File Photo: ay 19 has been established as Remembrance Day for the Genocide of the Greeks of Pontus. Source KYPE
Since 1994, when the Greek state first officially recognised the mass persecution and uprooting of the Pontian Greeks in Turkey during the early 20th century as a genocide, May 19 has been established as Remembrance Day for the Genocide of the Greeks of Pontus.
When the ‘new’ Turks gained power in Ottoman Thessaloniki in 1908, this sparked off what contemporary historians and scholars of this period view as “systematic” and “organised” persecution of the Christian populations of the region. These events took place at various times and in various places over the decade spanning 1913 until 1923, often in conditions of war but also during intervals of peace.
“Before the persecution started, there were between 2.0 and 2.2 million Greeks throughout the Ottoman Empire. Those in the Pontus region numbered about 450,000. In the official census of 1928, about 1.2 million were counted officially as refugees in Greece. It is estimated that the number of Greeks lost between 1914-22, whose fate is unknown, is in the region of 700,000-800,000 throughout the Ottoman Empire.”
The official Turkish state that succeeded the Ottoman Empire denies that there was a ‘genocide’ targeting Christians in the final years of the Empire.
The term ‘genocide’ was coined and included in international law much later, in 1948, to describe in legal terms the mass crimes of ruling authorities that were planned and systematically aimed to partially or completely exterminate various ethnic, racial, religious or other minorities.
The ANA’s full report on the sources, witness accounts and other historical studies concerning the events of that time is available in Greek on the ANA subscriber service.
Source: ANA-MPA
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