Genocide of Armenians, Pontics and Assyrians is one of the most disgraceful and tragic pages of human history, said RA NA Deputy Speaker Edward Sharmazanov in Athens.
"Having gathered here in Athens we are announcing of our commitment to the international condemnation of Genocide and to the confrontation of the Turkish denial. We remember the innocent victims of the Genocide, but we should also demand the international recognition of this crime", he said.
According to the Deputy Speaker, new genocides can be prevented only if the crimes against humanity are recognized and condemned. "We say "no" to the Turkish denial policy and say "yes" to the international recognition and condemnation of the phenomenon "genocide", he summed up.
The 19th of May has officially been designated as a day of remembrance Pontic Genocide of 1914-1923 in Greece. Ottoman and then nationalist Turkish forces slaughtered upwards of 368,000 Christian Pontians in what is modern-day Turkey's northeast, particularly along the Black Sea coast. Pontians are ethnic Greeks and Orthodox Christians who resided in the eponymous province of Pontus for millennia before WWI and the subsequent exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey in 1922-23. The Pontic Genocide was recognised by Parliament in 1994, with May 19 selected for the annual commemoration of the grim anniversary.