Athens marks genocide of Pontic Greeks and Armenians
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
Over 1,000 Greeks of Pontian descent marched on Syntagma Square, Thursday evening, in commemoration of the genocide of 353,000 Pontian-Greeks committed by the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1922.
The crowd dressed in traditional Pontian costumes and danced to the tunes of Pontian songs, while observing the changing of guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier in front of the Greek parliament.
The people were particularly critical of Greek Education Minister Nikos Filis, who has frequently disputed that a genocide took place against the Greek-Pontians.The protestors held a banner with a photo of Filis reading: ‘Denial of the genocide from an unhistorical government Minister equals its repetition’.The crowd marched towards to the Turkish Embassy in Athens in protest after Syntagma Square.
