Letter of concern regarding Canadian Senate Motion 158 (see wording below) which only calls for the recognition of "the genocide of the Pontic Greeks" and excludes all other Greek Genocide victims.
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To the Senate of Canada,
I write to express my concern regarding Canadian Senate Motion 158 which calls for the recognition of "the genocide of the Pontic Greeks". My concern is as follows:
During the period 1914-1923, Pontic Greeks were not the only Greeks who were victims of genocide. Pontus was an historic region within Asia Minor (the Asiatic portion of modern Turkey), however there were many other regions within Asia Minor, and also Eastern Thrace (the European portion of modern Turkey) where Greeks were also victims of genocide during this period.
Recognizing the genocide of Greeks from only one region, is not only a distortion of the historical record, it is also insulting to the ancestors of all other Greeks who perished from these other regions. All the victims of genocide deserve recognition, however Motion 158 does not address this, and is worded in a manner which excludes many other Greeks, and denies them recognition and closure.
I also wish to remind you that motion co-sponsor Senator Leo Housakos and the Canadian Hellenic Congress were recently the recipients of over 2,300 protest signatures calling for the inclusion of all Greeks in genocide recognition. The petition at the link below contains all the relevant documentation to support an amendment to Motion 158 which falls well short of doing justice to all the Greek victims.
https://www.change.org/p/all-the-victims-of-the-greek-genocide-deserve-recognition
I therefore kindly ask the Canadian Senate to take steps to amend Motion 158 to be more respectful to all the victims of the Greek Genocide.
Sincerely,
[Insert your name here]
Canada Senate Motion: No. 158.
That the Senate call upon the government of Canada:
(a) to recognize the genocide of the Pontic Greeks of 1916 to 1923 and to condemn any attempt to deny or distort a historical truth as being anything less than genocide, a crime against humanity; and
(b) to designate May 19th of every year hereafter throughout Canada as a day of remembrance of the over 353,000 Pontic Greeks who were killed or expelled from their homes.—(Honourable Senator Cools)
Photo credit: Saffron Blaze
