On Jan. 21, 2017, 90,000 people gathered in Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki, to protest the inclusion of the word “Macedonia” in the name of the neighboring former Yugoslav republic. The rally was the first major protest since Greece and the Republic of Macedonia agreed to join United Nations-mediated talks this month to settle the 25-year disagreement.
Many Greeks argue that the name Macedonia implies a territorial claim to a region in the north of Greece with the same name; Thessaloniki is its capital.