The World Council of Pontic Hellenism requests the "reopening of the Greek Consulate in Trebizond", according to a minority newspaper.
The World Council of Pontic Hellenism (PASPE), with a letter sent to the leaders of the political formations in Greece and the media, evaluating the recent events regarding the elections and the Consulate General of Turkey in Komotini.
The letter states that, "taking into consideration what the Pontians living in Turkey are facing, we propose to the Greek governments to demand the reopening of the Greek Consulate in Trebizond (as opposed to the operation and role of the Turkish Consulate in Komotini).
The entire letter from the World Council of Pontic Hellenism:
"We are following with interest what was conveyed by SYRIZA executives.
The conflict between New Democracy and SYRIZA in Rhodopi continues, as does the press over the involvement of the Consulate General of Turkey in Komotini in the Greek parliamentary elections because, apart from our native Thracian relatives who have been in the area for thousands of years, in the area they have settled and new relatives of our immigrants from the countries of the USSR and have been living for thirty years, and what happens in their own area has a positive or negative effect on them.
We would like to point out that the latest statements of SYRIZA candidates, related videos, photos, publications, etc. involve an approach and an attempt to instrumentalize the issue, while we conclude that the Turkish Consulate has probably again been involved in the previous parliamentary elections in our country.
For decades we have presented relevant reports on the role of the Turkish Consulate and its men in the region of Western Thrace throughout time and up to the beginning of the 1980s, taking advantage of the mistakes, omissions and sometimes failures of the Greek state.
In various ways and means, religious, financial, educational, commercial and sometimes threatening etc. the Turkish consulate has arbitrarily instilled the theory that a single nation, a single religion and a common Turkish language exists among the Greek Muslim citizens of Thrace ((who identify themselves as Pomaks, Roma and Turkomans) in a way that serves its ambitions and interests Ankara.
We will refrain from commenting on what is happening between the parties that has come to light, especially the media, with this letter.
How the political and communicative parties of the Hellenic Parliament will manage the issue is something that is certainly evaluated by us and our compatriots, and is determined by our leadership and authorized bodies.
But we cannot forget the previous statements of the officials of the SYRIZA party.
We believe that they are expressing their own personal views, not the political structure they belong to, while everything they say directly concerns us.
It is reported that what the Greeks of Asia Minor and Pontus experienced on the shores of Smyrna was an "overcrowding" (as history professor Maria Repoussi wrote), that there was no displacement by the Turks, to save themselves from their knife, and that what happened against the Greeks of Pontus in the period 1914-1922 was not "GENOCIDE", but "ETHNOCLEANING" (as stated by the MP and then Minister of National Education Mr. Nikos Filis).
All this makes us cautious about any current statements and intentions on the matter.
However, the proposals entitled "WHAT WE WANT FROM TURKEY", which we have brought to the attention of all political leaders and parties of the Hellenic Parliament for 35 years, and are also presented to the European Parliament, and unfortunately, although they have been positive so far , the statements from time to time have not been accepted by them, we believe them to be timely and Nationally useful, and therefore bring them again to your notice.
In the context of these demands, we recommend the Greek governments to demand the reopening of the Greek consulate in Trebizond (as opposed to the operation and role of the Turkish Consulate in Komotini), taking into account, among other things, that Pontians live there.
100 years after the Genocide suffered by our ancestors and from the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne which excluded them due to religion, they remained in our historical homeland in the Pontus regions and today they are looking for their national identity and when we contacted them, they told us "WE ARE PONTIANS, WHY DID YOU LEAVE US'?
Finally, for the sake of history, we are republishing the statement of the political analyst and sociologist Michalis Charalambidis from Alexandroupoli 35 years ago about the proposal for Thrace that was accepted by the MEPs.
Unfortunately, their implementation was not encouraged by the Hellenic Parliament for various reasons," the letter concludes.
Hundreds of thousands of Pontians (converted to Islam or crypto-Christians) still live in Pontus, something that the Turks know very well, which is why they are opposed to anything related to Greece.
The positions of parties like SYRIZA, with nationally unacceptable positions in Western Thrace, in Pontus, in the events of 1922 in Smyrna, provoke the national consciousness of the Greeks, and the Greek people as a whole, because they discredit the thousands of our dead compatriots who perished because of of the Turkish brutality, which is still visible today against Kurds, Syrians and indirectly (through the Azeris in the presence of Turkish advisors) against the Armenians.
