough real white men from the west or government, and like the Christian religion, superior they were to the Jews and every- north of Europe, so they went for us! These no one seriously believes in it, if we are to body else in the world. There is nothing days, of course, it’s show me some big judge from actions rather than words.’ special about the Greeks, just as there was money (e.g at least half a million dollars, nothing special about the Nazis – you have last I heard) and I’ll let you in – and…I ‘But this is very upsetting because been lied to about how terrific you are! The don’t care how you made it! And the last

thing they want now, Con, is what they tique, from L nomisma coin, from Gk] today. I do not think it is possible to come consider lazy tax evading business and pro- Macquarie Dictionary. anywhere near the social reality or culture fessional types from a financially ruined 2 of a particular author or period in history country!’ I will be very grateful for anyone who without a good knowledge of the language could make any helpful suggestions to im- used in the society of that time. ‘What a disgrace! Rezili!’ prove the English version of this sentence. I have struggled to capture the nuances and I will merely note this here as it is ‘See, we speak the same lan- subtlety of the original but cannot do it with a very large theme. It has been rightly said guage! Let me remind you of an old Mace- concision and compactness equal to the that future generations will not be interested donian proverb – If you are a sheep you Macedonian original. in knowing a language of a past epoch, say will be shorn by everybody.(Ако си овца Macedonian under the Ottoman Empire, in сите ќе те стрижат). But let’s say no more The complete opening paragraph order to order food and drink in a hotel or about it. And let’s spare a thought instead reads: Mнозина философи има гоедари ask for directions to Istanbul. Rather they for good old Captain Cook and thank him и мнозина гоедари станале философи. would want to know what their ancestors for discovering Australia, because it opened Вака велат нашите стари. И вистина understood of the world, what their culture the door for us as well, not just the crimi- така си е, спроти како сум уценил was like and how they went about dealing nals from the UK who were dumped here мнозина мој пријатели и непријатели, а with the basic difficulties of life – in other in 1788!’ concluded Svateto on a bitter- најповеќе сум се чудил на татка ми, бог words what makes the heritage so unique sweet note. да ми го прости. (страна 303) (Many and interesting. Macedonians are lucky in philosophers there be who are herdsmen, I’ll finish it there as the story has having so much of the oral traditions and while amongst herdsmen many are true non-verbal aspects of culture preserved by been told in sufficient detail to illustrate my philosophers. This is what our elders tell basic point about the nature of human the collections of folklore of the preliterate us. And it is true as far as I can judge epochs. greed and boundless gullibility. The tale among the many friends and enemies of my that has been told is shot through with a knowledge, but above all, it is my own fa- Marko K Tsepenkov, Macedonian folk- peculiar logic which gives us cause for op- ther who has most astonished me, may God lore, volume 10, makedonska Kniga, Skop- timism. To those who are of open minds have mercy on him. p 303) je, 1972, ed. Dr Blazhe Ristovski. and hearts it perhaps teaches that all views held unthinkingly, may easily override Марко К. Цепенков, Македонски common decency and basic respect and народни умотворби, книга десетта, recognition for other people. издавач Македонска Книга, Скопје, 1972, ред. Д-р Блаже Ристовски. Endnotes: ______In the quote from Tsepenkov’s original text

1 there are no typos or grammatical errors; it Numismatics, n. the science of coins and is the original form of Macedonian the au- medals. Also, numismatical [F numisma- thor used so it is not the literary standard of

new theatre нова театарска production престава Sydney and New South Wales, Australia Сиднеј и Нов Јужен Велс, Австралија

“Wrestling the Bear” is a play about Драмата " Борење со мечка" обработува men’s health. Told with a blend of тема за здравјето на мажите. Преку комични и драматични сцени драмата го comedy and drama, “Wrestling the опишива животот на двајца Македонци кои Bear” revolves around two Macedoni- се соочени со канцерозно заболување. an men dealing with cancer, illustrat- Илустрирани се нивните тешкотии да ing their struggles to cope with and се справуваат со својата сериозна tell others about their serious illness. болест без да им кажат за тоа на своите најблиски.

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The Novel Kalesh Angja by Stale Popov Reviewed by Dr. Michael Seraphinoff

Stale Popov was born in the Mariovo region of Macedonia in the village of Melnitsa in 1902 during the final tur- bulent years of the Turkish Empire in Southeastern Europe. He grew up in a traditional village, where he learned farming, the tending of live- stock and various other village crafts and trades. He later pursued an edu- cation in Bitola and Belgrade, which eventually led to a career as a teacher and writer. His first novel, Krpen Zhivot, was published in 1953. This was followed by the novels Tole Pa- sha in 1956, Dilber Stana in 1958, Kalesh Angja in 1958, Neobichno Dete in 1966 and Doktor Oreshkov- ski in 1966. His works also include a collection of stories entitled Itar Pe- jo, published in 1965 and a fictional- ized biography entitled Shakjir Voi- voda, published in 1966. All of his works explore themes from the histo- ry and culture of the Macedonian village, land and people. Stale Popov died in 1965. In 1975 the "Stale Po- pov Award" was established to rec- ognize outstanding works of fiction and drama with Macedonian histori- cal themes.

I first read the novel Kalesh Angja back in 1973, when I was given an old copy upon my first visit to aunts and uncles and cousins in the Mace- donian village of Ratae. Born and raised in America, and with only a rudimentary knowledge of the lan- guage of my forefathers, I struggled my way through the book the first time, but I was totally charmed and fascinated by the story, the some- what archaic language of the story- name Angie, but with a short ‘a’ is, indeed, much to learn from Kalesh teller author Stale Popov, and the Angja and Popov's other novels. folklore and history and culture of sound instead of ‘e’). While his novel is set in Popov's na- our people woven into the legend of My elderly uncles presented me with tive Mariovo region and takes us back Kalesh (a not so easily translated a copy of the book with the words: several centuries to the dark days of word for lovely, dark eyed, dark "Mihailo, read this and learn about the medieval Turkish rule, it informs haired) Angja. (The name Angja, past of our people." For those of us readers of wider times and places. In pronounced much like the English born far away from Macedonia, there the 1970's my uncle Stole could still

point out portions of walls of regional Turkish kadija, or judge, ter, naming the following as the Mehmed Pasha's chiflik or estate who did not respect the rights of the ringleaders inciting revolt among from the early 20th century. Ratae Mariovo villagers. The villagers had the Christian peasants of the had been a Turkish plantation much received the right to their property, Prilep region; Dimitri Stalev of like those described by Popov in land and homes from an old firman, Satoka, priest Dimitri, Mate Ni- Kalesh Angja. My ancestors in past or decree, by the former Sultaness kola from the village Peshino, centuries had worked as serfs on a Mara. Popov's novel provides readers Stoyan Pejo and priest Yakov of Turkish master's estate, much as the with a realistic picture of the wrong- Staravina. These lawbreakers Macedonian peasants in the novel. doing of some in positions of authori- were the subjects of an earlier ty and the possibility for justice under royal decree calling for their ar- Stale Popov's Angja and her brother the rule of law in that medieval em- rest, but they have reportedly Angele and most other characters in pire. fled. his story may only be the product of legend and storytelling. However, The romantic story line of the young Recently we have been once most incidents in this story, the way and beautiful Angja, kidnapped by a again informed that these rebels of life of the people of Mariovo and Turkish lord who demands her con- continue to disturb the peace in the Macedonian people generally, version to Islam so that he can make the aforementioned land. I have during the days of Sultan Suleiman her one of his wives, and her stub- concluded that the aforemen- the Magnificent and his Grand Vizier born refusal to accept conversion, tioned Christian peasants must be Mehmed Sokolovich's reign in the also appears in the popular folk song captured. 16th century, as depicted in the novel, "Kalesh Angja." Popov even has a are quite real. moment in his novel when the Turk- Therefore, you are hereby noti- ish lord: fied of my command, to take all Popov has written a story for us in a measures necessary to achieve voice of the traditional village story- "...took down a tambura. He be- their capture and put an end to teller that takes us on a journey into gan to play nervously and in the their activities. You are to execute the heart and soul of the medieval course of a familiar song he some of the rebels, and send the Turkish Empire in Europe. His story sang: 'Will you listen, listen, my others to the capital to serve as of the brave peasant girl Angja is kalesh Angja, what the tambura galley slaves on our ships. You based on an old legend and a docu- plays for you,' to ask her consent. will give the conduct of this cam- mented peasant rebellion against paign to capture the aforemen- Turkish rule in the year 1565 in the When he had played the final tioned rebels the highest priority. Mariovo region of Macedonia. Popov stanza of the song for her, he offers us a window into a world and a stopped playing and a wicked Given in the hand of the Vizier way of life that is foreign to us today. look came into his eyes; seething Mustafa on 26 Sefer in the year And yet, Kalesh Angja's story of a with rage, he swung the tambura 973 struggle for freedom and justice, from and hit Angja a fierce blow to the far away and long ago, can still move head. The tambura shattered to Prilep was the scene of revolt the readers, both young and old. If I were pieces and blood streamed down same year after the Ottoman court to try and draw comparisons with her head and poured over her ruled in favor of a pasha in a dispute works from English literature, I face. But Angja remained silent with the peasants. According to a would probably say that it is compa- and still by the wall. Only her document dated December 1565, a rable in style and theme to Robert upper lip trembled, but she bit it revolt broke out inside the town of Louis Stevenson's classic work for with her white teeth until it Prilep when the Prilep Court, in set- young people, Kidnapped. showed red with blood." tling a dispute between the peasants and Mustapha Pasha, ruled in favour The idea of the divine right of kings Stale Popov wove a good deal of au- of the pasha. When the news reached and emperors was acceptable to thentic Mariovo history into his story. the streets, more than a thousand Christians and Moslems alike in Eu- In the following passage he provides peasants from the surrounding villag- rope and the Middle East at the time us with a plausible version of the es, armed with sticks and stones, as- of the Ottoman Empire. However, communication between the Sultan sembled and stormed the court. It is monarchs had, together with their and the local Turkish authorities in not known for certain how this revolt privileges, specific responsibilities as Mariovo, dated October 3, 1564, at ended, but Stale Popov described the a result of tradition and religious law. the time of the peasant revolt: final days of the 1565 rebellion in The struggle for justice under the rule Mariovo in the following way: of law in the Ottoman Empire is a ‘To the Skopje beg and to the major theme of Popov's novel. He Kadiya in Prilep: The Skopje begler-bey was also a stresses that the rebellion of the peas- pasha, a commander of the Skop- ants of Mariovo in the 16th century A command. je garrison, so he had a troop of occurred due to the lawlessness of a two hundred paid professional The Kadiya has written us a let- soldiers to lead on this expedi-

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tion, and in Kavadartsi five hun- Staravina. They plundered the Turks fell in battle with the rebel dred additional men awaited him houses and burned down the forces of Mate Nikola and Dimitri from the estates of the Tikvesh homes of known rebels. Then, Stale, but they were eventually beys, with Yashar-bey in com- they re-crossed the river above overwhelmed, and the two lead- mand. Men had volunteered from the village to reach Gradeshnitsa. ers, along with those villagers all over Tikvesh province at the who were still alive, fled from prospect of plunder in Mariovo. Most of the people of Gradesh- their village, which was then Five days before the Easter holi- nitsa had also managed to escape burned to the ground and de- day, four heavily-armed Ottoman to the fortress at Peshta or into stroyed. And so, already by East- war parties made their way to the mountains, and only a few er day all four Turkish forces met Mariovo by four different routes, ancient grandmothers and grand- in Gradeshnitsa and Staravina, each party burning and looting fathers remained in the village. and together they laid siege to every Christian village in their Since Gradeshnitsa had offered Peshta. path. But the leaders of the expe- them no resistance, and the kadi- dition kept their forces directed ya’s forces would need shelter for Almost every rebel leader who toward their main objective, the the night, they looted the houses, was still alive had assembled with villages of Gradeshnitsa and but they didn’t destroy any except his people in the Peshta fortress, Staravina. the homes of the two rebel lead- and they had sealed the heavy ers, Petre Mitre and Riste Naide. iron gates. Here were: priest Ya- The Kadiya, with the first party, kov, Dimitri Stale, Mate Nikola, and Selim, Fazli and Daut with While the Kadiya had waged his Stoyan Peyo, priest Dimitri, the second party, arrived at the campaign to take these villages, priest Peyo, Vasil Petko, Risto Tsrna River after two days- the Selim Fazli and Daut had forded Naide, Stoyan Traiko and all of first party at the Chebrenski the Tsrna above Svetets, since the the armed peasants… Bridge, and the second at Svetets- bridge had been destroyed earli- while Mehmed, Muarem and Feta er, and with only minor losses, This revolt against Ottoman Turkish had already crossed the Konyar- they attacked the rebels beyond it. colonial rule in Macedonia eventually ka River above Skochivir and had The rebels, upon seeing the great ended, like so many others, in defeat. ascended the rocky slopes to Bu- size of the enemy force, hurried However, Popov has provided us dimirtsi and Gurunishta, arriving off to report the approaching per- with one more reminder that the Mac- at the very approaches to Stara- il to their home villages, so that edonian people did not willingly re- vina. the elders, women and children linquish their homeland to invaders. could seek safety in the thick for- It had to be taken by force and repeat- The Kadiya ordered an attack ests. In this way this party ad- edly retaken by force. It is a constant, across the Chebrenski Bridge, but vanced and took the hamlets of in the long history of Ottoman and priest Yakov, with his village Manastir and Melnitsa, plun- subsequent foreign occupations, that guard-force from Staravina, dered them, and when they the Macedonian people did not give Gradeshnitsa, Bzovich and Sato- reached Vitolishta, they discov- their land, it had to be taken from ka, held his forces on the opposite ered the Skopje bey already there them by force. This fact more than shore of the river for two days. with a thousand-man force that any other is the proof of indigenous Though on the third night, the had carved a similar path Macedonian right to their homeland. Turks took the bridge and through the villages. Coming up stormed up the steep rocky from the south the third party un- My English language version of the slopes, where the rebels had their der Mehmed, Muarem and Feta, novel is available through the pub- positions. And other Turks, on the after plundering Budimirtsi and lisher, the Sydney based Macedonian other side of Bzovich, had al- Gurunishta, joined the kadiya’s Literary Association "Grigor Prli- ready taken the high ground, and party in Gradeshnitsa and pre- chev." P.O. Box 227, Rockdale, they were about to make another pared for the assault on the NSW 2216. Or email contact: charge on Baba, on the outskirts Peshta fortress. [email protected] of Staravina. Many Turks fell in the battle here, just as they had at The Skopje pasha pacified Vito- Dr. Michael Seraphinoff the Tsrna, but there were so many lishta, Zhiovo and Vrpsko. They attackers, well over 500, that the bound the young men and women, rebels, along with all of the in- and some were butchered or habitants of Staravina, were beaten. Then, they plundered and forced to take refuge in the old burned many of the houses, and roman fortress at Peshta. The after passing through Polchishta, kadiya’s men swarmed into they reached Satoka. Here, many

For many years the false rhetoric emanat- the Greek Government, independently ing from modern Greece about the legiti- of their special defects, would include macy of the Republic of Macedonia, the Thessaly and Epirus Did Tito Macedonian language and culture, as well as the existence of Macedonians a few districts of which alone have tak- Invent the (especially those Macedonians whom en any share in the insurrection, and of they deny exist within the boundaries of which several of the chiefs have even Macedonians Greece today) has produced insidious borne arms for the Porte; while the assertions as to how the Republic of Mac- Greek population in general has lived and Their edonia and the Macedonians came into peaceably with the Turks settled in existence. One dastardly claim in particu- those provinces. On this account, these Language? lar is that Marshall Tito, the famous Presi- two lines could not be adopted without contravening the principles on which By Ivan Hristovski dent of Yugoslavia, invented the Mace- donian nation and its language. the Representatives are bound by their instructions to found their opinion. But as is the case with numerous modern (Page 22) Greek nationalist claims, the ‘evidence’ for such allegations, is easily revealed to John Capo d’Istria and the working involve a series of distortions. Greek government left Macedonia out of the equation entirely. One way to begin is to give some expo- sure to a rather intriguing idea from the "What Boundary Line would suit Greece beginning of the 19th century, belonging best, giving her a continental frontier to John Capo d’Istria, the first head of clearly defined, easily defensible, and Marshall Tito state of independent Greece. During the which would best separate the popula- war for independence from the Ottoman tions?" Over the course of the last 6 Empire, which eventually led to the crea- "What also is the insular Boundary months, members of Austral- tion of a state called Greece, the Great which would best suit Greece?" (Page ia’s Greek community have Powers (Great Britain, France, and Rus- 25) staged some events, once sia) held a conference in the island of Po- more propagating the fiction ros to establish a boundary line between The following answer from the Greek that Tito invented Macedoni- “Greeks” and “Turks”. As the document government would make today’s nation- ans in 1945, so Ivan Hristov- Protocol of the Conference Held at Po- alist Greek ill and uneasy. ski, the AMHRC’s New York ros, Between the Representatives of Great representative, volunteered Britain, France, and Russia, on the 12th of “In its reply, the Greek Government to present a small sample of December 1828 details, the meeting: has brought forward two projêts, ad- the evidence demonstrating missible, the one in case of the acces- the falsity of the claim… After mature consideration of the infor- sion of the Ottoman Porte to the Treaty mation furnished by the Greek Govern- of London, or, in other words, to the ment, and after frequent communica- mediation of the Allied Courts,—the tions with Count Capodistrias, the Rep- other, in case of its non-accession. resentatives, conforming themselves carefully to the instructions with which It is with the Greek projêt founded upon they have been collectively furnished, the last hypothesis that we shall com- agree to record in this Protocol their mence the successive examination of all definitive opinion upon the several the Boundary Lines pointed out to the points of the Treaty of London, upon attention of the Representatives.” which the Courts are called upon in their benevolence to decide (Page 21). According to the first projet, the Boundary would follow "the line of The Protocol goes into fine detail on what mount Olympus from Katerin as far the continental and insular boundaries of as the summit of Pindus, in the direc- the new self-governing Greek state would tion of Zygos or Metzovo. Not far from be in accordance with the Treaty of Lon- Katerin this line meets with the river don (for more information on the Treaty Haliacmon or Indge Karassou, the of London please see http:// course of which it follows through www.fordham.edu/halsall/ Servia and Grevena." (Pages 25-26) mod/1827gktreaty.asp). Capo d’Istria himself said of the proposed Point 5 of the Protocol indicates: borders described in the Protocol of 1828 that: The two lines of frontier proposed by

33

“In ancient times this boundary also ethnicity. separated Greece from its northern neighbors. In the middle ages and in The Kallergis thesis certainly is a serious modern times, Thessaly was always problem for present day Greek national- kept Greek while Macedonia was ist sensitivities. But it was far from ex- conquered by the Slavs and other ceptional during his time. In official doc- races. Thessaly, thanks to its geo- uments of the Greek foreign ministry in th graphical position, avoided foreign the 19 century “the inhabitants of what peoples” (Koliopoulos & Veremis was then Turkish Macedonia are distin- 2002, 335). guished as ‘Greeks’ and ‘Macedonians’. The latter term referred to the Slavonic- Capo d’Istria would actually propose that speaking Exarchist Macedoni- Macedonia become an independent na- ans” (Nakratzas 1999, 111). tion. Capo d'Istria proposed the follow- ing plan in 1828 outside of the Protocol In the Greek census of 1920, the Mace- thus far mentioned: donian language (without any prefixes or suffixes) was listed as a language spo- “The Ottoman Empire in Europe ken by some of the population in Greece. should be replaced by five states of the Parts of the official census results were second rank. These states should be: 1. published and therefore recognised by The duchy or kingdom of Dacia, con- the Greek state. sisting of the principalities of Walla- chia and Moldavia. 2. The kingdom of Thus far we have three Greek examples Servia, to include Bulgaria, Servia, and that run counter to the Greek claims that Bosnia. 3. The kingdom of Macedo- the Macedonian language and identity nia, to consist of Macedonia proper, were creations of Marshall Tito in 1945. with the islands of the Propontis and We will now examine what some Mace- the islands of Imbros, Samothrace, donians themselves said. John Kapodistrias and Thasos. 4. The kingdom of Epi- In August-September 1907, M. Petraiev, rus, to be formed out of Epirus, with a Russian consular official and keen Bal- the provinces of Upper and Lower kan observer, accompanied Hilmi Pasha, Albania. 5. The Hellenic state, to in- inspector general for Macedonia, and an clude Greece proper, from the river Austro-Hungarian representative on a Peneus in Thessaly to the city of Ar- tour of Macedonia. Afterward he report- ta” (Appleton’s Cyclopedia 1884, ed to his Ministry of foreign affairs: 264). “In the Kastoria (Kostur) Kaza, dele- A former General and aide-de-camp to gations from the villages came to see Capo d’Istria, Dimitrios Kallergis, who us and declared that they wanted nei- would become an Ambassador, ex- ther Greek nor Bulgarian teachers and pressed his opinion to the English econo- priests; rather they insisted that they mist and writer Nassau William Senior be Macedonians. When questioned in 1860 that about their nationality, they replied “The real Greeks would never have that they are Macedonians. These driven out the Turks. They were too declarations, which are far from being degraded even to wish for liberty. isolated, demonstrate that the Chris- For many years after we had tian population of Macedonia is fed-up achieved our own independence with the oppression of the various they called the times of Turkish rule propagandas, and that in them is be- ‘the good times’. It was the Albani- ginning to awaken a national con- ans and Macedonians and foreign- sciousness different from those being imposed on them from out- ers who fought the Turks” (Senior Teodocij Gologanov 1878, 305). side.” (Moscow: Institut Slavian- ovedeniia, Rossiiskaia academia nauk, Kallergis’ admission would have him 1999, 63) branded a traitor in Greece today and he would certainly be ostracized for ac- In 1891 the Exarchate Metropolitan of knowledging a separate Macedonian Skopje, Teodosij Gologanov, wrote a

letter to Dionysus of Sofia, a Macedoni- garia and Serbia and with Albania on The notion that Tito invented a people and an from Strumica who shared a similar the west....Macedonia, as the homeland their language is not only ridiculous but view in favour of the renewal of the of the two greatest personalities of the also a tool for racist nationalist propagan- Ohrid archbishopric. Teodosij puts forth Ancient World - Aristotle and Alexander dists in Greece that cannot tolerate the ex- that the: the Great, who conquered the world. istence of difference and who therefore Should it anew conquer its independence continue to deny the existence of a Mace- “holy Exarchate….does everything pos- and its autonomy?...And if an autono- donian minority with a distinct Macedoni- sible to persuade the poor Macedonian mous Macedonian administration were an language and Macedonian identity people that it has good intentions, that it to be introduced in this land in ten years within Greece’s boundaries. cares about its present and future and only, it would be the earthly paradise of wants to rescue them from the darkness the world...The small states - the Greek, Sources of national unawareness and make them Bulgarian and Serbian ones - argue for - Appleton’s Annual Cyclopedia And Regis- a people consciously Bulgarian. And it the acquisition of Macedonia, using all ter Of Important Events Of The Year 1877, does not require much from me to per- kinds of proofs - chauvinist and histori- suade you, that our holy Exarchate with Vol. II. NY: D. Appleton and Company, cal - invented in support of their inter- 1884. its ecclesiastical and educational activity ests, while no one seems to realize that if here in Macedonia is actually perform- the historical truth were to be respected, - Borza, Eugene. “Macedonian Redux”, in ing the most wretched task of taking Macedonia should rather have the right The Eye Expanded: Life and the Arts in away the name of a people and replac- to possess all those countries, which Greco-Roman Antiquity, ed. Frances B. ing it with another, taking away its moth- would like to devour it, since once it gov- Titchener, Richard F. Moorton. Los Ange- er tongue and replacing it with another, erned and ruled them itself....The Mace- les: University of California Press, 1999. taking away all its national symbols and donians do not want the kind of caresses replacing them with others, all in order which may strangle them. They want to - Danforth, Loring. “Ancient Macedonia, Alexander the Great and the Star or Sun of to secure for its government and Bulgar- remain Macedonians without any other Vergina: National Symbols and the Conflict ian merchants commercial penetration epithet, guarding for themselves their between Greece and the Republic of Mace- into new territory…. I will be sincere, my beautiful Macedonia…” (Almanach de dear brother in Christ, and tell you donia”, in A Companion To Ancient Mace- la Question Sociale Illustre'. Paris, Pour donia, ed. Joseph Roisman, Ian Worthing- openly: we the Macedonians suffer less 1896, pp. 240-244). from the Turks than from the Greeks, ton. U.K: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2010. Bulgarians, and Serbs, who throw them- And indeed, one the leaders of the Internal - Koliopoulos, Giannes and Veremes, selves on our pitiful country like eagles Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation Thanos. “Greece: The Modern Sequel”. NY: on a carcass and want to dismember (IMRO), which fought for the creation of New York University Press, 2002. it….I took on myself to renew the Ohrid an autonomous Macedonian state, Nikola archbishopric and from that there is no Karev, in 1902 wrote: Let us not expect - Miller, Marshall Lee. “ Bulgaria During the return….We are ready to recognize the freedom either from the Greeks or the Bul- Second World War”. California: Stanford Patriarchate as the universal throne and garians; it is we, the Macedonians, who University Press, 1975. obey it in everything, just as other Ortho- should fight for our Macedonia our- - Nakratzas, George. “The Close Racial Kin- dox churches do, but only if it registers selves…” ship Between the Greeks, Bulgarians, and the Ohrid archbishopric in the codex of Turks: Macedonia and Thrace”. Thessaloni- the Orthodox churches on an equal foot- This small sample of the available evi- ki (Solun), Batàvia Publications, 1999. ing with the others….I organized Paisos dence makes it abundantly clear that Tito (the local Greek metropolitan) and told did not invent Macedonian ethnic identi- - Nova Makedonija, “Neobjaveno Pismo”. him the plan about the Ohrid archbish- ty. This is why renowned non Greek, non Skopje: XXIV, nbr.7744, May 5th 1968. opric….I told him that for the majority of Macedonian scholars, specializing in this the eparchies we already have appropri- field, like the anthropologist Loring - Protocol of the Conference held at Poros, ate men to be metropolitans, and in Danforth, flatly and confidently assert: Between the Representatives of Great Brit- th those places where we do not have any “The Macedonian nation is not an artifi- ain, France, and Russia. On the 12 of De- we would accept Greek bishops provid- cial invention of Marshall Tito, the former cember 1828. (Translation from French) Yugoslav leader, as Greek nationalists ed they know our, that is, the Macedoni- - Senior, Nassau William. “Conversations an language.” (Trencsényi, Kopacek claim” (Danforth 2010, 573). A point that the classicist Eugene Borza, has also made: with M. Thiers, M. Guizot, and other distin- 2007, 191-193) guished persons, during the second empire”. “Thus it is clear that Tito did not invent London: Hurst and Blackett, 1878. Paul Argyriades, a French socialist of either a Macedonian ethnicity or a Mace- Macedonian origin, wrote: donian language — as has been alleged — - Trencsényi, Balázs, Kopeček, Michael. when he created a Macedonian Republic “Discourses of Collective Identity in Central “...Present day Macedonia is one of the as a part of the postwar Yugoslav federal and Southeast Europe (1770-1945) Volume European provinces of the Turkish Em- state. He rather provided legitimacy and II National Romanticism- The Formation of pire. It borders on the south with Epirus, support for a movement that had been un- National Movements”. Budapest: Central Thessaly and the Mediterranean, on the derway since at least the late nineteenth European University Press, 2007. east with Thrace and the Mediterranean, century” (Borza 1999, 254). on the north with Mount Haemus, Bul-

Muzikorama’s Australian Tour

Organised by the AMHRC in cooperation with the Macedonian Community of Western Australia Inc and the Macedonian Community of Adelaide and South Australia Inc

The very popular Macedonian band from the Lerin region of Ae- ation with the Lerin FC soccer club, another picnic on February 10 gean Macedonia, Muzikorama, toured Melbourne, Adelaide and at the Whittlesea Showgrounds in Melbourne’s outer north. Perth, during the course of last January and February.The group is made up of five members: Kocho Tolkov from Petoratsi, Micho All the events were very well attended and the authentic Macedo- Ristov from Leskovets, Spiro Petrov from Ajtos, Ilo Plashnikov nian songs and dances performed by Muzikorama were widely from Boreshnitsa and Vasil Trenov from Neret. appreciated. Events featuring Muzikorama were held by the AMHRC on Janu- Apart from our partners, the MCWA and MCASA, the AMHRC ary 26 at Brookwood Receptions (attended by close to 600 peo- would also like to thank the following major sponsors: Vlado ple); the annual St.George picnic at their Kinglake picnic grounds Trpcevski of Sun Line Roller Shutters, John Chapkoun of the on January 27 and at the Macedonian community centres in Perth Chapkoun Pharmacy, Novatsis and Alexander Lawyers and and Adelaide on the 2nd and 9th of February, respectively. George Coussas. On February 6 the group made a special appearance at the Mace- Special thanks also to the following members of the AMHRC sub donian retirees club in Doncaster and then the tour ended with the -committee which managed the tour so well: Con Filin, Tase Fil- AMHRC being compelled, by popular demand, to host, in cooper- ipov, Con Talidis, Jim Karafiliov and David Vitkov.

RELATED ORGANIZATIONS

ABOUT The AMHRC and MHRMI are part of an international Macedonian network that spans Australia, North America and Europe, including: AUSTRALIAN MACEDONIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

Address Suite 106, Level 1 MHRMI & 55 Flemington Rd North Melbourne, 3051 Telephone +61 3 9329 8960 Email [email protected] AMHRC Website www.macedonianhr.org.au MACEDONIAN HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL

Address 157 Adelaide St. West, Suite 434 Toronto, Canada M5H 4E7 Macedonian Telephone 1 416 850 7125 Email [email protected] Human Rights Website www.mhrmi.org MACEDONIAN ALLIANCE FOR EUROPEAN INTEGRATION Movement The political party of the Macedonians in Albania

International Website www.macedoniansinalbania.org EUROPEAN FREE ALLIANCE—RAINBOW (MHRMI) has Address Stephanou Dragoumi 11 PO Box 51, 53100 Florina/Lerin, been active since Greece Telephone +30 23850 46548 1986. The Email [email protected] or [email protected] Australian Website www.vinozito.gr OMO ILINDEN PIRIN

Macedonian Address Bulgaria, Blagoevgrad 2700 Zk ‘Elenovo’ bl 6 v. Bar. 6 Human Rights p.k. Mechkaroovi Email [email protected] Committee Website www.omoilindenpirin.org (AMHRC) has MACEDONIAN SOCIETY “ILINDEN” TIRANA A Macedonian cultural association in Tirana, Albania

been active since Website www.ilinden-tirana.com 1984. NOVA ZORA A pro-Macedoniannewspaper based in Aegean Macedonia, Greece, edited by Dimitri Jovanov and with a printed circulation of 20,000 copies per month

Both MHRMI and Website novazora.gr AMHRC are non- NARODNA VOLJA A Pro-Macedonian newspaper based in Pirin Macedonia, Bulgaria, edited by Jan Pirinski and Stojko Stojkov. The first edition was published in 1980 governmental organisations that Website www.narodnavolja.com inform and advocate about TEAM MEMBERS combating racism and promoting MHRMI AMHRC human rights. Our Jovan Drenoski, Treasurer Chris Angelkov, Perth Representative Michael Georgiev, Marketing Gligor Apoleski, Sydney Representative Ljubica Durlovska, Review Production Designer/Assistant Editor Donna Gulcev joint aspiration is to Tase Filipov, Treasurer ensure that Tomislav Jakovleski Ivan Hristovski, New York Correspondent/Representative Velibor Jakovleski Jason Kambovski, Communications Advisor/Executive Member Macedonian Slavko Mangovski, International Coordinator Diane Kitanoski, MHR Review Photographer Jimmy Mihajlov Sasha Nackovski, Political Liaison Officer communities and Tonia Miovska, International Coordinator Dr. Vasko Nastevski, Secretary/Executive Member Bill Nicholov, President Daniel Nikoloski , Adelaide Representative/Online Management other excluded Lisa Penova, Adelaide Representative/Online Management Lazo Ognenov Steven Petkovski, Canberra Representative groups throughout Andy Plukov Dr Chris Popov, Media Liaison/Executive Member the world, are Mark Opashinov, Secretary Michael Radin, Adelaide Representative Bill Pavlovski, Public Relations Peter Sarbinov, Deputy Secretary recognised, Liljana Ristova Vasko Tanevski, Adelaide Representative Silvana Talevska Chris Terpos, Marketing Manager respected and Jim Thomev, Columnist for MHR Review Luby Vidinovski, Vice President John Tsiglev, Members’ Representative afforded equitable David Vitkov, International Co-Ordinator/Executive Member treatment. George Vlahov, Editor MHR Review/Executive Member

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