Turkey's provocations mar Greek Pontic Genocide remembrance day

In particular, the Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement, describing the statements made by the Greek side as "delusional", which "are not compatible with historical facts".

At the same time, the Turkish Foreign Ministry speaks of "fantasy accusations" and attempts to harm "relations between Turkey and Greece".

The statement of the Turkish Foreign Ministry on the Pontic Genocide
"We condemn the delusional statements of the Greek authorities on the occasion of the anniversary of the unfounded allegations about the ''Pontos'', which are in no way compatible with the historical events on May 19, 1919, under the leadership of the Great Leader Gazi Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. We reject these statements that aim to discredit our War of Independence with imaginary accusations.

While it is a historical fact that the Greek army committed countless atrocities in the Anatolian territories it occupied with the support of the imperialist powers of the time, the baseless attempts of Greek politics today to read the past upside down have no validity.

The Greek atrocities in Anatolia, as reflected in the reports of the Commission of Inquiry of the Allied powers, were also recorded in Article 59 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty and Greece was sentenced to compensation for violation of the law of war.

At the end of the 19th century, the Pontic activities, which emerged as an extension of the ambitions of Greece's ''Great Idea'' in our lands, were forever interrupted by the decisive struggle of our nation.

We call on the Greek authorities to abandon the policy of exploiting these historical events, which resulted in the exchange of Turkish and Greek populations, for populist purposes, and to commemorate the atrocity crimes committed against Turks and other ethnicities, starting with the Tripoli massacre in 1821.

Such attempts to damage the relations between Turkey and Greece, which have been developing with positive momentum in recent years, by creating hostility from history must stop.