Greek Genocide

by | Jul 16, 2023 | Articles

GREEK GENOCIDE

Introduction

The Greek Genocide, part of which is known as the Greek Pontian Genocide, is a forgotten and untold story of the genocide of Hellenic peoples of the Ottoman Empire/Turkey during the period of 1908 to 1924

On the whole governments have been indifferent and have denied its existence. Only recently some governments, like the Armenia, Austrian, the Netherlands and the Swedish Parliaments, have had the courage to acknowledge and recognize the genocide in part or in whole.

The Greek Genocide falls with the meaning of Article 2 of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The historical evidence of the time undeniably indicates that the “deliberate extermination” by the Ottoman Empire/Turkey of the Greek population was genocide. The genocide, the first of the 20th century, is one of the darkest moments in mankind’s history and one of the heinous crimes against humanity.

This heinous crime was the precursor to the Holocaust committed by the Nazis against Jews, Roma, and other peoples during the Second World War. The extermination methods used by the Ottoman/Turkey forces against the Greeks, the Armenians, Assyrians, and other Christian populations were adopted and refined by the Nazis. Over 1.7 million Greeks were exterminated.

Background

The genocide was the systematic and ethnic cleaning of the Ottoman Greek population from its historic homelands in Eastern Thrace, Asia Minor, central Anatolia, Pontus, and the former Russian Caucasus province of Kars Oblast prior to and during World War I and its aftermath until the Treaty of Lausanne, 1924.

The Greek population has been part and parcel of this region at least since the time of Homer around 800 BCE.

The genocide was instigated by the government of the Ottoman Empire and continued by its successor governments’ regime against the Greek subjects of the Empire, and it included massacres, forced deportations involving death marches, summary expulsion, arbitrary executions, and destruction of cultural, historical monuments, including Christian churches and monuments.

To this day Turkey refuses to acknowledge and recognize this heinous crime. Yet the historical documents from German and Austrian diplomatic reports unequivocally confirm and corroborate that what took place was a systematic and deliberate extermination of the Hellenic population. Terrorism, labour battalions, exiles forced marches, rapes, hangings, fires, murders planned, directed, and executed by the Turkish authorities.

 

The diplomatic records confirm that the Greek holocaust was planned as early as 1908. The quotes from diplomats and others from the period clearly confirm the Turkish policy of extermination of the Greek population:

  • “The Turks have decided upon a war of extermination against their Christian subjects”. German Ambassador in Athens Wangenheim to Chancellor Bulow quoting Turkish Prime Minister Sefker Pasha. July 24, 1909.
  • “…We will cut off your heads, we will make you disappear. It is ether you or us who will survive.” Turkish Prime Minister Sefker Pasha tells Patriarch Iokeim III. July 26, 1909.
  • “The Greeks who are Ottoman subjects and form the majority of inhabitants in your district, take advantage of the circumstances in order to provoke revolutionary current, favourable to the intervention of the Great Powers. Consequently, it is urgently necessary that the Greeks occupying the coast (of Aegean Sea to be displaced).”
  • “Greeks of Asia Minor be compelled to evacuate their villages and install themselves in the vilayets of Erzerum and Chaldea. If they should refuse to be transported to the appointed place. Kindly give instructions to our Moslem brothers, so that they shall induce the Greeks, through excesses of all sorts, to leave their native places of their own accord. Do not forget to obtain, in such cases, from the emigrants’ certificates stating that they leave their homes on their own initiative, so that we shall not have political complications ensuing from their displacement.” Official document from Talaat Bey Minister of the Interior to Prefect of Smyrna.
  • “The anti-Greek and anti-Armenian persecutions are two phases of one program – the extermination of the Christian element from Turkey.” J. Lepsius, German Priest, July 31, 1915.
  • “…the entire Greek population of Sinope and the coastal region of the county of Kastanome has been exiled. Exile and extermination in Turkish are the same, for whoever is not murdered, will die from hunger or illness.” German Consul Kuchhoff from Amisos to Berlin. July 16, 1916.
  • “On 26 November Rafet Bey told me: ‘we must finish off the Greeks as we did with the Armenians…on 28 November. Rafer Bey told, ‘today I sent squads to the interior to kill every Greek on sight’. I fear for the elimination of the entire Greek population and a repeat of what occurred last year” (meaning the Armenian genocide). Austrian Consul at Amisos Kwiatkowski to Austria Foreign Minister Baron Burian, November 30, 1916.
  • “Consuls Bergfeld in Samsun and Schede in Kerasun report of displacement of local populations and murders. Prisoners are not kept, Villages reduced to ashes. Greek refugee families consisting mostly of women and children being marched from the coast to Sebasteia. The need is great.” German Ambassador Kuhlman to Chancellor Hollweg in Berlin, December 12, 1916.
  • “The time is near for Turkey to be finished with the Greeks as we were with the Armenians in 1915.” Talaat Bey to Austrian agent, January 31, 1917.
  • “…the indications are that the Turks plan to eliminate the Greek element as enemies of the state, as they did earlier with the Armenians. The strategy implemented by the Turks of displacing people to the interior without taking measures for their survival by exposing them to death, hunger, and illness. The abandoned homes are then looted and burnt or destroyed. Whatever was done to the Armenians is being repeated with the Greeks.” Austrian Chancellor Hollweg’s report, February 2, 1917.

 

Campaign to Recognize the Greek Genocide in Canada

There have been a few efforts to recognize the genocide by Canada, focusing on the Federal Parliament, but such efforts never materialized.

In 2012 and 2013, the Canadian Hellenic Congress (CHC) and the Hellenic Canadian Congress of Ontario (HCCO), through internal consultation, developed a Strategic Plan as to how best to advance Hellenism and national Hellenic issues which had been dormant for a few years both at the provincial and national levels. Part of the Plan included a program of recognition and awareness of the Grek Genocide as whole. This became the genocide policy of the CHC and HCCO.

The Pontic, Pontian, or Greek Pontian genocide is part and parcel of the Greek Genocide. However, the Pontic genocide was often seen as separate because of the geographic separation of Pontus and political and historical features. And in many jurisdictions, including Canada, it was treated as such.

In the fall of 2014, within the framework of the Strategic Plan, the HCCO in conjunction with the HFCO Foundation and the CHC re-examine the approach of the genocide recognition and initiated a new process. For historical reasons, the emphasis was shifted, here in Canada, as was in other jurisdictions, to pursuing a partial recognition of the genocide, namely Pontian Greek Genocide or a variation thereof. This process focused on a three-tier approach: municipal, provincial, and federal.

The first step was taken on May 2015 with a communication to Toronto’s Deputy Mayor, Norm Kelly, asking the for the city to proclaim May 19th as the Greek Pontian Genocide Remembrance Day. There was no response and on February 20, 2016, another letter was sent to the Mayor John Tory and City Councilors requesting a proclamation. A vigorous campaign and lobbying were followed, and Mayor Tory issued a proclamation in May 2016.

Similar communications were sent to large Ontario municipalities. The communications were followed-up through representations to the municipal authorities and to counter opposition by third parties, including foreign interests.
The Ontario cities – Ottawa (May 2016); Oshawa (April 2017); and Vaughan (May 2017) – were the first municipal governments to issues declarations of the Greek Pontian Genocide and to declare May 19th as the day of remembrance.

The process was expanded to other major Canadian cities and a serious of communications was sent to cities across the country. The response was positive.

The CHC National Executive and in partnership with organizations and individuals was instrumental in securing proclamations from municipalities across Canada: LaSalle, Quebec (April 2017); Villeray-Saint Michel-Parc, Quebec (May 2017); Montreal, Quebec (May 2017); Vancouver (British Columbia (May 2017); Edmonton, Alberta (May 2017); Regina, Saskatchewan (May 2017); Cote Saint-Lu (Quebec, June 2017) Laval, Quebec ( May 2018); and Calgary, Alberta (May 2018).

At the same period the initiative was taken up in the Canadian Senate by two Greek Canadian Senators. In December 2016, Senators Pam Merchant and Leo Housakos table Motion 158 calling upon the Government of Canada to recognize the Genocide of the Pontic Greeks and to designated May 19th very year thereafter as day of Remembrance.

Despite the CHC’s a vigorous letter writing campaign, that involved many Greek and non-Greek organizations, and lobbying, the motion faced opposition from the government of the day, some Greek organizations, and individuals because it was not inclusive enough. The opposition came from both inside and outside Canada, and foreign interests. After debate and procedural delays on the part of one Liberal Senator, the motion was defeated on November 28, 2028.

With the defeat of Motion 158, the focus was shifted to provinces. The CHC and its constituent organizations reached out to Ontario, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and Alberta seeking similar recognitions.

On April 8, 2019, Aris Babikian MPP, Scarbrough-Agincourt, introduced Bill 97 – An Act to proclaim Genocide Awareness, Commemorations, Prevention and Education Month. This bill provided for the recognition of several genocides, including the Greek Pontian Genocide. The CHC and HCCO endorsed and supported the Bill and engaged many organizations to support the Bill through letter writing and lobbying their MPPs. Like all bills, it had its opponents. Nevertheless, the Bill was able to get second reading on May 9, 2019. However, due to COVID and the closure of the Ontario Legislature the Bill was not passed.

Post-Mortem

In view of the challenges faced by the recognition process, the CHC and HCCO wanted to revisit the genocide policy and the strategy follow and to look at how best to achieve the recognition of the Greek genocide in Canada.

In the fall of 2022, the CHC through its Greek Genocide Committee, undertook a review its policy and strategy on the process of recognition of the Greek Genocide in Canada thus far applied to Canadian jurisdictions.

The review focussed on whether a holistic approach to the recognition of the Greek Genocide (Thrace and Asia Minor, including Pontos), as opposed to continuing focussing on a specific geographic area (Pontos) that had a distinct, historical, and cultural identity from the mainstream of the Ottoman Empire and other Greek populations.

The post-mortem included further research on the subject, considered the views expressed by certain decision makers, especially the ones during the Senate debate of Motion 158, that the Pontian Greek Genocide was not inclusive and therefore, the partial recognition thus achieved did not do justice to all other Greeks who were exterminated the Ottoman and Kemalists forces.

Based on the findings of the post-mortem, the CHC concluded that we must do justice to all the victims of the genocide by revising our strategy to focus on a global policy, as articulated in 2012, for the recognition of the Genocide of the Ottoman Empire, as whole.

National Consultation on the Genocide of the Greeks of the Ottoman Empire

In Jun 2022, the CHC intimated a national consultation across Cananda, engaging provincial organizations, Greek Canadian communities, local and regional organizations, and individuals.

The consultation process confirmed the holistic approach taken by the Greek Genocide Committee, namely, that the Genocide of the Greeks in Eastern Thrace, Asia Minor and Pontos to be recognized in its entirety.

Federal Campaign to Recognize the Greek Genocide of the Ottoman Empire

In March 2023, the CHC began a campaign to recognize the Greek Genocide of the Ottoman Empire. The CHC wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Opposition and Conservative Party of Cnada, Jagmeet Singh, Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, and Yves-Francois Blanchet, Leader of the Bloc Quebecois calling upon them to pass a motion in Parliament to “Recognize the Genocide of the Greeks of the Ottoman Empire – as a whole – that is, of Eastern Thrace, Asia Minor an Pontos, from 1908 to 1924”, and to acknowledge the associated commemorative days of April 6 (Eastern Thrace), May 19 (Pontos) and September 14 (Asia Minor).

It was noted to the Prime Minister and others that Canadians of Greek descent seek justice – not vengeance – for the victims of the Greek Genocide; and we seek acknowledgement and reconciliation.

Further, it was pointed to the Prime Minister that he and other government representatives often speak of inclusiveness and reconciliation by addressing past evils in our Canadian history. “The Greek Genocide is part of our Canadian collective historical memory, the Armenia Genocide, the Jewish Holocaust, the Rwandan and other genocides and a motion in the House of commons would serve to acknowledge the historical memory of Canadians of Hellenic descent and place such memory on the equal legislative footing with the other historical memories of similar heinous crimes against humanity, that have touched the lives of so many Canadians.”

The CHC has invited Greek Canadian communities and organizations and individuals across Canada to support this initiative through letter writing to the government and leaders of the opposition. The letter writing campaign continues….

Why Recognition?

May ask why to bother with recognition. Recognition by governments is extremely important for the reason noted above, but more importantly it will add awareness of humanity’s evils, contribute to our Canadian collective memory and serve to teach future generations, as well as help mankind take steps to prevent such heinous crimes from being repeated.

In addition, achieving recognition of the Greek Genocide in its entirety will enable the CHC and the HCCO to push for the inclusion of the Greek Genocide in educational curriculum, be part of the Canadian National Museum as well as create a greater awareness within the Canadian political system, including its institutions and the public at large about the genocidal acts committed against the Greek population by the Ottoman and Kemalist regimes between the period of 1908 and 1924.

We, as Canadians, must not forget this brutal and heinous crime against our Hellenic ancestors and humanity.

The Greek Genocide was state sanctioned that resulted in the brutal extermination of 1.7 million Greeks, and more than a million were forced to leave their homes.

We have a moral and ethical obligation to commemorate and remember the genocide inflicted upon our ancestral brethren by the Ottoman Turks. Moreover, it is important to acknowledge events in history that teach valuable lessons from which our greater society benefits. And in doing so we MUST not allow such heinous crimes to be inflicted upon any other peoples.