Συνέντευξη του Φάνη Μαλκίδη στο Ράδιο και την Εφημερίδα ΧΡΟΝΟΣ της Κομοτηνής (10 Απριλίου 2009)
Την ώρα που ο Αμερικανός Πρόεδρος Barack Obama μιλώντας στην Τουρκική Εθνοσυνέλευση κατά την πρώτη ουσιαστικά επίσημη επίσκεψη του εκτός ΗΠΑ, έθετε διακριτικά αλλά με διπλωματικό τρόπο το θέμα της θρησκευτικής ελευθερίας και ζητούσε το άνοιγμα της θεολογικής σχολής της Χάλκης εκπλήσσοντας για ακόμα μια φορά τους αναλυτές μας, στην Νέα Υόρκη έξω από το κτήριο των Ηνωμένων Εθνών (ΟΗΕ), άνοιγε μια νέα σελίδα ιστορικής αποκατάστασης.
Μια σελίδα εθνικής διεκδίκησης και προβολής μιας ακόμα γενοκτονίας που διέπραξε το κράτος των Νεότουρκων και τον Κεμάλ. Παιδιά δεύτερης γενιάς Ελλήνων μεταναστών στην άλλη άκρη του ατλαντικού στις ΗΠΑ, στην Νέα Υόρκη, στην γη της ελευθερίας και της δημοκρατίας έγραψαν τις πρώτες γραμμές στο μεγάλο κεφάλαιο της ιστορίας μας «Γενοκτονία των Ελλήνων». Το μεγάλο άγνωστο κεφάλαιο στον ευρύτερο απανταχού Ελληνισμό των πέντε ηπείρων. Στην έδρα των Ηνωμένων Εθνών νέοι άνθρωποι έθεταν για πρώτη φορά με ένα συμβολικό τρόπο το μεγάλο θέμα της γενοκτονίας, σε μία εκδήλωση που είχε τον τίτλο "σταματήστε τον κύκλο της άρνησης". Η συγκέντρωση που υποστηρίχτηκε και από τους Αρμένιους, ήταν συνδιοργάνωση της Πανθρακικής Ένωσης Αμερικής ΟΡΦΕΥΣ, τον Φιλανθρωπικό Ελληνοαμερικανικό Οργανισμό και την Ελληνική Ένωση Αμερικής (HLA), που απαρτίζουν κυρίως νέοι Ελληνο-Αμερικανοί. Το λόγο πήρε πρώτος ο νεαρός Θρακιώτης Γιαννης Φυδανάκης ο οποίος έκανε την ιστορική αναδρομή και στο χρονικό των σφαγών και της Γενοκτονίας των Ελλήνων. Όλοι οι ομιλητές, ο Δημήτρης Μολοχίδης, γραμματέας της Παν- Ποντιακής Ομοσπονδίας ΗΠΑ- Καναδά, ο Ηλίας Τσεκερίδης της Παγκόσμιας Ομοσπονδίας Ποντίων, ο Θεοχάρης Κέκης από το Σύλλογο Ποντίων Βοστώνης «Παναγία Σουμελά», ο εκπρόσωπος της Αρμενικής κοινότητας της Νέας Υόρκης, ιερέας Α. Αρμάν, ο Τζιοβάνη ντι Νάπολι εκπροσωπώντας του Ιταλούς νότιας Ιταλίας οι οποίοι το 1480 δολοφονήθηκαν από τους Τούρκους, απευθύνονταν στους περαστικούς που έστω και υπό καταρρακτώδη βροχή στέκονταν για λίγο να ακούσουν βλέποντας την φωτογραφία του Κεμάλ Ατατούρκ, να παραλαμβάνουν έντυπο ενημερωτικό υλικό στα αγγλικά που ενημέρωνε για τις θηριωδίες των Τούρκων. Τη συγκέντρωση έκλεισε ο Φάνης Μαλκίδης ο οποίος αναφέρθηκε στον συμβολισμό και στην ουσία της εκδήλωσης και στη συνέχεια της προσπάθειας για την ανάδειξη της Γενοκτονίας στο διεθνές περιβάλλον, τονίζοντας τη σημασία της παρουσίας στα Ηνωμένα Έθνη.
Ο Φάνης Μαλκίδης μετέφερε το κλίμα μιλώντας στο ράδιο Χρόνος 87,5 και στην εφημερίδα Χρόνος της Κομοτηνής και στο δημοσιογράφο Δήμο Μπακιρτζάκη (ΔΜ).
Δ. Μ Χθες επιστρέψατε από τις ΗΠΑ, όπου μιλήσατε στην εκδήλωση της Νέας Υόρκης, αλλά και στο ετήσιο συνέδριο για τη Γενοκτονία και το Ολοκαύτωμα. Θα θέλαμε τις πρώτες εκτιμήσεις για να μας βάλετε και στο πνεύμα του συνεδρίου.
ΦΜ. Καταρχήν, το συνέδριο για τη Γενοκτονία και το Ολοκαύτωμα το οποίο γίνεται εδώ και 29 χρόνια στο Πανεπιστήμιο Μιλερσιβιλλ της Πενσυλβάνια των ΗΠΑ, είναι ένα από τα μεγαλύτερα τα οποία γίνονται σε όλο τον πλανήτη και εκεί συμμετέχουν πάρα πολλοί ερευνητές οι οποίοι ασχολούνται με τις γενοκτονίες και με το εβραϊκό ολοκαύτωμα. Από το 2007 για πρώτη φορά, από ελληνικής πλευράς έχει γίνει δεκτή η συμμετοχή μου, φέτος ήταν η δεύτερη, όπου μίλησα για το ζήτημα της γενοκτονίας των Ελλήνων.
ΔΜ.Πριν κ. Μαλκίδη από την Ελλάδα δεν πήγαινε κανένας σε αυτό το συνέδριο;
ΦΜ Πρέπει να ξεκαθαρίσουμε ότι το ζήτημα που αφορά τους Έλληνες που ζούσαν στην Θράκη, στην Μικρά Ασία και στον Πόντο, τη Γενοκτονία τους, έμενε στο περιθώριο για λόγους που σχετιζόταν με συμφέροντα πολιτικής και γενικότερα εξαρτήσεις και δεσμεύσεις. Εδώ και περίπου 15 χρόνια το ζήτημα πλέον έχει ξεφύγει από την γνωστή του προσέγγιση, δηλαδή φολκλόρ, και προσπαθούμε να αναδείξουμε την σημαντικότερη αιτία, τη Γενοκτονία, λόγω της οποίας καταστράφηκε αυτό το μεγάλο ψηφιδωτό του πολιτισμού της ιστορίας των Ελλήνων το οποίο υπήρχε εκεί μέχρι το 1922. Έτσι λοιπόν εδώ και λίγα περίπου χρόνια, υπάρχει μία κινητικότητα τόσο στην Ελλάδα όσο και όπου είναι δυνατόν και στο εξωτερικό. Και στο εξωτερικό προσπαθούμε να αναδείξουμε το ζήτημα της γενοκτονίας των Ελλήνων είτε με παρεμβάσεις και εισηγήσεις σε τέτοια διεθνούς και μεγάλου κύρους επιστημονικά συνέδρια, αλλά και όπου αλλού χρειαστεί, με σημαντικότερη τη σημαντική αναγνώριση από την Διεθνή Ένωση Ακαδημαικών για τη γενοκτονία, η οποία με σχετικό της ψήφισμα αναγνώρισε το 2007 τη γενοκτονία των Ελλήνων οι οποίοι ζούσαν στο οθωμανικό κράτος. Στο συνέδριο για τη Γενοκτονία και το Ολοκαύτωμα στη Πενσιλβάνια παραβρέθηκαν πολλοί ερευνητές από όλο τον κόσμο και τέθηκαν επί τάπητος όλα τα θέματα που αφορούν τις γενοκτονίες. Σε ό,τι αφορά τη γενοκτονία των Ελλήνων που ζούσαν στο οθωμανικό κράτος παρά την μακροχρόνια απουσία και σιωπή που υπήρχε γι’ αυτό το ζήτημα, τα τελευταία χρόνια ειδικότερα μέσα στους κόλπους της διεθνούς ενώσεως ακαδημαϊκών για την μελέτη των γενοκτονιών, ή του διεθνούς δικτύου των ακαδημαϊκών για την γενοκτονία και από τα συνέδρια που γίνονται για το ολοκαύτωμα και τις γενοκτονίες, γίνεται μία σημαντική προσπάθεια. Πραγματικά μέσα από αυτά τα συνέδρια, το διάλογο, τη συζήτηση και την συνεχή έρευνα γίνεται μία προσπάθεια καταγραφής αλλά και ανάδειξης αυτού του ζητήματος. Μην ξεχνάτε ότι εδώ στην Ελλάδα υπήρχε και υπάρχει ένα μεγάλο κενό γι’ αυτό το θέμα. Φανταστείτε τι κενό υπάρχει το οποίο πρέπει να καλυφθεί στο εξωτερικό, ωστόσο με συνεχή προσπάθεια σ΄ αυτό το ζήτημα όπου και εάν παρουσιάζεται, προσεγγίζεται με μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον και υπάρχει μεγάλη συζήτηση. Σε ό,τι αφορά η πολιτική συνιστώσα του θέματος, φαίνεται ότι οι συνεχείς παρεμβάσεις, παρουσιάσεις και παρουσίες Ελλήνων στο εξωτερικό και μάλιστα σε τέτοιου υψηλού επιπέδου συνέδρια και συναντήσεις, δίνουν την δυνατότητα σε πάρα πολλούς πολιτικούς να έρθουν σε επαφή με τη Γενοκτονία των Ελλήνων.
ΔΜ Εκτός αυτού όμως παραβρεθήκατε και την Δευτέρα σε μία εκδήλωση στον ΟΗΕ στη Νέα Υόρκη, η οποία διοργανώθηκε από την πανθρακική ένωση Αμερικής «Ορφέας» και αφορούσε την Γενοκτονία του Ελληνισμού.
ΦΜ. Την συμβολική ημέρα, την 6η Απριλίου η οποία τιμάται ως ημέρα μνήμης του θρακικού Ελληνισμού, έγινε μία πολύ σημαντική, συμβολικής αλλά και ουσιαστικής προσέγγισης εκδήλωση στο κτίριο των Ηνωμένων Εθνών, με πρωτοβουλία των Θρακών που ζουν στην Αμερική και ειδικότερα του προέδρου της Πανθρακικής Ένωσης Αμερικής «Ορφέας», ενός νέου ανθρώπου μόλις 25 ετών, του Ιωάννη Φυντανάκη ο οποίος κατάγεται από το χωριό Σοφικό Διδυμοτείχου του Ν. Έβρου, γεννημένος στις ΗΠΑ. Ο Ι. Φυντανάκης πήρε την πρωτοβουλία και μαζί με φορείς ελληνοαμερικανικών οργανώσεων, και με τη υποστήριξη από τους Ποντίους, Μικρασιάτες, Κωνσταντινουπολίτες, Κύπριους που ζουν στις ΗΠΑ, καθώς και τους Αρμένιους, διοργάνωσε μία πάρα πολύ σημαντική εκδήλωση η οποία ανέδειξε το ζήτημα της γενοκτονίας των Ελλήνων σε ένα χώρο όπου ουσιαστικά θα έπρεπε να αποτελεί χώρο επίλυσης των προβλημάτων που αφορούν τέτοια θέματα. Στην εκδήλωση παρότι έγινε κάτω από καταρρακτώδη βροχή, υπήρχε μεγάλη προσέλευση, ανθρώπων οι οποίοι όχι μόνο συμμετείχαν στην εκδήλωση αλλά και πήραν το ενημερωτικό υλικό και μέσα από τις ομιλίες τους γνώρισαν τη Γενοκτονία των Ελλήνων.
ΔΜ. Λίγοι γνωρίζουν γι’ αυτό κ. Μαλκίδη, βέβαια είναι η 6η Απριλίου του 1914 είναι μια ημερομηνία ορόσημο για την ιστορία του θρακικού Ελληνισμού και όπως ονομάστηκε ως «Μαύρο Πάσχα». Είναι η απαρχή των γεγονότων της εξαφάνισης μπορούμε να πούμε και όλου του πογκρόμ που δημιουργήθηκε πριν το 1922 ακόμα εναντίον των Ελλήνων της Θράκης και συνεχίστηκε στον Πόντο και στη Μικρά Ασία.
ΦΜ Πολύ σωστά το τονίζετε, ήταν Πάσχα του 1914 όταν ξεκίνησαν και από τότε εντάθηκαν οι διωγμοί του θρακικού Ελληνισμού και μετά ακολούθησαν οι διωγμοί του ποντιακού και του μικρασιατικού Ελληνισμού. Με την εκδήλωση στον ΟΗΕ την 6η Απριλίου θελήσαμε να δώσουμε μέσα από μια τέτοια πρωτοβουλία σε ένα τέτοιο χώρο που είναι παγκόσμιας σημασίας, την διάσταση που πρέπει να δοθεί και πιστεύω ότι οι νέοι άνθρωποι από όλο τον πλανήτη που διαδήλωσαν την αντίθεσή τους στα εγκλήματα που έγιναν στο παρελθόν, υποστήριξαν ότι τα εγκλήματα αυτά όχι μόνο δεν αναγνωρίζονται, αλλά και συνεχίζονται. Θεωρώ ότι πραγματικά αυτή η πρωτοβουλία ανέδειξε ένα θέμα το οποίο για πάρα πολλά χρόνια ήταν αποσιωπημένο και μάλιστα σε ένα τέτοιο χώρο ο οποίος έχει μεγάλη πολιτική και παγκόσμια σημασία.
ΔΜ Να δώσουμε και σε αριθμητικά δεδομένα την όλη αυτή επιχείρηση την οποία έκαναν οι Νεότουρκοι στην ουσία για να διώξουν όλο το ελληνικό στοιχείο που ζούσε εκεί στην περιοχή, πόσοι ζούσαν σε αυτές τις περιοχές κ. Μαλκίδη; Ξεκίνησαν το 1914, έφτασαν μέχρι το 1922, πόσοι ζούσαν, πόσοι έφυγαν;
ΦΜ.Τα στοιχεία τα οποία διαθέτουμε μέχρι σήμερα προέρχονται από δύο απογραφές, η οθωμανική απογραφή και είναι η απογραφή του Οικουμενικού Πατριαρχείου. Με βάση αυτά τα στοιχεία αναφερόμαστε σε πάνω από 2.000.000 Έλληνες οι οποίοι ζούσαν στο οθωμανικό κράτος, στον Πόντο, στην Μικρά Ασία, στην Θράκη και στην Καππαδοκία. Το 1928, 6 χρόνια μετά την καταστροφή στην απογραφή που έγινε από το ελληνικό κράτος, καταγράφησαν ως πρόσφυγες μόνο 1.220.000 που σημαίνει ότι με βάσει τα αριθμητικά δεδομένα δολοφονήθηκαν τουλάχιστον 800.000 άνθρωποι, οι οποίοι έχασαν την ζωή τους μέσα από τους Νεότουρκους και τους Κεμαλικούς. Βεβαίως επειδή οι συγκεκριμένες απογραφές έχουν σημαντικές ελλείψεις, αφού δεν περιλαμβάνουν στοιχεία όπως για παράδειγμα ανθρώπων που ζούσαν ως κρυπτοχριστιανοί, Ελλήνων που είχαν φύγει στην Ρωσία αλλά και στον ελλαδικό χώρο προκειμένου κατά την διάρκεια των σφαγών να γλυτώσουν την ζωή τους, άνθρωποι που δεν απογράφησαν φοβούμενοι αντίποινα από τους Οθωμανούς, ενώ δεν περιλαμβάνονται περίπου 60.000-70.000 άνθρωποι οι οποίοι έχασαν την ζωή τους όταν ήρθαν στην Ελλάδα ως πρόσφυγες ανάμεσα στο 1922-1928. Συνεπώς μιλάμε για πάνω από 800.000 Έλληνες των οποίων την μνήμη τίμησαν Θρακιώτες, Πόντιοι, Μικρασιάτες, Αρμένιοι, άνθρωποι όλων των εθνικοτήτων σε ένα παγκόσμιο κέντρο όπως είναι ο Οργανισμός Ηνωμένων Εθνών, στην εκδήλωση της Νέας Υόρκης. Σε μία εκδήλωση, συνέχεια μίας μεγάλης και ανιδιοτελούς προσπάθειας που γίνεται για την αναγνώριση της Γενοκτονίας των Ελλήνων ως προϋπόθεση για την ειλικρινή φιλία και συνεργασία, ως απαραίτητο βήμα για την αποκατάσταση της ιστορίας και της ιερής μνήμης των θυμάτων.
Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ κ. Μαλκίδη.
Δήμος Μπακιρτζάκης
Σάββατο 11 Απριλίου 2009
SA pollies clash over Pontian genocide. Newspaper Neos Kosmos 09/04/09
South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson (R) at the unveiling of the plaque commemorating the 1915-1922 Pontian Genocide.
Liberal Senator Alan Ferguson denies Pontian Genocide SA Attorney General Michael Atkinson to introduce resolution recognising Pontian GenocideA POLITICAL battle has been sparked between two South Australian politicians over their views on the Pontian Genocide.The South Australian Attorney General, Minister for Justice and Multicultural Affairs, Michael Atkinson and the South Australian Liberal, Senator Alan Ferguson, are at loggerheads because of comments made by Mr Atkinson .The comments were made at the unveiling of a plaque in Adelaide's Migration Museum that commemorates the Pontian Genocide carried out by Turkish forces between 1915 and 1922. The event was organised in December 2008 as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Pontian Brotherhood of South Australia. Mr Atkinson's speech attracted the attention of the Turkish Ambassador Murat Ersavci for saying that nationalist Turkish forces led by Kemal Mustafa's forces were responsible for the Pontian, Armenian and Assyrian genocides.The Turkish Ambassador contacted Senator Ferguson to protest Mr Atkinson's speech. According to Neos Kosmos English Edition (NKEE) sources the Turkish Embassy is fervently lobbying the South Australian government for the removal of the plaque. Senator Ferguson responded by addressing the Senate on March 18, the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the formal agreement between Australia and Turkey. The Senator said that the Turkish Ambassador had visited him and had "expressed his deep concern" about Mr Atkinson's speech. Senator Ferguson personal objection to the speech is that "It can only cause deep ill-feeling, not the least since Mustafa Kemal was the leader of a nation that was, at that time, fighting for its survival against an invasion from Greece-a point that the Attorney-General in South Australia seemed to overlook. "Senator Ferguson then accuses Pontians and Armenians of trying to 'rewrite history' and of applying con-temporary morals on 'events that took place 100 years ago.'He goes on to say that people should not pass judgement on historical events without knowing the facts.NKEE contacted Mr Ferguson who defended his speech . Ferguson said his speech in Federal Parliament was driven by his belief that government is obligated to represent all people of the community."I don't think it's right to promote what might be construed as controversial views which denigrate one section of the community," Senator Ferguson said. When pressed on his knowledge of the historical events of the time he conceded that he wasn't very familiar with the history of that part of the world and of that era.While not denying that atrocities were committed against Armenians and Greeks, Ferguson reiterated the view that atrocities were committed by all sides. He refused to use the term genocide, arguing that there are historians who dispute that atrocities were only one sided. Atkinson responded by accusing Senator Ferguson of running errands for the Turkish ambassador and by attacking Federal Liberal leader, Malcolm Turnbull, and South Australian State Liberal Leader Mr Smith for not disassociating their parties from Senator Ferguson's comments. Atkinson also disputes Mr Ferguson's claim that his concern was for harmonious multicultural relations. "I've been going to the important events for people of a non-English speaking background for 25 years. I don't recall once seeing Senator Ferguson at those events and I think it is that disconnect... that has caused this fiasco," said Mr Atkinson.He also pointed out that his relations with the Turkish community are very good, highlighting the fact that he doesn't hold this "community responsible for the events in Anatolia."In fact I have more to do with Turkish Australians than Senator Ferguson ever has," he added. Mr Atkinson revealed to NKEE that a resolution for the recognition of the Pontian Genocide will be introduced to the South Australian Parliament which has already passed a resolution for the Armenian Genocide. "I believe, Senator Ferguson's remarkable denial necessitates that South Australian Par-liament do it regarding the Pontian Greeks."
Liberal Senator Alan Ferguson denies Pontian Genocide SA Attorney General Michael Atkinson to introduce resolution recognising Pontian GenocideA POLITICAL battle has been sparked between two South Australian politicians over their views on the Pontian Genocide.The South Australian Attorney General, Minister for Justice and Multicultural Affairs, Michael Atkinson and the South Australian Liberal, Senator Alan Ferguson, are at loggerheads because of comments made by Mr Atkinson .The comments were made at the unveiling of a plaque in Adelaide's Migration Museum that commemorates the Pontian Genocide carried out by Turkish forces between 1915 and 1922. The event was organised in December 2008 as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Pontian Brotherhood of South Australia. Mr Atkinson's speech attracted the attention of the Turkish Ambassador Murat Ersavci for saying that nationalist Turkish forces led by Kemal Mustafa's forces were responsible for the Pontian, Armenian and Assyrian genocides.The Turkish Ambassador contacted Senator Ferguson to protest Mr Atkinson's speech. According to Neos Kosmos English Edition (NKEE) sources the Turkish Embassy is fervently lobbying the South Australian government for the removal of the plaque. Senator Ferguson responded by addressing the Senate on March 18, the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the formal agreement between Australia and Turkey. The Senator said that the Turkish Ambassador had visited him and had "expressed his deep concern" about Mr Atkinson's speech. Senator Ferguson personal objection to the speech is that "It can only cause deep ill-feeling, not the least since Mustafa Kemal was the leader of a nation that was, at that time, fighting for its survival against an invasion from Greece-a point that the Attorney-General in South Australia seemed to overlook. "Senator Ferguson then accuses Pontians and Armenians of trying to 'rewrite history' and of applying con-temporary morals on 'events that took place 100 years ago.'He goes on to say that people should not pass judgement on historical events without knowing the facts.NKEE contacted Mr Ferguson who defended his speech . Ferguson said his speech in Federal Parliament was driven by his belief that government is obligated to represent all people of the community."I don't think it's right to promote what might be construed as controversial views which denigrate one section of the community," Senator Ferguson said. When pressed on his knowledge of the historical events of the time he conceded that he wasn't very familiar with the history of that part of the world and of that era.While not denying that atrocities were committed against Armenians and Greeks, Ferguson reiterated the view that atrocities were committed by all sides. He refused to use the term genocide, arguing that there are historians who dispute that atrocities were only one sided. Atkinson responded by accusing Senator Ferguson of running errands for the Turkish ambassador and by attacking Federal Liberal leader, Malcolm Turnbull, and South Australian State Liberal Leader Mr Smith for not disassociating their parties from Senator Ferguson's comments. Atkinson also disputes Mr Ferguson's claim that his concern was for harmonious multicultural relations. "I've been going to the important events for people of a non-English speaking background for 25 years. I don't recall once seeing Senator Ferguson at those events and I think it is that disconnect... that has caused this fiasco," said Mr Atkinson.He also pointed out that his relations with the Turkish community are very good, highlighting the fact that he doesn't hold this "community responsible for the events in Anatolia."In fact I have more to do with Turkish Australians than Senator Ferguson ever has," he added. Mr Atkinson revealed to NKEE that a resolution for the recognition of the Pontian Genocide will be introduced to the South Australian Parliament which has already passed a resolution for the Armenian Genocide. "I believe, Senator Ferguson's remarkable denial necessitates that South Australian Par-liament do it regarding the Pontian Greeks."
Πέμπτη 9 Απριλίου 2009
ΝΙΚΟΣ ΜΕΛΕΤΗΣ - ΜΙΧΑΛΗΣ ΙΓΝΑΤΙΟΥ. Εφημερίδα Έθνος.
Ο πρόεδρος των ΗΠΑ καταλόγισε στις τότε «ξένες δυνάμεις» πρόθεση«ανασύστασης μιας αρχαίας αυτοκρατορίας». Χρύσωσε το χάπι με τη Χάλκη και μεαναφορά στο Κυπριακό «E» 7/4
Με μία ανιστόρητη αναφορά, με την οποία αθωώνει την Τουρκία για τηΜικρασιατική καταστροφή, καταλογίζοντας στις τότε «ξένες δυνάμεις», δηλαδήτην Ελλάδα, πρόθεση «ανασύστασης μιας αρχαίας αυτοκρατορίας», χρωμάτισε τηνομιλία του ενώπιον της Τουρκικής Εθνοσυνέλευσης στην Αγκυρα ο Αμερικανόςπρόεδρος Μπαράκ Ομπάμα.
Μία ομιλία που περιέγραψε και σφράγισε τη στρατηγική σχέση που προσφέρουν οιΗΠΑ στην Τουρκία και η οποία περιελάμβανε δύο θετικές αναφορές στη ΘεολογικήΣχολή της Χάλκης και στο Κυπριακό και απηύθυνε συστάσεις στην Αγκυρα για τονσεβασμό των ανθρώπινων και μειονοτικών δικαιωμάτων.
Την ίδια στιγμή που ο νέος ηγέτης των ΗΠΑ δείχνει όμως τόση ευαισθησία στηΓενοκτονία των Αρμενίων, έρχεται να δικαιώσει τον ξεριζωμό του ΜικρασιατικούΕλληνισμού το 1922 και να ξαναγράψει αυτό το κομμάτι της Ιστορίας μετουρκική «πένα».
Ο κ. Ομπάμα ανέφερε στην αρχή της ομιλίας του: «Η Τουρκία στο τέλος του Α'Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου θα μπορούσε να είχε παραδοθεί στις ξένες δυνάμεις πουπροσπαθούσαν να διεκδικήσουν εδάφη της ή επεδίωκαν να ανασυστήσουν μιααρχαία αυτοκρατορία. Αλλά η Τουρκία επέλεξε ένα διαφορετικό μέλλον.Απελευθερωθήκατε μόνοι σας από τον ξένο έλεγχο. Και εγκαθιδρύσατε τηΔημοκρατία η οποία αποσπά τον σεβασμό των ΗΠΑ και του υπόλοιπου κόσμου.Υπάρχει μια απλή αλήθεια σε αυτή την ιστορία: η Τουρκική Δημοκρατία είναιδικό σας επίτευγμα. Δεν επιβλήθηκε από κάποια εξωτερική δύναμη ούτε ήρθεχωρίς αγώνα και θυσίες».
Ενδυνάμωση σχέσηςΣτην ομιλία του, αλλά και στις επαφές με την πολιτική ηγεσία της χώρας ο κ.Ομπάμα εξέφρασε την επιθυμία του για την ενίσχυση και ενδυνάμωση τηςσταθερής, όπως τη χαρακτήρισε, σχέσης των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών και τηςΤουρκίας.
Παρά το γεγονός ότι κάποιες απόψεις του ενόχλησαν πολύ, ο κ. Ομπάμα στηνουσία ανακοίνωσε ότι η Τουρκία θα αναδειχθεί επί προεδρίας του σεακρογωνιαίο λίθο της αμερικανικής εξωτερικής και αμυντικής πολιτικής. Αυτό,άλλωστε, ήταν το πνεύμα των συνομιλιών που είχε με τον πρόεδρο ΑμπντουλάχΓκιουλ και τον πρωθυπουργό Ταγίπ Ερντογάν.
Ο τελευταίος, που έπαιξε τον ρόλο του «κακού», είναι αποφασισμένος να κάνειό,τι μπορεί για να προχωρήσει η υλοποίηση των σχεδιασμών για τη νέαστρατηγική σχέση, όμως θέτει όρους και προϋποθέσεις που αφορούν την αμυντικήκαι οικονομική συνεργασία.
Ο Αμερικανός πρόεδρος είπε ότι η Τουρκία «αποτελεί στρατηγικό εταίρο» τωνΗνωμένων Πολιτειών, όχι μόνο στο θέμα της τρομοκρατίας, αλλά σ' όλα ταζητήματα που ενδιαφέρουν τη χώρα του. Στις συζητήσεις με τους ηγέτες τηςχώρας ζήτησε υποστήριξη για τον πόλεμο στο Αφγανιστάν, για την αντιμετώπισητης κατάστασης στο Ιράν και στο Ιράκ, ενώ ιδιαίτερα μίλησε για τα προβλήματατης Μέσης Ανατολής με έμφαση στο Παλαιστινιακό.
Ο κ. Ομπάμα είπε ότι με τους Τούρκους ηγέτες διαπίστωσαν «μία συνεχήβελτίωση των αμερικανο-τουρκικών σχέσεων» και προσέθεσε πως «δεν πιστεύειότι (οι διμερείς σχέσεις) επιδεινώθηκαν ποτέ σε σημείο να μην είμαστε πιαφίλοι ή σύμμαχοι. Αυτό που ελπίζω, είναι να οικοδομήσουμε πάνω σε μια βάσηπου είναι ήδη σταθερή».
Η ένταξηΟ Αμερικανός πρόεδρος, συνεχίζοντας να προκαλεί τους Ευρωπαίους, επανέλαβετην υποστήριξή του στην ένταξη της Τουρκίας στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ενωση, μόνο πουαυτή τη φορά προσέθεσε πως η χώρα του δεν είναι μέλος της ευρωπαϊκήςοικογένειας, άρα δεν αποφασίζει και για τις χώρες που θα υποδεχθεί στουςκόλπους της η ΕΕ.
«Θέλω να είμαι σαφής», είπε από το βήμα της Τουρκικής Εθνοσυνέλευσης. «ΟιΗνωμένες Πολιτείες υποστηρίζουν σταθερά την υποψηφιότητα της Τουρκίας στηνΕΕ», διότι εκτίμησε πως θα ενισχυθεί έτσι ο ευρωπαϊκός συνασπισμός. Σαςενώνουν, τόνισε αναφερόμενος στους Ευρωπαίους και στους Τούρκους, «αιώνεςΙστορίας, πολιτισμού και εμπορίου».
Υπογράμμισε πως «δεν είμαστε και δεν θα είμαστε σε πόλεμο με το Ισλάμ». Μετον τρόπο αυτό, από την ισλαμική Τουρκία, θέλησε να τονίσει πως η νέααμερικανική κυβέρνηση είναι φίλη και σύμμαχος με τον μουσουλμανικό κόσμο,ξεχωρίζοντας τους τρομοκράτες, για τους οποίους υπογραμμίζει πάντα πως δεναντιπροσωπεύουν το Ισλάμ.
«Η συνεργασία μας με τον ισλαμικό κόσμο δεν πρέπει να περιοριστεί στο θέματης αντιμετώπισης της τρομοκρατίας», τόνισε και προσέθεσε ότι «πρέπει νααναζητούμε κοινή πλατφόρμα, με αλληλοσεβασμό, ακόμη και στις περιπτώσεις πουδιαφωνούμε. Εμείς πρέπει να επιδεικνύουμε σεβασμό προς την ισλαμική πίστη».
ΓΙΑ ΚΥΠΡΟΥποστηρίζει διζωνική δικοινοτική ομοσπονδία
Την επανένωση της Κύπρου στη βάση της διζωνικής δικοινοτικής ομοσπονδίαςδήλωσε ότι υποστηρίζει ο πρόεδρος των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών Μπαράκ Ομπάμα, οοποίος είχε συνομιλίες για το θέμα με την τουρκική πολιτική ηγεσία.
Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, το Κυπριακό ήταν ένα εκ των ολίγων θεμάτων τα οποίαοι δύο πλευρές «δεν βλέπουν με το ίδιο μάτι», αν και η υπουργός ΕξωτερικώνΧίλαρι Κλίντον είχε λάβει φιλοτουρκική θέση. Ο Αμερικανός ηγέτης, πουανέδειξε την Τουρκία σε «χωροφύλακα» της περιοχής, υπογράμμισε πως η λύσητης επανένωσης είναι και βιώσιμη, θα είναι και διαρκής.
Από την πλευρά του, ο πρωθυπουργός της Τουρκίας, Ταγίπ Ερντογάν, δεν πέτυχενα πείσει τον κ. Ομπάμα για το θέμα της δήθεν «απομόνωσης», αφού ο ΛευκόςΟίκος, σε αντίθεση με τους γραφειοκράτες του Στέιτ Ντιπάρτμεντ, φαίνεται ναέχει πιο ξεκάθαρη άποψη.
Είπε, συγκεκριμένα, ότι «οι ΗΠΑ επιθυμούν να προσφέρουν όλη τη βοήθεια πουθα ζητήσουν τα μέρη, καθώς εργάζονται στην κατεύθυνση μιας δίκαιης καιμόνιμης λύσης που θα επανενώσει την Κύπρο σε μια διζωνική δικοινοτικήομοσπονδία».
Επίσης, «δίχασε» τις δύο αντιπροσωπείες το θέμα της αρμενικής γενοκτονίας,καθώς ο Αμερικανός ηγέτης τόνισε πως δεν αλλάζει τη γνώμη του. Οπως είναιγνωστό με δηλώσεις του προεκλογικά, έκανε γνωστό πως η τραγωδία των Αρμενίωναποτελεί γενοκτονία, μία θέση που είναι ανάθεμα για τους Τούρκους.
Παρ όλα αυτά εξήγησε πως «τα προβλήματα δεν θα τα λύσω εγώ, θα τα λύσουν απόκοινού η Τουρκία και η Αρμενία». Επίσης, ζήτησε από την Αγκυρα να τερματίσειτα εμπόδια που θέτει για την επαναλειτουργία της Θεολογικής Σχολής τηςΧάλκης.
Είπε: «Η θρησκευτική ελευθερία και η ελευθερία έκφρασης οδηγούν σε μίαισχυρή και ζωντανή κοινωνία που δυναμώνει το κράτος. Βήματα, όπως ηεπαναλειτουργία της Θεολογικής Σχολής της Χάλκης, θα στείλουν ένα τέτοιοσημαντικό μήνυμα και μέσα και έξω από την Τουρκία».
http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=11378&subid=2&tag=8777&pubid=2974774
Με μία ανιστόρητη αναφορά, με την οποία αθωώνει την Τουρκία για τηΜικρασιατική καταστροφή, καταλογίζοντας στις τότε «ξένες δυνάμεις», δηλαδήτην Ελλάδα, πρόθεση «ανασύστασης μιας αρχαίας αυτοκρατορίας», χρωμάτισε τηνομιλία του ενώπιον της Τουρκικής Εθνοσυνέλευσης στην Αγκυρα ο Αμερικανόςπρόεδρος Μπαράκ Ομπάμα.
Μία ομιλία που περιέγραψε και σφράγισε τη στρατηγική σχέση που προσφέρουν οιΗΠΑ στην Τουρκία και η οποία περιελάμβανε δύο θετικές αναφορές στη ΘεολογικήΣχολή της Χάλκης και στο Κυπριακό και απηύθυνε συστάσεις στην Αγκυρα για τονσεβασμό των ανθρώπινων και μειονοτικών δικαιωμάτων.
Την ίδια στιγμή που ο νέος ηγέτης των ΗΠΑ δείχνει όμως τόση ευαισθησία στηΓενοκτονία των Αρμενίων, έρχεται να δικαιώσει τον ξεριζωμό του ΜικρασιατικούΕλληνισμού το 1922 και να ξαναγράψει αυτό το κομμάτι της Ιστορίας μετουρκική «πένα».
Ο κ. Ομπάμα ανέφερε στην αρχή της ομιλίας του: «Η Τουρκία στο τέλος του Α'Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου θα μπορούσε να είχε παραδοθεί στις ξένες δυνάμεις πουπροσπαθούσαν να διεκδικήσουν εδάφη της ή επεδίωκαν να ανασυστήσουν μιααρχαία αυτοκρατορία. Αλλά η Τουρκία επέλεξε ένα διαφορετικό μέλλον.Απελευθερωθήκατε μόνοι σας από τον ξένο έλεγχο. Και εγκαθιδρύσατε τηΔημοκρατία η οποία αποσπά τον σεβασμό των ΗΠΑ και του υπόλοιπου κόσμου.Υπάρχει μια απλή αλήθεια σε αυτή την ιστορία: η Τουρκική Δημοκρατία είναιδικό σας επίτευγμα. Δεν επιβλήθηκε από κάποια εξωτερική δύναμη ούτε ήρθεχωρίς αγώνα και θυσίες».
Ενδυνάμωση σχέσηςΣτην ομιλία του, αλλά και στις επαφές με την πολιτική ηγεσία της χώρας ο κ.Ομπάμα εξέφρασε την επιθυμία του για την ενίσχυση και ενδυνάμωση τηςσταθερής, όπως τη χαρακτήρισε, σχέσης των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών και τηςΤουρκίας.
Παρά το γεγονός ότι κάποιες απόψεις του ενόχλησαν πολύ, ο κ. Ομπάμα στηνουσία ανακοίνωσε ότι η Τουρκία θα αναδειχθεί επί προεδρίας του σεακρογωνιαίο λίθο της αμερικανικής εξωτερικής και αμυντικής πολιτικής. Αυτό,άλλωστε, ήταν το πνεύμα των συνομιλιών που είχε με τον πρόεδρο ΑμπντουλάχΓκιουλ και τον πρωθυπουργό Ταγίπ Ερντογάν.
Ο τελευταίος, που έπαιξε τον ρόλο του «κακού», είναι αποφασισμένος να κάνειό,τι μπορεί για να προχωρήσει η υλοποίηση των σχεδιασμών για τη νέαστρατηγική σχέση, όμως θέτει όρους και προϋποθέσεις που αφορούν την αμυντικήκαι οικονομική συνεργασία.
Ο Αμερικανός πρόεδρος είπε ότι η Τουρκία «αποτελεί στρατηγικό εταίρο» τωνΗνωμένων Πολιτειών, όχι μόνο στο θέμα της τρομοκρατίας, αλλά σ' όλα ταζητήματα που ενδιαφέρουν τη χώρα του. Στις συζητήσεις με τους ηγέτες τηςχώρας ζήτησε υποστήριξη για τον πόλεμο στο Αφγανιστάν, για την αντιμετώπισητης κατάστασης στο Ιράν και στο Ιράκ, ενώ ιδιαίτερα μίλησε για τα προβλήματατης Μέσης Ανατολής με έμφαση στο Παλαιστινιακό.
Ο κ. Ομπάμα είπε ότι με τους Τούρκους ηγέτες διαπίστωσαν «μία συνεχήβελτίωση των αμερικανο-τουρκικών σχέσεων» και προσέθεσε πως «δεν πιστεύειότι (οι διμερείς σχέσεις) επιδεινώθηκαν ποτέ σε σημείο να μην είμαστε πιαφίλοι ή σύμμαχοι. Αυτό που ελπίζω, είναι να οικοδομήσουμε πάνω σε μια βάσηπου είναι ήδη σταθερή».
Η ένταξηΟ Αμερικανός πρόεδρος, συνεχίζοντας να προκαλεί τους Ευρωπαίους, επανέλαβετην υποστήριξή του στην ένταξη της Τουρκίας στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ενωση, μόνο πουαυτή τη φορά προσέθεσε πως η χώρα του δεν είναι μέλος της ευρωπαϊκήςοικογένειας, άρα δεν αποφασίζει και για τις χώρες που θα υποδεχθεί στουςκόλπους της η ΕΕ.
«Θέλω να είμαι σαφής», είπε από το βήμα της Τουρκικής Εθνοσυνέλευσης. «ΟιΗνωμένες Πολιτείες υποστηρίζουν σταθερά την υποψηφιότητα της Τουρκίας στηνΕΕ», διότι εκτίμησε πως θα ενισχυθεί έτσι ο ευρωπαϊκός συνασπισμός. Σαςενώνουν, τόνισε αναφερόμενος στους Ευρωπαίους και στους Τούρκους, «αιώνεςΙστορίας, πολιτισμού και εμπορίου».
Υπογράμμισε πως «δεν είμαστε και δεν θα είμαστε σε πόλεμο με το Ισλάμ». Μετον τρόπο αυτό, από την ισλαμική Τουρκία, θέλησε να τονίσει πως η νέααμερικανική κυβέρνηση είναι φίλη και σύμμαχος με τον μουσουλμανικό κόσμο,ξεχωρίζοντας τους τρομοκράτες, για τους οποίους υπογραμμίζει πάντα πως δεναντιπροσωπεύουν το Ισλάμ.
«Η συνεργασία μας με τον ισλαμικό κόσμο δεν πρέπει να περιοριστεί στο θέματης αντιμετώπισης της τρομοκρατίας», τόνισε και προσέθεσε ότι «πρέπει νααναζητούμε κοινή πλατφόρμα, με αλληλοσεβασμό, ακόμη και στις περιπτώσεις πουδιαφωνούμε. Εμείς πρέπει να επιδεικνύουμε σεβασμό προς την ισλαμική πίστη».
ΓΙΑ ΚΥΠΡΟΥποστηρίζει διζωνική δικοινοτική ομοσπονδία
Την επανένωση της Κύπρου στη βάση της διζωνικής δικοινοτικής ομοσπονδίαςδήλωσε ότι υποστηρίζει ο πρόεδρος των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών Μπαράκ Ομπάμα, οοποίος είχε συνομιλίες για το θέμα με την τουρκική πολιτική ηγεσία.
Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, το Κυπριακό ήταν ένα εκ των ολίγων θεμάτων τα οποίαοι δύο πλευρές «δεν βλέπουν με το ίδιο μάτι», αν και η υπουργός ΕξωτερικώνΧίλαρι Κλίντον είχε λάβει φιλοτουρκική θέση. Ο Αμερικανός ηγέτης, πουανέδειξε την Τουρκία σε «χωροφύλακα» της περιοχής, υπογράμμισε πως η λύσητης επανένωσης είναι και βιώσιμη, θα είναι και διαρκής.
Από την πλευρά του, ο πρωθυπουργός της Τουρκίας, Ταγίπ Ερντογάν, δεν πέτυχενα πείσει τον κ. Ομπάμα για το θέμα της δήθεν «απομόνωσης», αφού ο ΛευκόςΟίκος, σε αντίθεση με τους γραφειοκράτες του Στέιτ Ντιπάρτμεντ, φαίνεται ναέχει πιο ξεκάθαρη άποψη.
Είπε, συγκεκριμένα, ότι «οι ΗΠΑ επιθυμούν να προσφέρουν όλη τη βοήθεια πουθα ζητήσουν τα μέρη, καθώς εργάζονται στην κατεύθυνση μιας δίκαιης καιμόνιμης λύσης που θα επανενώσει την Κύπρο σε μια διζωνική δικοινοτικήομοσπονδία».
Επίσης, «δίχασε» τις δύο αντιπροσωπείες το θέμα της αρμενικής γενοκτονίας,καθώς ο Αμερικανός ηγέτης τόνισε πως δεν αλλάζει τη γνώμη του. Οπως είναιγνωστό με δηλώσεις του προεκλογικά, έκανε γνωστό πως η τραγωδία των Αρμενίωναποτελεί γενοκτονία, μία θέση που είναι ανάθεμα για τους Τούρκους.
Παρ όλα αυτά εξήγησε πως «τα προβλήματα δεν θα τα λύσω εγώ, θα τα λύσουν απόκοινού η Τουρκία και η Αρμενία». Επίσης, ζήτησε από την Αγκυρα να τερματίσειτα εμπόδια που θέτει για την επαναλειτουργία της Θεολογικής Σχολής τηςΧάλκης.
Είπε: «Η θρησκευτική ελευθερία και η ελευθερία έκφρασης οδηγούν σε μίαισχυρή και ζωντανή κοινωνία που δυναμώνει το κράτος. Βήματα, όπως ηεπαναλειτουργία της Θεολογικής Σχολής της Χάλκης, θα στείλουν ένα τέτοιοσημαντικό μήνυμα και μέσα και έξω από την Τουρκία».
http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=11378&subid=2&tag=8777&pubid=2974774
Hellenic Genocide at UN- New York City
On April 6, 2009 The Pan-Thracian Union of America “ORPHEUS” and the Hellenic League of America (HLA) remembered the victims of the Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide perpetrated by Turkey. Torrential rain, strong winds and brisk temperatures did not keep community activists from gathering at Ralph J Bunche Park outside the United Nations in New York for the first ever commemoration of Hellenic Genocide in Thrace , Asia Minor and Pontos.
Organizers of the event Ioannis Fidanakis, Fotis Makritoxonis (CHEUNG), Georgia Maratheftis , Paschalis Fidanakis and Giovanni di Napoli provided placards with reproductions of American newspaper accounts of the Hellenic Genocide, poster boards of Genocide perpetrators “ENVER” PASHA and Mustafa Kemal , books such as “The Pontian Question in the United Nations” by Michalis Charalambidis , and the educational pamphlet “The Genocide of Greeks: A Case Study of the Region of Thrace” by Theofanis Malkidis.
Master of ceremonies and Pan Thracian Union of America “ORPHEUS” President , Ioannis Fidanakis addressed the crowd in attendance and urged for decisive action and repeated a call for US President Obama (who was visiting Turkey on that very day) to recognize the Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide.
“President Obama you have come to your first test of character, will you prove worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as Alexander the Great or will you be more the beautiful siren lurking our community towards death? We gather here today to remind President Obama, that while he may be visiting the perpetrators of our Genocide, He must not forget the promises he made to both the Greek and Armenian communities here at home. We urge President Obama to stand firm and not to waiver on his commitment to justice and human rights in the face geopolitics.” Said Fidanakis, in his opening address . A brief video of this historic call outside the UN has been uploaded to You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvK4Sf813IY
Statements from those who could not attend were also read aloud at the Genocide Commemoration, including a letter from William H. Samonides, Ph.D., President, Asia Minor Hellenic American Society (AMHAS). (Read the letter here:
http://thraciangenocide.org/letter_from_asia_minor_hellenic_american_society_amhas )
Also present at the event include the president and members of the Hellenic Organization of University Graduates HOUGA, the presidents and members of the two local Pontian associations "Komninoi" of New York and "Pontos" of Norwalk Connecticut and from the "Holy Institution Panagia Soumela."
Speakers included Reverend Father Mesrob Lakissian, pastor of St. Illuminator's Armenian Apostolic Cathedral in New York City, Mr. Dimitris Molohides General Secretary – Pan Pontian Federation of USA and CANADA, Mr. Elias Tsekerides, Past President of Pan-Pontian Federation USA & Canada, Mr. Theoharis Kekis, member of Hellenic Pontian Society Panagia Soumela of Boston, and Mr. Giovanni di Napoli of Nuovo Patria Meridionale (New Southern Homeland)—the transcript of Mr . Napoli’s emotional speech “Thrace is Not Alone” is available here:
http://magnagrece.blogspot.com/2009/04/thrace-is-not-alone.html
Photos of Genocide Commemoration outside the UN on April 6, 2009 for download on homepage:
http://www.thraciangenocide.org/photos_of_thracian_greek_genocide_commemoration_outside_the_un_on_april_6_2009
Dr. Theofanis Malkidis brought the commemoration to a close with a speech in. Theofanis Malkidis is a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS). He is also the author of many scholarly books and articles, including “The Genocide of the Greeks: A Case Study of the Region of Thrace.” ( Available for download at www.ThracianGenocide.org )
Ioannis Fidanakis publicly stated the promise of the organizers to join the April 24th Armenian Genocide Remembrance commemorations and to again organize for next year’s April 6th Hellenic Genocide commemoration, and to pass this tradition on to our children and our children’s children, until justice is served for all victims of the Turkish Crimes of Genocide.
Please keep visiting our homepage (www.ThracianGenocide.org) we will post more photos, videos and related news articles as soon as they become available.
Join our E-list on the web at WWW.THRACIANGENOCIDE.ORG
The Thracian Genocide website and Thracian Genocide affirmation is a cooperative and collective effort by the Pan Thracian Union of America "ORPHEUS", the Hellenic League of America HLA and the works , action and spirit of many Hellenic, Phil Hellene and American scholars and activists.
Organizers of the event Ioannis Fidanakis, Fotis Makritoxonis (CHEUNG), Georgia Maratheftis , Paschalis Fidanakis and Giovanni di Napoli provided placards with reproductions of American newspaper accounts of the Hellenic Genocide, poster boards of Genocide perpetrators “ENVER” PASHA and Mustafa Kemal , books such as “The Pontian Question in the United Nations” by Michalis Charalambidis , and the educational pamphlet “The Genocide of Greeks: A Case Study of the Region of Thrace” by Theofanis Malkidis.
Master of ceremonies and Pan Thracian Union of America “ORPHEUS” President , Ioannis Fidanakis addressed the crowd in attendance and urged for decisive action and repeated a call for US President Obama (who was visiting Turkey on that very day) to recognize the Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide.
“President Obama you have come to your first test of character, will you prove worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as Alexander the Great or will you be more the beautiful siren lurking our community towards death? We gather here today to remind President Obama, that while he may be visiting the perpetrators of our Genocide, He must not forget the promises he made to both the Greek and Armenian communities here at home. We urge President Obama to stand firm and not to waiver on his commitment to justice and human rights in the face geopolitics.” Said Fidanakis, in his opening address . A brief video of this historic call outside the UN has been uploaded to You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvK4Sf813IY
Statements from those who could not attend were also read aloud at the Genocide Commemoration, including a letter from William H. Samonides, Ph.D., President, Asia Minor Hellenic American Society (AMHAS). (Read the letter here:
http://thraciangenocide.org/letter_from_asia_minor_hellenic_american_society_amhas )
Also present at the event include the president and members of the Hellenic Organization of University Graduates HOUGA, the presidents and members of the two local Pontian associations "Komninoi" of New York and "Pontos" of Norwalk Connecticut and from the "Holy Institution Panagia Soumela."
Speakers included Reverend Father Mesrob Lakissian, pastor of St. Illuminator's Armenian Apostolic Cathedral in New York City, Mr. Dimitris Molohides General Secretary – Pan Pontian Federation of USA and CANADA, Mr. Elias Tsekerides, Past President of Pan-Pontian Federation USA & Canada, Mr. Theoharis Kekis, member of Hellenic Pontian Society Panagia Soumela of Boston, and Mr. Giovanni di Napoli of Nuovo Patria Meridionale (New Southern Homeland)—the transcript of Mr . Napoli’s emotional speech “Thrace is Not Alone” is available here:
http://magnagrece.blogspot.com/2009/04/thrace-is-not-alone.html
Photos of Genocide Commemoration outside the UN on April 6, 2009 for download on homepage:
http://www.thraciangenocide.org/photos_of_thracian_greek_genocide_commemoration_outside_the_un_on_april_6_2009
Dr. Theofanis Malkidis brought the commemoration to a close with a speech in. Theofanis Malkidis is a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS). He is also the author of many scholarly books and articles, including “The Genocide of the Greeks: A Case Study of the Region of Thrace.” ( Available for download at www.ThracianGenocide.org )
Ioannis Fidanakis publicly stated the promise of the organizers to join the April 24th Armenian Genocide Remembrance commemorations and to again organize for next year’s April 6th Hellenic Genocide commemoration, and to pass this tradition on to our children and our children’s children, until justice is served for all victims of the Turkish Crimes of Genocide.
Please keep visiting our homepage (www.ThracianGenocide.org) we will post more photos, videos and related news articles as soon as they become available.
Join our E-list on the web at WWW.THRACIANGENOCIDE.ORG
The Thracian Genocide website and Thracian Genocide affirmation is a cooperative and collective effort by the Pan Thracian Union of America "ORPHEUS", the Hellenic League of America HLA and the works , action and spirit of many Hellenic, Phil Hellene and American scholars and activists.
Theocharis Kekis April 6, 2009 speech outside UN in NYC
I’ll begin with some extracts mainly from a book by Leonidas Koumakis entitled “The Miracle” and also from various websites, which contain historical information leading up to and including both the 1955 pogrom and the 1964 expulsions of Greeks residing in Constantinople, and a word about Turkish expansionism in Western Thrace. Afterwards will follow a brief account of my observations during my trip to Turkey and Pontos last year, in which the ongoing hidden persecution and repression of Greeks in Turkey is shown to be very much alive, followed by some suggestions for future action based upon a book which is banned in Turkey called “The Pontian Question in the United Nations” by Michalis Charalambidis, whose tireless activism on the Pontian question has led to the Pontian Genocide’s initial official recognition in Greece and Cyprus in 1994, and who was denied entry to the US last year at the Chicago airport, which was possibly the result of a smear campaign against him by the Turkish lobby in the US, and was therefore unable to attend the 2008 Genocide Conference in Chicago.
1955 Pogrom
In 1928, the Turks burned Tatavla and renamed it Kurtulus.
In 1930, Greeks were banned from certain professions to prevent them from making money.
In 1931, the law on the “vilification of Turkism” was enacted, in which it was sufficient for 2 Turks to give false testimony and make vague claims that one had insulted Turkey or the Turks for that person to be sent to prison without bail. This led to the fear of speaking Greek in the street or any other public place, but only in the homes, lest Greeks were accused of insulting Turkey.
With the fall of Crete in May, 1941, Turkey devised a plan for the general mobilization of the non-Muslim population of Constantinople including Greeks, Armenians, and Jews; they were taken to forced labor camps in Anatolia as had also happened in 1914. A year later, under foreign pressure, the Turks were obliged to stop the mobilization procedure and release all those who had survived.
On November 11th, 1942, Law 4305 on capital property tax was passed in a single sitting of Turkish parliament, meant for the economic ruin of the non-Muslim population of Constantinople. The tax amount was arbitrary and very high with respect to a taxpayer’s salary and impossible to pay. The citizens had no right to discuss or appeal it. Within 15 days the citizens had to pay even if it meant selling off their entire property, otherwise they would be sent to a forced labor camp in Askale in Asia Minor, the Turkish equivalent of Siberia, and thus pay off their “debts”. In 1943 when the law was passed, 1,869 prominent members of the Christian community were sent to Askale once their property had been confiscated. Many of them died there as a result of the privations they suffered. At the end of WWII the Turks were obliged to release all the prisoners in the concentration camps. The prisoners who had survived gradually began to leave Turkey in fear of their lives.
In spite of Article 14 of the Treaty of Lausanne, on Imvros and Tenedos the Turks closed the Greek schools and banned the instruction of the Greek language. Greek children were sent to attend the Turkish schools. In 1943, the property owned by the monasteries at Lavra and Koutloumousion were confiscated and the buildings given to Lazes. In this way, the Greek population on Imvros and Tenedos was severely reduced. The Turks desired to remove all traces of Hellenism from these islands and to make them Turkish.
A large part of this negative mass psychology was also spawned by jealousy of the increasing economic prosperity of the Greeks of Constantinople. The Turkish propaganda led the Turks to believe that the Greeks, Armenians, and Jews and the other minorities who enjoyed most of the country’s wealth were to blame for Turkey’s misfortune and inability to make economic progress.
The Turkish Jew Sedat Simavi, working as a reporter on the newspaper Hurriyet, the daily circulation of which he helped increase from 11,000 to 600,000 copies in 1948, wrote many inflammatory anti-Greek articles, which influenced many other Turkish newspapers and helped set the general anti-Greek climate.
Another reporter on the newspaper Hurriyet, Hikmet Bil, was the leader of various organizations promoting the Turkishness of Cyprus, and also channeled inflammatory anti-Greek feeling to the masses.
In the early 1950s, Cyprus’ struggle for independence horrified the British who were afraid they might lose their bases on the island. Therefore they decided to use the precarious situation in Cyprus to set the Greeks and Turks against each other by making Turkey a present of part of the island in order that they might assume the role of “arbitrator” and thereby safeguard their own interests. This divide and rule policy set the stage for the 1955 Constantinople pogrom.
In the beginning of the 20th century there were 300,000 Greeks residing in Constantinople. By 1955 only 25,000 people were left, rather than the 450,000 that should have been their number given a normal rate of growth in that time period.
In 1955 in Thessaloniki, Oktay Engin, a Muslim student at Thessaloniki University’s Law School who came from Komotini, Thrace, delivered a bomb to the guard at the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki, Mehmet Hasanoglu. The guard planted the device in a garden shared by the Turkish consulate and the house where the Turks believe Kemal Ataturk was born. The bomb went off but caused no damage, apart from shattering a few windows. The bomb explosion was merely a pretext to blacken Greece’s name. And this is precisely what happened: two Turkish newspapers had already prepared special editions with prefabricated texts full of disinformation and doctored photographs for September 6th, 1955. The BBC transmitted the news 5 whole hours before the bomb exploded! These false news reports infuriated the Turkish people, and subsequently large groups of people in trains and military vehicles were transported from Anatolia to Constantinople by the Turkish authorites. Later on the same day the pogrom in Constantinople took place, which was not only not hindered by the police and state security forces, but assisted and guided by them. Shortly after these events, Oktay Engin was arrested by the Greek police. When he was released the following year, he escaped to Turkey where he was welcomed as a national hero. He was later made Chief of Police in Ankara.
On September 6th 1955 the Turks staged a pogrom against the Greeks in Constantinople and their property, raping at least 200 women, killing 30 Greeks and 1 Armenian including two clerics, severely wounding 32 Greeks, performing forced circumcisions on many men, mainly priests, after which an Armenian priest died, destroying 5,000 shops and stores, plundering and destroying 110 Greek restaurants and hotels, completely demolishing 21 Greek factories, 27 Greek pharmacies, all of the city’s 26 Greek schools, and 5 athletic centers, smashing to pieces the offices and printing presses of the city’s three big Greek newspapers, destroying the tombs of the Patriarchs and the tombstones and crosses in the Greek cemetery at Sisli and even opening up the most recent graves and removing the bodies and hacking them to pieces with knives, looting 2,600 homes and setting fire to or ravaging 73 Greek churches, vandalizing several prominent Greek monuments such as the Marasleios School, The Monestary of Valoukli, the Zappeio School for Girls, the Theological School of Halki which was eventually closed down by the Turks in 1971 and remains so to this day, and many other sites, all within the space of six and a half hours, and was carried out under the guidance and organization of the official Turkish state. The number of Greeks who were forced to leave Turkey by 1960, as a result of these events, is estimated at around 9,000.
Five years later when a military coup overturned the government of Adnan Menderes in May, 1960, the prime minister and his foreign minster, Fatin Rustu Zorlu, were sent to appear at a court martial on the island of Plati. At the trial, both men were found guilty of, among other charges, the organization and execution of the acts of vandalism carried out on the night of September 6th, 1955. The trial verdict said they were found guilty not because they organized the pogrom but because of the bad publicity and damage to Turkey’s international image which the incidents provoked. A few weeks after the incidents, the village of Gerze in Asia Minor, from where most of the Lazes who had been involved in the rioting came, was totally destroyed in a major fire, while two other villages whose inhabitants also took part in the raid were razed to the ground in a powerful earthquake!
1964 Expulsions
In 1963, the Anglo-Turkish alliance in Cyprus had brought Greece to the brink of war with Turkey. After condemning to failure all the attempts to draw up a Cypriot constitution, the Turks tried to invade Cyprus using their fleet, but were stopped by US intervention. This turmoil led to the expulsions of Constantinople Greeks in 1964.
In March of 1964 Turkey denounced the Trade, Establishment and Shipping Agreement signed by Greece and Turkey on October 30th, 1930. The result was the persecution and deportation of the Greeks who stayed on in Constantinople.
Greek properties in Constantinople were confiscated through a secret decree passed in 1964, denying people of Greek descent the right to buy or sell property.
The final act of the decades-old Turkish plan to rid Constantinople of its Greek population was fully under way in 1964, during which 57,000 Greeks were callously turned out of their homes and deported on a variety of senseless pretexts and without the slightest grounds for doing so and on the basis of a heartless procedure. Greeks forced to flee were only allowed to take essential items of clothing only. Everything else – all of their lives’ possessions – were confiscated for plunder by the Turkish authorities.
Western Thrace
Over the years Turkey has exploited the civilized nature of Greece by its expansionist aims in Western Thrace. The Muslim children have been “turkified” through education and training. Muslims who are not Turks have been given a Turkish consciousness. Also agencies have been set up that faithfully carry out Turkey’s strategic goals. The Muslims of Western Thrace have organized themselves and made constant protests for no reason whatsoever, supposedly about the oppressive conditions under which they live in Greece, in order to have a greater say regarding the minority it had created in Greece. The region has been inundated with Turkish agents who have systematically incited nationalist fervor amongst the Muslim population. The clerics have also embarked upon an intense propaganda program. The number of Muslim seminaries increased from a total of 85 in 1920 to 320 by 1996.
Before the population exchange between Turkey and Greece under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne, in 1923 there were 315,000 Christian Greeks living in Constantinople, Imvros, and Tenedos. By 1993 that number dwindled to 5,000. On the other hand, the number of Muslims living in Western Thrace increased from 80,000 to 150,000 during this same period.
Conclusion
Turkey must apologize to Greece and the international community for the 1955 pogrom and the 1964 expulsions waged against the Greeks of Constantinople, and allow for their restoration, analogous to the Muslim population of Western Thrace as stipulated by the Treaty of Lausanne, and by the fact that the city of Byzantium (later renamed Constantinople) was founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 B.C. and named after their king Byzas, and has for the most part been inhabited by Greeks since then. Turkey must also cease its illegal expansionist efforts not only in Western Thrace, but in the Aegean Islands and Cyprus, and indirectly in the Muslim bow in the Balkans surrounding Greece - Albania, FYROM, and Bulgaria – which all serve its irredentist Pan-Turkist ideology.
America and NATO must also apologize to the Greeks because in 1955 Turkey was a member of NATO and a recipient of American economic and military assistance. The failure of America and NATO to condemn Ankara, to impose sanctions on Turkey, or to vigorously protest the pogroms demonstrates that the western powers remain to the present day accomplices in the systematic genocide of Hellenism.
The Greeks and Turks must work together to achieve mutual respect and understanding based on our common love for truth and justice, and end Turkey’s insatiable desires for territorial conquests and hegemony.
2008 Trip to Turkey and Pontos
As is well known, the Church of Agia Sophia in Constantinople has been blasphemed by the Ottomans by its conversion into a mosque, and by the crypto-Jew Kemal Ataturk by its conversion into a museum. Other blasphemies which exist within Agia Sophia are the defacement of most of the Orthodox symbols, which have been replaced by Moslem ones, at least one portrait of the Hitler to the Pontians, Kemal, located in the narthex (and in practically every building in Turkey), and last but not least, the presence of the tomb of Enrico Dandolo, Doge of Venice, who sacked Constantinople during the 4th crusade.
In Trapezounta, Pontos, I witnessed another blasphemy against the Agia Sophia Church there, which has also been turned into a museum, and many of whose icons have been sacrilegiously violated.
In the mountainous crypto-Christian village of Livera in Matsouka, Pontos, in the mayor’s library, was an entire bookcase of books in Greek, with topics ranging from the lives of Pontian saints to Pontian history including the genocide to the Pontian dialect among others. Another bookcase contained a small flag of Greece, a Bible, and a copy of the national icon of the Pontians, that of Panagia Soumela. However, evidently out of fear of persecution by the Turkish state, these obviously Pontian crypto-Christians claimed to be “Turkish” and did not come out and say they were Christians. As I was leaving, a villager pointed to a mosque and exclaimed “that used to be St. George’s Church”. Over the years, the Turks have either destroyed churches or converted them into mosques (and now even “museums”). Christians have not been allowed to build new churches, except upon the ruins of older churches (I question whether even this policy is currently in effect).
The famous Panagia Soumela monastery, which once housed the icon of Panagia Soumela mentioned above, which was painted by Apostle Luke himself, is regularly frequented by crypto-Christians, especially in August for the Dormition feast. It was a functioning monastery as late as the early 20th century, but was finally abandoned during Kemalist times. Now it serves as nothing more than a tourist attraction. In August two festivals are held in Turkey. The first is held in Chaykara on August 19th commemorating the Transfiguration of the Lord according to the Old Calendar. The second is held in the Panagia Soumela Monastery on August 28th commemorating the Dormition of the Theotokos, also according to the Old Calendar. It’s interesting to note that the persecuted crypto-Christians have managed to retain the canonical Old Calendar, while the majority of Greeks of Greece and the diaspora have unfortunately adopted the Papist, Masonic New Calendar. Please see www.genuineorthodoxchurch.net to learn more about the Old Calendar Church.
In Trapezounta I had dinner at a restaurant owned by a “Turkish” Pontian who fluently spoke the Pontian dialect. Unfortunately, he was also a victim of the repressive nature in Turkey and insisted that he was “Turkish” and that his parents merely spoke Pontian and he learned it from them.
In Caesaria of Cappadocia are numerous ancient cave churches. Many Orthodox luminaries such as St. Basil the Great hailed from this area. Its Orthodox activity dates back to the dawn of Christianity. Of course now it is nothing more than a tourist attraction. But it was a very edifying experience to see the ancient iconography, and to witness a Turkish Christian singing a Christian song in the altar of a cave church. Not so edifying was hearing a Turkish tour guide lying to his patrons by telling them that various Orthodox saints depicted on the walls were “Turkish”. Fortunately they were smart enough to see through his lies and told him so.
In Mersin I met up with an islamized Pontian kemenche or lyra player. He knew all of the melodies of the traditional Pontian songs. I accompanied him to his cousin’s circumcision party, during which I witnessed various Turkish music and dancing, which bore a striking resemblance to that of the Pontian. Instruments used were the kemenche, daouli, and zourna. It appears that the Turks are allowed to maintain the Pontian music and dance, but not the Pontian dialect. I was not able to find in any stores Pontian music with Pontian lyrics, but rather only with Turkish lyrics. I was told that a young Pontian musician recently got in trouble with the authorities for releasing a cd with Pontian lyrics.
In the above account, we see the recurring themes of repression of the Pontian dialect, culture, and Orthodox faith, and the desecration of Orthodox churches, monasteries, and holy sites. Seeing that the Pontians could not be obliterated by physical genocide, the Turks have now resorted to the more sinister cultural genocide. And since language and faith are two of the chief characteristics that define a people, it makes sense that these are their main targets. But, as history has proven, thanks to the resilience of this ancient Pontian people, bearers of the Greek language which God has deigned to have much of the New Testament written in, and bearers, albeit secretly, of the Genuine Orthodox faith, the only true faith revealed by God to man, and bearers of the apothegm Η Ρωμανία κι’ αν επέρασεν, ανθεί και φέρει κι’ άλλο (Though ΡΩΜΑΝΙΑ has passed, it blooms and brings forth more), and by God’s grace, this people shall never die.
Suggestions for Future Action
More information must be obtained on the situation and on the conditions of life of the Pontians in the countries of the former Soviet Union, and in the likely event of these Pontians wishing to emigrate, they should have the opportunity to choose their destination. Were the conditions given - normal conditions of cultural, social, and economic life - the Pontians never having resigned their rights on their property, nor their right to return to their homelands in historic Pontos, and Asia Minor being a territory of Greek character, the Pontians should be able to return to their Pontian homeland in present Turkey.
Interventions towards the alleviation of the lack of freedom of expression of the Pontians in Turkey must be taken.
Efforts must be continued to internationalize the Pontian issue and gain recognition of the genocide.
Memorials commemorating the Pontian holocaust must be erected in all places where Pontian life continues.
Turkish society must shatter, once and for all, those psychological, ideological, and cultural norms and symbols that allow the recurrence of cycles of violence and pogroms, such as the statue of Topal Osman – butcher of Hellenism, symbol of violence and hatred – in Kerasounta, and the statue of Kemal Ataturk – the Stalin to the Pontians – in Trapezounta. These statues must be replaced with monuments dedicated to the Pontian holocaust.
The criminal media must end its censorship and broadcast the truth about the Turkish, Kemalist gulags and all perpetrators must be brought to justice under an international court.
Cultural capitals of the world such as Smyrna and Constantinople must be reestablished.
The Greek government is obliged to introduce the Pontian Genocide to international organs such as the European Union and the United Nations. Greece has to include the Pontian Genocide in considering its foreign relations with Turkey. In all official meetings, the government is obliged to put this issue on the agenda. The culpable Turkish state’s recognition of the genocide and the subsequent restitution to all of its victims for all of the pain and suffering caused must be a leading factor for its acceptance into the European community.
1955 Pogrom
In 1928, the Turks burned Tatavla and renamed it Kurtulus.
In 1930, Greeks were banned from certain professions to prevent them from making money.
In 1931, the law on the “vilification of Turkism” was enacted, in which it was sufficient for 2 Turks to give false testimony and make vague claims that one had insulted Turkey or the Turks for that person to be sent to prison without bail. This led to the fear of speaking Greek in the street or any other public place, but only in the homes, lest Greeks were accused of insulting Turkey.
With the fall of Crete in May, 1941, Turkey devised a plan for the general mobilization of the non-Muslim population of Constantinople including Greeks, Armenians, and Jews; they were taken to forced labor camps in Anatolia as had also happened in 1914. A year later, under foreign pressure, the Turks were obliged to stop the mobilization procedure and release all those who had survived.
On November 11th, 1942, Law 4305 on capital property tax was passed in a single sitting of Turkish parliament, meant for the economic ruin of the non-Muslim population of Constantinople. The tax amount was arbitrary and very high with respect to a taxpayer’s salary and impossible to pay. The citizens had no right to discuss or appeal it. Within 15 days the citizens had to pay even if it meant selling off their entire property, otherwise they would be sent to a forced labor camp in Askale in Asia Minor, the Turkish equivalent of Siberia, and thus pay off their “debts”. In 1943 when the law was passed, 1,869 prominent members of the Christian community were sent to Askale once their property had been confiscated. Many of them died there as a result of the privations they suffered. At the end of WWII the Turks were obliged to release all the prisoners in the concentration camps. The prisoners who had survived gradually began to leave Turkey in fear of their lives.
In spite of Article 14 of the Treaty of Lausanne, on Imvros and Tenedos the Turks closed the Greek schools and banned the instruction of the Greek language. Greek children were sent to attend the Turkish schools. In 1943, the property owned by the monasteries at Lavra and Koutloumousion were confiscated and the buildings given to Lazes. In this way, the Greek population on Imvros and Tenedos was severely reduced. The Turks desired to remove all traces of Hellenism from these islands and to make them Turkish.
A large part of this negative mass psychology was also spawned by jealousy of the increasing economic prosperity of the Greeks of Constantinople. The Turkish propaganda led the Turks to believe that the Greeks, Armenians, and Jews and the other minorities who enjoyed most of the country’s wealth were to blame for Turkey’s misfortune and inability to make economic progress.
The Turkish Jew Sedat Simavi, working as a reporter on the newspaper Hurriyet, the daily circulation of which he helped increase from 11,000 to 600,000 copies in 1948, wrote many inflammatory anti-Greek articles, which influenced many other Turkish newspapers and helped set the general anti-Greek climate.
Another reporter on the newspaper Hurriyet, Hikmet Bil, was the leader of various organizations promoting the Turkishness of Cyprus, and also channeled inflammatory anti-Greek feeling to the masses.
In the early 1950s, Cyprus’ struggle for independence horrified the British who were afraid they might lose their bases on the island. Therefore they decided to use the precarious situation in Cyprus to set the Greeks and Turks against each other by making Turkey a present of part of the island in order that they might assume the role of “arbitrator” and thereby safeguard their own interests. This divide and rule policy set the stage for the 1955 Constantinople pogrom.
In the beginning of the 20th century there were 300,000 Greeks residing in Constantinople. By 1955 only 25,000 people were left, rather than the 450,000 that should have been their number given a normal rate of growth in that time period.
In 1955 in Thessaloniki, Oktay Engin, a Muslim student at Thessaloniki University’s Law School who came from Komotini, Thrace, delivered a bomb to the guard at the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki, Mehmet Hasanoglu. The guard planted the device in a garden shared by the Turkish consulate and the house where the Turks believe Kemal Ataturk was born. The bomb went off but caused no damage, apart from shattering a few windows. The bomb explosion was merely a pretext to blacken Greece’s name. And this is precisely what happened: two Turkish newspapers had already prepared special editions with prefabricated texts full of disinformation and doctored photographs for September 6th, 1955. The BBC transmitted the news 5 whole hours before the bomb exploded! These false news reports infuriated the Turkish people, and subsequently large groups of people in trains and military vehicles were transported from Anatolia to Constantinople by the Turkish authorites. Later on the same day the pogrom in Constantinople took place, which was not only not hindered by the police and state security forces, but assisted and guided by them. Shortly after these events, Oktay Engin was arrested by the Greek police. When he was released the following year, he escaped to Turkey where he was welcomed as a national hero. He was later made Chief of Police in Ankara.
On September 6th 1955 the Turks staged a pogrom against the Greeks in Constantinople and their property, raping at least 200 women, killing 30 Greeks and 1 Armenian including two clerics, severely wounding 32 Greeks, performing forced circumcisions on many men, mainly priests, after which an Armenian priest died, destroying 5,000 shops and stores, plundering and destroying 110 Greek restaurants and hotels, completely demolishing 21 Greek factories, 27 Greek pharmacies, all of the city’s 26 Greek schools, and 5 athletic centers, smashing to pieces the offices and printing presses of the city’s three big Greek newspapers, destroying the tombs of the Patriarchs and the tombstones and crosses in the Greek cemetery at Sisli and even opening up the most recent graves and removing the bodies and hacking them to pieces with knives, looting 2,600 homes and setting fire to or ravaging 73 Greek churches, vandalizing several prominent Greek monuments such as the Marasleios School, The Monestary of Valoukli, the Zappeio School for Girls, the Theological School of Halki which was eventually closed down by the Turks in 1971 and remains so to this day, and many other sites, all within the space of six and a half hours, and was carried out under the guidance and organization of the official Turkish state. The number of Greeks who were forced to leave Turkey by 1960, as a result of these events, is estimated at around 9,000.
Five years later when a military coup overturned the government of Adnan Menderes in May, 1960, the prime minister and his foreign minster, Fatin Rustu Zorlu, were sent to appear at a court martial on the island of Plati. At the trial, both men were found guilty of, among other charges, the organization and execution of the acts of vandalism carried out on the night of September 6th, 1955. The trial verdict said they were found guilty not because they organized the pogrom but because of the bad publicity and damage to Turkey’s international image which the incidents provoked. A few weeks after the incidents, the village of Gerze in Asia Minor, from where most of the Lazes who had been involved in the rioting came, was totally destroyed in a major fire, while two other villages whose inhabitants also took part in the raid were razed to the ground in a powerful earthquake!
1964 Expulsions
In 1963, the Anglo-Turkish alliance in Cyprus had brought Greece to the brink of war with Turkey. After condemning to failure all the attempts to draw up a Cypriot constitution, the Turks tried to invade Cyprus using their fleet, but were stopped by US intervention. This turmoil led to the expulsions of Constantinople Greeks in 1964.
In March of 1964 Turkey denounced the Trade, Establishment and Shipping Agreement signed by Greece and Turkey on October 30th, 1930. The result was the persecution and deportation of the Greeks who stayed on in Constantinople.
Greek properties in Constantinople were confiscated through a secret decree passed in 1964, denying people of Greek descent the right to buy or sell property.
The final act of the decades-old Turkish plan to rid Constantinople of its Greek population was fully under way in 1964, during which 57,000 Greeks were callously turned out of their homes and deported on a variety of senseless pretexts and without the slightest grounds for doing so and on the basis of a heartless procedure. Greeks forced to flee were only allowed to take essential items of clothing only. Everything else – all of their lives’ possessions – were confiscated for plunder by the Turkish authorities.
Western Thrace
Over the years Turkey has exploited the civilized nature of Greece by its expansionist aims in Western Thrace. The Muslim children have been “turkified” through education and training. Muslims who are not Turks have been given a Turkish consciousness. Also agencies have been set up that faithfully carry out Turkey’s strategic goals. The Muslims of Western Thrace have organized themselves and made constant protests for no reason whatsoever, supposedly about the oppressive conditions under which they live in Greece, in order to have a greater say regarding the minority it had created in Greece. The region has been inundated with Turkish agents who have systematically incited nationalist fervor amongst the Muslim population. The clerics have also embarked upon an intense propaganda program. The number of Muslim seminaries increased from a total of 85 in 1920 to 320 by 1996.
Before the population exchange between Turkey and Greece under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne, in 1923 there were 315,000 Christian Greeks living in Constantinople, Imvros, and Tenedos. By 1993 that number dwindled to 5,000. On the other hand, the number of Muslims living in Western Thrace increased from 80,000 to 150,000 during this same period.
Conclusion
Turkey must apologize to Greece and the international community for the 1955 pogrom and the 1964 expulsions waged against the Greeks of Constantinople, and allow for their restoration, analogous to the Muslim population of Western Thrace as stipulated by the Treaty of Lausanne, and by the fact that the city of Byzantium (later renamed Constantinople) was founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 B.C. and named after their king Byzas, and has for the most part been inhabited by Greeks since then. Turkey must also cease its illegal expansionist efforts not only in Western Thrace, but in the Aegean Islands and Cyprus, and indirectly in the Muslim bow in the Balkans surrounding Greece - Albania, FYROM, and Bulgaria – which all serve its irredentist Pan-Turkist ideology.
America and NATO must also apologize to the Greeks because in 1955 Turkey was a member of NATO and a recipient of American economic and military assistance. The failure of America and NATO to condemn Ankara, to impose sanctions on Turkey, or to vigorously protest the pogroms demonstrates that the western powers remain to the present day accomplices in the systematic genocide of Hellenism.
The Greeks and Turks must work together to achieve mutual respect and understanding based on our common love for truth and justice, and end Turkey’s insatiable desires for territorial conquests and hegemony.
2008 Trip to Turkey and Pontos
As is well known, the Church of Agia Sophia in Constantinople has been blasphemed by the Ottomans by its conversion into a mosque, and by the crypto-Jew Kemal Ataturk by its conversion into a museum. Other blasphemies which exist within Agia Sophia are the defacement of most of the Orthodox symbols, which have been replaced by Moslem ones, at least one portrait of the Hitler to the Pontians, Kemal, located in the narthex (and in practically every building in Turkey), and last but not least, the presence of the tomb of Enrico Dandolo, Doge of Venice, who sacked Constantinople during the 4th crusade.
In Trapezounta, Pontos, I witnessed another blasphemy against the Agia Sophia Church there, which has also been turned into a museum, and many of whose icons have been sacrilegiously violated.
In the mountainous crypto-Christian village of Livera in Matsouka, Pontos, in the mayor’s library, was an entire bookcase of books in Greek, with topics ranging from the lives of Pontian saints to Pontian history including the genocide to the Pontian dialect among others. Another bookcase contained a small flag of Greece, a Bible, and a copy of the national icon of the Pontians, that of Panagia Soumela. However, evidently out of fear of persecution by the Turkish state, these obviously Pontian crypto-Christians claimed to be “Turkish” and did not come out and say they were Christians. As I was leaving, a villager pointed to a mosque and exclaimed “that used to be St. George’s Church”. Over the years, the Turks have either destroyed churches or converted them into mosques (and now even “museums”). Christians have not been allowed to build new churches, except upon the ruins of older churches (I question whether even this policy is currently in effect).
The famous Panagia Soumela monastery, which once housed the icon of Panagia Soumela mentioned above, which was painted by Apostle Luke himself, is regularly frequented by crypto-Christians, especially in August for the Dormition feast. It was a functioning monastery as late as the early 20th century, but was finally abandoned during Kemalist times. Now it serves as nothing more than a tourist attraction. In August two festivals are held in Turkey. The first is held in Chaykara on August 19th commemorating the Transfiguration of the Lord according to the Old Calendar. The second is held in the Panagia Soumela Monastery on August 28th commemorating the Dormition of the Theotokos, also according to the Old Calendar. It’s interesting to note that the persecuted crypto-Christians have managed to retain the canonical Old Calendar, while the majority of Greeks of Greece and the diaspora have unfortunately adopted the Papist, Masonic New Calendar. Please see www.genuineorthodoxchurch.net to learn more about the Old Calendar Church.
In Trapezounta I had dinner at a restaurant owned by a “Turkish” Pontian who fluently spoke the Pontian dialect. Unfortunately, he was also a victim of the repressive nature in Turkey and insisted that he was “Turkish” and that his parents merely spoke Pontian and he learned it from them.
In Caesaria of Cappadocia are numerous ancient cave churches. Many Orthodox luminaries such as St. Basil the Great hailed from this area. Its Orthodox activity dates back to the dawn of Christianity. Of course now it is nothing more than a tourist attraction. But it was a very edifying experience to see the ancient iconography, and to witness a Turkish Christian singing a Christian song in the altar of a cave church. Not so edifying was hearing a Turkish tour guide lying to his patrons by telling them that various Orthodox saints depicted on the walls were “Turkish”. Fortunately they were smart enough to see through his lies and told him so.
In Mersin I met up with an islamized Pontian kemenche or lyra player. He knew all of the melodies of the traditional Pontian songs. I accompanied him to his cousin’s circumcision party, during which I witnessed various Turkish music and dancing, which bore a striking resemblance to that of the Pontian. Instruments used were the kemenche, daouli, and zourna. It appears that the Turks are allowed to maintain the Pontian music and dance, but not the Pontian dialect. I was not able to find in any stores Pontian music with Pontian lyrics, but rather only with Turkish lyrics. I was told that a young Pontian musician recently got in trouble with the authorities for releasing a cd with Pontian lyrics.
In the above account, we see the recurring themes of repression of the Pontian dialect, culture, and Orthodox faith, and the desecration of Orthodox churches, monasteries, and holy sites. Seeing that the Pontians could not be obliterated by physical genocide, the Turks have now resorted to the more sinister cultural genocide. And since language and faith are two of the chief characteristics that define a people, it makes sense that these are their main targets. But, as history has proven, thanks to the resilience of this ancient Pontian people, bearers of the Greek language which God has deigned to have much of the New Testament written in, and bearers, albeit secretly, of the Genuine Orthodox faith, the only true faith revealed by God to man, and bearers of the apothegm Η Ρωμανία κι’ αν επέρασεν, ανθεί και φέρει κι’ άλλο (Though ΡΩΜΑΝΙΑ has passed, it blooms and brings forth more), and by God’s grace, this people shall never die.
Suggestions for Future Action
More information must be obtained on the situation and on the conditions of life of the Pontians in the countries of the former Soviet Union, and in the likely event of these Pontians wishing to emigrate, they should have the opportunity to choose their destination. Were the conditions given - normal conditions of cultural, social, and economic life - the Pontians never having resigned their rights on their property, nor their right to return to their homelands in historic Pontos, and Asia Minor being a territory of Greek character, the Pontians should be able to return to their Pontian homeland in present Turkey.
Interventions towards the alleviation of the lack of freedom of expression of the Pontians in Turkey must be taken.
Efforts must be continued to internationalize the Pontian issue and gain recognition of the genocide.
Memorials commemorating the Pontian holocaust must be erected in all places where Pontian life continues.
Turkish society must shatter, once and for all, those psychological, ideological, and cultural norms and symbols that allow the recurrence of cycles of violence and pogroms, such as the statue of Topal Osman – butcher of Hellenism, symbol of violence and hatred – in Kerasounta, and the statue of Kemal Ataturk – the Stalin to the Pontians – in Trapezounta. These statues must be replaced with monuments dedicated to the Pontian holocaust.
The criminal media must end its censorship and broadcast the truth about the Turkish, Kemalist gulags and all perpetrators must be brought to justice under an international court.
Cultural capitals of the world such as Smyrna and Constantinople must be reestablished.
The Greek government is obliged to introduce the Pontian Genocide to international organs such as the European Union and the United Nations. Greece has to include the Pontian Genocide in considering its foreign relations with Turkey. In all official meetings, the government is obliged to put this issue on the agenda. The culpable Turkish state’s recognition of the genocide and the subsequent restitution to all of its victims for all of the pain and suffering caused must be a leading factor for its acceptance into the European community.
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