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For those who are unaware, I am the administrator of another web site called Biser Balkanski : Canadian Macedonian Internet Community. I am the administrator of this web site about the village of Banitsa in Aegean Macedonia. I am a proud Canadian citizen of ethnic Macedonian descent. My home and my future lies within Canada, but I cannot deny my ethnic heritage - where my parents and grandparents came from, the traditions they practised, the language they spoke, and the hardships they endured. My grandfather speaks of the atrocities the Turks committed upon my family during the Ottoman Empire. My father speaks of the humiliation that the Greek Government forced upon people who declared themselves as Macedonian. I may have grown up in a society which is based upon equality and self-determination, being sheltered from what my parents and grandparents had to endure but I will most definitely not forget what they sacrificed. I pity the individual who cannot admit to his or her ethnic identity, a person who pretends to live the life of somebody else - to assimilate a culture and identity not of your own. I pity this weak-minded individual who lives in the dark. I am proud of my heritage. I am proud of what my parents and grandparents have given me. I am proud to announce my ethnicity as Macedonian and not Greek. I am proud to be Canadian of ethnic Macedonian descent. I originally created this web site to inform people around the world of the village of Banitsa and it's plight. I had also created it to unite all the former inhabitants of Banitsa scattered across the diaspora - from Canada to the US, from Germany to Australia. We here in Toronto, Canada are fortunate enough to have a fairly substantial population of former Banitsa inhabitants living here along with the even more so bigger Macedonian population. This site is for those who only dream of what it used to be like. This site is dedicated to my father who has inspired me to be a proud Macedonian. Never afraid to admit it, always aware of it, and always proud of it. To my father I dedicate this site to the village where he grew up. Ted Nitchov
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