Ankara reacted sharply to memorial events genocide of the Pontic Greeksaccusing Greece successful “distorting history.”
Ankara reacted sharply to memorial events genocide of the Pontic Greeksheld successful Greece May 19. The Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected the Greek statements arsenic “baseless” and accused Athens of utilizing past politically.
In the statement Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey it is stated that Greece allegedly promotes legally unfounded accusations against Turkey and uses the theme Ponta for governmental purposes. Ankara besides criticized the information that the genocide of Pontic Hellenism is taught successful Greek schools.
The Turkish broadside again presented May 19, 1919 not arsenic a day associated with the tragic leafage of Pontic Hellenism, but arsenic the time of the opening of the Turkish nationalist struggle aft the landing Mustafa Kemal Ataturk V Samsun. The statement said that this combat was waged against “occupying forces”among which Türkiye names and Greece.
Simultaneously Ankara tried to displacement the speech from the genocide of the Pontic Greeks to different humanities subjects, mentioning Tripolitsa 1821 Asia Minor campaign, Smyrna 1919 and Greek “Great Idea”. That is, alternatively of answering connected the merits, Türkiye is again utilizing a acquainted pattern: denial, counter-accusation and an effort to contiguous the representation of the victims arsenic a governmental provocation.
What Ankara said
The Turkish statement states that legislative designation Greece the representation of the genocide of the Pontic Greeks successful 1994 allegedly became the ground for “baseless accusations” against Turkey. Ankara besides expressed dissatisfaction with what it said were these materials being taught to children successful superior and secondary schools.
It is particularly important that the Turkish Foreign Ministry called Greek references to Pontian genocide an effort to screen up the decision of the Greek run successful Asia Minor and the crimes that Ankara claims were committed by the Greek army.
The statement besides said that Greek authorities should “stop instrumentalizing history”Not “distort the facts” and determination to the broadside “peace and cooperation” successful bilateral relations. The acceptable of words is, of course, familiar: archetypal the denial of humanities trauma, then lessons astir peace. Diplomacy arsenic it is, lone with a very atrocious memory.
Full text of the statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry
“On May 19, 1919, when the laminitis of the Turkish Republic, the Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturklanded astatine Samsun and began our nationalist struggle against the occupying forces, which included Greeceis enthusiastically celebrated by the Turkish radical arsenic portion of the Ataturk, Youth and Sports Day.
Greecehaving passed authorities related to the “Pontus” allegations successful 1994, makes baseless accusations against our state that person nary ineligible basis, perpetually expands these baseless allegations and teaches them adjacent to children successful superior and secondary schools crossed the state done a circular from the Ministry of Education.
Greecewhose effort astatine concern to instrumentality the “Great Idea” failed, is trying to fell the decision it suffered and the superior crimes of cruelty it committed by again bringing to the docket baseless allegations of “Pontus” against our country. War crimes and atrocities committed by the Greek service are recorded some successful the reports of the Inter-Allied Commission of Inquiry and successful Article 59 Treaty of Lausanne.
Greek authorities indispensable stop utilizing past for governmental purposes and retrieve not lone the atrocities committed against Turks and different taste groups, starting with the massacre successful Tripolice successful 1821, but besides the atrocities committed against the Turks and different taste groups successful Western Anatolia, starting with the landings successful Smyrna May 15, 1919.
We telephone Greece Instead of distorting facts and fueling enmity from history, take a presumption that will strengthen our bilateral relations successful a spirit of bid and cooperation.”
Denial arsenic a diplomatic line
Position Turkey connected topic genocide of the Pontic Greeks not new. Ankara traditionally rejects the term itself “genocide”shifts the speech to the level of subject events, communal accusations and the consequences of the illness of the Ottoman Empire. This enactment is used not lone successful narration to the Pontic Greeks, but besides successful a broader discourse tragedies of the Christian peoples of Asia Minor.
The Greek side, connected the contrary, is considering May 19 arsenic a time of remembrance of the demolition of Pontic Hellenism, deportations, massacres, forced expulsions and the demolition of the centuries-old Greek beingness successful the portion Ponta. For the descendants of the Pontians, this is not a substance of diplomatic rhetoric, but portion of household and nationalist memory.
This is why Turkish references to Tripolitsa, Smyrna And “Great Idea” look not similar an effort astatine humanities dialogue, but similar a governmental maneuver. Instead of discussing the facts related to the destiny of the Pontic Greeks, Ankara offers a database of counter-accusations. A convenient way to debar answering the main question: what happened to the Greek colonisation of Pontus and why does the representation of it still origin such a tense reaction?
Greek (GR) · 
English (US) ·