Pontian Greeks

[PhiliptheUniterchaeronea]

Short Synopsis of the Pontian-Greek History
Dr. Konstantinos Fotiadis
Professor of History at the University of Thessaloniki and the Pedagogic College Florina



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The presence of Greeks at the Euxeinos Pontos, the Black Sea, dates back to early times. Research suggests that in the period around 1000 BC first trading adventures in this area took place, searching mainly for gold and minerals.

The trip of Jason and the Argonauts to Kolchis, the adventures of Ulysses in the country of the Cimmerians, the punishment of Prometheus by Zeus and the arresting of his body to the mountains of Caucasus, the sailing of Hercules on the Black Sea and other Greek myths related to this area, testify the existence of ancient trading routes.

In the 8th century BC, the only occasionally occupied trading posts began to develop into permanent settlements. The town of Miletus was the first to start its colonization politics at the Black Sea by founding its daughter-city Sinope that proved to have great advantages with its useful harbor and its accessibility towards the hinterland. In a similar pattern numerous cities with large populations emerged in the course of time, strong centers with important sea trade and strong cultural influence.

Archaeological excavations and plenty of written sources of the classical and post-classical period have unveiled interesting testimonies about the organization of these settlements, of their economic activities and of the trade and political relations with their colonial mother-cities, with other Greek cities and also with indigenous people.

In the first centuries of their existence the colonies remained in the same patterns of social and political organization as their colonial mother-towns.

The predominance of the Greek cities in the political life of the region becomes apparent by the reaction of the local people who took over Greek culture and Greek thinking out of their own will. In the period of Alexander the Great and his successors, the economic power of the Greek cities peaked. The impact of the Greek culture on the indigenous people remained strong and helped to develop their social and cultural systems.

Under the reign of the Pontian king Mithridates VI Eupator, the Greek language became official language of the many and therefore polyglot people of Asia Minor.

Even in Roman times, the Greek culture in the eastern part of the Black Sea retained its freedom, its independence and self-determination as well as its leading role in the economic and cultural life of that region.

Christianity arrived in Pontos very early by the apostles St. Andrew and St. Peter. Both of them and also later the church fathers profited from the fact that in most of the hellinized indigenous societies the spoken language was Greek. By the spread of Christianity, Greek culture and national identity was in turning transferred to these people. As a result, a homogenous culture emerged, based on the uniting element of Orthodoxy.

The capture of Constantinople by the Franks in 1204, resulted in the splitting of the Byzantine Empire into small Frankish states, but also in the foundation of smaller Greek empires. Alexios, a member of the dynasty of the Komnenes, and his brother David, founded with the help of their aunt, the Georgian queen Thamar, in Pontos the Empire of the Great Komnenes of Trebizond. The up to that point unimportant city achieved a place in world’s history by this coincidence.

The fall of Constantinople (1453) and, eight years later of Trebizond (1461) mark one of the greatest fractures in Greek history. Immediately after the seize of Trebizond by the Ottomans, many inhabitants of the rich coastal towns and the villages fled. Most of them escaped into the remote mountain regions of Pontos. Here, out of the sight of the new rulers, they founded new villages and cities, a new and free Greek civilization.

However, part of the refugees settled in central Russia, at the coasts of southern Russia, in the region of Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan, where they founded new Greek cities, cultural centers, to which persecuted Greeks were gracefully received also in later years.

This in turn resulted in the simultaneous existence of a second Pontian-Greek civilization, particularly in Russia, which through the whole period of Ottoman reign, grew by migration of refugees.

Only in Russia half a million Pontians existed. By the year 1918 the total population grew up to 650,000 people. On the opposite shore of the Black Sea, on Turkish territory, the history and culture of the Pontians and also of the other Greek-born inhabitants came to a tragic end through the treaty of Lausanne in 1923. This treaty brought about the forceful expulsion of Greek people living on Turkish territory; a process called «the Catastrophe of Asia Minor» in Greek history.

The criteria for the exchange in the treaty of Lausanne was the religious dependency, which had the effect that Greeks which had turned themselves to Islam in 17th century, did not become part of the exchange. This explains why inhabitants in regions around the Pontian towns Tonya, Ophis, Sourmena and Matsouka still today, 75 years after the Catastrophe of Asia Minor live in Turkey and speak their Pontian-Grek dialect. They remember their Greek despondence and preserve their Greek and even Christian traditions.

Pontians living in the territory of the former Soviet Union are still estimated to be half a million people who stick to their Pontian-Greek traditions to the extent as that is permitted by the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The Pontians managed – like all persecuted and in the first years disadvantaged refugees – to heal the wounds of their fate by diligent and honest behavior. In their respective new home countries they preserved their tradition, songs and dances, in short: their culture.

Those who settled in former times especially in boarder areas, continue today to be boarder guards, diligent, honest and progressive.


http://www.pontos.org/index.htm?/eng...ia/fotiad1.htm

[admin]

Very Nice Article Thanks for the post.

[PhiliptheUniterchaeronea]

Not Even My Name: From A Death March In Turkey To...
Not Even My Name: From A Death March In Turkey To...

Here are a couple of books on the topic of the Pontian Greeks. This is a very interesting topic as the Hellenes had lived in Asia minor for more than 2000 years, long long long before the Saxons (another ethnic group with great accomplishments) reached England -which was about 450 AD- just to give you and idea of how long the Greeks settled in Asia Minor. Nobody had even heard of Turks at that point. Really sad stories.

[Ptolemy]

From: Akis Haralabopoulos akis@pronet.net.au
GENOCIDE of the PONTIAN GREEKS

Pontus means "sea" in Greek and is located in the south-eastern littoral of the Black Sea. Its connection with Hellenism stretches back to pre-historic times to the legends of Jason and the Argonauts quest for the Golden Fleece and to Heracles obtaining the Amazon Queen's girdle. The coastal region was colonised by the Ionians, especially the city of Miletus which founded Sinope (785 BC), Trapezunta (756 BC) and the numerous other cities along the coast from Heracleia to Discurias in the Caucasus. The Hinterland was gradually Hellenised and this was completed after Alexander's conquests. Its contribution to Hellenism in those 2800 years has been enormous: Diogenes hailed from Sinope and Strabo from Amaseia, it was here that Xenophon found a safe haven, that the great Comneni dynasty reigned, the home of Cardinal Bessarion and the Hypsilandis family; it was also the last Greek territory to fall to the Turks (in 1461). Many famous churches, monasteries and schools are a testament to the resilience of Hellenism. The Pontians are a distinct Greek people with their own dialect, dances, songs and theatre.

For the Pontian Greeks all ended in tragedy in the years 1914-22. Of the 700,000 Greeks living in Pontus in 1914, 300,000 were killed as a result of Turkish government policy and the remainder became refugees. Three millenia of the Greek presence was wiped out by a deliberate policy of creating a Turkey for the Turks. The Pontian people were denied the right to exist, the right of respect for their national and cultural identity, and the right to remain on land they had lived on for countless generations.

The turning point in the treatment of Greeks in Turkey was the alliance between Germany and the Sultan that commenced after the Treaty of Berlin 1878. Germany regarded Anglo French protection of Christians as an obstacle to its interests and convinced the Turkish authorities that the Greeks were working for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Germany opened the Berlin Academy to Turkish military officers and General Gotz was appointed to restructure the Ottoman armed forces. The successful national movements in the Balkans posed a threat that the same would occur in Asia Minor. After the Balkan Wars the Young Turks decided that Asia Minor would be a homeland for Turks alone and that the Greeks and Armenians had to be eliminated. The outbreak of World War I made this possible and Germany willingly sacrificed the Christian minorities to achieve its aim in the Middle East. However, it is the German and Austrian diplomats reports that confirm that what took place was a systematic and deliberate extermination of the Christian population. Genocide. Not security or defence measures, not relocations of population (why forcibly relocate populations?) not war, not retaliation in response to the activities of Pontian guerillas or Russian invasion but GENOCIDE.

Terrorism, labour battalions, exiles, forced marches, rapes, hangings, fires, murders, planned, directed and executed by the Turkish authorities. This can be corroborated by the German and Austrian archives now made public:

24 July 1909 German Ambassador in Athens Wangenheim to Chancellor Bulow quoting Turkish Prime Minister Sefker Pasha: "The Turks have decided upon a war of extermination against their Christian subjects."

26 July 1909 Sefker Pasha visited Patriarch Ioakeim III and tells him: "we will cut off your heads, we will make you disappear. It is either you or us who will survive."

14 May 1914 Official document from Talaat Bey Minister of the Interior to Prefect of Smyrna: The Greeks, who are Ottoman subjects, and form the majority of inhabitants in your district, take advantage of the circumstances in order to provoke a revolutionary current, favourable to the intervention of the Great Powers. Consequently, it is urgently necessary that the Greeks occupying the coast-line 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 places, 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.

31 July 1915 German priest J. Lepsius: "The anti-Greek and anti-Armenian persecutions are two phases of one programme - the extermination of the Christian element from Turkey.

16 July 1916 German Consul Kuchhoff from Amisos to Berlin: "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."

30 November 1916 Austrian consul at Amisos Kwiatkowski to Austria Foreign Minister Baron Burian: "on 26 November Rafet Bey told me: "we must finish off the Greeks as we did with the Armenians . . . on 28 November. Rafet Bey told me: "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).

13 December 1916 German Ambassador Kuhlman to Chancellor Hollweg in Berlin: "Consuls Bergfeld in Samsun and Schede in Kerasun report of displacement of local population and murders. Prisoners are not kept. Villages reduced to ashes. Greek refugee families consisting mostly of women and children being marched from the coasts to Sebasteia. The need is great."

19 December 1916 Austrian Ambassador to Turkey Pallavicini to Vienna lists the villages in the region of Amisos that were being burnt to the ground and their inhabitants raped, murdered or dispersed.

20 January 1917 Austrian Ambassador Pallavicini: "the situation for the displaced is desperate. Death awaits them all. I spoke to the Grand Vizier and told him that it would be sad if the persecution of the Greek element took the same scope and dimension as the Armenia persecution. The Grand Vizier promised that he would influence Talaat Bey and Emver Pasha."

31 January 1917 Austrian Chancellor Hollweg's report: ". . . 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 is 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.

Thus, by government decree 1,500,000 Armenians and 300,000 Pontian Greeks were annihilated through exile, starvation, cold, illness, slaughter, murder, gallows, axe, and fire. Those who survived fled never to return. The Pontians now lie scattered all over the world as a result of the genocide and their unique history, language (the dialect is a valuable link between ancient and modern Greek), and culture are endangered and face extinction.

A double crime was committed - genocide and the uprooting of a people from their ancestral homelands of three millenia. The Christian nations were not only witnesses to this horrible and monstrous crime, which remains unpunished, but for reasons of political expediency and self interest have, by their silence, pardoned the criminal. The Ottoman and Kemalist Turks were responsible for the genocide of the Pontian people, the most heinous of all crimes according to international law. The international community must recognise this crime.

Produced by the Hellenic Council of New South Wales May 1996

http://www.hri.org/docs/inter/96-05-17.doc.html

[PhiliptheUniterchaeronea]

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Paperback - 352 pages 0 edition (May 15, 2001)
Language: English
Vhps Hardcover ; ISBN: 0312277016
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Average Customer Review: Based on 64 reviews. Write a review.



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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The harrowing story of the slaughter of two million Pontic Greeks and Armenians in Turkey after WWI comes to vivid life in Sano Halo's memoir, as told by her daughter Thea. The story begins with the two women's journey to Turkey in search of Sano's native village in the Pontic Mountains, a remote region south of the Black Sea that had been settled by Greeks more than 2,000 years ago. In 1920, at the age of 10, Sano was the oldest of five children. She adored her beautiful mother and was favored by her grandfather, a blacksmith who was revered in their community. She felt secure in the closeness of her family, the beauty of farm life, the rituals of church and school. Ominous rumors of the persecution of Greeks by the Turkish military became a nightmarish reality when her father was conscripted. He escaped, but several months later everyone in her village was forced to leave their homes with scarcely a day's notice. The "emigration" was a death march, in which three of Sano's sisters perished. Not able to provide food for the family, Sano's parents left her with a surrogate family who treated her harshly. At the age of 15, Sano was sold into marriage to an Assyrian, three times her age, who had returned from America to find a wife. Despite the early tragedies of her young life, Sano's courage and determination to survive prevailed as she and her husband successfully raised 10 children. Her daughter has written an eloquent and powerful account of this tragic chapter of Turkish history. Photos and map not seen by PW.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
The Armenian genocide in Turkey during World War I is widely known. Almost unknown, however, is the annihilation of the Pontic Greeks, who had lived for 3000 years in the Pontic Mountains near the Black Sea, by Kemal Ataturk's military forces after the war. In 1921, one survivor, ten-year-old Sano Halo (the author's mother), was forced with her entire village on a nearly year-long death march to Syria. Separated from her family, she lost even her name when she was sold by her surrogate family to... Read more

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READ THIS BOOK, August 10, 2000
Reviewer: Ray Grist from NEW YORK, NY
Following the First World War, the government of Turkey, under the leadership of Gamel Ataturk, established a campaign of, which we in our modern usage call, ethnic cleansing. The goal of this government was "Turkey for the Turks." They set out to rid Turkey of non-Turkish ethnic groups which included the Armenians, Greeks (which included the Pontians, Ionians, and Kappadokians), and Assyrians. This campaign succeeded in eliminating, by means of death marches, massacre, murder -- genocide -- 1.5 million Armenians, 750,000 Assyrians, 360,000 Pontian Greeks. Many more survivors of this genocide went into exile in Syria, Russia, and some in the United States.Changing time and place, Thea Halo successfully tells the story of one individual who lived through and survived the uprooting of her family and people who were forced on a death march from their homes in the north of the country, eventually into Syria. This survivor, through a series of serendipitous events, wound up in New York City, finally safe from the persecutions of the Turkish leadership. She gave birth to 10 children, one of whom is the author of "Not Even My Name."Ms. Halo has accomplished one of the great values of life. She has honored her ancestors and kept their spirits and history alive. She has honored her mother Sano (Themia) even during her lifetime. Thea's mother, never forgot her family and her life in their Turkish home. Very quietly she would say their names over and over to herself. These memories are her treasure. Sano can have peace and pride that her story, and the stories of her people, have been added to the volumes of our human history. Honor is given, as well, to the tragedy and barbarity of Themia's early life and the success achieved by hard work, dedication and love given with the freedom and opportunity Sano found in her new life and home.Recently, during a book signing at a local Barnes & Noble, the senior Ms. Halo was asked why, after such pain and misery inflicted on her via the death march and the deprivation she suffered after her escape from the march she held no anger, no resentment, that could have damaged her later in her life Her response was that she believed in the beauty of life. That she never forgot her family. Although living in New York and raising a family with 10 children, was by no means easy she could pass on to her children her beliefin life's goodnessThea Halo has also claimed her own self. She now knows where her spirit comes from. She has publicly announced who she is and what she is founded on. Her life experience is one of the first generation New World Americans. Like many of us we have wondered w life was like in our parent's "old world" societies. What are we a continuity of? Thea has found these things for herself, and we as new Americans can learn from what she experiences in her found self. We learn that our New World experience is part of a continuity. Most importantly we learn that we don't have to make the same "old world" mistakes. We too can believe in the goodness of life, and making the most of the opportunities we create.I strongly recommend that this book be on one's priority reading list. --.


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Thank you for sharing a meaningful story...., January 3, 2002
Reviewer: Barbara Boudrot from Southborough, MA United States
As a second generation Greek American, I have been moved to learn more about my Modern Greek heritage. The Greek history I studied in high school and college was the classical Greek period. In my pursuit to learn more about Modern Greece, I chanced upon this novel in a search for history books. It is a true gem and I am so appreciative that the author and her mother allowed me to have a look into their lives. Though my ancestors were not Pontic Greeks, I have always felt a connection to other Greeks and I found myself relating to the many traditions referenced in the book. I could picture my immigrant grandparents going through similar experiences in their new country, America. Themia is a role model to any of us who might complain from time to time..."why me?" I only wish I could meet her and talk to her in person.


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The murder of a nation, June 7, 2004
Reviewer: Berge K Jermakian from Valley Stream, NY United States
Not Even My Name is well written. I recommend it highly. It tells the experiences of Theo Helo as a 10-year old, in 1920, who was forced on a death march with thousands of Pontic Greeks from their traditional home land into the desserts. The story starts with Theo, who now is an old lady, returning to her homeland with her daughter. This heart rending story was repeated many times starting with the Armenians' who suffered under the Turkish occupation for over 400 yrs and ended in 1915 with the 20th century's first genocide. The book describes in heart rending detail the cruelty by Turkish soldiers and official in eliminating all non-Turks from the lands they conquered in 1453. --.


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Heartwrenching, April 15, 2004
Reviewer: tiari_99 from Michigan
This book is going on my list as one of my favorites. Theas descriptions of the suffering of her mother and family touched me deeply. After losing her family Sano went on to live life to the fullest, devoting herself to her children and husband. Sano is a remarkable woman and a real inspiration.


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[Ptolemy]

The turning point for the Hellenes of Asia Minor was the German-Turkish alliance that arose following the signing of the Treaty of Berlin (1878). Germany regarded Anglo-French ‘protection’ of the Empire’s Christian peoples as an obstacle to its interests. Using the pretext of reform of the Ottoman military, Germany opened the doors of the Berlin Academy to Turkish officers (amongst them Mustapha Kemal Ataturk and Enver Pasha, architects of the Holocaust) and arranged the appointment of General Gφtz to restructure the Ottoman armed forces along German lines.

Germany convinced the Turkish authorities that the Hellenes were working for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. (At this time, the Empire’s economic and political life was dominated by Hellenes, Armenians and Jews.) The successful national movements throughout the Aimos Peninsula (Balkans) posed the possibility that similar movements would appear amongst the indigenous populations of Asia Minor (Hellenes, Armenians, Lazes, Assyrians/Chaldeans).

Hence, following the heavy defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkan Wars (1912-13), the Young Turks (a military junta that seized control of the Empire in 1908), decided that Asia Minor would be a homeland for Turks alone: all others were to be eliminated. World War One gave the Young Turks the opportunity to implement their plan.

Germany willingly sacrificed the indigenous Christian peoples of Asia Minor to achieve its goals of direct access to the oil-fields of the Middle East. It is ironic, therefore, that the reports of German and Austro-Hungarian diplomats provide damning evidence that what was to take place was a meticulously-executed plan to depopulate Asia Minor of Christians: in other words, GENOCIDE.

“The Turks have decided upon a war of extermination against their Christian subjects.”

German Ambassador Wangenheim to German Chancellor von Bulow, quoting Turkish Prime Minister Sefker Pasha, July 24, 1909.

“The anti-Greek and anti-Armenian persecutions are two phases of one programme - the extermination of the Christian element from Turkey.”

Father J. Lepsius, German clergyman, 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.”

Herr Kuchhoff, German consul in Amissos in a despatch 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, Rafet Bey told me: ‘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.” (referring to the Armenian Genocide)

Herr Kwiatkowski, Austro-Hungarian consul in Amissos to Baron von Burian, Foreign Minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, November 30, 1916

“Consuls Bergfeld in Samsun and Schede in Kerasun report of displacement of local population and murders. Prisoners are not kept. Villages reduced to ashes. Greek refugee families consisting mostly of women and children being marched from the coasts to Sebasteia. The need is great.”

German Ambassador Kuhlman to German Chancellor Hollweg, December 13, 1916.

Herr Pallavicini, Ambassador of Austria-Hungary to Turkey, writes to Vienna, listing the villages in the region of Amissos that were being burnt to the ground, their inhabitants raped and either murdered or exiled, December 19, 1916:

“The situation for the displaced is desperate. Death awaits them all. I spoke to the Grand Vizier and told him that it would be sad if the persecution of the Greek element took the same scope and dimension as the Armenian persecution. The Grand Vizier promised that he would influence Talaat Bey and Enver Pasha.”

Austro-Hungarian Ambassador Pallavicini to Vienna, January 20, 1917

“The time is near for Turkey to be finished with the Greeks as we were with the Armenians in 1915.”

Talaat Bey as quoted by an Austro-Hungarian 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 is 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.”

Chancellor Hollweg of Germany, February 9, 1917.

Thus, by official government decree, were 353 000 Pontian Hellenes slaughtered. Another 500 000 fled into exile (60% to Hellas, 40% to the Soviet Union). The Christian nations of the world were witnesses to this crime against humanity, but for reasons of political expediency and economic self-interest, by their silence, they pardoned the criminals. The Ottoman and Kemalist Turks denied the Hellenes of Pontus, of Kappadokia, of Ionia and of eastern Thrace the very right to exist.

The Kemalist Turks thought that they had rid themselves of all the Hellenes of Asia Minor. For decades, it was thought that Hellenism had died in Asia Minor. The truth is that eastern Hellenism survives. The Pontian Hellenic dialect continues to be spoken in Pontus by the Muslim inhabitants of the region. Hellenic also continues to be spoken in the Aivalik (Kydonies) region, near the ruins of Troy. Pilgrims regularly gather at the Monastery of Panayia Soumela; these include many nominally Muslim inhabitants of Pontus. They meet pilgrims from Hellas, Australia and around the world. They converse in Pontian Hellenic, dance the same folk-dances to the sounds of the same musical instruments, they worship at the same holy spring, at the heart of the Monastery’s majestic ruins. On July 20, every year, thousands of ‘Muslim’ Pontians gather at the vale of Touyia to celebrate the feast day of the Prophet Elijah (Elias). Pontian Hellenism today thrives throughout the world and survives in its home soil: PONTUS.

Thanks to Orphic for the stuff.

[Ptolemy]

The presence of Hellines at Euxeinos Pontos, the Black Sea, dates back to 1000 BC, when the first trading adventures in this area took place, searching mainly for gold and minerals.
The trip of Jason and the Argonauts to Kolchis, the adventures of Ulysses in the country of the Cimmerians, the punishment of Prometheus by Zeus and the arresting of his body to the mountains of Caucasus, the sailing of Hercules on the Black Sea and other Hellinic myths related to this area, testify the existence of ancient trading routes.

Archaeological excavations and plenty of written sources of the classical and post-classical period have unveiled interesting testimonies about the organization of these settlements, of their economic activities and of the trade and political relations with their colonial mother-cities, with other Greek cities and also with indigenous people.
In the first centuries of their existence the colonies remained in the same patterns of social and political organization as their colonial mother-towns.
The predominance of the Hellinic cities in the political life of the region becomes apparent by the reaction of the local people who took over Hellinic culture and Hellinic thinking out of their own will.
In the period of Alexander the Great and his successors, the economic power of the Hellinic cities peaked. The impact of the Hellinic culture on the indigenous people remained strong and helped to develop their social and cultural systems.
Under the reign of the Pontian king Mithridates VI Eupator (a Persian), theHellinic language became official language of the many and therefore polyglot people of Asia Minor.

Some Geography:

The colonies in the Black Sea were HERAKLEIA in the territory of the Mariandyni.
In Paphlagonia was SINOPE which established a species of sovereignty over the other communities. In Pontus was AMNISUS the mother city of TRAPEZUS
On the east coast stood the cities of PHASIS, DIOSCURIAS and PHANAGORIA this last was the principal seat of the slave trade, and during the Macedonian period, the staple for Indian commodities, imported across the Oxus and the Caspian Sea.
PANTICAPAEUM in the Tauric Chersonese, was the capital of the little kingdom of the Bosporus, so intimately connected with the corn trade of Hellas, especially of Athens. On the north coast was the city of TANAIS on the river of the same name and OLBIA at the mouth of the Borysthenes.

ISTRIA was near the south embouchure of the Danube, while TOMI, CALLATIS, ODESSUS and APOLLONIA more to the south.

[Ptolemy]

Οι προθέσεις

1. Μεταξύ των Νεοτούρκων υπήρχαν αρκετοί που ήσαν πραγματικά φιλελεύθεροι και οι οποίοι πίστευαν σε μια συγχώνευση των φυλών και μειονοτήτων, σε μια αρμονία μεταξύ του Ισλάμ και της Χριστιανοσύνης, σε μια μεγάλη ειρήνη υπεράνω των θρησκευτικών διαφορών.
Υπήρχαν, όμως και ριζοσπάστες, οι οποίοι πίστευαν ότι μια ομόνοια με αλλοεθνείς και αλλοθρήσκους θα ήταν καταστροφή. Ήταν έτοιμοι να συνεχίσουν τις βάρβαρες μεθόδους του σουλτάνου μέχρι την πλήρη κάθαρση του τουρκικού έθνους από τις ξένες συνωμοσίες.
Η επανάσταση αναδείκνυε μοιραίως τις αντιθέσεις των δύο αυτών ρευμάτων και η ολίσθηση προς τη δεύτερη πλευρά φάνηκε πολύ νωρίς. Οι πρώτες ενδείξεις των προθέσεων και του φανατισμού ήρθαν από τις πρώτες κιόλας ημέρες του Αυγούστου 1908. Έτσι:
Ο Τούρκος πρέσβης στην Αθήνα προέβη στην εξής διακήρυξη:
«Η Νέα Τουρκία θέλει να διαλύσει κάθε σύγχυση μεταξύ των δύο εθνοτήτων. Θέλει να καταλάβουν οι Έλληνες ότι οι Οθωμανοί ελληνικής καταγωγής είναι οριστικά Οθωμανοί και όχι Έλληνες. Το Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο οφείλει να παύσει να είναι μια ελληνική εστία. Οι Οθωμανοί μόνοι αφέντες στο σπίτι τους θα επιβαλουν τη θέλησή του σε όλους...»
Edouard Driault et Michel Lheritier: "Historie diplomatique de la Grece, de 1821 a nos jours", Tome V, σελ. 4-7.


2. Την ίδια περίοδο η τουρκική εφημερίδα της Θεσσαλονίκης Ιττιχάτ βε Τερεκκί (Ittihat ve Terekki), όργανο του Κομιτάτου των Νεοτούρκων, έγραψε:
«Οι ελληνικές μητροπόλεις είναι εστίες επαναστατικών συνωμοσιών. Πρέπει να υποταγούν στο νόμο. Όσον αφορά τα σχολεία, το Σύνταγμα αναγνωρίζει στους μη μουσουλμάνους την ελευθερία διδασκαλίας, αλλά η κυβέρνησης έχει δικαίωμα να επιβάλει ένα θρησκευτικό πρόγραμμα σπουδών.
Το παλιό τουρκικό καθεστώς, δυστυχώς, εγκατέλειψε τα ελληνικά σχολεία στη μοναδική επιρροή των Ελλήνων. Αυτή η παράλειψη προκάλεσε το σχηματισμό δύο στοιχείων του πληθυσμού που δε γνωρίζονται και που αντιμάχονται μεταξύ τους. Είναι φυσικό ότι αυτή η κατάσταση δεν μπορεί να διαρκέσει...»
Ό.π. σελ 9-10

3. Την ίδια περίοδο ο Γάλλος πρόξενος στην Κωνσταντινούπολη Ογκύστ Μποπ αναφέρει:
«Η αντιπάθεια για τους Έλληνες έφτασε σε παροξυσμό. Δε θέλουν ούτε να τους δουν. Τους θεωρούν ως θανάσιμους εχθρούς της Τουρκίας. Και καθώς βρίσκονται παντού, αναμεμιγμένοι στη ζωή όλου του πληθυσμού με το εμπόριο, τα μικρά επαγγέλματα, όπως και τα ελεύθερα επαγγέλματα των οποίων έχουν σχεδόν το μονοπώλιο, επιθυμούν να τελειώσουν μια και καλή με αυτούς, να τους διώξουν, να τους καταστρέψουν...»
Ό.π. 53-59

4. Ενδεικτικό των ενδόμυχων σκοπών των Νεοτούρκων αποτελεί ο λόγος του κορυφαίου στελέχους του Κομιτάτου, Ταλαάτ μπέη, (ο οποίος ήταν και βουλευτής από τις εκλογές του 1908), τον οποίο εκφώνησε στο μυστικό προσυνέδριο που οργάνωσε το Κομιτάτο στη Θεσσαλονίκη, τον Αύγουστο του 1910. Ιδού ένα απόσπασμα:
«Γνωρίζετε ότι οι όροι του Συντάγματός μας προβλέπουν την ισότητα μουσουλμάνων και γκιαούρηδων, αλλά όλοι αντιλαμβάνεστε ότι αυτό είναι ένα απραγματοποίητο όνειρο. Η Σεριά(ο θρησκευτικός νόμος του Ισλάμ), το παρελθόν και τα αισθήματα εκατοντάδων χιλιάδων μουσουλμάνων, καθώς και αυτά των γκιαούρηδων, παρουσιάζουν ένα αξεπέραστο εμπόδιο για την εγκατάσταση μιας πραγματικής ισότητας...»
Γαλλικά αρχεία, Quai d' Orsay, N. S. Turquie, Tome 7, σελ.92.


5. Τον 1911 στην κυβέρνηση του Χακί πασά υπήρχαν μόνο οι σκληροί Νεότουρκοι. Πρώτος ανάμεσά τους ο Ταλαάτ πασάς, ο οποίος ανέλαβε το υπουργείο των Εσωτερικών.
Τον Οκτώβριο του ίδιου χρόνου πραγματοποιήθηκε στη Θεσσαλονίκη το συνέδριο των Νεοτούρκων, όπου επικράτησαν οι πλέον φανατικοί, όπως οι γιατροί Ναζίμ και Σακίρ. Στο συνέδριο ο Ναζίμ είπε τα εξής λόγια:
«Θέλω να ζήσει ο Τούρκος. Εκτός των Τούρκων όλα τα άλλα στοιχεία να εξοντωθούν.»
Ο δε Σακί πρόσθεσε:
«Η Τουρκία πρέπει να γίνει μωαμεθανική χώρα, όπου η μωαμεθανική δύναμη και οι μωαμεθανικές αντιλήψεις θα κυριαρχούν. Τα έθνη που απόμειναν από παλιά στην Αυτοκρατορία μας, μοιάζουν με ξένα και βλαβερά χόρτα, που πρέπει να ξεριζωθούν...»
Ομοίως.


Η νοοτροπία

Ο Ρώσος καθηγητής και διπλωμάτης Αντρέ Μάντελσταμ (Andre Mandelstam), ο οποίος υπηρέτησε επί πολλά χρόνια στη ρωσική πρεσβεία στην Κων/πολη, σε διάλεξή του στο Παρίσι αναφέρει:
«Το 1914, ο Ταλαάτ παρακληθείς από ένα συνάδελφό μου στη ρωσική πρεσβεία να ελευθερώσει ένα πολιτικό εγκληματία, ο οποίος συνελήφθηκε από την τουρκική κυβέρνηση με μια ψευδή κατηγορία, απάντησε μ ένα κυνικό χαμόγελο, που αντανακλούσε πολύ καλά την τουρκική νοοτροπία: «Να ελευθερώσουμε, όχι, να σκοτώσουμε, ναι!». Και πολύ ικανοποιημένος για την καλή του απάντηση φρόντισε να δολοφονηθεί ο δυστυχισμένος κρατούμενος μέσα στις φυλακές και ανακοίνωσε στη συνέχεια στην πρεσβεία μας ότι εκείνος αυτοκτόνησε.»
Conference de M.ANDRE MANDELSTAM : "LA TURQUIE", Imprimerie M. FLINIKOWSKI, Paris 1918.


Οι υποκινητές

Ο Αμερικανός πρέσβης στην Κων/πολη, Χένρυ Μόργκενταου, αναφέρει:
«Από την εποχή που οι Γερμανοί κατέστρωσαν τα σχέδιά τους για επέκτασή τους στη Μικρά Ασία, θεωρούν τους Έλληνες αυτής της χώρας εμπόδιο στις βλέψεις τους. Όσοι έχουν διαβάσει, έστω και επιφανειακά, την παγγερμανική φιλολογία, γνωρίζουν τη μέθοδο που προτείνεται για την αντιμετώπιση των πληθυσμών που παρεμποδίζουν την ελεύθερη κίνηση της Γερμανίας. Εννοώ τον εκτοπισμό των κατοίκων.
Ενεργώντας με προτροπή της Γερμανίας η Τουρκία είχε τώρα αρχίσει να εφαρμόζει το μέτρο της εκτόπισης στους Έλληνες υπηκόους στη Μικρά Ασία.
Τρία χρόνια αργότερα, ο Γερμανός ναύαρχος Ούζεντομ, που ναυλοχούσε στα Δαρδανέλλια, μου είπε ότι οι Γερμανοί ήταν εκείνοι που είχαν προτείνει πιεστικά ν' απομακρυνθούν οι Έλληνες από τα παράλια...»
Χένρυ Μόργκενταου: «Τα μυστικά του Βοσπόρου», εκδόσεις Τροχαλία, σελ. 100-103

«Οι Τούρκοι γνώριζαν ότι οι απελάσεις θα επιτάχυναν τη διακοπή των διπλωματικών σχέσεων με την Ελλάδα, επεδίωκαν και προετοίμαζαν αυτήν τη ρήξη...
Η Τουρκία σκόπευε να επιτεθεί εναντίον της Ελλάδας για να ξαναπάρει τα νησιά.»
Ό.π.


Τι είναι γενοκτονία;

Το άρθρο 2 της Σύμβασης του Ο.Η.Ε. περί γενοκτονίας, όπως ψηφίστηκε στις 3 Δεκεμβρίου 1948, ορίζει:
"Στην παρούσα Σύμβαση, ως γενοκτονία νοείται οιαδήποτε εκ των κατωτέρω πράξεων, ενεργούμενη με την πρόθεση ολικής ή μερικής καταστροφής ομάδας, εθνικής, εθνολογικής, φυλετικής ή θρησκευτικής:
- Φόνος μελών της ομάδας.
- Σοβαρά βλάβη της σωματικής ή διανοητικής ακεραιότητας των μελών της ομάδας.
- Εκ προθέσεως υποβολή της ομάδας σε συνθήκες δυνάμενες να επιφέρουν την πλήρη ή μερική σωματική καταστροφή αυτής.
- Μέτρα απρόβλεπτα στην παρεμπόδιση των γεννήσεων στους κόλπους ορισμένης ομάδας.
- Αναγκαστική μεταφορά παιδιών μιας ομάδας σε άλλη ομάδα."


Η εκτέλεση

Διαταγή του Τούρκου υπουργού εσωτερικών Ταλαάτ πασά με ημερομηνία 14 Μαΐου 1914:
«Είναι επείγον, για πολιτικούς λόγους, οι Έλληνες κάτοικοι των ακτών Μικράς Ασίας να αναγκαστούν να εκκενώσουν τα χωριά τους, για να εγκατασταθούν στα βιλαέτια του Ερζερούμ και της Χαλδίας.
Αν αρνηθούν να εγκατασταθούν στα καθορισμένα μέρη, παρακαλώ να δώσετε προφορικές οδηγίες στους αδελφούς μουσουλμάνους, με σκοπό να αναγκάσουν στους Έλληνες, με κάθε είδους πράξεις, να εκπατριστούν με τη θέλησή τους.
Μην ξεχάσετε σε αυτήν την περίπτωση, να πάρετε από τους μετανάστες πιστοποιητικά ότι εγκαταλείπουν τις εστίες τους με τη δική τους πρωτοβουλία...»
Χάρης Τσιρκινίδης, «Επιτέλους τους ξεριζώσαμε..», σελ.86

Στις 22 Απριλίου 1914, ο Αυστριακός πρέσβης Παλλαβιτσίνι αναφέρει στον υπουργό Εξωτερικών της χώρας του:
«Οι Έλληνες φεύγουν από τη Θράκη. Όπως συμπεραίνω από υπαινιγμούς του μεγάλου βεζίρη, υπάρχει η τάση να απωθήσει το ελληνικό στοιχείο των ανατολικών ακτών από την ανοικτή ύπαιθρο, όχι όμως από τις πόλεις, και να το αντικαταστήσει δια του μωαμεθανικού.»
Στις 25 Μαΐου, ο ίδιος πρέσβης αναφέρει:
«Σε μια μακρά συζήτηση που είχα τελευταία με το μεγάλο βεζίρη, ως προς το ζήτημα της ομαδικής εξόδου των Ελλήνων της Θράκης, έθιξα και το σχετικό διάβημα του Έλληνα πρεσβευτή στην Πύλη. Ο πρίγκιπας Σαΐντ Χαλίμ δεν το αρνήθηκε, είπε όμως: Αφήστε τον, λοιπόν, να φωνάζει, το πράγμα δεν έχει καμιά σημασία!»
Πολυχρόνης Ενεπεκίδης: «Γενοκτονία στον Εύξεινο Πόντο», σελ.4

Ο Άγγλος πρέσβης Μίκαελ Σμιθ, στο βιβλίο του «Το όραμα της Ιωνίας», σελ.81 αναφέρει:
«Με συστηματικό τρόπο, χρησιμοποιώντας τους τσέτες(άτακτα σώματα) και με τη συνεργασία των οθωμανικών αρχών, οι Τούρκοι ξερίζωσαν τις ελληνικές κοινότητες της παραλιακής ζώνης, κατέλαβαν τα σπίτια και τη γη τους και εξανάγκασαν τους κατοίκους να εξοριστούν βίαια...»

Για την καταστροφή της Παλαιάς Φώκαιας, μητρόπολης, κατά την παράδοση, της Μασσαλίας, το 1914, ο Γάλλος αρχαιολόγος Φέλιξ Σαρτιώ (Fellix Sartiaux), σε άρθρο του στην εφημερίδα «Η Νέα Ευρώπη» (The New Europe) της 19ης Φεβρουαρίου 1920 ανέφερε:
«Στις 11 Ιουνίου, οι Έλληνες κάτοικοι των γειτονικών χωριών κατέφυγαν στη Φώκαια, φέροντας την είδηση ότι τα χωριά τους δέχθηκαν επίθεση από τους Τούρκους. Την άλλη μέρα, στις 12 Ιουνίου, έφτασαν οι τσέτες στη Φώκαια και άρχισε η σφαγή. Μια μέρα και μια νύχτα κράτησε η λεηλασία και η φρίκη. Οι τσέτες ήταν οπλισμένοι με όπλα και μουσκέτα του ιππικού...»

Στις 13 Ιουνίου 1914, η γαλλική εφημερίδα Le Temps(Ο Χρόνος), στις 13 Ιουνίου 1914, αναφέρει τα εξής:
«Μας τηλεγραφούν από Σμύρ