Rally Against Macedonia Name Change Deal To Be Held In Athens On Sunday - Organizers

ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2019) A rally against the Athens-Skopje deal on the name change for Macedonia will be held in the Greek capital on Sunday, the event's organizers from Greece's Pan-Macedonian Federation told Sputnik.

Many Greeks believe that it is the residents of the historical Greek region of Macedonia, not the citizens of the neighboring country of the same name, who are entitled to be called Macedonians.

Ioannis Athanasiadis, the president of Greece's Pan-Macedonian Federation told Sputnik, that the rally against the name change deal was planned to be held near the Greek parliament's building.

The organizers of the rally hope to draw no fewer people than they brought together during last February's protests, which saw 1 million people, according to their estimates.

Police, however, estimated that there were no more than 135,000 people at the rally.

The organizers emphasize that this year's rally will not be linked to any political parties and call for "national unanimity, unity and seriousness."

They demand that the rally's participants refrain from radical statements on the issue, "which must be solved on the basis of historical truth.

"

Those who will wish to join the rally will be transported by buses from all over Greece. The organizers expect representatives of Greece's Macedonian organizations from the United States, Canada and other countries to join the rally.

The organizers also plan to hold a protest on the day when the Greek parliament will vote on ratification of the treaty.

Greece and Macedonia, officially known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), have been entangled in a naming dispute for years, with Athens opposing the use of "Macedonia," which is also the name of a region in Greece. The agreement on the new name for Macedonia - the Republic of Northern Macedonia - was signed by Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov and his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias on June 17.

Macedonia's parliament voted in favor of a constitutional amendment changing its name under a deal with Athens on Friday. The deal, however, remains divisive for Macedonia as well � Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said he would not authorize the move but Prime Minister Zoran Zaev stated the decision did not require presidential approval.

The deal will also have to be ratified by the Greek parliament.