The sacrifice of the Greeks of Pontus "leaves as its legacy the struggle against all forms of violence," President of the Hellenic Republic Constantine Tassoulas said on Monday, in his message for the Pontic Greek Genocide Remembrance Day observed each year on May 19.
"Today, the day of remembrance of the Genocide of the Greeks of Pontus, we honour with respect the hundreds of thousands of victims who were persecuted, massacred, uprooted from their ancestral homes, and perished in the martyrdom marches of death in Anatolia, during the Ottoman Empire. We commemorate with sorrow the unspeakable trials of one of the most dynamic parts of Hellenism with its unique culture, which flourished for centuries on the coasts and in the hinterland of Pontus," Tassoulas said.
"By establishing - more than three decades ago, on March 11, 1994 - May 19 as the day of remembrance of the Pontic Genocide, the Hellenic Parliament fulfilled a duty not only to our fellow countrymen - the descendants of those innocent survivors who sought refuge in their motherland, so that they could then contribute, with their unwavering energy, tireless mental vigor and millennial values, to the construction of modern Greece - but also to History," he added.
The president noted that, 106 years after the beginning of the final stage of the extermination of Pontic Greeks, "it is the duty of all of us towards our history to keep alive the memory of the tragic victims of this atrocity."
"The international recognition of the genocide of the Pontic Greeks constitutes the minimum tribute to the lives of these people and a contribution to efforts to prevent the recurrence of similar heinous crimes in the future.
"The sacrifice of the Pontic Greeks leaves us as its legacy the struggle to combat all forms of violence, discrimination and intolerance and to promote peaceful coexistence and cooperation among peoples," he concluded.

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Pontic Greek genocide must not be forgotten, PM Mitsotakis stresses in remembrance day message