Greece sensitive topics · Sensitive Topics in Greece
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Sensitive Topics in Greece
Sensitive Topics in Greece
Do not say that Greece is part of Eastern Europe; Greece was the only openly pro-Western country in a shore of Communist neighbors, both pro-Soviet and neutral. It is not geographically correct either.
Greeks dislike Greece to be labelled as a Balkan country, due to the negative image of the region, even though as the southernmost tip of the Balkan peninsula, Greece lies inside the Balkans.
As Greece is part of Southern Europe, it is almost exclusively considered and described by Greeks and foreigners alike as a Southern European country anyway.
The Macedonian issue is considered a very sensitive topic: Greeks consider that the name "Macedonia" is stolen from them and used by Tito's partisans in southern Yugoslavia to address the country created after World War II as new constituent republic within Yugoslavia by Tito. The Greeks refer to it as "FYRoM" or the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" when dealing with foreigners and as Skopia (The Greek version of the Macedonian capital Skopje) among themselves.
Also, be very careful when talking about Ancient Greece and the Byzantine Empire, which are the symbols of their national pride and splendor; however,most will say the polar opposite when talking about the military junta of the late 1960s-mid 1970s. Many Greeks-- not just Communists and other left-wing groups-- have suffered severe repression and view its leaders with utter resentment. Many Greeks take pride of their ancient history, since Ancient Greece is a well known civilization to first develop the concept of democracy and western philosophy, as well as its art, architecture, literature, theater and sciences which is regarded as the cradle of European civilization.
Likewise, be polite when asking about their relationship with the Turks, the Turkish occupation and the Cyprus civil war of 1974, as these create passionate, sometimes aggressive, debates, given the past turmoil between the two nations. Relations have improved over recent years though.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Greece
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Greece Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.