The Parliament honored the Day of Remembrance of the Genocide of the Greeks of Pontus

A Special Session of the Plenary Session of the Parliament honored the Day of Remembrance of the Genocide of the Greeks of Pontus, as has been established on May 19th. It is noted that May 19 has been established by a unanimous decision of the Plenary Session, in 1994, as a Day of Remembrance of the Pontian Genocide, held by the Turks from 1916 to 1923.

The NA Vice Speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Nikitas Kaklamanis, at the beginning of today’s special sitting, in which he chaired, stressed, among other things: “103 years separate us from one of the most heinous mass crimes against humanity, the Genocide of Pontian Hellenism. a sweeping and sickly inspiration first applied by the neo-Turks and then completed by Kemal. . I believe that it is time to intensify our effort to recognize the Genocide of Pontian Hellenism. Of course it is clear and self-evident that we can not completely control the prevailing correlations of forces in a global equation of interests. We can, however, take advantage of the developments, promoting our own rights, drawing up a single and solid proposal for the recognition of the Genocide, but also of the total losses of Hellenism. I believe that at this stage we can demand the restoration of historical truth. “Because if we do not fight them, no one will do it for us.”

At the meeting, representing the Government, spoke its Vice President, Mr. Panagiotis Pikrammenos, who noted that “it is our duty to turn, with a cool reading of history, this untold tragedy into strength and national confidence. But also for the neighbors and It will be a sign of bravery to sincerely repent and take responsibility for the heinous acts they committed in the past.The Greek Christians of Pontus, the international community in similar genocides, but also in the Pontian Genocide “Hundreds of thousands of Greeks and Christians of Pontus were annihilated, hundreds of villages were excavated, thousands of churches were destroyed, schools were demolished and almost half a million uprooted compatriots reached at least one free Greece and left a civilization in free Greece.”

The MP Mr. Ioannis Paschalidis, on behalf of New Democracy, stated, among other things, that “28 years ago, on February 24, 1994, by a unanimous decision of the Greek Parliament, May 19 was established as a Day of National Remembrance for the Genocide. of Pontian Hellenism “. He continued, emphasizing that “memory does not need a date, it lives every day in the chest of our hearts and we honor and remember the dead, the tortured, but also the refugees expelled from their ancestral homes.”

On behalf of SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, MP Rallia Christidou pointed out that “the Hellenism of Pontus, like the Hellenism of Asia Minor, was grafted into the national body, strengthened and enriched it by composing a new culture that belongs to both the West and East: With a huge history, with a variety of origins, traditions, customs and traditions, we honor these Pontians today, those who were lost, those who were saved, after going through such great difficulties before, those who after so much adversity are today a dynamic part of Greek society “.

Representing the PASOK-Movement for Change, MP Hara Kefalidou noted, among other things: “For all of us, the descendants of the Pontians, of the 353,000 Greeks who were slaughtered in those gloomy days of the uprooting of 1919 in an endless dance of 1.2 death. 000 who took the long road of exile leaving behind their lives and property in their ancestral lands, their scattered relatives and the graves of their ancestors, today’s anniversary, in the shadow of the death of thousands of our fellow human beings in Ukraine and refugees for millions of women and children, it tests the endurance of the memory of our soul, of our heart, in the pain that each new blow leaves on an old trauma “.

MP Ioannis Delis, a representative of the Communist Party of Greece, said, among other things: and the EU We believe that the cultural and intellectual activity of the Pontians, of all generations, must be promoted and supported by the Greek state “.

Representing the Greek Solution, MP Konstantinos Hitas noted, among other things: “Crimes are not statute-barred. It is the eternal duty of all of us to honor the memory of all the victims of the Greeks of Pontus. So we honor, mourn, praise our hundreds of thousands of our brothers “who were massacred, violently expelled, abducted, tortured and martyred in one of the most heinous crimes of humanity.”

MP Maria Apatzidi, representing MERA25, among other things, said: “I am here to speak not as an MP, but above all as a Pontian. A title of honor that I consider to be more important than any institutional capacity I have. The dead of Pontus I do not remember them in pre-ceremonies and with wooden reasons, I remember them telling the truth that most of you here and there out have consciously chosen to banish from your mind, like your worst dream “.

The chairman of the Special Session, Mr. Nikitas Kaklamanis, after the end of the speeches called on the House to observe a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the Genocide of the Greeks of Pontus.