Is it true that slavic Macedonians want to be Greek?

Question

I was not aware of this until my good frind who is of Bulgarian background and lives in F.Y.R.O. Macedonia told me. He adores Greek history and says that the people there want to be considered greek. I didn't know this,but if its true why don't they like who they are admire the Greeks from afar?

Answer 1

The majority of the population of the Slav-Macedonians considered themselves to be of Slavic origin. Although they generally considered themselves close to the Bulgarians they also claim that they are a separate Slavic nation.
There are certainly some Slav-Macedonians who are of authentic Greek-Macedonian origin. But I don't know if this is the case for the majority.
Officially the government of the (Slavic) Macedonia doesn’t support any connection with authentic Greek Macedonia.
Here is what the first President of Slavic- Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov said: “We are Slavs who came to this area in the sixth century ... we are not descendants of the ancient Macedonians" (Foreign Information Service Daily Report, Eastern Europe, February 26, 1992, p. 35). Also, Mr Gligorov declared: "We are Macedonians but we are Slav Macedonians. That's who we are! We have no connection to Alexander the Greek and his Macedonia… Our ancestors came here in the 5th and 6th century" (Toronto Star, March 15, 1992).
On 24 February 1999, in an interview at the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, Gyordan Veselinov, Slav-Macedonia’s Ambassador to Canada, admitted, "We are not related to the northern Greeks who produced leaders like Philip and Alexander the Great. We are a Slav people and our language is closely related to Bulgarian." He also commented, “There is some confusion about the identity of the people of my country".
Remember that the are were know is the modern country of Slavic-Macedonia was populated by authentic(Greek) Macedonians.
During the occupation of the broader region of Macedonia by the ottoman Turks the region was considered predominantly Greek by French F. Bianconi in 1877 and by Englishman Edward Stanford in 1877. He maintained that the urban population of Macedonia was entirely Greek, whereas the peasantry was of mixed, Bulgarian-Greek origin and had Greek consciousness but had not yet mastered the Greek language. European ethnographs and linguists until the Congress of Berlin usually regarded the language of the Slavic population of Macedonia as Bulgarian. French scholars Ami Boué in 1840 and Guillaume Lejean in 1861, Germans August Heinrich Rudolf Griesebach in 1841, J. Hahn in 1858 and 1863, August Heinrich Petermann in 1869 and Heinrich Kiepert in 1876, Slovak Pavel Jozef Safarik in 1842 and the Czechs J. Erben in 1868 and F. Brodaska in 1869, Englishmen James Wyld in 1877 and Georgina Muir Mackenzie and Adeline Paulina Irby in 1863, Serbians Davidovitch in 1848, Constant Desjardins in 1853 and Stefan I. Verković in 1860, Russians Viktor I. Grigorovič in 1848, Vinkenty Makushev and M.F. Mirkovitch in 1867, as well as Austrian Karl Sax in 1878 published ethnography or linguistic books, or travel notes, which defined the Slavic population of Macedonia as Bulgarian. Austrian doctor Josef Müller published travel notes in 1844 where he regarded the Slavic population of Macedonia as Serbian.
The predominant view of a Bulgarian character of the Slavs in Macedonia was reflected in the borders of future autonomous Bulgaria as drawn by the Constantinople Conference in 1876 and by the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878. Bulgaria according to the Constantinople Conference included present-day Vardar and Pirin Macedonia and excluded the predominantly “patriarchist” southern Macedonia. The Treaty of San Stefano, which reflected the maximum desired by Russian expansionist policy, gave Bulgaria the whole of Macedonia except Thessaloniki, the Chalcidice peninsula and the valley of the Aliakmon.
Independent sources in Europe between 1878 and 1918 generally tended to view the Slavic population of Macedonia in two ways: as Bulgarians and as Macedonian Slavs.
German scholar Gustav Weigand was one of the most prominent representatives of the first trend with the books Ethnography of Macedonia (1924, written 1919) and partially with The Aromanians (1905). The author described all ethnic groups living in Macedonia, showed empirically the close connection between the western Bulgarian dialects and the Macedonian dialects and defined the latter as Bulgarian. The International Commission constituted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1913 to inquire into causes and conduct of the Balkan Wars also talked about the Slavs of Macedonia as about Bulgarians in its report published in 1914. The Commission had eight members from Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia and the United States.
The term "Macedonian Slavs" was used by scholars and publicists in three general meanings:
As a politically convenient term to define the Slavs of Macedonia without offending Serbian and Bulgarian nationalism;
As a distinct group of Slavs different from both Serbs and Bulgarians, yet closer to the Bulgarians and having predominantly Bulgarian ethnical and political affinities;
As a distinct group of Slavs different from both Serbs and Bulgarians having no developed national consciousness and no fast ethnical and political affinities (the definition of Cvijic).
An instance of the use of the first meaning of the term was, for example, the ethnographic map of the Slavic peoples published in (1890) by Russian scholar Zarjanko, which identified the Slavs of Macedonia as Bulgarians. Following an official protest from Serbia the map was later reprinted identifying them under the politically correct name "Macedonian Slavs".
The term was used in a completely different sense by British journalist Henry Brailsford in Macedonia, its races and their future (1906). The book contains Brailford's impressions from a five-month stay in Macedonia shortly after the suppression of the Ilinden Uprising and represents an ethnographic report. Brailford defines the dialect of Macedonia as neither Serbian, nor Bulgarian, yet closer to the second one. An opinion is delivered that any Slavic nation could "win" Macedonia if it is to use the needed tact and resources, yet it is claimed that the Bulgarians have already done that. Brailsford uses synonymously the terms "Macedonian Slavs" and "Bulgarians", the "Slavic language" and the "Bulgarian language". The chapter on the Macedonians Slavs/the Bulgarians is titled the "Bulgarian movement", the IMRO activists are called "bulgarophile Macedonians".
The third use of the term can be noted among scholars from the allied countries (above all France and the United Kingdom) after 1915 and is roughly equal to the definition given by Cvijic (see above).
The Ottoman census of Hilmi Pasha (1904) gave the following results:
Vilaeti of Thessaloniki Greeks: 373,227 Bulgarians: 207,317
Vilaeti of Monastiri Greeks: 261,283 Bulgarians: 178,412
Santzaki of Scopje Greeks: 13,452 Bulgarians: 172,735
As you can see although the Slav-Macedonians are mainly of Bulgarian descent it is almost impossible not to have at list some Slav-Macedonians who are of authentic(Greek) Macedonian descent.

Answer 2

No. Slav-Macedonians are Slavs.
The real Macedonians are from
Greek-Macedonia and they are pure Greeks.
There are also Bulgarian Macedonians who are pure Bulgarians.
Some say that the modern Slav-Macedonians are also Bulgarians and this is mainly of the same language.
Standard Bulgarian is the same as Slav-Macedonian. They can understand each other perfectly.
"...The second feature of the nationality was its language. It was generally accepted that the language spoken by the Slavs of Macedonia is a dialect of Bulgarian. In order to sever the substantive linguistic bond between the Macedonian Slaves and the Bulgarians, a separate 'Macedonian' written language had to be invented. This was done by exploiting local peculiarities and by borrowing from Serbian and other Slav languages. However, despite the painstaking efforts of fifty years, the new language remains for the open-minded observer or scholar nothing more than an offshoot of Bulgarian: not, of course, that this prevents Skopje from proclaiming near and far that there is a 'Macedonian' language. "
In FYROM today there are also 40% Albanian Macedonians who are also pure Albanians.

Answer 3

Another Smurf posting a dumb Question!!! The only MACEDONIANS that are trying to be Greek are the ones that are from todays Northern Greece which is called MACEDONIA!! We call these kind of people Kozi!! Today they are Macedonian tomorrow they are Greek, depending on how the wind blows!!! For those people that are mislead about the history of MACEDONIA!! MACEDONIA was divided in 1912-1913 after the Balkan Wars!! MACEDONIA fell under Serbia,Greece,Bulgaria and Albania!! Today one part broke away and it is it's own country again but there are still three parts that remain in different countries!!! MACEDONIANS that were in the Greek part were stripped of their Human rights!! There was a ethnic cleansing in this part by the Greeks!! Names of Cities,Villages, lakes and rivers were changed Peoples names were changed to Greek!! Churches were wipeout of any MACEDONIAN writing!! MACEDONIANS were not allowed to speak any MACEDONIAN only Greek or they would be Beaten!!!! Large organizations were started forming by the Greek Government and the Greek Propaganda Started!!! Everything that has to do with this area the government has twisted!!! As for the people that are from this area alot have started to come out and say that they are MACEDONIAN and telling what had happened in this area and unfortately their are still people like the person above me and the person asking this question that are truly brainwashed by their Greek Government!!! As for your Bulgarian friend maybe he wants to be Greek? Just as much as you want to be Greek!!! That might be what Bulgarians want!! But as I said MACEDONIANS are MACEDONIAN From MACEDONIA!! Why would they want to be Greek? Greeks are nothing but enemies that stole MACEDONIA's Land and History!!! THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT WANT TO BE GREEK FROM MACEDONIA ARE THE ONES FROM TODAYS NORTHERN GREECE!!! These people are to brainwashed from their government that they don't even know what they are!!! MACEDONIA FOR THE MACEDONIANS!!!