Quote:
Originally Posted by Mynydd
If there is a clear case where the ancient lands (and therefore assumably the people) of the Macedonians lie in a vast majority somewhere else, it is obvious that taking their name for own profit is a provocation and a cause for conflict.
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The biggest problem is that it's really far from being a clear case. Some parts of today's Slavic Macedonia were part of the ancient Macedon core, and some parts weren't(major part). After, additional regions were included in Macedon and/or colonized by ancient Macedonians, and some regions in contemporary Republic of Macedonia, like Plethon said, were later referred to as Macedonia.
What I am trying to explain all this time is that Slavic-speaking population of Macedonia(or FYROM if you would prefer) was heavily influenced by indigenous populations that took part in its ethnogenesis, and that Slavic "component" is just the latest addition in the region's gene pool.
And among these indigenous populations were the ancient Macedonians, who, after all, were the masters of those lands.
Perhaps the Greek Macedonians are more similar to the ancient ones, than the Macedonian Slavs, but does it really matter?
They live here and now, and they are both at least partially descended from the people that they admire so much, and that should bring them closer together as friends, instead of making enemies out of them.
The unfortunate truth is that there are chauvinists on both sides, who are obsessed with this matter, and who will have no rest until their plans are accomplished.
I know Macedonians. Their numbers are not many, but they are a proud people, and will stick to the name that they have chosen for themselves, while Greeks, in fear that part of their history is being stolen, see it as some kind of identity theft, and dispute their name.
It is wrong and ignorant of (some)Macedonians to claim that they are descended solely from the ancient Macedonians, and that Macedonian lands in modern Greece rightfully belong to (Slav) Macedonia. But it is as equally wrong from Greeks to dispute use of the Macedonian name for people who live in that region and who are most certainly partially descended from the same ancestors as Aegean Macedonians.