Genocide
Back in 1985, Prof. Donald Quataert, Associate Professor of History at the University of Houston, and 68 of his pro-Turkish colleagues signed a joint statement questioning the veracity of the Armenian Genocide and asking the U.S. Congress not to approve a commemorative resolution on this crime against humanity. That denialist statement, paid for by the […]
1. The Genocide of the three Christian groups in Asia Minor (Greeks, Armenians and Assyrians) during the same period (the beginning of the 20th century) by the Turkish factor came as a result of the strategy of creating a nationally cleansed state. The common framework in which this crime against humanity is put, demands the application of a common strategy of the peoples who were subjected to the crime, aiming to its international recognition, as well as its acknowledgement by the part of the executor, as the least guarantee that there will be no similar crimes committed in the future. This could bring redemption for the victimizer, catharsis from the burden that has marked the generations that followed. After the recognition of the three Genocides by the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the conditions are positive.
2. Towards that aim, our concrete action should involve: reliability, professionalism, good organizing, use of technology and fund raising. In particular, certain actions should be intensified such as: the emergence of the women and children dimension as the main victims of the Genocide. The establishment of an International Court for these Genocides. Legal redress by the part of the victims aiming to payment of compensation. The production of a film of world -wide appeal. The actuation of Pontian, Armenian and Assyrian associations, both in Greece and abroad, aiming to common action and monument erection for the Genocides in focal spots in Greece and all over the world. Erection of a common national monument as a reference point, in Athens. Transformation of the remembrance celebrations, from mere events with a commemorating character, to active initiatives of up-dating the public opinion through well organized press conferences and distribution of informative material, particularly in countries where there are the pre-conditions of recognition. Use of the internet, e.t.c.
3. A major factor that can provide aid to our struggle is the know-how of the Armenians, that has led up until today, to dozens of recognitions of their Genocide. The actual steps that were suggested during the colloquium could be further used, now in a common attempt, in order to make the struggle even more effective.
4. A further step should be the implementation of International Conferences every two years, each time in a different city, either in Greece or abroad, where our tactic will be re-examined and corrections of the course towards our strategic target will be made. In particular, the first Conference should take place in around 1,5 year, in a central part of Athens, aiming – among others – to a broader discussion with the Greek society, organized by the same organizing committee and being enriched with people that participated in the last colloquium, as well as other significant personalities, that are not necessarily of pontian origin. In the preceding from the Conference time, the establishment of the Greek Association of Genocide Scholars is suggested, that will be encouraging all initiatives and will have co-operation with the International Association of Genocide Scholars.
NEW YORK–May 19th, the international day of remembrance for the Pontian Genocide, was marked with the first ever public commemoration in Bowling Green Park in downtown Manhattan. Pontian Hellenes, Thracian Hellenes, Hellenes from Hellas and Cyprus, and philhellenes travelled to Bowling Green Park at 12 noon to stand in commemoration of the raising of the Hellenic flag, and the historic single headed eagle flag of Pontos, seen waving for the first time at half mast, over the streets of Manhattan.
The 89TH ANNIVERSARY OF PONTIAN GENOCIDE event was organized by the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater NY, and the Pan-Pontian Federation of USA and Canada. Speakers included Pan-Pontian Federation General Secretary Dimitris Molohides, who refered to the brutal acts inflicted on Pontian Hellenes by Turkey, and explained the many reasons why the United States should recognize these crimes. Molohides also read from the proclamations made by various cities and local legislators, and quoted the statement by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) calling for decisive action.
Many Hellenic society presidents and members attended, including the two local Pontian associations “Komninoi” of New York in Astoria and “Pontos” of Norwalk Connecticut, as well as “Holy Institution Panagia Soumela.”
A prayer was said aloud, followed by a speech by Reverend Father Ioannis Romas from the historic St. Nicholas church that was destroyed on 9/11, other speakers included Mr. Elias Tsekerides, Past President of Pan-Pontian Federation USA & Canada, and Ms. Donna Fotiadou, member of the coordinating committee of the Pontian Youth Association USA & Canada,
Mr. Ioannis Fidanakis, President of Panthracian Union of America “Orpheus”, spoke on behalf of the Thracians who also suffer under Turkish oppression, In his statement he remarked “Hellenism has so much to thank the Pontian people for, and their communities continued push for international recognition is a cause they have endured for far too long without the aid of the others. Today I stand before you and say that We Thracians stand beside you till the end of time for the recognition of the Genocide which occurred in Pontos, Anatolia, and in Anatoliki Thraki! “(Full speech can be read below)
Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region (ANCA ER) Executive Director Karine Birazian took part in commemorating the 89th Anniversary of the Pontian Genocide, her speech and the ANCA press release on this event is available on the official ANCA website: http://anca.org/press_releases/press_releases.php?prid=1501
Pictures of the event have been posted all over the internet, and are also available for download, at the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater NY meet up site: http://greekculture.meetup.com/11/calendar/7923705/
Some videos have also been uploaded to the internet; here is a short clip of the Hellenic and the Pontian flag flying half mast in Bowling Green Park over Manhattan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWi25dJLP_o
The Pontos World website, has made available the official Pan-Pontian Federation English language press release for the 89th Commemoration at Bowling Green Park in Manhattan, and reproduced a copy of the article covering the event in large circulation Hellenic Newspaper ETHNIKOS KYRYX:
http://pontosworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=683&Itemid=1
The Hellenic language press release, in two parts, from the Pan-Pontian Federation USA and CANADA can be read and downloaded on this entry of the Enotitan Revolution blog:
http://enocism.blogspot.com/2008/05/pontian-genocide-flag-raising-ceremony.html
This was the first year, that Pontian Genocide commemorations were public in New York, public commemorations for the 89th Anniversary Of The Pontian Genocide were also held in Moscow, and in Thessaloniki, which included a march to the Turkish consulate, the Turkish Foreign Ministry responded with the statement this week, “We strongly condemn the event which targeted our country and the founder of our Republic, Atatürk” (Tuesday, May 27, 2008, ANKARA – Turkish Daily News)
Turkey continues to deny responsibility for the Armenian, Assyrian, and Pontian and Anatolian Greek Genocides as perpetrated by its founder Mustafa Kemal, the so-called “Ataturk” or “father of the Turks.”
The worldwide public events commemorating May 19th, the international day of remembrance for the Pontian Genocide this year, follow , the groundbreaking move by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS),which recently released a statement commenting:
“BE IT RESOLVED that it is the conviction of the International Association of Genocide Scholars that the Ottoman campaign against Christian minorities of the Empire between 1914 and 1923 constituted genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian Greeks.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Association calls upon the government of Turkey to acknowledge the genocides against these populations, to issue a formal apology, and to take prompt and meaningful steps toward restitution.”
###
Comments by Ioannis Fidanakis , the President of Panthracian Union of America “Orpheus”.
Throughout time man has associated certain images with events, images that shock the human mind so much they are permanently engrained in our memories. The Holocaust, the mere mention of the word fills people with images of horrible persecution. Mountains of shoes and gas chambers are all quickly associated with the horrible events which took place in the Second World War. In the United States, whippings and lynchings are seen as trade marks of African-American Slavery in the South. Today’s society identifies these images with crimes against Humanity. We are taught to no longer tolerate such acts of hatred, and instead commemorate and study these important lessons of the past to honour the many innocent who lost their lives. Yet the most disturbing imagery, that of mountains upon mountains of human skulls and long marches of women, children and elderly in the desert, are lost on society. Our ‘civilized’ society turns a blind eye to such images and the events in which they are identified with, the forgotten Hellenic, Armenian, and Assyrian Genocides initiated during the First World War. How can the international community allow the suffering and persecution endured by the Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire and Republic of Turkey to just be left to fade away into history? Why are these millions of innocent men, women and children that perished not given the same respect of commemoration, study, and remembrance?
We have all gathered here today, Hellenes and philhellenes, to pay our respects to all the men, women, and children that loss their lives under the brutality of the Turk. We are here today, to show the Turkish state that the concentration camps, death marches, and massacres will not spell the end of Hellenism. We march forwards, for a bigger and brighter future, for where ever two Pontians meet, a new Pontos will be born!
In the same spirit that brought recognition and restitution for the victims of the Holocaust, so should Turkey be held accountable for the crimes of its past. How else can it truly be seen as a partner for peace, ready for entrance inside the European community? Those seeking justice are not looking for War or dismantlement of the Turkish state, but rather for the wrongs of the past to be recognized and set straight. The Turkish people should not fear international recognition, but should welcome it, as a means to finally write an end to this ugly chapter of history so all people involved can look to the future instead of the past.
Hellenism has so much to thank the pontian people for, and their communities continued push for international recognition is a cause they have endured for far too long without the aid of the others. Today I stand before you and say that We Thracians stand beside you till the end of time for the recognition of the Genocide which occurred in Pontos, Anatolia, and in Anatoliki Thraki!
###
A Classic book for sale: The Pontian Question In The United Nations.
By Michalis Charalambidis (International League For The Rights and Liberations Of Peoples)
The book by Charalambidis , the ringmaster of the Pontian Genocide or the Hellenic Genocide movement ! This book is translated from Hellenic by Constantinos Gatsios. This book is banned and burned in Turkey. Needless to say, this book is extremely scarce.
For Sale only $35.00 plus $7.00 for shipping and handling total $42.00. For international orders add $15.00 in US funds for a total of $50.00. Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.
For Wholesale Purchase: 10 books $210.00 includes shipping.
Send check or cash with your name and address to:
Cyprus Action Network of America
2578 Broadway #132
New York , New York 10025
Order direct from the The Cyprus Action Network of America:
To order this fascinating book go to the PayPal button LINK below:
NEW YORK—On May 05, 2008, the Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)
successfully filed with the Department of State as an incorporated
Political Organization, now filed as section 527 with the US tax
authorities, meaning that CANA can organize and operate primarily to directly
earn and directly accept contributions to influence the selection of
any individual to any public office, effectively CANA can directly be
involved in sponsoring candidates for our cause. Please make sure to visit
the new additions to our website, we have modified the “Who are
we” page and we also added a DONATE button. Below, we provide, a letter
from Nikolaos Taneris, followed by a new sale offer for the fantastic
book “The Pontian Question In The United Nations”
(1) Greetings From CANA—A Letter From Nikolaos Taneris
Dear Friends:
The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) has been having a
remarkable year of success, since our beginnings last July 20th, our
demonstrations and activism have been published in Ellenorama of Greece, in local
community newspapers in English, and in the Diaspora press.
Our struggle to raise awareness has inspired and spearheaded a new dawn
of activism for all the enslaved Hellenic people suffering under
Turkish oppression, –Thracians, Pontians , Ionians, Anatolians,
Constantinopolitans, and Cypriots.
Soon, we will begin promoting participation and activism surrounding
our 2nd Annual July 20th Protest of the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC,
coinciding with lectures and community activism on Turkey’s crimes.
I will personally thank everyone who can generously sustain our work.
So please help us in supporting our cause for full recognition and
justice for Turkey’s crimes.
NIKOLAOS TANERIS
Press Officer
Cyprus Action Network of America
(2) A Classic book for sale: The Pontian Question In The United
Nations.
By Michalis Charalambidis (International League For The Rights and
Liberations Of Peoples)
2004
Softcover, 183 pages
ISBN: n/a
This rare and valuable book provides a detailed analysis of Turkey’s
racist behavior and thinking toward Pontians. Translated from Hellenic
by Constantinos Gatsios.
Written by Michalis Charalambidis, member of the executive Committee of
the International League for the Rights and Liberations of People, a
renowned Hellenic politician and intellectual, Charalambidis has
presented the Pontian Genocide and the wider Hellenic Genocide to many
international bodies ,recently appearing before the EU, Charalambidis has led
the effort to recognize the Pontian Genocide in the UN, and has also
participated in conferences with Armenian Genocide scholars and
presenters Tesa Hoffman and B. Whitaker , at the UN Commission in Geneva.
Working with human rights leaders such as Sora Solars of “The Mothers of
May Square” in Argentina, Charalambidis provides a wealth of essays,
letters, and pictures documenting the Pontian struggle for Genocide
recognition, reporting on human rights abuses against Pontians in Turkey
today, and encapsulating the Thracian and Cypriot struggle as well.
From The Prologue: “This book includes my essays in international
and national meetings, where-through the description of the Pontian drama
and that of other peoples of the area-the structures, the mechanism of
death, violence, and genocide that Kemalism represents , are being
revealed and condemned. The racist, theoretical, ideological and state
structure, the egg of the snake, which gradually transforms an area rich
in peoples, cultures, and religions into an endless silence. Into a
cemetery of historic peoples ,cultures and religions….This takes place in
an area –Asia Minor, Ionia, Pontos, Mesopotamia—which was the
center for many ecumenical religions and for a civilization not just
European but international. The roots and the first flowers of this
civilization are buried in the sacred land of this historic area along with the
peoples, the men, the women and children who died but were left without
graves. In the mountains, the rivers, the valleys, the Tigris, the
Euphrates, Mt. Ararat, the Pontian Alps, the Euxinian Sea. For over a
decade they were covered with the blood of innocent people. A great crime
against humanity was committed there: the genocide of the Pontians
(Pontioktonia)”
Contents: Prologue; A People In Continued Exodus; Civil And Political
Rights; The Questions Of Freedom Of Expression; Response Of The
International League To The Turkish Reactions; The Pontians And The Repression
Of Their Freedom of Expression; The Significance Of May 19 As A Day In
Memory Of The Pontian Genocide; The Woman In The Pontian Genocide; The
Pontian Genocide 1916-1923; The Idea of Romania; From The Peoples Of
Silence To The Common Voice Of Peoples; Aspects Of The Pontian Question;
George Pattakis Proclamation; The Kemalist Gordian Knot And The
Peoples; The Turkish Problem; Racist Discrimination Against The Pontians;
Universal Declaration Of The Rights Of Peoples; Chronicle.
This fascinating book by Michalis Charalambidis, described by wikipedia
as “the ringleader” of the struggle for Pontian Genocide or
Hellenic Genocide recognition, is BANNED IN TURKEY.
Order direct from the The Cyprus Action Network of America:
Cut and Paste LINK:
http://www.cyprusactionnetwork.org/donate_today_
========================
Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)
2578 Broadway #132
New York, NY 10025
New York: Tel. 917-699-9935
Email: cana@cyprusactionnetwork.org
www.cyprusactionnetwork.org
========================
The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) is a grass-roots,
not-for-profit movement created to support genuine self-determination and human
rights for the people of Cyprus.
You may post any CANA article, press release or action alert on the
internet as long as you credit CANA and the author(s).
>
> INVITATION COPY
> 89th Anniversary of the Pontian Genocide
>
> The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York and the Pan-Pontian Federation of USA and Canada cordially invite you to the 89th anniversary of the Pontian Genocide that will take place at Bowling Green in Manhattan on May 19th, 2008 at noon.
>
> Every year the ancestors of Pontian Greeks along with all Hellenes and philhellenes across the United States and Canada commemorate and honor the victims of the Pontian Greek Genocide by the Ottomans, New Turks and Kemalists in 1914-1924.
>
> As you know, the Greek Parliament in February of 1994 dedicated the 19th of May as A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE of the victims of the ferocious Genocide.
>
> All Hellenic organizations and primarily the Pan-Pontian Federation of USA & CANADA are actively involved in an all out effort to pursue the Recognition of the Pontian Greek Genocide from the International Community. We have Recognitions, thus far from several Governors, State Senates, State Assemblies and Mayors. In addition this last December, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) recognized this genocide stating:
>
> “BE IT RESOLVED that it is the conviction of the International Association of Genocide Scholars that the Ottoman campaign against Christian minorities of the Empire between 1914 and 1923 constituted a genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian Greeks.
>
> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Association calls upon the government of Turkey to acknowledge the genocides against these populations, to issue a formal apology, and to take prompt and meaningful steps toward restitution.”
>
> Monday May 19, 2008 at 12:00 PM
> Bowling Green Park
> New York, NY 10004
>
> Subway:
> Bowling Green Station (4 & 5 trains)
> Whitehall Street - South Ferry Station (R & W trains)
>
> For additional information please contact Dimitri Molohides (917) 302-4086.
> www.panpontian.org
>
> 2)
> http://globalpolitician.com/24697-turkey
>
> GLOBAL POLITICIAN
> May 11, 2008
>
> Turkish Denial and The Forgotten Genocides
>
> Ioannis Fidanakis
>
> Throughout time man has associated certain images with events, images that shock the human mind so much they are permanently engrained in our memories. The Holocaust, the mere mention of the word fills people with images of horrible persecution. Mountains of shoes and gas chambers are all quickly associated with the horrible events which took place in the Second World War. In the United States, whippings and lynchings are seen as trade marks of African-American Slavery in the South. Today’s society identifies these images with crimes against Humanity. We are taught to no longer tolerate such acts of hatred, and instead commemorate and study these important lessons of the past to honour the many innocent who lost their lives. Yet the most disturbing imagery, that of mountains upon mountains of human skulls and long marches of women, children and elderly in the desert, are lost on society. Our ‘civilized’ society turns a blind eye to such images and the events in which they are identified with, the forgotten Hellenic, Armenian, and Assyrian Genocides initiated during the First World War. How can the international community allow the suffering and persecution endured by the Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire and Republic of Turkey to just be left to fade away into history? Why are these millions of innocent men, women and children that perished not given the same respect of commemoration, study, and remembrance?
>
> The lack of recognition, dealing with the Hellenic Genocide, which is known by scholars as the Greek and Pontic Greek Genocide, is in and of itself a crime against Humanity. To simply surpass the importance of such a terrible part of History is a disservice to all those who lost their lives during those years of fear and terror. How can Western Civilization, who owe the Hellenic people so much for its very birth and continued survival. Not feel as if their own ancestors perished under years of oppression and atrocities.
>
> There are many excuses behind the lack of international recognition, mainly based around the historical events that took place shortly after the Genocide. The Treaty of Lausanne, which was signed in 1923, and brought an end to the Hellenic population living in Anatolia, makes no mention of the persecutions and troubles suffered by the Christian subjects at the time, and hence sealing the issues fate. The Greco-Turkish Treaty of Friendship signed in 1930, is also used by many as a reason behind the Genocide’s omission from history books, because of the concessions that were made for peace in the region. Lastly, and what appears to be the most logical, is that fact that Hellas suffered political and social turmoil, with the Nazi Occupation and Civil War, which took place shortly afterwards. The mere survival of the Hellenic people took precedence over the recognition for these events.
>
> The tragedy that befell those Hellenes living in Anatoliki Thraki (Eastern Thrace) and all of Anatolia can be divided into two separate phases. The first falling between 1914 and the closing days of the First World War, at the hands of the Ottoman Government , and the second from 1919 till the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 by Mustapha Kemal and his Kemalist followers, who were the old guard of the Young Turk movement, that had previously ruled the Ottoman Empire. It is during these years that the rivers of Anatoliki Thraki and Anatolia ran red with Hellenic blood.
>
> “The first step in the persecutions of the Greeks was the attack on the ecclesiastical, legal, and educational rights which had always been possessed within the Turkish Empire by the Greek ecclesiastical authorities and which had gone far toward mitigating the distress of the Turkish regime. The Turkish language was introduced into Greek schools; geography and history had to be taught in Turkish. Greek priests were arrested and imprisoned without warning or reason and without notification of the ecclesiastical authorities. Forcible conversions to Mohammedanism, long forbidden by law, began to appear again, particularly in the case of Greek girls carried off to Turkish harems without the usual right of intervention which the Greek Patriarch and Metropolitans had always possessed. “(1)
>
> The persecutions of old rightfully echoed loudly in the hearts and minds of the population with the return of those once forgotten practices and a new form of the janissary system, disguised in the form of charitable Orphan Asylums. The ingenious method of masking these charitable institutions for devious purposes was second nature for the Turkish Government. The Orphan asylums sprung up under the disguise of relief, and yet were used as tools of the Government’s planned extermination of the Hellenic population still living within the Empire.
>
> “These orphan institutions have in appearance a charitable object, but if one considers that their inmates are Greek boys who became orphans because their parents were murdered, or who were snatched away from their mothers, or left in the streets for want of nourishment, (of which, they were deprived by the Turks.), and that these Greek children receive there a purely Turkish education, it will be at once seen that the cloak of charity there lurks the ‘child collecting’ system instituted in the past by the Turkish conquerors and a new effort to revive the janissary system. The Greek boys were treated in this manner. What happens to the Greek girls? If we review the Consular reports about the persecutions from the year 1916 to 1917 we shall find hardly one of them which does not speak of forcible abductions and conversions to Mohammedanism. And it could not have been otherwise, since it is well known that this action, as has been stated above, was decided upon in June 1915, in order to effect the Turkification of the Hellenic element. This plan was carried out methodically and in a diabolical manner, through the ‘mixed settlements’ of Greeks and Turks, always with a predominance of Mohammedan males and of Greek females in order to compel mixed marriages.”(2)
>
> Other methods used by the Turkish government during both phases were Work battalions, Concentration camps, death marches, and straight-out massacres to put an end to the Hellenic Question. The famous work battalions, known as ‘Ameles tabour’, were created “on the plea that the Christians could not be trusted to bear arms against their coreligionists they were drafted into labor battalions and set into the interior of Asia Minor to do work for the Turks.”(3)
>
> The conditions, in which, they were forced to live in were terrible. “A piece of unsuitable bread made from tare (animal food) and a watery soup daily, under the rain and snow, with insults, humiliations, and beatings, sicknesses of dysentery, diarrhea, typhus, did not leave much margin for survival. The number of those who survived these notorious ameles tabour, ‘the death battalions’ as called by Christians, was minimal.” (4)
>
> Anatoliki Thraki and the Genocide
>
> One of the most overlooked regions, in which the Genocide accrued, is Anatoliki Thraki. A place, which suffered systematic plans of genocide, under both the Bulgarians and Turks, seeing double the carnage of other Hellenic lands during those years. During the years of persecution in Vorio Thraki (Northern Thrace) by the Bulgarians, the Turkish policy towards the Hellenes was one of friendship, because of the Slavic threat against the Ottoman Empire. Thus, generally speaking, the position of the Greeks of Thrace was a good one in this period. With the revolution of the Young Turks, the Greeks of Thrace, as all the Greeks of the Empire, hoped for the amelioration of their position believing in the declarations of equality and brotherhood. They were soon disillusioned, however, since the measures of the Young Turks against the Greek communities affected many of their privileges. (5)
>
> An eerie sense of doom must have been felt creeping in, with the Turkish reoccupation of Thraki, which would bring an era of brutality not soon forgotten with the return of atrocities, looting and massacres against the Hellenes. Whole villages being destroyed by the Turkish military in the most sadistic ways, at the time, a wireless dispatch to the Daily Chronicle from Constanza says: ‘Turkey has been running an ‘atrocious campaign’ most unscrupulously to cover her own misdeeds and distract attention from the appalling facts of the Thracian massacres by the Turkish army of reoccupation. (6) The death and destruction seen in Thraki during the Balkan Wars would be surpassed only with the coming First World War.
>
> “When the European war broke out, the Turks, with German connivance, began a policy of extermination of the Greek population which parallels in almost every detail the terrible outrages against the Armenians.” The Turkish Government used the outbreak of the War to its full advantage to begin the removal of the Hellenic Population from their ancestral homeland, under the pretext of the ‘military security’ of the Turkish cities, a large part of the population of eastern Thrace was deported towards the hinterland of Asia Minor hinterland (as was the case with the population of western Asia Minor and Pontos). Many were forced to convert to Islam, and they were distanced from the Patriarchate and had no access to Greek schools. A large part of the male population was exterminated in amele taburu or labour battalions. (7)
>
> The Terror and destruction decimated the countryside, turning the once beautiful crossroads between Europe and Asia, into Hell on earth, with Turkish hordes descending upon the local peasantry leaving nothing in their wake. Life in the countryside changed from one of children playing and parents working, to silence, as Hellenes dared not to tend to their fields, while Turkish bands roamed freely in the open countryside.
>
> Reports from the Ecumenical Patriarchate tell us of the anarchy and terror, which reigned over Anatoliki Thraki, where these Turkish bands were free to, committed the oldest crimes in the newest ways. Turkish civilians aided the Ottoman Government in their plans of extermination, in whatever manner they could. Turkish peasants would execute orders given to them by local officials mainly during the cover of darkness, to hide their identity from their neighbors. Individual incidents like that from the Diocese of Heracles, show the pure horror that Hellenes living in Thraki had to deal with on a daily bases, “At the end of May, 1919, three Albanian-Turks, guarding the Tsikili Farm, on the Tsads-Tyroloe road, killed two young Christian men from Tsads, whose clothes and ears they sent to this town, to frighten the peasantry and whose corpses they gave to the dogs of the farm for food”. (8)
>
> In the Diocese of Ganos and Chora, “The Turkish peasants’ fanaticism, provocations and threatening attitude toward the Greeks had grown so violent, that they openly declared, even in presence of Government officials, that they would quite soon annihilate them. This state of things paralyzed the will of the Greeks and prevented them from attending to their business” (9). A perfect example of their fanaticism comes from one report in December of 1919. “Periclis Prodromou from Avdini, was slaughtered like a lamb, near Atelthini”(10), as if the Hellenic people were livestock, this just goes to show the mentality held by the Turkish people at the time.
>
> In the Diocese of Didymotechon, which lies on the border of Anatoliki Thraki and Western Thraki, we see, “On May 21st, a double murder of two Greeks took place in the village Tchanakli. These two farmers coming to Ouzoum Kioprou, were on the way attacked by four soldiers. The head of one victim, Athanassius, was cut off, while the other victim, though seriously wounded, was able to creep as far as Eski-keuyto. The wounded reported the crime to the authorities and after a few hours succumbed to his wounds.”(11)
>
> In the end Hellenism in Anatoliki Thraki would face the same fate as that of Anatolian and Pontian Hellenism. With the evacuation of the Hellenic Army in 1922, the surviving 300,000 Hellenes living in Anatoliki Thraki, excluding those living in Constantinople were forced to leave the homeland of their ancestors, which had been theirs for thousands of years.
>
>
> A Call for Justice and Recognition
>
> In the same spirit that brought recognition and restitution for the victims of the Holocaust, so should Turkey be held accountable for the crimes of its past. How else can it truly be seen as a partner for peace, ready for entrance inside the European community? Those seeking justice are not looking for War or dismantlement of the Turkish state, but rather for the wrongs of the past to be recognized and set straight. The Turkish people should not fear international recognition, but should welcome it, as a means to finally write an end to this ugly chapter of history so all people involved can look to the future instead of the past.
>
> Far too much time has past since those terrible events during the early 20th century, without an international declaration memorializing these atrocities as Genocide. Hellas is politically and socially stable enough to final push for international recognition of the Genocide suffered by its people during those long years of oppression and persecution. It is time that the movement for justice and recognition finally take center stage inside the many important National Issues facing Hellas today. In 2007, an important step was realized, when the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) recognized the crimes suffered by the Assyrian, Hellenic, and Armenian populations between 1914 and 1923 as Genocide. “The resolution declares that ‘it is the conviction of the International Association of Genocide Scholars that the Ottoman campaign against Christian minorities of the Empire between 1914 and 1923 constituted a genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian Greeks.’ It ‘calls upon the government of Turkey to acknowledge the genocides against these populations, to issue a formal apology, and to take prompt and meaningful steps toward restitution.’(12)
>
> It is my firm belief that the only honorable and logical way to handle recognition and restitution of the Genocide committed against the Hellenes of Anatoliki Thraki is with a solution deemed acceptable for both parties involved. This mutual understanding must benefit both Christian and Muslim Thracians still living inside Turkey, as well as those descendants living outside the region. The first step towards justice would be the Genocide’s recognition inside Turkey, as well as internationally. Something that has already slowly come about with the recent declarations from International Associations, as well as limited recognition by some in the International Community and locally in the United States.
>
> The second step would be the creation of a Genocide Memorial in Constantinople to commemorate all those lost during those bloodily years of turmoil. This memorial could also run as a research center and academic hub for Hellenic and Turkish scholars studying these and other similar events.
>
> Third and perhaps most radical part of the process of restitution is the question of monetary compensation and land claims. As stated before, those of us seeking justice do not wish to be seen as war enthusiasts bent on the destruction of the Turkish state.
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> Instead such radical parts of this process can be answered, while still protecting Turkish sovereignty. At this point and time it would be impossible to have monetary compensation given to the families of the survivors, just as it would be wrong to reward the Hellenic state with such compensation. Unlike the state of Israel, which was founded after the Holocaust, by survivors of the tragedy, the Hellenic state was already in existence and the victims were not Hellenic citizens, but rather Turkish. With this in mind it seems to me that a third option must be presented. This being the creation of an autonomist Anatoliki Thraki, which would receive monetary compensation directly from the Turkish state, keeping the funds within the borders of Turkey, to aid one region economically. This process could be seen as a reconstruction or renovation of the region for the betterment of its local population. This autonomist region would be governed by local Christians and Muslims, as well as returning individuals whose family roots are from Anatoliki Thraki. The returning descendants of refugees expelled from the area would be reintroduced via settlements, much like those created by the state of Israel. Finally its capital should be seated in Constantinople, and a special relationship with the European Union must be established. This seems to be the most reasonable and appropriate solution for justice for Thraki and the Thrakiotes.
>
>
>
>
> Citations
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> 1. “Turkish Cruelty Bared by Greeks.” New York Times, June 16, 1918
> 2. “Turkish Cruelty Bared by Greeks.” New York Times, June 16, 1918
> 3. “Turkish Cruelty Bared by Greeks.” New York Times, June 16, 1918
> 4. Tsirkinidis, Harry. At Last we uprooted them. Pg 83
> 5. “The Expansion of the Hellenic State”
> 6. “Turks massacre Greeks in Thrace”, New York Times, July 28, 1913
> 7. “The Expansion of the Hellenic State”
> 8. The Black Book, Press of the Patriarchate. 1920
> 9. The Black Book, Press of the Patriarchate. 1920
> 10. The Black Book, Press of the Patriarchate. 1920
> 11. The Black Book, Press of the Patriarchate. 1920
>
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> Bibliography
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>
> 1. Tsirkinidis, Harry. At last we uprooted them.The genocide of Greeks of Pontos, Thrace and Asia Minor, through the French Archives. Translated by Stratos Mavrantonis. Kyriakidis Brothers. S.A. Publishing House.1999
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> 2. James, Edwin I. “Turks Proclaim Banishment edict to 1,000,000 Greeks.” New York Times. December 2, 1922
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> 3. “The Statesman of extermination.” New York Times. December 4, 1922. Pg 16, Col 3
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> Ioannis Fidanakis is the President of Panthracian Union of America “Orpheus”.
On May 19, 2008, Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region (ANCA ER) Executive Director Karine Birazian took part in commemorating the 89th Anniversary of the Pontian Genocide. Strong winds and brisk temperatures did not keep community activists from gathering at Bowling Green Park for the first New York City commemoration.
Organizing the event was the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York and the Pan-Pontian Federation of USA and Canada. Dimitris Molohides, Secretary of the Pan-Pontian Federation of USA and Canada, addressed the crowd in attendance and urged for decisive action for recognition of the Pontian Genocide.
Molohides, who spoke at the Armenian Genocide commemorative event at City Hall in New York City during the ANC of NY’s April 24th event stated “today, May 19th the Pontian community with Hellenes and Philhellenes here in New York City and around the world will commemorate the 89th anniversary of the Pontian… it is the first time that we gather here in the Bowling Green Park in the heart of the economic center of New York City to raise together the Greek flag and the single-headed eagle symbol of Pontus. Today’ s event is an emotional but also a historical moment for all of us that are present here.”
Speaking on behalf of the ANCA, Birazian addressed the crowd. In her statement she remarked: “the tragic sufferings of Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks will never be forgotten. The Turkish Government tries to silence us, but we will not be silenced, and together we will in fact end Turkey’s “Gag Rule” and seek recognition of this great crime. Nine decades ago they tried to silence the innocent victims that fell under the Turkish sword, and today we are still here. Nine decades from now we will still be here for we will never forget and work to seek justice”
Also present at the event include the Cypriot Action Network of America (CANA), the presidents and members of the two local associations “Komninoi” of New York and “Pontos” of Norwalk Connecticut and from the “Holy Institution Panagia Soumela.”
Speakers included Reverend Father Ioannis Romas from the St. Nicholas church that was destroyed on 9/11, Mr. Dimitris Dimitriou, General Secretary - Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, Mr. Elias Tsekerides, Past President of Pan-Pontian Federation USA & Canada, Ms. Donna Fotiadou, member and coordinating committee of the Pontian Youth Association USA & Canada, and Mr. Ioannis Fidanakis, President of Panthracian Union of America “Orpheus.”
The Ottoman Empire, under the cover of World War I, undertook a systematic and deliberate effort to eliminate its minority Christian populations. This genocidal campaign resulted in the death and deportation of well over 2,000,000 Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks.
The Pontian Genocide has been formally acknowledged by Greece and Cyprus and, within the United States, by the states of New York, New Jersey, Florida, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, among others.
http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=26145
