Letter of Concern: Greek Politicians Seeking Regional Greek Genocide Recognition through the EU Parliament

On the 19th of May 2021, Greek Euro-Parliamentarian for the New Democracy Party Vagelis Meimarakis announced that a group of Greek Members of the Euro-Parliament (MEP's) will be seeking to have the "Pontian genocide[sic]" recognized through the EU. Despite receiving hundreds of protest emails from members of the public, New Democracy Party MEP's are continuing in their short-sighted attempt to seek recognition ONLY for the genocide of Pontic Greeks. On the 13th of August 2021, New Democracy Party MEP Anna Misel-Asimakopoulou wrote a letter to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell urging him to assist with the recognition of the "genocide of the Pontians." Greek politicians must understand that recognizing only a fraction of the victims of the Greek Genocide is wrong. As a result, we have drafted the following letter. By signing our letter which appears below, your email will be sent to EU Parliament President David Sassoli, all Greek MEP's, listed below, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and Greek President Katerina Sakkellaropoulou: 

Evangelos Meimarakis MEP, Maria Spiraki MEP, Anna Misel-Asimakopoulou MEP, Eliza Vozemburg-Vryonidis MEP, Manolis Kefaloyiannnis MEP, Stelios Kimbouropoulos MEP, Giorgios Kyrtsos MEP, Nikos Androulakis MEP, Emanouil Fragkos MEP, Alexis Gergoulis MEP, Eva Kaili MEP, Petros Kokkalis MEP, Athanasios Konstantinou MEP, Stelios Kouloglou MEP, Elena Kountoura MEP, L.Nikolaou-Alavanos MEP, Kostas Papadakis MEP, Dimitrios Papadimoulis MEP, Theodoros Zagorakis MEP.

Please read the following letter then insert your name, your email address and click submit. Your email will be sent to all recipients mentioned above. 

 

Dear MEP,

I have been informed that Greek politicians are urging the EU Parliament to recognize the genocide of Pontic Greeks.

I am writing to you to highlight that the Greeks of Pontus were not the only Greek Orthodox victims of the Ottoman genocide during the period 1912-1923 in Ottoman Turkey. In fact, Greek Orthodox Christians from many other regions of Ottoman Turkey fell victims to massacres, death marches, and forced labor. As such, recognizing the genocide of only one fraction of Greek victims is not only ahistorical, it is also demeaning to the ancestors of all other Greek victims, and therefore wrong.

I therefore ask, that if the EU Parliament does consider recognizing a genocide against the Ottoman Greeks, it does so in an inclusive manner by recognizing all victims without distinction of region. A simple recognition of a "Greek Genocide" will ensure that all Greek lives matter. By doing so, you will also be respecting the historical record and the advice of historians and genocide scholars.

I wish to remind you that in 2007, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the world's foremost experts on genocide affirmed the genocide of all Greeks within Anatolia (the Asiatic portion of modern day Turkey, historically known as Asia Minor) and referred to it as a Greek Genocide. And in 1998, the Greek Parliament recognized the genocide of Greeks throughout all of Asia Minor (inclusive of Pontus).

I therefore ask that the EU Parliament respect the advice of genocide scholars and adopt an inclusive recognition for all Greek victims of the Greek Genocide.

Respectfully yours,

Your Email*
 

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