Dear Governor of New York, Mr. George Patakis,
I would like to congratulate and thank you for the Proclamation
about the Hellenic Genocide, issued on October 6, 2002. The
people of New York should be very proud of that.
The systematic extermination of millions of Hellenes (Greeks)
is one of the greatest offenses against Humanity ever. The Hellenic
Genocide remains as an open wound in the human soul that can
only be healed when it's officially recognized in all countries,
including Turkey.
While many already know the Armenian Genocide, most still don't
know that the Hellenes and Assyrians were also victims of the
same policy. Justice cannot prevail until all three Genocides
are known to all.
Here's a relevant statement by a eyewitness of the Hellenic
Genocide, the US Ambassador to Turkey, Henry Morgenthau:
"The Armenians are not the only subject people in Turkey
which have suffered from this policy of making Turkey exclusively
the country of the Turks. The story which I have told about
the Armenians I could also tell with certain modifications about
the Greeks and the Syrians. Indeed the Greeks were the first
victims of this nationalizing idea."
Ambassador Morgenthau's Story
Henry Morgenthau - 1918
http://www.greece.org/genocide/quotes/q-as-vict-orphans.html
It may take another decade or even longer but the Hellenic
Genocide WILL be officially recognized in ALL countries. Millions
of children, men and women of all ages who were systematically
tortured and massacred by the Turks in Asia Minor, Constantinople,
Imvros and Tenedos, Pontos and Thrace must be honoured and remembered.
The entire Humanity deserves to remember them. And it will.
Decades from now, when all nations will be already learning
the irrefutable facts that prove the Hellenic Genocide, as well
as the Armenian Genocide and the Assyrian Genocide, your brave
gesture will still be remembered as a very important one. The
New York State has taken the an exemplary step, which will certainly
be followed.
Many are already learning, for instance, that Smyrna was under
total control of the Turkish army for FIVE DAYS when they burned
it. George Horton,who was for 30 years Consul and Consul-General
of the USA in the Near East and an eyewitness of the Greek Genocide
described that:
"4. They set fire to the Armenian quarter on the thirteenth
of September 1922. The last Greek soldiers bad passed through
Smyrna on the evening of the eighth, that is to say, the Turks
had been in full, complete and undisputed possession of the
city for five days before the fire broke out and for much of
this time they had kept the Armenian quarter cut off by military
control while conducting a systematic and thorough massacre.
If any Armenians were still living in the localities at the
time the fires were lighted they were hiding in cellars too
terrified to move, for the whole town was overrun by Turkish
soldiers, especially the places where the fires were started.
In general, all the Christians of the city were keeping to their
houses in a state of extreme and justifiable terror for themselves
and their families, for the Turks had been in possession of
the city for five days, during which time they had been looting,
raping and killing. It was the burning of the houses of the
Christians, which drove them into the streets and caused the
fearful scenes of suffering which will be described later. Of
this state of affairs, I was an eye-witness."
The Blight of Asia
George Horton - 1926
http://www.greece.org/genocide/quotes/q-he-smyrna-burn-13d17h-start.html
The Turks continue their policy of extermination and persecution
until TODAY. We can see it in the occupied areas of Cyprus,
in Kurdistan and in Constantinople, Imvros and Tenedos.
For more than a century we have seen efforts to cover up the
crimes of the Turkish government. It's about time for the truth
to be known. Almost 80 years ago, US Consul General, George
Horton, described how the values and principles of the PEOPLE
of the USA, shared by all civilized nations, were ignored to
protect the interests of a few:
"In the course of this sad history, Christians were armed
against their hereditary oppressors and then left to the vengeance
of the latter. In general, they were abandoned, as no Christian
power desired to offend the Turk, from whom great benefits were
expected, to be in turn showered on the subjects of the power
that showed itself most Turkophile. The United States did not
abstain from this gruesome competition. In the beginning, interest
prompted the spread of what came to be a well-nigh universal
pro-Turk propaganda in Christian countries. When the fearful
death harvest of this sinister sowing began to be reaped, fear
of popular indignation and disapproval gave rise to a policy
of suppression of the truth and to anti-Christian propaganda."
The Blight of Asia
George Horton - 1926
http://www.greece.org/genocide/quotes/q-he-smyrna-burnt-agiosioannis4.html
"The Turks committed their fearful acts against the Christians
and humanity in general in the full conviction that they would
meet with no opposition nor even criticism from the United States.
They were led to this belief by a loud pro-Turk and anti-Christian
propaganda carried on in the American press by certain concession
hunters, and other interested writers."
The Blight of Asia
George Horton - 1926
http://www.greece.org/genocide/quotes/q-he-smyrna-burnt-uscons.html
It's inspiring to see that the Governor of one of the most
important States of the USA has the courage and honour to stand
by the truth. Only when the truth is known Justice can prevail
and only Justice will make peace possible to millions of persons
of several nations.
Thank you.
Roberto Lopes.
São Paulo, Brazil.
roblopes@uol.com.br
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