30.05.08 - 19:55 Greek irredentism ......

Map with heading:
GREEK PARLIAMENT (with logo)
HISTORICAL MAP OF GREECE


Click here to zoom the picture

Legend with heading:
THE UNIFICATION OF GREECE

In recent years more and more often we hear the statements of various Greek authorities, parliamentarians, government representatives, ministries, Prime Ministers, journalists and others, about the so-called ‘expansionist propaganda of “Skopje”’ against our country.

Typically, all the above mentioned who utilise such argumentation on the “expansionism of Skopje” have not attempted to enquire or consider the behaviour of our state on the issue of “expansionism”.

The Greek Parliament in 2000 printed a map under the heading “Historical Map of Greece” where part of Turkish territory is presented as being part of the “unitary Greek world”. Specifically, the territory of Asia Minor around Izmir, eastern Thrace, the islands of Imvros and Tenedos are presented as Greek territories.

The title of the map is “Historical Map of Greece” and the legend is headed “The Unification of Greece”. In purple are marked the territories which “united” with the Greek state in 1920 and below, the Treaty of Sevres is mentioned, which partly satisfied the needs of the Greek “Great Idea” (Megali Idea). The very mention of “unification” serves to highlight the “unity” and “indivisibility” of Greek lands, which include the marked purple territories. Of course the nationalists and crypto-nationalists in our country can justify themselves by claiming that the map is not expansionist, but rather represents the real situation on the ground following the Treaty of Sevres in 1920. Well, a similar argumentation can be used by every Macedonian nationalist claiming the same for the Treaty of Bucharest of 1913 in which the well-known map with the division of the Macedonian lands between three states is not expansionist propaganda but rather represents the realistic situation at the actual time. So in actual fact, what is the difference between the title “Historical Map of Greece” (1920) from the title “Historical Map of Macedonia” (1913). Or what is the difference between a title that reads “The Division of Macedonia” and one that states “The Unification of Greece”?


ALL TEXT : http://www.florina.org/archive/2007/2007_greek_irredentism.html


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