Dear Sir,
I would like to express my disappointment to your action of equating the
victims with the aggressors, i.e. the innocent victims of the Asia Minor
catastrophe and the Turkish aggressors that inflicted a genocide on the
Christian populations of the Asia Minor area. It extremely unfortunate and
ironic to put in the same fate the approximately 1.4 million Greeks
slaughtered by the Turkish Military/Para military and irregulars with the
Turks that died at the same time. The slaughter of the Greek population was
systematic and a pre-planned genocide as explained by another of your fellow
Americans, an ex-ambassador to Turkey, Mr. [George] Horton that published a
book on this matter, called the "Blight of Asia". The title of the books
speaks for itself and I would recommend to you to read it carefully.
I have included some extracts from another book, the "1922 - the Black
Bible" written by Yannis P. Kapsis and published by Nea Synora - A. A.
Libani, Athens 1992. Take a couple of minutes to read through them and read
the horrific acts that the Turkish state inflicted on the Greek population
of Asia Minor and Black Sea.
The book starts with the following testimony, which is the prologue of the
book.
THE VICTIM
". My name is Sofia Nikolaou (Mrs). I am from Ibrindi of Asia Minor . we
had escaped with my husband, my son Manolaki, 8 years old, at the wind mill
of Gkiukan-Gkiorkes . suddenly we saw Turkish villagers coming our way. The
surrounded the wind mill and started shouting at us . they broke down the
door and run toward us . in front of the eyes of my son and husband I was
raped numerous times. They then murdered my little child and cut to pieces
my husband. They took his insides out and made me eat it. They shouted at
me that if I didn't eat them I would be killed too. At that moment gun fire
started, some other Turks were shooting in the air to warn those inside that
the Greek Army was coming . the Regiment of Mpalouk-Keser happened to be
passing from our area and I was saved by the Greek soldiers and officers
that all saw what happened . I was taken with them and saved."
Mr Ioannis Koumoglou - Thessaloniki 4th November 1922
"My name is Ioannis Koumoglou born at the village of Tomazi in Smyrni
(Izmir), shopkeeper by profession and I am a Christian Orthodox, age 64. I
use to live in the village of Tomazi which is 15 minutes away from Smyrni .
Around 10 o'clock in the morning on the day that Smyrni was taken, I saw
with my own eyes Kemal's army entering the city, not paramilitary troops but
ordinary troops. I went towards my wife and daughters and took them down to
the sea side in order to run away. I went to my house to take some things
that we needed but when I arrived at the village the troops were starting
the destruction. I saw them killing my neighbors Georgio Roumelioti,
Dimitri Tziozelio and his wife Rallio, his graundaughter Xaralambina and two
Greek soldiers that he had hidden in his house.
Further down I saw them killing another neighbor of mine, Diamantis, I
cannot remember his surname at this moment, his wife Eleni and his daughter
Marina. I saw them killing an old lady called Antonitsa Karaxaliou and many
other of my friends. As I was leaving the village I saw them cutting the
neck of my cousin, Nikolaos, that they had robbed earlier on. I managed to
escape to Kordelio, on the way I saw Kemal's Troops killing 4 shepherds . I
also saw them killing Georagaki Mpegiamin Pantazi and two more people I did
not know. At Kordelio my niece Katina Tsixli, 50 years old told me that
Turkish soldiers had rapped her three daughters.
(at this point the person writing the testimony notes: "The witness started
crying", and the testimony continues)
I stayed 15 days in Smyrni, after the city was taken by the Turkish Army.
Except the murders I mentioned above, I saw even more while I saw there, but
I cannot remember the names of the people I saw being killed. Every day the
sea washed ashore the bodies of Christians that had been slaughtered.
Seeing that the remaining Christians that were still alive were taken
towards inland Turkey by the Turkish Army. I decided to leave once again,
leaving behind all my property. A life's hard work had been looted by the
Turkish Army.
At the jetty of Pountas, where a lot of us had gathered, the Turks took even
the few stuff we had with us. I have no idea what would have happened to us
if the American Soldiers had not come to our rescue, something for which I
am grateful for. I must also say that I saw with my own eyes Israeli people
leading the Turkish Army. The Armenians were their primary target, they
were throwing grenades and petrol to the Armenian and Greek areas of Smyrni,
and later they said that the Armenians did it. For the 15 days I was in
Smyrni the murders and slaughter went on with the same intensity."
Mr Torens Reymon Mormen - Thessaloniki 9th of November 1922
"Mr. Torens Reymon Mormen born at Missouri of the USA. He is an American
citizen, and lives at the city of Aplen 9 in California. He lived in Smyrni
from October 1921 as a professor of Music of the International College of
Paradise of Smyrni, 23 years of age.
In Smyrni, after the Greek Army retreated, I was asked by Mr. Stergiadou
(the Greek Governor of Smyrni), to protect under the American Flag the
orphans of Mpairakli Trapkoi Mpoutza, 3 Greek orphanage Institutes. I
accepted immediately. I was in the area of Mpoutza when I saw 10.000
Turkish soldiers with their officers, and behind them thousands of Turkish
villagers and paramilitary soldiers, that started looting all the Greek and
Armenian houses.
On the 10th of September my self and my Greek translator, Panagiotis
Papadopoulos while we were inside the Mpoutza Institute we saw 1 Turkish
sergeant and four Turkish soldiers taking 3 priests that were in a state of
sock and shouting. I asked the sergeant where he is taking the priests and
he answered that they are taken to be interrogated . I did not believe him,
for the simple reason that the direction to which they were being taken,
there were no government offices, and I believed they were taken to be
killed.
In the Mpoutza orphanage where we were, 200 Greek women and children had
taken refuge , from the area of Mpoutza and Sevkikioi. Turkish soldiers and
a Major and two lower raking officers came to me and demanded that I
surrendered the 200 women and children to them. I said that I would do no
such thing. They promised to me in their honor that they would in no way
harm them and that they would be left free to leave if they wished so. I
believed their promise and I left them to take the women and children. They
were taken to the Turkish command center, with them I send my Greek
translator. But when he returned to me he told me in shock that all of the
200 women and children were beaten and tortured, and he watched unable to do
anything until he could take no more. Afterwards while walking through the
streets of the city I saw a lot of the bodies of Christians, between those
bodies I recognized the bodies of two Dutch people I knew, they were
slaughtered inside the Anglican Church by the Turks.
As far as the big fire is concerned, the one blamed on the Armenians, this
does not make sense as it is strange that it was set by them in their own
homes! I saw with my own eyes Turkish soldiers and Turkish citizens robbing
American homes. These Americans had already fled their homes as they knew
what would happen to them if the remained in their homes. An English man,
Alexander Maklaklin, Head Teacher of the American College of Smyrni, was
wounded. I saw with my own eyes Christian women being chased and their
dresses torn. Even Kemal Ataturk came in the orphanage and assured
everybody not to be scared . but all of the above took part even though he
promised they would not happen! Extreme savagery was used by the Turkish
Troops while I was present in Smyrni."
Mrs Eleni Kostantinidou
"Mrs Eleni Kostantinidou is from Mpali Keser of Asia Minor. When the Greek
Army started retreating we left with them, me my husband Georgios, my
daughter Elissavet 16 years of age, my son Nikolaos 13 years of age and my
little baby which I had in my arms. We followed the Greek Army on foot as
there were no other means of transport. We were left behind around 30
minutes soon the "savages" were around us, Turkish Villagers and
Paramilitary troops. We were arrested, they tore all the cloths off my
husband and my little son and soon killed him. They then removed my little
baby off my hands and cut it to pieces . then both me and my daughter were
raped. We were freed by a man called Petesis Tsitmes, and we managed to
arrive at Kiouvkermes where the Greek Army had stopped. We were then taken
to Aktsoi and from there to the Greek island of Mytilene where the doctor
Giorgios Kalipolitis took care of us."
The above testimonies are a small drop to the ocean of testimonies that
people of Greek and other descent (English, French, American etc.) gave to
many researchers, historians, government agencies, embassies, consulates and
other organizations. Any American library is full of such books on the
Greek, Armenian and Kurdish genocides by the Turkish State.
You simply cannot ignore these facts. Please retract your proclamation!
Best regards,
Christos Sideris
BSc, MSc
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Email: csideris@egnatia.ee.auth.gr and csideris@otenet.gr
WWW: http://www.real.macedonia.gr
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