Ancient Greek music bought back to life

Daemonia nymphe

Croatia jails war crimes general

Page last updated at 11:52 GMT, Friday, 30 May 2008 12:52 UK

A Croatian court has convicted a former general, Mirko Norac, of war crimes against Serbs.

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From Genocide to Blockade: Modern Turkey's Policy of Denial

Divers find bust of Julius Caesar in Rhone River

By Our Foreign Staff
Last Updated: 1:35PM BST 14/05/2008
A marble bust of Julius Caesar thought to date back to 46 B.C. has been found by divers in the Rhone River in France.

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May 29th, 1453: A Sad Anniversary

"Constantinos Paleologos at the battlements, dawn of the 29th May of 1453"
Left painting of the trilogy "Constantinos Paleologos, the last Byzantine Emperor".

Death and Resurrection of Constantinos Palaeologus

The EU’s safe guide on insulting Turkey

Author: Andy Dabilis
26 May 2008 - Issue : 783



It’s too late for Hrant Dink, the brave Armenian-Turkish newspaperman who was murdered in 2007, not long after being convicted of violating Turkey’s medieval Article 301 which made it a crime to “insult Turkishness,” which is pretty hard to do when so much of your history is built on bayoneting babies and your national sport is invasion.

Read Full Article Here

Turkish Terrorists & Propaganda in Thrace - Ekloges 2007

Serbia denies genocide at The Hague

Serbia has denied it was guilty of genocide during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia as it opened its defence at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Read Full Article Here

UPDATE ON CANA PROGRESS: BANNED IN TURKEY: THE PONTIAN QUESTION IN THE UNITED

For Immediate Release: May 28, 2008

Contact: Nikolaos Taneris, New York, Tel. 1-917-699-9935



NEW YORK—On May 05, 2008, the Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)
successfully filed with the Department of State as an incorporated Political
Organization, now filed as section 527 with the US tax authorities, meaning
that CANA can organize and operate primarily to directly earn and directly
accept contributions to influence the selection of any individual to any public
office, effectively CANA can directly be involved in sponsoring candidates for
our cause. Please make sure to visit the new additions to our website, we have
modified the “Who are we” page and we also added a DONATE button. Below, we
provide, a letter from Nikolaos Taneris, followed by a new sale offer for the
fantastic book “The Pontian Question In The United Nations”




(1) Greetings From CANA—A Letter From Nikolaos Taneris


Dear Friends:


The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) has been having a remarkable year of
success, since our beginnings last July 20th, our demonstrations and activism
have been published in Ellenorama of Greece, in local community newspapers in
English, and in the Diaspora press.


Our struggle to raise awareness has inspired and spearheaded a new dawn of
activism for all the enslaved Hellenic people suffering under Turkish
oppression, --Thracians, Pontians , Ionians, Anatolians, Constantinopolitans,
and Cypriots.


Soon, we will begin promoting participation and activism surrounding our 2nd
Annual July 20th Protest of the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC, coinciding
with lectures and community activism on Turkey’s crimes.


I will personally thank everyone who can generously sustain our work. So please
help us in supporting our cause for full recognition and justice for Turkey’s
crimes.


NIKOLAOS TANERIS
Press Officer
Cyprus Action Network of America



(2) A Classic book for sale: The Pontian Question In The United Nations.

By Michalis Charalambidis (International League For The Rights and Liberations
Of Peoples)

2004

Softcover, 183 pages

ISBN: n/a

This rare and valuable book provides a detailed analysis of Turkey’s racist
behavior and thinking toward Pontians. Translated from Hellenic by Constantinos
Gatsios.


Written by Michalis Charalambidis, member of the executive Committee of the
International League for the Rights and Liberations of People, a renowned
Hellenic politician and intellectual, Charalambidis has presented the Pontian
Genocide and the wider Hellenic Genocide to many international bodies ,recently
appearing before the EU, Charalambidis has led the effort to recognize the
Pontian Genocide in the UN, and has also participated in conferences with
Armenian Genocide scholars and presenters Tesa Hoffman and B. Whitaker , at the
UN Commission in Geneva. Working with human rights leaders such as Sora Solars
of “The Mothers of May Square” in Argentina, Charalambidis provides a wealth of
essays, letters, and pictures documenting the Pontian struggle for Genocide
recognition, reporting on human rights abuses against Pontians in Turkey today,
and encapsulating the Thracian and Cypriot struggle as well.


From The Prologue: “This book includes my essays in international and national
meetings, where-through the description of the Pontian drama and that of other
peoples of the area-the structures, the mechanism of death, violence, and
genocide that Kemalism represents , are being revealed and condemned. The
racist, theoretical, ideological and state structure, the egg of the snake,
which gradually transforms an area rich in peoples, cultures, and religions into
an endless silence. Into a cemetery of historic peoples ,cultures and
religions….This takes place in an area –Asia Minor, Ionia, Pontos,
Mesopotamia—which was the center for many ecumenical religions and for a
civilization not just European but international. The roots and the first
flowers of this civilization are buried in the sacred land of this historic area
along with the peoples, the men, the women and children who died but were left
without graves. In the mountains, the rivers, the valleys, the Tigris, the
Euphrates, Mt. Ararat, the Pontian Alps, the Euxinian Sea. For over a decade
they were covered with the blood of innocent people. A great crime against
humanity was committed there: the genocide of the Pontians (Pontioktonia)”


Contents: Prologue; A People In Continued Exodus; Civil And Political Rights;
The Questions Of Freedom Of Expression; Response Of The International League To
The Turkish Reactions; The Pontians And The Repression Of Their Freedom of
Expression; The Significance Of May 19 As A Day In Memory Of The Pontian
Genocide; The Woman In The Pontian Genocide; The Pontian Genocide 1916-1923; The
Idea of Romania; From The Peoples Of Silence To The Common Voice Of Peoples;
Aspects Of The Pontian Question; George Pattakis Proclamation; The Kemalist
Gordian Knot And The Peoples; The Turkish Problem; Racist Discrimination Against
The Pontians; Universal Declaration Of The Rights Of Peoples; Chronicle.


This fascinating book by Michalis Charalambidis, described by wikipedia as “the
ringleader” of the struggle for Pontian Genocide or Hellenic Genocide
recognition, is BANNED IN TURKEY.


Order direct from the The Cyprus Action Network of America:


Cut and Paste LINK:


http://www.cyprusactionnetwork.org/donate_today_

VIDEO: Jerusalem camera catches brutal attack by Jewish teens on Arab youths

By Uri Blau, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: Pisgat Ze'ev, Jerusalem

Dozens of Jewish teens were caught on camera outside a Jerusalem mall carrying out a brutal attack on two Arab youths on Holocaust Remembrance Day earlier this month.

Read Full Article and View Video Here

Oslo: Rapes are the fault of Norwegian girls

Oslo police recently released its 2007 Rape Report. The report shows a marked increase in Somali rapists, generally on account of gang rapes.

Read Full Article Here

Flamboyant archeologist believes he has identified Cleopatra's tomb

From The Sunday Times
May 25, 2008
Sara Hashash

A flamboyant archeologist known worldwide for his trademark Indiana Jones hat believes he has identified the site where Cleopatra is buried.

Read Full Article Here

Jimmy Carter says Israel had 150 nuclear weapons

By Bronwen Maddox
From The Times
May 26, 2008

Israel has 150 nuclear weapons in its arsenal, former President Jimmy Carter said yesterday, while arguing that the US should talk directly to Iran to persuade it to drop its nuclear ambitions.

Read Full Article Here

Unique Thracian Symbol of Royalty Discovered in Bulgaria

11 June 2007, Monday

Archaeologists have discovered the most ancient ruler's symbol on Bulgarian territory, what was once the kingdom of the Thracian tribes.

Read full article here

Pontos - The Movie

Movie's Website click Here

Cyprus heads for more peace talks

FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2008
18:03 MECCA TIME, 15:03 GMT

Rival Cypriot leaders have agreed to hold a new round of talks in June after a meeting aimed at boosting the momentum for a fresh UN-brokered push for peace on the divided island.

Read the Full article Here

Will Russian pipelines bind Greece?

US officials warn against trusting in the monopolies of the Bear; Greekexperts see the pipelines as offering Greece more diversity of energy suppliesthan it has ever had before

EFTHYMIOS TSILIOPOULOS

Read Full Article Here

Being Bulgarian in FYROM

REVOLUTION of LIES the DENIAL GAME

ANCA-ER MARKS 89TH ANNIVERSARY OF PONTIAN GENOCIDE AT NEW YORK CITY EVENT

New York, NY- On May 19, 2008, Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region (ANCA ER) Executive Director took part in commemorating the 89th Anniversary of the Pontian Genocide. Strong winds and brisk temperatures did not keep community activists from gathering at Bowling Green Park for the first New York City commemoration.

Read Full Press Release here

Menendez Strikes another Victory

Senator Robert Menendez was known as a strong supporter of Human Rights and the Rule of Law well before his election to the U.S. Senate, representing the State of New Jersey, home of many Greek Americans, who saw in him a good friend an supporter on the issues of Cyprus, Macedonia and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. While he was seeking reelection in the Senate, Bob Menendez speaking to Greek American leaders during an event at the PSEKA Conference, promised them to continue doing the work of Senator Paul Sarbanes. His deeds proved his words. While continuing the pressure on Turkey, for both Cyprus and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, his continuous action on Macedonia put him on the top of the Philhellene politicians across the United States.

Read the full article here

The Values of Hellenism

Pontian Genocide Flag Raising Ceremony at Bowling Green Park, NYC

Guest Speaker President Ioannis Fidanakis

Read the First part of the Press Release Here

Read the Second part of the Press Release here

Kissinger warns of tragedy In Macedonia

On the April 5 CNBC show "Hardball," anchored by Chris Matthews, Dr. Henry
Kissinger, former Secretary of State, discussed the current crisis in Kosovo.
When asked about the latest developments in the current Balkan war, Dr.
Kissinger said:

"When the US engages itself in war, there is no substitute for victory, and we
have to do what is necessary to prevail. I frequently expressed doubts before we
went in there about whether the US should make the Balkans a central point of
its foreign policy. But now that we are in, I believe that we have to do what is
necessary, and if that requires ground troops, we have to send ground troops".

When asked what would winning look like in this context. Dr. Kissinger said:

"In this context, it means the removal of Serbian combat forces from Kosovo, the
return of refugees and the establishment of some international status for Kosovo
that is under some sort of international supervision. Nothing else can now
work.", and added "Serbia is a country of less than 10 million population with
poor resources and not very effective army except against unarmed civilians."

"After the ethnic cleansing and after the aerial bombardment, you cannot ask the
refugees to return to Serbian sovereignty. We all talk about self-government for
Kosovo. But the Balkans is a whole mixture of ethnic groups that have been
thrown together there by a succession of wars. Once the objective in Kosovo has
been reached, that will open the chapter of (FYROM)Macedonia, because in (FYORM)Macedonia,
there are 800,000 Albanians and it's going to be a problem to deny them what has
just been granted to the Albanians in Kosovo".

" And when that happens, the Slavs in (FYROM)Macedonia who are almost exclusively
Bulgarians, will raise their demands. And so we may face the disintigration of
another country. And therefore , the administration absolutly requires some
strategy for political settlement of all of the Balkan issues before we are
being dragged step by step into becoming the successor of the empires that used
to govern there and who had atleast one thing in common, that they were hated by
the populations over whom they ruled."

"Once we have achieved self-government for the people of Kosovo, which I now
support, this is not the end of the story. Then we have to consider what happens
, to the many ethnic clans that exist in the Balkans to avoid being triggered
into crisis after crisis by this sort of issue and especially by the issues that
will emerge in Macedonia and maybe even in northern Greece.", concluded Dr.
Kissinger.

This is from 5th of April 1999 on CNBC show "Hardball," anchored by Chris
Matthews

The Paradox Of Bush's Democracy & Political Imagination

CANA CALLS FOR ASSERTIVE ADVOCACY AT PONTUS AND ASIA MINOR GENOCIDE CONFERENCE

For Immediate Release: May 17, 2008

Contact: Nikolaos Taneris, New York, Tel. 1-917-699-9935

“We must challenge the status quo with coalition building, media attention, and
bold public action to make the world aware of our suffering” –CANA Press
Officer, Nikolaos Taneris

NEW YORK—The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) stressed the need to focus
on gaining media attention, and on printing Pontian Genocide scholarship in the
English language with the overall goal of an all out effort to engage the
Diaspora in advocacy for worldwide recognition of the Genocide of Asia Minor and
Pontus, during the initial Catastrophe in Asia Minor and Pontus conference, held
in Chicago from May 9-10.

CANA Press Officer Nikolaos Taneris, in his remarks, to the opening session of
the conference, attended by the top scholars and community leaders on the
Pontian Question from throughout the Diaspora, emphasized “the need to mobilize
and inspire a new generation to work to gain influence in political spheres ,
to build an assertive identity that will challenge our opponents” , Taneris
added “We must challenge the status quo with coalition building, media
attention, and bold public action to make the world aware of our suffering”

In closing remarks Taneris achieved a consensus amongst some panelists for the
need for scholarship in English, in particular, the importance of releasing
Pontian Genocide scholarship in English, so Academics, and educators can
understand and carry our message, as can the non-Hellenic press, which are most
important in advancing our cause.

Participating in the conference, which featured remarks from a wide range of
Hellenic organizations, was Dr. Theofanis Stavrou the professor of history at
University of Minnesota and founding editor of Modern Greek Studies Yearbook. He
is also the general editor of Nostos, A series of monographs in modern Greek
history and culture. Dr. Stavrou was born in Dhiorios in Kyrenia, and emphasized
his own personal familiarity of displacement, from his tragic first-hand
experiences with the criminal Turkish military- invasion of our Cyprus homeland.
The experiences of Cyprus brought him to the scholarship on the Pontian
Genocide, which includes a soon to be released review of Pontian Genocide
scholar Fotiades’ work.

Other participants were Dr. Harry Psomiades the professor emeritus of political
science at Queens College, and founder and director of the Queens College center
for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies from 1974-2004, Dr. William H. Samonides
a Harvard University scholar and PHD who has devoted himself to the
reconstruction of the Pontian Hellenic community in his hometown of Canton,
Ohio. Professor Ellene S. Phufas of SUNY—Erie Community College, who is a
second-generation Arcadian Hellene, presented on the realities of Greek to
English translation, Prof. Phufas has completed the translation from Greek to
English of NOUMERO 31328: THE BOOK OF SLAVERY a memoir by Asia Minor Genocide
survivor Ilias Venezis.

Michalis Charalambidis, member of the executive Committee of the International
League for the Rights and Liberations of People, renowned Hellenic politician
and intellectual, was denied entry to the US at the airport in Chicago, on the
Tuesday before the conference. Reportedly, Charalambidis has a proper visa and
for , as yet, unexplained reasons was denied entry, some speculation was raised
that this may be the result of a Turkish smear campaign targeting Charalambidis
for his advocacy for Genocide awareness, which the Turkish government denies. If
these speculations prove to be true, they would symbolize a serious breach of
intellectual freedom, if the US did indeed bow to Turkey’s Genocide denial
campaign, by not allowing this conference participant into the US.

George Shirinian, the Executive Director of the International Institute for
Genocide and Human Rights Studies, a division of the Zoryan Institute, provided
expert advice and commentary on the practical needs and efforts of a serious
academic institute devoted to research, publication and education in the fields
of Genocide Studies and Diaspora Studies. A major overall goal of this initial
conference is the founding of serious academic institute devoted to Pontus and
Asia Minor Genocide, in the Diaspora.

The two-day conference was hosted by the United Hellenic American Congress, the
Federation of Hellenic American Organizations “Enosis”, the Pan-Pontian
Federation of USA and CANADA and the Pontian Greek Society of Chicago, and
sponsored as well by Mr. Chris P. Tomaras, Chairman of the Pan Hellenic
Scholarship Foundation.

CANA invites Hellenes, in the homeland and throughout the Diaspora, to share
their views regarding these remarks by writing to cana@cyprusactionnetwork.org

To view and download a picture of conference participants, visit this page,
available on our homepage titled “Photos of Participants at The Catastrophe in
Asia Minor and Pontus Conference”: http://cyprusactionnetwork.org/photos_of_participants_at_the_catastrophe_in_asia_minor_and_pontus_conference

CANA Press Release on Pontian Genocide Commemoration and "Turkish Denial and The Forgotten Genocides" Article

Pontian Genocide Commemoration At Bowling Green in Manhattan; “TurkishDenial and The Forgotten Genocides”

For Immediate Release: May 14, 2008

Contact: Nikolaos Taneris, New York, Tel. 1-917-699-9935

NEW YORK—The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) continues the grass-roots activist struggle to secure full recognition and justice for Turkey’s crimes. Please remind friends, family and comrades in the community, to take part in the coming commemorations for May 19th, the international Remembrance Day for the Pontian Genocide. We provide details on the coming Pontian Genocide commemoration to take place in New York’s historic Bowling Green in Manhattan. Following the invitation copy we also provide the article (5-11-08) entitled “Turkish Denial and The Forgotten Genocides” by Ioannis Fidanakis, the President of Pan Thracian Union of America “Orpheus”

Read Full Press Release here

Kosovo Liberation Army In NJ

Forgotten Genocides Article Spreads

Recently Published "Turkish Denial and The Forgotten Genocides" spreads via the Armenian community

Armenian Diaspora

Groong


I'd like to thank both the Assyrian and Armenian communities for helping spread this article

Assyrian International News Agency

AINA sends out press coverage of Global Politician's release of Turkish Denial and The Forgotten Genocides.

Read Here

Global Politician Publishes Article

Turkish Denial and The Forgotten Genocides is published by Global Politician

Read Here

The Lies Of The Racak Massacre/ Clinton's Role In Kosovo

Turkish Denial and The Forgotten Genocides

By Ioannis Fidanakis, President of Panthracian Union of America “Orpheus”

Throughout time man has associated certain images with events, images that shock the human mind so much they are permanently engrained in our memories. The Holocaust, the mere mention of the word fills people with images of horrible persecution. Mountains of shoes and gas chambers are all quickly associated with the horrible events which took place in the Second World War. In the United States, whippings and lynchings are seen as trade marks of African-American Slavery in the South. Today’s society identifies these images with crimes against Humanity. We are taught to no longer tolerate such acts of hatred, and instead commemorate and study these important lessons of the past to honour the many innocent who lost their lives. Yet the most disturbing imagery, that of mountains upon mountains of human skulls and long marches of women, children and elderly in the desert, are lost on society. Our ‘civilized’ society turns a blind eye to such images and the events in which they are identified with, the forgotten Hellenic, Armenian, and Assyrian Genocides initiated during the First World War. How can the international community allow the suffering and persecution endured by the Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire and Republic of Turkey to just be left to fade away into history? Why are these millions of innocent men, women and children that perished not given the same respect of commemoration, study, and remembrance?

The lack of recognition, dealing with the Hellenic Genocide, which is known by scholars as the Greek and Pontic Greek Genocide, is in and of itself a crime against Humanity. To simply surpass the importance of such a terrible part of History is a disservice to all those who lost their lives during those years of fear and terror. How can Western Civilization, who owe the Hellenic people so much for its very birth and continued survival. Not feel as if their own ancestors perished under years of oppression and atrocities.

There are many excuses behind the lack of international recognition, mainly based around the historical events that took place shortly after the Genocide. The Treaty of Lausanne, which was signed in 1923, and brought an end to the Hellenic population living in Anatolia, makes no mention of the persecutions and troubles suffered by the Christian subjects at the time, and hence sealing the issues fate. The Greco-Turkish Treaty of Friendship signed in 1930, is also used by many as a reason behind the Genocide’s omission from history books, because of the concessions that were made for peace in the region. Lastly, and what appears to be the most logical, is that fact that Hellas suffered political and social turmoil, with the Nazi Occupation and Civil War, which took place shortly afterwards. The mere survival of the Hellenic people took precedence over the recognition for these events.

The tragedy that befell those Hellenes living in Anatoliki Thraki (Eastern Thrace) and all of Anatolia can be divided into two separate phases. The first falling between 1914 and the closing days of the First World War, at the hands of the Ottoman Government , and the second from 1919 till the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 by Mustapha Kemal and his Kemalist followers, who were the old guard of the Young Turk movement, that had previously ruled the Ottoman Empire. It is during these years that the rivers of Anatoliki Thraki and Anatolia ran red with Hellenic blood.

“The first step in the persecutions of the Greeks was the attack on the ecclesiastical, legal, and educational rights which had always been possessed within the Turkish Empire by the Greek ecclesiastical authorities and which had gone far toward mitigating the distress of the Turkish regime. The Turkish language was introduced into Greek schools; geography and history had to be taught in Turkish. Greek priests were arrested and imprisoned without warning or reason and without notification of the ecclesiastical authorities. Forcible conversions to Mohammedanism, long forbidden by law, began to appear again, particularly in the case of Greek girls carried off to Turkish harems without the usual right of intervention which the Greek Patriarch and Metropolitans had always possessed. “(1)

The persecutions of old rightfully echoed loudly in the hearts and minds of the population with the return of those once forgotten practices and a new form of the janissary system, disguised in the form of charitable Orphan Asylums. The ingenious method of masking these charitable institutions for devious purposes was second nature for the Turkish Government. The Orphan asylums sprung up under the disguise of relief, and yet were used as tools of the Government’s planned extermination of the Hellenic population still living within the Empire.

“These orphan institutions have in appearance a charitable object, but if one considers that their inmates are Greek boys who became orphans because their parents were murdered, or who were snatched away from their mothers, or left in the streets for want of nourishment, (of which, they were deprived by the Turks.), and that these Greek children receive there a purely Turkish education, it will be at once seen that the cloak of charity there lurks the ‘child collecting’ system instituted in the past by the Turkish conquerors and a new effort to revive the janissary system. The Greek boys were treated in this manner. What happens to the Greek girls? If we review the Consular reports about the persecutions from the year 1916 to 1917 we shall find hardly one of them which does not speak of forcible abductions and conversions to Mohammedanism. And it could not have been otherwise, since it is well known that this action, as has been stated above, was decided upon in June 1915, in order to effect the Turkification of the Hellenic element. This plan was carried out methodically and in a diabolical manner, through the ‘mixed settlements’ of Greeks and Turks, always with a predominance of Mohammedan males and of Greek females in order to compel mixed marriages.”(2)

Other methods used by the Turkish government during both phases were Work battalions, Concentration camps, death marches, and straight-out massacres to put an end to the Hellenic Question. The famous work battalions, known as ‘Ameles tabour’, were created “on the plea that the Christians could not be trusted to bear arms against their coreligionists they were drafted into labor battalions and set into the interior of Asia Minor to do work for the Turks.”(3)

The conditions, in which, they were forced to live in were terrible. “A piece of unsuitable bread made from tare (animal food) and a watery soup daily, under the rain and snow, with insults, humiliations, and beatings, sicknesses of dysentery, diarrhea, typhus, did not leave much margin for survival. The number of those who survived these notorious ameles tabour, ‘the death battalions’ as called by Christians, was minimal.” (4)

Anatoliki Thraki and the Genocide

One of the most overlooked regions, in which the Genocide accrued, is Anatoliki Thraki. A place, which suffered systematic plans of genocide, under both the Bulgarians and Turks, seeing double the carnage of other Hellenic lands during those years. During the years of persecution in Vorio Thraki (Northern Thrace) by the Bulgarians, the Turkish policy towards the Hellenes was one of friendship, because of the Slavic threat against the Ottoman Empire. Thus, generally speaking, the position of the Greeks of Thrace was a good one in this period. With the revolution of the Young Turks, the Greeks of Thrace, as all the Greeks of the Empire, hoped for the amelioration of their position believing in the declarations of equality and brotherhood. They were soon disillusioned, however, since the measures of the Young Turks against the Greek communities affected many of their privileges. (5)

An eerie sense of doom must have been felt creeping in, with the Turkish reoccupation of Thraki, which would bring an era of brutality not soon forgotten with the return of atrocities, looting and massacres against the Hellenes. Whole villages being destroyed by the Turkish military in the most sadistic ways, at the time, a wireless dispatch to the Daily Chronicle from Constanza says: ‘Turkey has been running an ‘atrocious campaign’ most unscrupulously to cover her own misdeeds and distract attention from the appalling facts of the Thracian massacres by the Turkish army of reoccupation. (6) The death and destruction seen in Thraki during the Balkan Wars would be surpassed only with the coming First World War.

“When the European war broke out, the Turks, with German connivance, began a policy of extermination of the Greek population which parallels in almost every detail the terrible outrages against the Armenians.” The Turkish Government used the outbreak of the War to its full advantage to begin the removal of the Hellenic Population from their ancestral homeland, under the pretext of the 'military security' of the Turkish cities, a large part of the population of eastern Thrace was deported towards the hinterland of Asia Minor hinterland (as was the case with the population of western Asia Minor and Pontos). Many were forced to convert to Islam, and they were distanced from the Patriarchate and had no access to Greek schools. A large part of the male population was exterminated in amele taburu or labour battalions. (7)

The Terror and destruction decimated the countryside, turning the once beautiful crossroads between Europe and Asia, into Hell on earth, with Turkish hordes descending upon the local peasantry leaving nothing in their wake. Life in the countryside changed from one of children playing and parents working, to silence, as Hellenes dared not to tend to their fields, while Turkish bands roamed freely in the open countryside.

Reports from the Ecumenical Patriarchate tell us of the anarchy and terror, which reigned over Anatoliki Thraki, where these Turkish bands were free to, committed the oldest crimes in the newest ways. Turkish civilians aided the Ottoman Government in their plans of extermination, in whatever manner they could. Turkish peasants would execute orders given to them by local officials mainly during the cover of darkness, to hide their identity from their neighbors. Individual incidents like that from the Diocese of Heracles, show the pure horror that Hellenes living in Thraki had to deal with on a daily bases, “At the end of May, 1919, three Albanian-Turks, guarding the Tsikili Farm, on the Tsads-Tyroloe road, killed two young Christian men from Tsads, whose clothes and ears they sent to this town, to frighten the peasantry and whose corpses they gave to the dogs of the farm for food”. (8)

In the Diocese of Ganos and Chora, “The Turkish peasants’ fanaticism, provocations and threatening attitude toward the Greeks had grown so violent, that they openly declared, even in presence of Government officials, that they would quite soon annihilate them. This state of things paralyzed the will of the Greeks and prevented them from attending to their business” (9). A perfect example of their fanaticism comes from one report in December of 1919. “Periclis Prodromou from Avdini, was slaughtered like a lamb, near Atelthini”(10), as if the Hellenic people were livestock, this just goes to show the mentality held by the Turkish people at the time.

In the Diocese of Didymotechon, which lies on the border of Anatoliki Thraki and Western Thraki, we see, “On May 21st, a double murder of two Greeks took place in the village Tchanakli. These two farmers coming to Ouzoum Kioprou, were on the way attacked by four soldiers. The head of one victim, Athanassius, was cut off, while the other victim, though seriously wounded, was able to creep as far as Eski-keuyto. The wounded reported the crime to the authorities and after a few hours succumbed to his wounds.”(11)

In the end Hellenism in Anatoliki Thraki would face the same fate as that of Anatolian and Pontian Hellenism. With the evacuation of the Hellenic Army in 1922, the surviving 300,000 Hellenes living in Anatoliki Thraki, excluding those living in Constantinople were forced to leave the homeland of their ancestors, which had been theirs for thousands of years.

A Call for Justice and Recognition

In the same spirit that brought recognition and restitution for the victims of the Holocaust, so should Turkey be held accountable for the crimes of its past. How else can it truly be seen as a partner for peace, ready for entrance inside the European community? Those seeking justice are not looking for War or dismantlement of the Turkish state, but rather for the wrongs of the past to be recognized and set straight. The Turkish people should not fear international recognition, but should welcome it, as a means to finally write an end to this ugly chapter of history so all people involved can look to the future instead of the past.

Far too much time has past since those terrible events during the early 20th century, without an international declaration memorializing these atrocities as Genocide. Hellas is politically and socially stable enough to final push for international recognition of the Genocide suffered by its people during those long years of oppression and persecution. It is time that the movement for justice and recognition finally take center stage inside the many important National Issues facing Hellas today. In 2007, an important step was realized, when the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) recognized the crimes suffered by the Assyrian, Hellenic, and Armenian populations between 1914 and 1923 as Genocide. “The resolution declares that ‘it is the conviction of the International Association of Genocide Scholars that the Ottoman campaign against Christian minorities of the Empire between 1914 and 1923 constituted a genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian Greeks.’ It ‘calls upon the government of Turkey to acknowledge the genocides against these populations, to issue a formal apology, and to take prompt and meaningful steps toward restitution.’(12)

It is my firm belief that the only honorable and logical way to handle recognition and restitution of the Genocide committed against the Hellenes of Anatoliki Thraki is with a solution deemed acceptable for both parties involved. This mutual understanding must benefit both Christian and Muslim Thracians still living inside Turkey, as well as those descendants living outside the region. The first step towards justice would be the Genocide’s recognition inside Turkey, as well as internationally. Something that has already slowly come about with the recent declarations from International Associations, as well as limited recognition by some in the International Community and locally in the United States.

The second step would be the creation of a Genocide Memorial in Constantinople to commemorate all those lost during those bloodily years of turmoil. This memorial could also run as a research center and academic hub for Hellenic and Turkish scholars studying these and other similar events.
Third and perhaps most radical part of the process of restitution is the question of monetary compensation and land claims. As stated before, those of us seeking justice do not wish to be seen as war enthusiasts bent on the destruction of the Turkish state.

Instead such radical parts of this process can be answered, while still protecting Turkish sovereignty. At this point and time it would be impossible to have monetary compensation given to the families of the survivors, just as it would be wrong to reward the Hellenic state with such compensation. Unlike the state of Israel, which was founded after the Holocaust, by survivors of the tragedy, the Hellenic state was already in existence and the victims were not Hellenic citizens, but rather Turkish. With this in mind it seems to me that a third option must be presented. This being the creation of an autonomist Anatoliki Thraki, which would receive monetary compensation directly from the Turkish state, keeping the funds within the borders of Turkey, to aid one region economically. This process could be seen as a reconstruction or renovation of the region for the betterment of its local population. This autonomist region would be governed by local Christians and Muslims, as well as returning individuals whose family roots are from Anatoliki Thraki. The returning descendants of refugees expelled from the area would be reintroduced via settlements, much like those created by the state of Israel. Finally its capital should be seated in Constantinople, and a special relationship with the European Union must be established. This seems to be the most reasonable and appropriate solution for justice for Thraki and the Thrakiotes.

Citations

1. “Turkish Cruelty Bared by Greeks.” New York Times, June 16, 1918
2. “Turkish Cruelty Bared by Greeks.” New York Times, June 16, 1918
3. “Turkish Cruelty Bared by Greeks.” New York Times, June 16, 1918
4. Tsirkinidis, Harry. At Last we uprooted them… Pg 83
5. “The Expansion of the Hellenic State”
6. “Turks massacre Greeks in Thrace”, New York Times, July 28, 1913
7. “The Expansion of the Hellenic State”
8. The Black Book, Press of the Patriarchate. 1920
9. The Black Book, Press of the Patriarchate. 1920
10. The Black Book, Press of the Patriarchate. 1920
11. The Black Book, Press of the Patriarchate. 1920

Bibliography

1. Tsirkinidis, Harry. At last we uprooted them…The genocide of Greeks of Pontos, Thrace and Asia Minor, through the French Archives. Translated by Stratos Mavrantonis. Kyriakidis Brothers. S.A. Publishing House.1999

2. James, Edwin I. “Turks Proclaim Banishment edict to 1,000,000 Greeks.” New York Times. December 2, 1922

3. “The Statesman of extermination.” New York Times. December 4, 1922. Pg 16, Col 3

4. “Turks Massacre Greeks in Thrace.” New York Times. July 28, 1913

5. “Starvation in Thrace.” New York Times. January 1, 1914

6. “1,000,000 Greeks Killed?” New York Times. January 1, 1918

7. “Turks Deporting Greeks.” New York Times. August 21, 1916

8. “Turkish Cruelty Bared by Greeks.” New York Times. June 16, 1918

9. The Black Book of the suffering of the Greek people in Turkey: From the Armistice to the end of 1920. Press of the Patriarchate. Constantinople 1920

10. “The Expansion of the Hellenic State.” Foundation of the Hellenic World. 2007

11. “Genocide Scholars Association officially recognizes Ottoman Genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, other Christians.” International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS). December 26, 2007


12. “European Parliament raises Thracian issue in Turkey report” Turkish Daily News. April 24, 2008.

Lesbos islanders sue lesbian group

THURSDAY, MAY 01, 2008
18:09 MECCA TIME, 15:09 GMT

A Greek court has been asked to draw the line between gay women and the natives of the Aegean Sea island of Lesbos.

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UN prosecutors call for retrial in Kosovo war crimes case

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — UN prosecutors have called for a retrial for Kosovo's former prime minister who was acquitted last month of war crimes against Serbs during the Kosovo conflict.

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Exterminate White People

Activist and bookstore owner Dr. Kamau Kambon, who taught Africana Studies 241 in the Spring 2005 semester at North Carolina State University

The very fact that Dr. Kambon was allowed to teach at a University is itself an outrage. Allowing such a racist individual the chance to speak his hate for another race on CSPAN without one single major news agency talking about this, just goes to show double standards at work in society and the media.

Northern Epirus