Eurolang's Response to Greek Helsinki Monitor's Comments
February 13, 2002
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I would like to respond to the e-mail that was sent to Balkan Human Rights List by the Greek Helsinki Monitor, regarding today's Eurolang article about EBLUL's Greek Member State Committee.
The article was based on interviews conducted with Sotiris Bletzas and Athanasios Parisis, and the facts are their facts. I think it is clearly understood that the article is not claiming to be a scientific or academic review of the Greek minority language situation. The article is a view on the reality of Greek minorities through the eyes of two active minority representatives. If they say that they feel like they have 'some kind of disease' or that Greek 'education promote the idea of 'megalomania', I do not question their feelings or viewpoints, as this is a purely indiviual experience.
As we presented their views within quotation marks or clearly referred to what they had said, I think it is obvious for everybody that this not a statement or "exaggeration" by Eurolang, but an expression of reality by the two Member State Committee representatives.
Furthermore, GHM claims that the article is contraditive: While, on the other hand they allege "new openness towards minorities" in Greece, contradicted in the next paragraph by references to the very real "isolation of minorities from the community, as if they had some kind of illness."
I think it is clear when you read the article carefully that "the new openness" refers to the Greek Government, while the "isolation of minorities" refers to a perception of the community (society).
If you have further comments please don't hesitate to contact me or the author, Margret Oberhofer, personally.
Regards,
Eva Blassar
Redactrice en chef/Editor-in-Chief
EUROLANG
As GHM has in the past been held responsible for the content of material distributed in the list, it felt that Eurolang's article was newsworthy enough to be distributed, exactly because it reflected the views of two important minority representatives, and for the reasons we analyze below. But GHM felt it had to add some comments, so as to help the readers who may use it as a source of information, and prevent those who would take issue with its content blame it on GHM.
Therein, it is obvious that GHM did not blame Eurolang for the inaccurate facts, but pointed them out. GHM is glad that Eurolang confirms that they have carefully reproduced the statements of Parisis, so now the reader can hold him alone responsible for the inaccuracies. Likewise, a careful reader would have noticed that GHM's comment on exaggerations concerned the person who made them, again Parisis, and not Eurolang. But since the latter feels it should defend his views, and state that there is a new openness of the Greek government as opposed to the isolation of minorities by the community, GHM would like to insist that the former is not just an exaggeration but totally false, especially coming from one of the Macedonian activists, who have been slandered, even in 2001, by the Greek government in international fora (OSCE and UN). Since no one knows of a new development that would contradict that attitude, and none may be found not even in, say, the website of "Rainbow," whose leading member Parisis is, GHM is entitled to consider his views on that as (at least) an (inexplicable) exaggeration.
Just as, by the way, GHM was surprised by his acquiescence to be portrayed as representing the Slavomacedonian minority, when all Macedonian activists have for years not merely opposed the use of such term for them, but even very strongly, sometimes harshly, attacked those who used this name for them. Or his acquiescence to portray the minorities represented in EBLUL Greek MSC -in the words of his colleague Bletzas- as "only linguistic minorities" "who feel Greek with some particular features." All those who have followed "Rainbow'"s work in its eight years of existence recall its members to have claimed a Macedonian national minority status. One would draw the conclusion from this text, and the previous announcement on the formation of EBLUL GMSC, that they have now changed strategy and ask to be recognized as a Slavomacedonian linguistic minority, with a Greek national conscience.
Similar is the situation with the two members of the "Muslim" minority represented in EBLUL GMSC. All thought that even them, members of a NGO, just like all the elected representatives of the minority at the parliamentary, regional and local level, as well as their associations, claimed a status of Turkish national minority, categorically rejected by the Greek state. It appears that those "Muslims" participating in the EBLUL GMSC have now a different attitude. This may explain why none of the scores of elected representatives nor any of the members of the teachers' association of the Turkish minority were invited to the founding meeting of EBLUL GMSC, as they are known to still struggle for a different status, which appears incompatible with EBLUL's approach.
It is for all these reasons that Eurolang's text was deemed very important, as it reflects developments that minority activists and scholars should take into account, since they reflect the choices of minority representatives themselves. GHM does not believe however that these activists' credibility is helped by misrepresenting well known facts, nor by exaggerating. Certainly, Eurolang is not responsible for such statements.
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