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| Europe |
| Macedonia vs. Greece: Crisis Over Naming An Airport "Al The Great" |
| 2006-12-29 |
| And we're not talking Al Bundy, either. Greeks don't have enough enemies, that's why they're creating more ... Skopje, 29 Dec. (AKI) - Greece has vehemently protested against Macedonian government plans to name the airport in the capital of Skopje after an ancient Greek military commander, Alexander the Great, saying it would further strain the relations between the two countries. "Skopje is again seeking a false base in the past,” said Greek foreign minister Dora Bakoiani. "Alexander the Great was a leading figure of global dimensions who, by spreading Greek civilisation though the whole world known at that time, established the foundations of history,” said Bakoiani. "After 2,300 years, history can neither be changed, nor falsified,” she added. "Such behavior will not help Skopje's NATO and European expectations," Bakoiani warned. But her Macedonian counterpart, Antonio Milososki, said his government intended to go ahead with the plans to re-name Skopje airport, denying they are an attempt "to monopolise the name of a world historic figure which is glorified in many countries” Greece has threatened it would block Macedonia's entry into the European Union if the dispute wasn’t solved first, but Skopje poured new oil on fire on Thursday proposing to name the airport after Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.). Macedonia's population descended from Slavs who arrived there in the sixth century, but Macedonians claim they are ancestors of Alexander. |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #10 They could call it the Genghis Kahn International Airport. But that would piss off the Mongolians and John Kerry wouldn't be able to pronounce it. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2006-12-29 19:26 |
| #9 VDH would have suggested a better list of Greek commanders to choose from; warriots who fought to free other Greeks. Epimondias, maybe? |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2006-12-29 16:44 |
| #8 Naw, the root of the problem is a bunch of people who feel a need to glorify themselves with the name of a guy who's been dead for thousands of years. There are no heirs to Alexander in the modern world. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-12-29 16:01 |
| #7 ...and you wonder why Aris was such a tight ass. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-12-29 15:57 |
| #6 Danger! Danger! The Greeks need to LTFU, drink some uzo and go to the beach. Yep, LOLOLO |
| Posted by: Shipman 2006-12-29 15:55 |
| #5 At root, the problem here is Greek doubts about their occupation of the northern third of modern day Greece in the 1920s, which was predominantly Slav, and guilt over their loss of the area around Smyrna in modern day Turkey (after a disasterous military campaign to conquer Turkey), which was predominantly Greek. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-12-29 15:43 |
| #4 The Macedonians don't impress much, either. There was a province of Macedonia in the old Yogoslavia, Macedonia got all possessive about names, and now we have "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". |
| Posted by: Grunter 2006-12-29 14:12 |
| #3 The last time I was in Skopje there was a Russian transport helicopter that taxied into the control tower. Cut the top right off the tower and then rolled over and burned. The ruskies had just left it there. The Greeks need to LTFU, drink some uzo and go to the beach. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-12-29 12:03 |
| #2 Jeez, and you wonder why the Greeks haven't done much since about three thousand years ago... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-12-29 11:51 |
| #1 Hence Philip of Macedon; him being Alexander's father. Fuck to you, Greece! |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2006-12-29 11:51 |