Los Angeles, Commemorating The Ottoman Greek Genocide (1914-1923) at the Huffington Center “VIDEO”

September 19, 2017 By administrator

By Wally Sarkeesian,

The Ottoman Greek Genocide (1914-1923) United We Remember

Los Angeles, CA. An event held at The Huffington Center commemorating the 95th Anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe with a special screening of The Promise. Hosted by American Hellenic Council and Armenian Assembly of America. The event featured Actor and Songwriter Panos Vlahos as the Master of Ceremonies and guest speakers Dr. Jim Dimitriou and Executive Producer of The Promise, Dr. Eric Esrailian.

The Greek Genocide (or Ottoman Greek Genocide) refers to the systematic extermination of the native Greek subject of the Ottoman Empire before, during and after world war 1 (1914-1923) . It was instigated by successive government of the Ottoman Empire; the committee of union and progress party (C.U.P), and the Turkish Nationalist Movement of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. According to various sources, approximately 1 million Ottoman Greeks perished during this period. The first phase of The Greek Genocide commenced in the spring 1914 in Eastern Thrace and western Anatolia when Turks were ordered by boycott Greek businesses.

With the outbreak of the Great War in July of 1914, all Ottoman Greek men aged between 21-45 years were conscripted into forced labor (or concentration) camps. In the region of Pontus, Greek communities were de-ported during the peak of winter when fatalities could be at their highest. Stories of lethal injections, bodies being towed out to sea and dumped, as well as mass killings of Greek in churches was also witnessed.

With the Ottoman Empire’s defeat in WW1, prominent leaders of the C.U.P party were given death sentences during ottoman courts martial for their role in organizing the massacre of the Greeks, Armenians and Assyrians during the war, But the post war formation of the Turkish Nationalist movement under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk interrupted the proceedings to bring the perpetrators to justice. Instead the Kemalist Nationalists continued the ground and the expulsion of all remain C.U.P policy of massacring and deporting Greeks and resulted in the burning of the city of Smyrna (today Izmir) to ground and expulsion of all remaining Greeks from Turkey.

The following are the days of remembrance for the Greek Genocide. Greek have preferred to remember the Genocide based on region; September 14(Asia Minor as a whole), May 19 (Pontus region and April 6 (Eastern Thrace).

Armenia pays tribute to the memory of Pontian Greek Genocide victims

May 19, 2017 By administrator

Armenia pays tribute to the memory of Pontian Greek Genocide victims Vice-President of the Armenian National Assembly Edward Sharmazanov, other MPs, representatives of the Greek Embassy in Armenia and the Greek community visited the Tsitsernakaberd memorial today to pay tribute to the memory of victims of the Pontian Greek genocide.

On behalf of the Armenian Parliament, Edward Sharmazanov laid a wreath at the memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims.

Condemning the crime committed by Ottoman Turkey at the turn of the 20^th century, Edward Sharmazanov said “This is also a day of revival.”

“We’ll do our best to prevent reoccurrence of such crimes against humanity in the future. An evidence of this is the existence of two Greek and two Armenian states. The Armenian authorities will do everything to reach international condemnation of genocides against Christian nations, and we have to combine efforts, because the denial of genocide is as dangerous as its perpetration,” Sharmazanov stated.

In 1994 the Hellenic Parliament recognized and condemned the genocide of more than 600 thousand Pontian Greeks. Many of those who fled the genocide found refuge in Armenia and integrated into the social-economic and political life of the country.

The genocide of Pontian Greeks has been recognized by Armenia, Greece, Cyprus, Sweden and Artsakh Republic.

The Armenian National Assembly observed a minute of silence today in memory of victims of the genocide.

Armenian parliament vice-chair and Greece ambassador commemorate Pontian-Greek Genocide

May 19, 2014 By administrator

May 19, 2014 | 12:48

YEREVAN. – In memory of the genocide of the Pontic Greeks, Armenian National Assembly Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov and Greek Ambassador Ioannis Taghis on Monday visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial in capital city Yerevan

In addition, and in memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide, Sharmazanov and Taghis also placed flowers to the eternal flame, the Armenian News-NEWS.am reporter informed.

“The Greek people have close ties with Armenia, since most Pontic Greeks have found refuge and formed a new community right here; they are a part of the Armenian society. This is an important component of the history of Armenia and Greece, owing to which both nations are moving closer,” Ambassador Taghis specifically noted.

“The Turkish state conducts a policy of denial, since we are dealing with the national dispossession of people. Ahead of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, our task should be to join forces to fight against the Turkish policy of denial,” Eduard Sharmazanov noted, in particular, for his part.