From : Monatstir city of ghosts
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The regime in Skopje has an appalling human rights record as evidenced by the US State Department, Amnesty International and the Helsinki Committee. There are two cases which illustrate the regime's virulent anti-Greek stance - denying even the existence of Greeks in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Makedonija (FYROM).
Case 1: Papouli Family. The Papouli family are Greek-Vlachs in FYROM who had their surname forcibly changed to Kostov. They petitioned the Skopjan regime to change their name back to the original Greek, Papouli, which means little-Grandfather in Greek. The regime refused their application on the basis that it would "change their personal identity" and "obstruct legal procedures".
Case 2: Dennis Papatsatsa. Dennis, an ethnic Greek, was a refugee from the Greek Civil War, and lived in FYROM since 1946. He applied for a travel document provided for by the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. He was told by the Secretariat of the Ministry of the Interior of the Skopje regime that this was impossible as they did not have enough application forms. In January 1996, his son wanted to renew his passport issued by Federal Yugoslav authorities. The Skopje regime not only refused to renew his passport but also wanted to withdraw the old one. Papatsatsa Junior was told that he could not be issued with a passport and that there were no application forms. Obviously you can't issue a passport to "non-existent Greeks".
Forcing Slav names on Greeks, and not allowing Greeks to leave the country so as to deny their existence is a time honoured tradition (see "The Early 20th Century" section at this website which gives an eyewitness account by a soldier during the first world war).
These and other cases of Human Rights abuses in FYROM can be reviewed on the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights website.
It is not a suprise then, that only 10,000 noted their Greek identity in FYROM, a community that lives in and around the Monastir area.
Case 1: Papouli Family. The Papouli family are Greek-Vlachs in FYROM who had their surname forcibly changed to Kostov. They petitioned the Skopjan regime to change their name back to the original Greek, Papouli, which means little-Grandfather in Greek. The regime refused their application on the basis that it would "change their personal identity" and "obstruct legal procedures".
Case 2: Dennis Papatsatsa. Dennis, an ethnic Greek, was a refugee from the Greek Civil War, and lived in FYROM since 1946. He applied for a travel document provided for by the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. He was told by the Secretariat of the Ministry of the Interior of the Skopje regime that this was impossible as they did not have enough application forms. In January 1996, his son wanted to renew his passport issued by Federal Yugoslav authorities. The Skopje regime not only refused to renew his passport but also wanted to withdraw the old one. Papatsatsa Junior was told that he could not be issued with a passport and that there were no application forms. Obviously you can't issue a passport to "non-existent Greeks".
Forcing Slav names on Greeks, and not allowing Greeks to leave the country so as to deny their existence is a time honoured tradition (see "The Early 20th Century" section at this website which gives an eyewitness account by a soldier during the first world war).
These and other cases of Human Rights abuses in FYROM can be reviewed on the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights website.
It is not a suprise then, that only 10,000 noted their Greek identity in FYROM, a community that lives in and around the Monastir area.
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