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Yannis Maniatis, Vice President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament, addressed the European Parliament ahead of the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, spotlighting the Ottoman Empire\u2019s systematic campaign to eradicate Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks of Asia Minor and Pontus. In a poignant speech, he called for the formal recognition of the genocide of the Greek populations, alongside the already acknowledged Armenian Genocide.<\/p>\n
Maniatis underscored the scale of the tragedy, noting that hundreds of thousands perished while countless others, including his own family, were uprooted as refugees. He connected this historical injustice to contemporary events, pointing to the recent displacement of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh as evidence that historical amnesia risks repeating such atrocities.<\/p>\n
The PASOK MEP sharply criticized Turkey\u2019s ongoing denial of these historical crimes. While commending the European Parliament\u2019s recognition of the Armenian Genocide, he pressed for equal acknowledgment of the genocide endured by the Greek communities of Asia Minor and Pontus between 1913 and 1923.<\/p>\n
Full Speech:
\u201cIn just a few days, we will mark the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. This was a systematic, centrally orchestrated effort by the Ottoman Empire to exterminate Armenians, Assyrians, and the Greek populations of Asia Minor and Pontus.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands were killed, and even more were forced into exile, including my own family.<\/p>\n
The recent events in Nagorno-Karabakh\u2014where thousands of Armenians were compelled to flee their ancestral lands, leaving their monuments to be erased\u2014remind us that without preserving historical memory, the past can all too easily resurface.<\/p>\n
Turkey continues to deny its historical crimes.<\/p>\n
The European Parliament has rightly recognized the Armenian Genocide. It is now time to extend that recognition to the genocide of all Greek populations of Asia Minor and Pontus, who suffered a parallel fate between 1913 and 1923.<\/p>\n
Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n