91st anniversary of Pontian Greek Genocide to be commemorated in NY

PanARMENIAN.Net - The 91st anniversary of the of Pontian Greek Genocide will be commemorated in New York on Wednesday, May 19.

The event to be attended by representatives of the Greek, Armenian and Assyrian communities of the U.S. will feature a speech “From the Greek-Pontian genocide to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus” by Mrs Fanoulla Argyrou, Greek-Cypriot researcher, journalist and author coming from London.

The Pontian Greek Genocide (also known as the Hellenic Holocaust ) refers to the genocide on and deportation of ethnic Greeks by the Young Turk government in 1914-1922. Before the first World War, an estimated five million ethnic Greeks and Armenians lived throughout the territories that constitute modern-day Turkey. By 1923, at least 2.5 million had been massacred, with the rest fleeing for their lives to Greece and the then-USSR, or had been converted to Islam by force.

The Pontian Greek Genocide has been recognized by Greece, Cyprus and recently Sweden. In the United States numerous states and cities, including New York, have recognized the Genocide by resolutions or proclamations.