Protest rally over Macedonia name issue concluded in Thessaloniki (videos)

A protest rally over the issue of FYROM's name, which recently became the focus of diplomatic activity between Greece and its northern neighbour aiming at a solution, was concluded in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on Sunday afternoon, ANA reports.

A platform was set up on the coastal promenade right across the statue of Alexander the Great, with a banner proclaiming the central slogan "Macedonia is Greece", with tens of thousands of protestors filling the surrounding area, blocking the coastal avenue and stretching from the city's landmark White Tower on one side to the Macedonia Palace Hotel on the other.

At about 3:30 pm, the organisers of the rally announced from the loudspeakers that the participants in the rally are 500,000! Many buses with citizens who wanted to reach the gathering are stuck at road toll at Malgara. Sources of the organisers announced that in Thessaloniki, a total of 1,300 coaches had arrived from all over Greece.

All MPs of major Greek opposition party New Democracy (ND) and government coalition partners ANEL from northern Greece have participated in the rally including MEP Eva Kaili, Regional Governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas and Metropolitan of Thessaloniki Anthimos, whose speech began at the rally at 14:15.

Thousands of people have already gathered on Thessaloniki’s coastal avenue to take part in the rally for to voice their objections for the name of FYROM and the prospect of Greece conceding the name “Macedonia”. At around 1.30pm the organisers of the event told protothema that some 40,000 people had already gathered in the area in front of the statue of Alexander the Great taking part in the demonstration. The same sources added that the peak of the protest is expected at about 2:30 pm, explaining that the turnout of the world is continuing at an undeniable pace.

People chiefly from Macedonia and from other parts of the country have arrived in Thessaloniki to send a strong message to the Greek government and FYROM about the non-use of the term Macedonia in the name of Skopje.

The crowd is chanting “Hellas – Macedonia”, “No to the double name”, “Not a new betrayal” and are singing Macedonia themed songs. Loudspeakers are playing songs by iconic Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, who recently made his position clear on the matter, harshly criticising the current government over the possibility of selling out the name Macedonia.

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Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: George Papadopoulos License: CC-BY-SA

Source: protothema.gr