Thousands of Greeks take to the streets in Macedonia name row
THESSALONIKI: Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of northern Greece’s biggest city Thessaloniki on Sunday, police said, in a long-running row between Athens and Skopje over the use of the name Macedonia.
Athens argues that the name Macedonia suggests that Skopje has territorial claims to the northern Greek region of the same name, of which Thessaloniki is the capital.
The region was the centre of Alexander the Great’s ancient kingdom, a source of Greek pride.
Police said more than 90,000 demonstrators had joined the protest in Thessaloniki, organised by hardline clerics, far-right leaders and Greek diaspora groups. Protest leaders said at least 400,000 people had turned up.
“We estimate there were at least 400.000 people. It is impressive,” rally organiser Anastasios Porgialidis said.
Some minor scuffles erupted between the protesters and anarchists who had organised a counter-demonstrators, prompting police to intervene with tear gas.
The rally drew members of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party who had gathered around the statue of Alexander the Great along with local clergy.
Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2018