Children from Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki, Macedonia,GREECE
The Honorable Barack Obama
President, United States of America
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
June 30, 2009
Dear President Obama,
We are a group of 12-year-old children from Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. We have read on the internet the letter concerning the “issue of Macedonia”, which a number of prominent scholars have sent to you, asking your Excellency to intervene and correct an injustice done towards our country and nation.
As it is clearly stated by the scholars who compiled or approved and undersigned the letter, “Macedonia” is a term and a name with great historical gravity and refers to the land of our ancestors, exactly where we now live, grow up and build our future – the land where we dream and hope to live a happy and peaceful life.
We understand that you undertook the office of the President of the United States of America in order to improve the lives of the American citizens, but of course your office gives you the opportunity and the responsibility to make a greater impact on our world. So, it is our hope that you will show the same determination to work for the good of all the people whose lives are touched by your decisions.
You have two beautiful daughters, whom you love dearly and certainly you would like to do all you can in order to secure them the best of prospects for their lives. We also have wonderful fathers who love us and want to do their best for us, but their love is not enough to secure for us a peaceful future. Whereas, you, Mr. President, are in a position to do much more than almost any of the fathers in the world.
Therefore, we would like to ask you to put the same effort that a caring father would put to protect his children, in order to defend our rights and to leave no possibilities for aggressiveness and hostility to be harbored and thus undermine our adult lives. Besides, a tense situation in our area would cause misery to the children of Skopje (FYROM) as well.
We do hope that you will consider our petition and you will do your best to give the young people of the Balkans, where so much blood was shed in the past, the chance to enjoy peace. We do hope that justice and truth will prevail, as we are taught at school, that truth always wins.
With much respect,
Fotini A.
Nepheli N.
Maria S.
Katia P.
Marina-Maria K.
Desppina B.
Catherine K.
Panagiota K.
