By G. Kampourakis
The leftist-rightist coalition government was reportedly taken by surprise from the mass turnout in Sunday’s Thessaloniki rally in protest over the resurgent fYRoM “name issue”, according to sources close to leftist SYRIZA’s local organizations in northern Greece as well as the party’s cadres and elected deputies from the city.
According to police estimates, the crowd exceeded 90,000, although organizers put the figure much higher, some as high as 200,000.
The same reports quoting SYRIZA sources said the government did not expect more than 50,000 people to turn out for the afternoon rally in Thessaloniki’s seafront, with the iconic White Tower as the focal point. Church leaders also did not reportedly expect the large crowds, especially after Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos more-or-less advised against such mass protests over the “name issue” last week .
One figure cited by SYRIZA cadres experienced in organizing rallies is a turnout of between 150,000 to 180,000.
Reactions to the very public resumption of negotiations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM) – under the same special UN mediator who has overseen talks for decades – now leave the Tsipras government with the dilemma of downplaying the issue, or, trying to solve it via negotiations but without being blamed for a latest impasse in an obscure – internationally – but thorny bilateral difference dating to 1991.
In an interview carried by the Sunday edition of the Athens daily “Ethnos”, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras appeared committed to solving the issue – which would be credited as a foreign policy success in an otherwise unremarkable government tenure so far. Tsipras, in fact, has promised to solve a foreign policy issue dating back decades and which was merely inherited by his government.
Moreover, other government sources said Tsipras is committed to bringing whatever proposal for a “name issue” solution to Parliament for ratification, even if his junior partner, rightist-populist Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, and the latter’s eight deputies, continue to express opposition.
