by Maria Spiliopoulou, Valentini Anagnostopoulou
ATHENS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A mass demonstration was held on Sunday in front of the Greek parliament to protest against the use of the term "Macedonia" in any resolution of the name row with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
According to the organizers, local cultural clubs, over 1 million protestors joined the rally at the Syntagma square and nearby avenues, waving Greek national flags and chanting "Macedonia is Greece."
Greek police, however, estimated that about 140,000 people participated in the demonstration.
Despite the statistics difference, Sunday's rally is still one of the largest held in central Athens in the recent years.
Similar rallies over the name issue were seen in 1992, one year after FYROM declared independence from Yugoslavia and chose the name Macedonia, which is also the name of a northern Greek province.
Athens worries that the use of the same name by the neighboring state could lead to territorial claims.
As UN-mediated negotiations over the long-standing dispute between the two neighboring countries continue and governments of both sides voice determination to reach a solution during the first half of 2018, Greek protestors were expressing their objection to any compromise by the government on the name issue.
Sunday's protest was the second staged by the same organizers after the Jan. 21 rally in the northern port city of Thessaloniki when 400,000 people, according to the organizers' estimates, peacefully demonstrated. Police gave the turnout at about 100,000.
In both cases, organizers stressed that they were not affiliated with any political party, although among the crowds were opposition parties MPs from the centre-Left to the ultra- Right.
Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, well known for his music for the film Zorba the Greek, and a symbol of the Greek Left and resistance to military dictatorship four decades ago, was the keynote speaker.
"Throughout my life I fought for the unity of Greek people and I believe that we must face also this united," the 92-year-old artist addressed the crowd.
"We must be vigilant to protect our country's sovereignty... When one safeguards the rights of his country and his people, this is not nationalism, but patriotism," he stressed responding to criticism voiced by some cabinet ministers, scholars and media commentators who branded participants in the rallies as "nationalists".
Theodorakis requested a referendum over the issue. "They are obliged to ask peoples' opinion first," he said.
Seven out of 10 Greeks reject any new name for the neighboring country which will contain the word "Macedonia," according to a survey released this weekend by the Hellenic foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) think tank.
And about 56 percent of respondents believe that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' handling of negotiations is in the wrong direction.
"I have a responsibility towards the country...I will do my best to solve the issue," the Greek prime minister said on Saturday in a meeting with main opposition New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, government sources told Greek national news agency AMNA.
However, the government's argument in favor of a new compound name for FYROM which will include the term "Macedonia" was not welcome by protestors on Syntagma.
"There is only one Macedonia. It has been, it is and it will always be Greek," Katerina told Xinhua.
"These people arrived in the Balkans in the sixth century A.D. How can they be Macedonians?" Konstantinos Dimarakas from Piraeus asked.
"I came here, because I want to support Greece's rights," Maritsa Kokkala said. She traveled from a village in Peloponnese peninsula, some 250 km southwest of Athens.
More than 2,000 buses were chartered to bring demonstrators to Athens from all over Greece, according to the organizers.
About 19,000 policemen had been deployed across the city as part of increased security, measures to maintain order, as a counter demonstration was held near Syntagma by a small group of anti-establishment groups. "No tolerance for nationalism and fascism," read the banners they raised.
