Thessaloniki, Greek Macedonia & Skopje, Republic of Macedonia: A Tale of Two
Macedonias

Thessaloniki, old Salonika. Pearl of the Aegean, Second City of the Byzantine
Empire. I arrived in Greece's second largest city and capital of Greek
Macedonia on Thursday morning. Ouzo billboards, strong Greek coffee, gyros
stalls and loud Greek music suggests nothing more Greek than Thessaloniki. But
good old Salonkia, as the city is also known as, hasn't always been as Greek as
the Thessaloniki of today. Two hundred years ago, the city is ethnically more
diverse - with Greeks, Jews and Turks living together. Kemal Mustafa Ataturk,
father of modern Turkey, was born in a town house in the centre of Salonika.
Venture to the countryside and a 18th century visitor would have found Turkish
landlords and Slavic Macedonian farmers, Vlad shepards – these are descendants
of Roman soldiers who still speak a tongue similar to Latin and Romanian, and
Roma gypsy nomads. By the start of the WWI, the ancient region of Macedonia has
been subdivided by the Greeks, Serbians and Bulgarians. The Treaty of Lausanne
which settled the post WWI Greco-Turkish War implemented the Great Exchange of
Population between Greece and Turkey – the Turks of Macedonia departed for
Turkey, replaced by the Greeks of Pontus and Anatolia. Hitler moved the Jews to
the death camps of Mitteleuropa, and intense Hellenisation led to the departure
of Slavic Macedonians to Bulgaria and Yugoslav-controlled Macedonia, as well as
Australia. Greeks left other parts of the Balkans for Greece as the Iron
Curtain fell across half the continent. Old Salonika now becomes a mono-ethnic
city. This is a scenario being played repeatedly across the Balkans, especially
in the past decade of the wars of Yugoslav succession.

It is no accident that I chose Thessaloniki as my beachhead into the Balkans.
Salonika, founded by one of Alexander’s the Great’s generals and successor in
Greece, is the largest city of Macedonia, both Greek and the Slavic parts.
Macedonia, the crossroads of history, was the homeland of Alexander the Great,
the conqueror whose forces took over the Persian Empire, and created an empire
stretching from Egypt to Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan, where I visited in 1998.
The Macedonian kingdom that propelled into the Classical Age was a
semi-barbarian (that’s what the Greek city states regard the Macedonians as)
state hugely expanded by Alexander’s father, Philip II. Philip’s tomb was
discovered in the 1970’s in Vergina, a village to the west of Thessaloniki.
Also discovered there was the emblem of the Macedonian Dynasty, the Golden Star
with outstretched rays. This famous logo was adopted by the newly independent
Macedonian Republic in 1991 upon the collapse of the Yugoslav Federation, a move
that infuriated the Greeks, who promptly declared a blockade of poor little
Macedonia. The Greeks even demanded for a change of the name of the country.
Eventually tiny Macedonia, with 2 m people, was forced to change its national
flag, and was only admitted into the UN and international organisations as the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, a bizarre cumbersome mouthful. Utterly
ridiculous considering that even Serbia and Montenegro will no longer call
themselves Yugoslavia soon, and yet Macedonia is forced to hold on to that
outdated title.

After the collapse of Alexander’s empire, Macedonia became a mere geographical
expression for two millenniums. The Slavic tribes came and intermarried with
the local semi-Hellenised Macedonians. Even then, ethnic Greeks continued to
live in the city and the Turks arrived here too, when the Ottoman Empire
captured the region in the 14th century and ruled the region till the start of
the 20th century. So what do you call the people here ? Aren't they all
Macedonians, whether Slavic, Greek, Turkish or whatever ? Should anyone have
monopoly over the name Macedonia ? So, welcome to the Balkans, land of confused
politics and identities!

After a relaxing day in Thessaloniki visiting the numerous ancient Byzantine
churches (as well as Ataturk's house museum which is heavily guarded against
anti-Turk activists) and thoroughly bored with the numerous slogans like
"Macedonian is Greek" and so on, I took a train across the border to the
Republic of Macedonia. When I bought the ticket, I had to say "Skopje, the
Yugoslav Republic". The Greek press calls it the "rump Skopje Republic". (If
you take the train the other way, you would have seen the large Greek billboard
"Welcome to Macedonia" - I know of people who were confused and thought they
haven't gotten out of the Republic of Macedonia".) Within the hour of rolling
hills and lush green valleys, I entered the territory of the Macedonian
Republic.

Skopje, the capital, is a run down city of 500,000 people. It was destroyed in
the great earthquake of 1963 and huge ugly complexes were built after that.
After the following decades of socialist decay and the economic collapse due to
the breakup of the Yugoslav Federation, everything started to fall apart. Even
the famous Stone Bridge is off bounds for repairs, for god-knows-how-long.
What a pity for this historic city which was the birthplace of the Roman Emperor
Justinian and once capital of the great Serbian Tsar Dusan Stefan.

Even then, Skopje has its charm. 600 years of Turkish rule have left the city
full of tall magical Turkish minarets in the skyline. If you step into the Old
City, which is largely inhabited by local Turks and Albanians, you feel as
though you are in some part of Turkey or Albania, with loud Turkish and Albanian
pop music bursting out from the many cafes in its winding streets and bazaar,
the latter decribed by Lonely Planet as the last Oriental bazaar of its kind in
Europe. Across the river in New Skopje, young fasionably dressed Slavic
Macedonians stroll around in its wide avenues and leafy squares. Nearby is the
statue of saintly Mother Theresa, ethnic Albanian who was born here.

With the Kosovo conflict of 1999 and the subsequent Albanian rebellion in
Macedonia of summer 2001, Skopje has somehow experienced an unusual boom of
sorts. The large numbers of NATO troops, UN personnel, aid agencies, EU
bureaucrats, assorted diplomats, intelligence services and journalists have led
to the appearance of numerous restaurants (- the local Chinese and Indian
restaurants have branches in Pristina too), bars, night clubs and even an Irish
pub. There are few tourists and everyone think that any foreigner must belong
to some international organisation. Indeed one come across KFOR soldiers, UN
vehicles, FAO, UNICEF and so on. I have been asked so many times which
organisation I belong to. One local even thought I might be from the British
Army given the slight hint of English accent after 5 years in London. They
remain suspicious when I said I was a mere tourist. Hmm... he's probably a spy
from somewhere. Maybe Beijing, or even Taiwanese. Macedonia is the site of
some strange intrigue of even the two Chinese states. China accused the
Macedonians of treachery when the latter switch to recognition of Taiwan after
the Taiwanese offered millions in aid. China then vetoed resolutions in the UN
on sending peace-keepers to Macedonia. Since then, the Macedonians have
switched recognition back to China, with millions in Beijing aid replacing that
of Taiwan.

Macedonia is an easy country to travel around. Most Macedonians speak English
very well - like the Scandinavians - and they are open about their political
views. It's interesting to hear them but it is also depressing to notice that
many believe that war will break out some time. Between 20 to 40% of the
population is ethnic Albanian (exact number depending on who you believe) and
since the liberation of Kosovo from Serbian oppression, many Albanians,
especially those in Kosovo, believe in the establishment of a Greater Albania,
including all the territories where ethnic Albanians live, i.e, southern
Montenegro, Preshevo Valley in Serbia and western Macedonia. Rebellion broke
out in Tetovo, one of the largest cities in Macedonia, in summer 2001. The
pretext being discrimination by the majority ethnic Macedonians against the
ethnic Albanians. The small Macedonian Army was ill-prepared for this
insurgency and many say, would complete lose control of the situation if the
NATO didn't intervene. Since then, a ceasefire is in effect although political
tension remains high. According to the "Internationals" I spoke to, the large
western cities of Tetovo and Goristar are today 75% Albanian, as ethnic
Macedonians have fled eastwards.

I took a bus to the UNESCO rated city of Ohrid, passing the city of Tetovo with
its beautiful Alpine scenery (- I remembered the scenes on UK TV showing the
Albanian rebels firing on Tetovo from those mountains above this charming city).
Ohrid is one of the oldest cities in the Balkans. Located on the shores of the
lake bearing its name, Ohrid was the old capital of the Bulgarian Empire of Tsar
Samuel and more importantly, where the Cyrillic alphabet (used in languages such
as the Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian, Ukrainian and Belarusian) was
invented by the Slavic saints, Cyril and Methodius. Ohrid is also famous for
the amazing frescoes in its churches - 40 altogether - there used to be 365, one
for each day of the year. Brightly coloured frescoes, some dated back to the
10th century, adorned its many churches. For US$10, I rented a room from
retired professor Kirste, his wife Olga and jobless son Mitko. The collapse of
the former Yugoslav states had a dramatic impact on the lives of its citizens.
My many Macedonian friends lament the good old days under Josip Tito, the
strongman who tolerated no racism and ethnic chauvinism. Those were the days
when Yugoslav citizens need no visas to visit the world, apart from Australia
and the USA. Now they can't even step into neighbouring states. The loss of
traditional markets and political instability has destroyed prospects of
economic growth. After 10 years of warfare, many wondered if only the political
class have beenfitted from all these, especially when so many in this group have
become rich from smuggling, private deals and privatisation.

It was also in Ohrid, when I met a pretty local model, J., with whom I had a
romantic evening walking along the banks of beautiful Lake Ohrid, with the
lit-up citadel of Tsar Samuel in the background. "Bring me to Skopje, maybe out
of this hopeless land," J. said in semi-jest, the miserably high unemployment
rates meaning that J has few assignments. The meeting of foreigners, most of
whom associated with international organisations, do bring some obscure hopes of
a better future. Sometimes I wonder about how lives can be different for people
in different lands. A twist of fate at birth and different fates...

This is a very sad thing for such a proud and hospitable people, be it ethnic
Macedonians, Albanians or Turks. I have met so many friendly people who have
bought me drinks and showed me around, despite the state of affairs. I love
this country and I wish them luck in resolving their political issues and moving
forward in a brave new world.

After two days in Ohrid, I am back in Skopje. In a few hours' time, I will be
hopping on an overnight bus to Belgrade, capital of Serbia and the
soon-to-be-abolished Yugoslav Federation (to be renamed Serbia and Montenegro,
which would be a very loose form of confederation that nobody knows would last
how long).

OK, that's all. Good luck and I will write again from Belgrade !


Regards,

Wee Cheng
Skopje, Macedonia



http://weecheng.com - Travel Writing, History, Business