ARMENIA PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF VICTIMS OF GREEKS OF PONTUS
ArmInfo
2009-05-19 14:55:00
ArmInfo. An event was held today in Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex
in Yerevan dedicated to the Day of Genocide of the Greeks of Pontus.
Representatives of the Greek community of Armenia, Armenian
parliamentarians, representatives of the government, clergy and the
Greek Embassy took part in the event.
"Today, we pay the tribute to the memory of the victims of the Greek
people genocide as a result of a scheduled and committed plan of the
Turkish state.
Today’s Turkey is responsible for the committed genocide against the
Armenians, Greeks and Assyrian Christians ", Director of the Armenian
Genocide Institute-Museum Hayk Demoyan said at the today’s ceremony.
For his part, Ambassador of Greece to Armenia Ioannis Korintios said
about 700,000 Greeks lived in Pontius in early 20th Century. In
1912-13, after defeat in the Balkan war, the Young Turks start
oppressions of the Greeks of Pontus within the frames of "Asia
Minor-Motherland of Turks" policy and solve the problem through
displacement from their native lands. Massacre of the Greek
population of Samsoun and Patra towns began in 1916, as a result
of which over 300,000 Greeks were killed. Half of the population of
Pontius was exterminated till 1923. 1134 churches and 960 schools were
destroyed. 60% of the saved Greeks left for Greece, and the rest part
found their shelter in other countries, including in Armenia. "We
should remember about it not to allow recurrence of such events in
future", the diplomat said.
Armenian parliamentarian Eduard Sharmazanov and Chairman of the Greek
community of Armenia and Karabakh Eduard Poladov also made a speech
during the event.