Come take a ride in Tito’s time Machine – Part 15

Macedonians burned to death


By Risto Stefov
rstefov@hotmail.com



November 22, 2009

If we “must” believe that Josip Broz Tito (May 7, 1892 - May 4, 1980), the Yugoslav dictator, along with the Communists, “invented” the Macedonians then we must also believe that Tito possessed a “Time Machine” because in this series of articles we will show you that the Macedonians existed way before Tito’s time.

Knowing that I could not speak with TrueMacedonian and worried that Tito might show up earlier than expected, the next morning I boarded the Delorean’s trunk as soon as I arrived at the hiding place. As I sat there in silence it occurred to me that one of these days someone might want to use the trunk and I would be discovered. As I contemplated such a scenario I began to explore the inside of the trunk with the aid of my handy flashlight and lo and behold I discovered a hidden, zippered compartment on the right side on top of the back wheel. As I unzipped the flap I discovered it was not only big enough so that I would fit but it was straight and I would not have to crouch. Why didn’t I do this earlier, I wondered as I got in and began to zip-up the fold. Ah, this is perfect and on top of being comfortable, I was hidden from sight and was getting fresh air from the outside through the special intake grilles. This compartment must have been used for storing operational equipment before the upgrades to the Delorean were made.

Tito and the team arrived at the usual time and as usual Tito barked his next orders and the destination of their first mission. “This morning we are going to Vienna , to October 14, 1903 ,” remarked Tito as he adjusted the time control dials and pushed the activation button.

The next day I went through all the papers but could find nothing on the mission for October 15, 1903 . Then it occurred to me to look in the October 14, 1903 newspapers starting with The New York Times. This is what I found;

“MACEDONIANS NEAR THE SEA

London Times – New York Times Special Cablegram.

London , Oct. 14. – The Times’s Vienna correspondent says that according to Politsche Corespondenz the insurgents in Sunjak, Seres are rapidly nearing the southern seacoast at Kavala.” (The New York Times, October 14, 1903)

Tito and the boys must have caught the correspondent early in the morning and had him release the news the same day. How is that for fast service even in 1903?

As soon as the team was back, the boys were off again, judging from the evidence, this time to Rome , to September 26, 1915 ;

“Special Cable to The New York Times

ROME , Sept. 27. – Another great conflagration in the Balkans is unavoidable. Many Balkan exiles living in Italy , especially Greeks, Macedonians and Bulgarians are speeding home via Brindisi and Messina .

Another sign of the gravity of the situation is the fresh severity of the censorship in the Balkan countries practically allowing only the transmission of official news. (The New York Times, September 27, 1915)

No sooner had they left than they were back again so I figured Tito would go for an extra mission. Then I overheard him say, “We are going to Sofia , to November 6th, 1903 .

That winter was particularly bad for the Macedonian people given that their Uprising along with their hopes and worldly possessions were just crushed by the Ottomans. I was not looking forward to reading about this mission at all. But then when I did find the article, I was pleasantly surprised. Here is what it said;

“EMPEROR AIDS MACEDONIANS

Francis Joseph Gives 10,000f. for the Refuges in Response to an Appeal by Princes Clementine.

London Times – New York Times Special Cablegram.

LONDON , Nov. 7. – The Sofia correspondent of the Times says Emperor Francis Joseph gives 10,000f. in aid of the Macedonian refugees. The donation was in response to an appeal by Princes Clementine of Belgium (Countess Lonyay, who was the wife of the Crown Prince Rudolf) and was accompanied by an autographed letter. The munificence of the Emperor is much appreciated in Sofia .

The princess, who has been deeply touched by the sufferings of the unfortunate exiles, has addressed letters to several of her august relatives invoking aid and has contributed large sums from her private purse.” (The New York Times, November 7, 1903)

The team was back again and I was right, it went for yet another mission. “Sorry to disappoint you boys but we are not going home, we are going for one more mission,” announced Tito without specifying where they were going. Knowing that I would be, concerned TrueMacedonian piped up and said, “Where are we going? Aren’t you going to tell us?”

“We are going to Sofia again but this time to January 19, 1908 ” replied Tito.

The next day I looked through the January 19, 1908 newspapers only to find the dreaded news in the following article;

“OUTRAGE BY GREEKS

Macedonians Driven into Houses and Burned to Death.

SOFIA , Bulgaria , Jan. 19. – News has reached here of a terrible tragedy at the village of Dragosch , near Monastir, a town in Macedonia , several days ago.

While a festival was in progress and the villagers were dancing upon the lawns in the public park, a large band of Greeks suddenly swooped down upon them and after driving them into their houses, set fire to the buildings and burned them to death.

The victims included women and children and numbered, it is said, between twenty-five and forty-five. (The New York Times, January 20, 1908)

Why must Tito make the last mission the worst mission of the day? Everyone was very quiet when they arrived and left for home. It was expected after that mission!

When it was quiet outside I worked my way out of the Delorean’s side compartment, having to work the stuck zipper a couple of times. I was used to popping out of the trunk so I was on my feet in seconds, ready to make my way back to my place when I noticed a crumpled piece of paper on the ground. It must be another message from TrueMacedonian.

Here is what it said;

“Angolida, like the coastal areas of the Peloponnesos in general, has a long history of invasions and immigration due to the economic significance of the area and its location along the eastern Mediterranean trade routes. The three villages of Agia Triada, Manesi and Gerbisi all trace their history back to the decline of the Byzantine Empire . The original name of Agia Triada was Merbeka, probably derived from the surname of the Catholic bishop of Corinth during the Frankish crusader state, Wilhelm von Moerbeke, who established the Deocesan seat there in 1277 (Salapatas 2000). It is mentioned in a census of 1700 as containing thirty families and 157 residents. In 1817 it is listed as having 160 residents. In 1834, Merbeka was incorporated as a town (dimos) with a population of 320 (Skiadas 1993). Gerbesi and Manesi both seem to have been founded in the sixteenth century when the area was under Venetian control. Both names apparently refer to immigrant Albanian soldiers working for the Venetians that also appear as names of villages in what is today as southern Albania (Mauros 1980). Albanian speakers moved into Argolida in several waves in the next centuries, creating differences that are perceived today. Residents of Garbesi are thought to share lineage with the people of Limnes, a village some 20 kilometers away, while the villages of Prosomni and Arachneo are thought to represent a later immigration. Residents of Garbesi often cite this history in explaining inter village differences and conflicts. In the early 1950’s the names of Merbeka and Garbesi were changed to the more ‘Greek sounding’ Agia Triada (meaning Holy Trinity) and Midea (from the Mycenaean site), the culmination of a long process of cultural homogenization initiated by the emergence of the modern Greek state in 1821. Manesi, for unexplainable reasons, was allowed to keep its Arvanitiko name.” (“Blood and Oranges Immigrant Labour and European Markets in Rural Greece”, by Christopher M. Lawrence, page 13)

To be continued.

Other articles by Risto Stefov:

http://www.maknews.com/html/articles.html#stefov

http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3446

Many thanks to TrueMacedonian from http://www.maknews.com/forum for his contribution to this article.

Uninformed with claims

By Stefan Vlahov Micov

Translated (with the aid of Google Translate) and edited by Risto Stefov

November 6, 2009

In a telephone conversation, academic Blaze Ristovski a few days ago admitted that he did not expect that Macedonia would have so many uninformed people with so many claims. It is tiring to read and listen to so many controversies in the Macedonian media surrounding the issue of whether Macedonians are Slavs or Ancient Macedonians and when and how the Macedonian government will compromise on the name of our state!

These are questions befitting the enemies of the Republic of Macedonia who want to manipulate the Macedonian population and should not be used by Macedonian politicians and journalists. Discussions such as these not only employ the language of Greek and Bulgarian propaganda but consciously become the propagators of it.

The reality is that there is a Macedonian identity that exists today regardless of where and when it began, be it in Antiquity or in the Middle Ages, and as such no additional qualifications are required to validate it.

Albanians have no problem claiming to have continuity from 5,000 years ago. Greeks consider it normal to have a continuity that stretches back 4,000 years, Romanians 500 years and Bulgarians claiming to be the successors of the Thracians and of Turk-Bulgaria. Unfortunately some modern Macedonians, despite the thousands of years of historical testimonies on their behalf, including those of the ancient Macedonians, behave like “glupaci”. Why refuse something that historically belongs to you? Why not be proud that you are a descendent of the ancient and Slavic civilizations, which are a synthesis of thousands of years of tradition?

Ancient Macedonia was not afraid to assimilate other ethnicities and adopt their cultures in the same way today's America adopts other ethnicities, cultures, technologies worldwide and sells them or imposes them right back to the world as American.

Americans do not question how many of themselves are European, Asian, African or local, but simply consider themselves to be Americans. Someone once said: America is a great nation. The difference between a great and a small nation is not measured in quantity but rather in spirit. Did the ancient Macedonians number in the millions to have created such a great empire? No!

The problem with some modern Macedonians today is their lack of understanding of their own values. Instead of accepting the view of how others see them, they should be looking at themselves and accept that they are a product of their own environment, of Macedonia . There are people, not only today but all through the centuries, who have deliberately tried to tear apart Macedonia ’s continuity leaving people feeling powerless and without support. Because of the many years of such torment and the false values instilled in them, Macedonians today do not share a strong unity, a strong bond and tend to take the road to compromises. But if we are to survive we cannot compromise on something that identifies and defines not only who we are today but who we were for thousands of years and who we will be for many thousands of years to come. A compromise with Europe today is equivalent to taking the path to our self-imposed demise. A compromise will lead to our inevitable death!

While we are still alive and our culture still exists, we need to fight and make necessary sacrifices but sacrifices that will lead to achieving our objectives. If we are willing to join the EU today at any price then we will pay nothing, but our future generations inevitably will suffer. But who cares about them anyway. Right?

It is important for us to enter the EU but if we don’t pay the price today we will be paying for it in the future. The European Commission has recommended that a date be set during the December 7^th, 2009 EU Council session for starting negotiations for Macedonia’s entry into the EU but there are conditions attached to this and one of those conditions is that we need to “compromise” on our name. There is nothing in this recommendation that says our entry into the EU is guaranteed if we “compromise” on our name. In other words our country’s name must change before we enter negotiations and this is without any guarantee that we will not be asked to compromise later on other things like our identity, language, etc. This is like going to a bank and investing all your money into an investment that has no return guarantees, an unspecified term, an unknown interest rate and no guarantee that you will ever recover your initial investment. Who in their right mind is prepared to enter into such a deal? An idiot perhaps?

So why should we be such “idiots” when it comes to taking care of our nation and state?

The date to start negotiations for entering the EU does not guarantee that our attempt to enter the EU will be successful despite any sacrifices we are willing to make. Optimistically if we start negotiating in 2010 we will not be eligible to enter the EU until 2018. Even if we consider EU envoy Fouere’s recent estimates, we will not qualify in 4 to 5 years. So has anyone thought of how many chapters we will need to open, fill and close, the items that we will need to be harmonized with, the thousands of pages of documents we will need to write and the number of “compromises” we will be asked to make before these negotiations are over? And to top it all, any of the 27 EU members can dictate their terms and can veto any of our demands at any time during the negotiating process. But even if there is a small chance that we make it out of the negotiations, there is also that dreaded final vote during the ratification process when “someone” can again veto our entry. This is much like the "Story of scale" by Christo Smirnenski. With each step taken towards the EU the Republic of Macedonia and the Macedonian people will lose part of their identity until there is nothing left! Do not for a moment be fooled that Greece “accidentally” picked the name as the only “initial compromise”. This is the first stage of many compromises, a trap from which there is no escape. Next comes reaching a “compromise” on the identity. Do not think for a moment that the opening chapter of "justice" is not tilted in favour of the Bulgarians and Greeks and that they failed to seek changes to the judicial system in their favour. It is no accident that Greece did not include “negotiating the Macedonian identity” in the first stages of the EU negotiations. Reaching an agreement on the “name” will open the way for the Greeks to make other claims and more demands, particularly during the crucial parts of the negotiations with the EU.

The Bulgarians too have been deferring their demands until Macedonia is locked in negotiations with the EU. In other words, what we foresee as “negotiations” today may not be exactly what we end up with at the end, and the way things are shaping there may be no Macedonia or Macedonian identity at all by then. Macedonia will become a faceless and nameless territory. This, however, is still only one side of the coin. If Macedonia does by some miracle manage to “negotiate” its way into the EU, perhaps by 2018 or 2020, then what will the European Union or even the Balkans look like by then? A decade would have passed and the world would not be the same. Macedonia can’t afford to wait and waste away an entire decade “negotiating” while it has other options available.

Some time ago I wrote and predicted that Russia would soon begin to make its way back to the Balkans, including to Macedonia , first economically and then militarily. While visiting Belgrade , Russian President Medvedev made mention that Russia was prepared to economically support Serbia with a billion dollar loan which it expects to be paid back with interest. Don’t be surprised if, in order to protect its investment, Russia builds a military base near Nish . This would also be a check on American expansion into Romania and Bulgaria .

The struggle for power between Russia and the United States in the Balkans did not cease even after the super powers became allies. This competition for economic dominance, with time, will intensify and Turkey will become the arbiter in the Balkans.

The situation in Bosnia however is a bit more complicated because representatives of the international community (who are mostly Europeans) are powerless to resolve the interethnic conflict there. The EU will remain powerless in the future in spite of having its own “president” because of its inability to act on important matters. It is obvious that today the EU is forced to make concessions for the Irish, the Czech Republic , Bulgaria , etc. When will all this end? And to compensate for its weaknesses the EU continues to impose new conditions on its new candidate countries. Turkey is a country which has met all the set conditions. Why isn’t it welcomed to join the European Union? Does the EU fear that if such a state joins the EU it will be placed in a dependent position? How much better then Turkey were Bulgaria and Romania before they joined the EU?

But as the Turkish Davatoglu has indicated there are other things that Europeans should fear even more than Turkey ’s supposed dependence on the EU and that is Turkey ’s good relations with the United States and Russia , which are not connected with European interests in the Balkans. Both super powers are interested in a powerless EU.

In the backdrop of dynamic patterns, Serbian Balkan diplomacy is working very well. During the Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul’s visit to Belgrade , the two countries agreed on a strategic partnership and this was done in spite of their differences on the question of Kosovo. During the occasion President Tadic reassured everyone that unresolved problems in the Balkans could only be solved by integrating the region into the EU. That means Serbia , Kosovo , Macedonia , Albania and Croatia need to be admitted on mass and without any conditions, grades, or vetoes.

Unlike Davatoglu however, Tadic said nothing about the Balkans having “other options” other than joining the EU. But what does this mean? To understand what this means we need to look at the weekly Magazinpres and see what the famous Serbian foreign policy experts have to say. Among other things they say that "Romanians and Greeks are their true friends" and point to Bulgaria as Serbia ’s greatest enemy. This is similar to the jokes made during the great wars, nicely paraphrased by Winston Churchill before World War II who said that if you want to select the winning side first determine which side Bulgaria will join and then join the opposite side.

From what was said above and from what is understood about the EU it is becoming clear that “time” is not working for the EU and the Bureaucrats in Brussels know that. It is precisely why the EU is pressuring the Republic of Macedonia and Greece to come to an agreement. They want a quick settlement between Macedonia and Greece because this dispute is like a hot chestnut in their back where the United States , Russia and Turkey are jockeying for power and influence. And because they find it difficult to get Greece to make concessions they make offers to Macedonia for rapid EU membership, which are far from the truth.

It may not be the intention of Brussels to destroy the Macedonian state and the Macedonian identity but is certainly the intention of Athens and Sofia . Unfortunately the EU has proven to be powerless to convince Greece and Bulgaria to abandon these ambitions, particularly after the Republic of Macedonia begins membership negotiations.

Greece , after its parliamentary elections, did somewhat change its rhetoric but only because Karamanlis’s verbal aggression brought many drawbacks to the Greek diplomacy on an international level. Now Papandreou will want to show that Greece is more flexible but at the same time will not deviate from its original stand with the Macedonian negotiators. Papandreou met with Gruevski and the Greek media only to trumpet the unmovable but softened position of Greece . The Macedonian media and politicians however did not fall for it because they saw Papandreou’s ploy for what it was, a change in maneuvers and nothing more.

Papandreou himself said Greece would not cross the "red line". Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Minister Drucas, meanwhile, said that Athens has only one solution and that is a name with a geographically structured determinant with the term Macedonia for all purposes and uses. He also added that: "The name issue must be resolved before the EU opening of negotiations with Skopje ". Is there anything different that Papandreou offered in comparison to Karamanlis?

In Bucharest , Greece successfully hid behind the "consensus" for NATO, but now it will have to get involved directly with the European Commission proposal. If it does that will be another issue for the court in The Hague to deal with. There is no doubt that a veto will create conflict between Greece and the EU. Not because the Europeans care about Macedonia but because it will ruin their interests in the Balkans. This will happen regardless of whether it’s good for Greece and Bulgaria or not. How this is handled will entirely depend on the Macedonian leadership. We should also not ignore the warning that came from Belgrade , Modest Koller director of the Moscow Information Agency "Ragnum” when he predicted that the disintegration of Macedonia is inevitable. A statement such as this is actually a “geopolitical wink” designed to create panic in politicians to force them to hop onto the last car of the European train.

Instead of panicking and hopping on the last car of a fast moving European train does it not make more sense to explore wider options and, for example, create a strategic partnership with Turkey and China ? Is it a sin to do that? Unfortunately it seems that some ingenious politicians have already begun to weave strategic combination for future membership in NATO and the EU.

The author is a university professor

Alexander the Great Statue to Appear on Central Square in Macedonia’s Capital


BalkanTravellers.com

5 November 2009 | A 22-metre monument of Alexander the Great will be placed in Skopje’s Central Square following a decision by Macedonia’s constitutional court.

A fountain will also be built nearby the ancient ruler's monument, and the square will also most likely get bronze statues of four lines and eight three-metre tall soldiers, the Vecher newspaper reported today.

The court decision also saw no impediments to the construction and installation of monuments of other important, albeit controversial, figures for Macedonian history, such as Gotse Delchev and Dame Gruev, both revolutionary leaders in the region while it was under Ottoman rule.

The court had to make a judgement following the Miryana Naychevska and two other citizens who claimed that the construction of 19 monuments by Skopje’s Centre Municipality is unconstitutional.

According to Vecher, monuments of Delchev and Gruev will be places in front of Skopje’s Old Stone Bridge, while Nikola Karev, another leader of what later became known as the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, will be immortalised by a statue placed in front of the Parliament.

Other prominent figures from Macedonia’s both ancient and more recent history, whose ownership is disputed by neighbouring countries, including Greece and Bulgaria, will also be memorialised by statues in Skopje.

The total value of the monuments, which are currently being made in Florence, is around 10 million euro, the publication reported. All the monuments are supposed to be installed by the end of next year.

Recently, Vecher reported, the Macedonian government has been in favour of the monuments’ installation, while the opposition was firmly against them, saying that this would be a part of the process of an unnecessary “antiquisation.”

Athens is also strongly opposed to the installation of the monument of Alexander the Great, which – along with the naming of the Skopje airport after him, it sees as a provocation. Greece has said it considers these actions as counterproductive and not in any way contributing to a settlement of the dispute over Macedonia’s constitutional name.

Read more about Macedonia on www.balkantravellers.com