P
r o c l a m a t i o n
Whereas, the Empire State is home to
many ethnic communities whose members benefit from the freedom
and democracy upon which our Nation was founded; as a global
leader in many areas of basic human and social rights, New York
State has a prominent role in acknowledging events in history
-- many of them tragic and distressing -- that teach valuable
lessons from which our greater society benefits; such events
are the destruction of the city of Smyrna and the Genocide of
the Greeks of Pontus and Asia Minor, tragedies that took the
lives of hundreds of thousands of Greek civilians during World
War I; and
Whereas, these Greeks,
whose ancestors had lived in communities along present-day northern
Turkey near the Black Sea for three millennia, were singled
out by the Turkish authorities for expulsion from their ancestral
lands along with Armenians and Assyrians; from 1915-1923, Greeks
of Asia Minor endured immeasurable cruelty during a Turkish
Government-sanctioned systematic campaign to displace them;
destroying Greek towns and villages and slaughtering additional
hundreds of thousands of civilians in areas where Greeks composed
a majority, as on the Black Sea coast, Pontus, and areas around
Smyrna; those who survived were exiled from Turkey and today
they and their descendants live throughout the Greek diaspora;
and
Whereas, in 1922, Smyrna,
the largest city in Asia Minor called "the jewel of the
Mediterranean", a cosmopolitan hub populated by a highly
educated Greek community and flourishing commercial and middle-classes,
was sacked and burned and its inhabitants massacred by the Turkish
forces; the pier of Smyrna became a scene of final desperation
as the approaching flames forced many thousands to jump to their
death, rather than be consumed by flame; George Horton, the
Consul General of the United States in Smyrna at the time of
the catastrophe, is quoted as saying, "...the destruction
of Smyrna happened, however, in 1922, and no act ever perpetrated
by the Turkish race in all its bloodstained history has been
characterized by more brutal and lustful features, nor more
productive of the worst of human sufferings inflicted on the
defenseless and unarmed. It was a fittingly lurid and Satanic
finale to the whole dreadful tragedy..."; and
Whereas, it is believed
by many that acknowledgment and awareness of this shameful event
will not only teach future generations, but also will help mankind
prevent such crimes from being repeated; this concept is particularly
important as our State works to instill in youth, a universal
respect for other cultures, races, religions and viewpoints;
and
Whereas, it is fitting that all freedom-loving
people worldwide and New Yorkers alike, share in the solemn
commemoration of the of Great Catastophe of Asia Minor of 1915-23,
and join with the Greek-American community and its many religious,
communal and philanthropic organizations as they honor the sacrifices
and memory of their noble ancestors;
Now, Therefore, I, George E. Pataki,
Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim October
6th, 2002 as the 80th Anniversary of the Commemoration of the
Burning of Smyrna and the Persecution of the Greeks of Asia
Minor in the Empire State.
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