Greece Illuminates Parliament in Commemoration of Pontic Genocide Victims

08:27 20/5/2025 - Πηγή: iEfimerida

Greece’s Parliament commemorated May 19, the annual Pontic Greek Genocide Remembrance Day, with a solemn tribute, illuminating its historic façade with a symbol of mourning and resilience for the 353,000 victims who perished between 1916 and 1923.

The Greek Parliament, which officially

recognized the genocide in 1994, projected a powerful logo onto its front wall: the letter “G” for Genocide, formed by the silhouettes of walking human figures. The design was inspired by a 1922 photograph depicting 5,000 orphaned children near Harput, now Elazığ, Turkey, and evoked the death marches endured by countless Pontic Greeks during their forced deportation.

Within the curve of the letter, a small but vibrant sprig of Amaranthos, a hardy, golden-yellow flower known for retaining its shape and color long after being cut, emerged from the trail of figures. It served as a symbol of the enduring spirit of Pontic Hellenism: a people forcibly removed from their ancestral lands, yet who survived genocide, rebuilt their communities, and preserved their identity, culture, and collective memory.

“Pontic Hellenism has endured. No silence and no forgetting can erase the murder of 353,000 Greeks,” the Pan-Pontian Federation of Greece said in a statement. “If we forget, we will vanish.”

The annual commemoration continues to hold deep significance within Greece and the global Pontic Greek diaspora. The genocide, perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire during and after World War I, remains unrecognized by Turkey and is a central issue in Greek efforts to gain broader international acknowledgment of historical atrocities against Christian minorities in Asia Minor. By illuminating the Parliament building, Greece conveyed a clear message that remembrance is not only a moral obligation but a cornerstone for justice and historical truth.

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