Speech by composer Mikis Theodorakis stirs controversy

A speech at Sunday's "Macedonia" protest rally in Athens by veteran composer Mikis Theodorakis, widely respected for his resistance to Greece's junta, provoked debate on Monday. 

"If we give in, we are leaving the doors wide open for a tragic historical lie to come through and stay forever," the 92-year-old composer told a large crowd in Syntagma Square on Sunday, referring to United Nations-mediated negotiations between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia regarding the latter's name.

"There is only one Macedonia," he added. "It is, was and will always be Greek." 

In comments to state television, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos accused Theodorakis of "shifting to bigoted and politically extreme positions."

"I don't believe it was the right choice to speak as he did at the rally," Tzanakopoulos said, adding that he was not sure...