Gov't on Turkish reactions to Pontian genocide monument

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Gov't on Turkish reactions to Pontian genocide monument
ATHENS, 13/5/2006 (ANA/MPA)

The Greek government on Friday commented that "history cannot be rewritten" in response to Turkish reactions regarding a monument raised in Thessaloniki to commemorate the genocide of the Greeks of Pontus, a region along the shores of the Black Sea.

Alternate government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros also underlined that Greece was a democratic open society, with freedom of _expression, when asked if the issue had been raised during a meeting the same day between Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"That is not, in any case the issue. What is desired in Greek-Turkish relations is to make use of the opportunities given by Turkey's European prospects so that our two countries can jointly build the future for the benefit of our people and the region," he added.

During the meeting, Erdogan noted that there was sensitivity over these issues in his country.

Thessaloniki Mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos, on his part, said he was troubled by the sudden vehemence of Turkish reactions to the decision, which he stressed had not been secret, and suggested that domestic politics might be behind them.

Two days earlier, Izmir Mayor Aziz Cocaoglu said that he was indefinitely postponing the signature of a twinning protocol with Thessaloniki because of the monument, while Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Friday told the Turkish news agency Anadolu that Izmir's mayor had made the right decision.

"Initiatives of this sort offer nothing to anyone. For this reason, the other side should have avoided such initiatives," he said, while noting that Greek-Turkish relations had positive progress.

Gul also announced plans to erect a monument to the fallen of the Asia Minor war in Turkish Thrace.

According to Papageorgopoulos, Izmir had never before raised problems over the monument while it was also the first time that Turkey had reacted so strongly since the Greek Parliament unanimously recognized the Pontian Greeks genocide in 1994.

"It was a strong reaction that cannot be easily explained," Thessaloniki's mayor noted, while expressing confidence that the twinning protocol would go ahead once things calmed down and underlined that Thessaloniki "again extends a hand in friendship and cooperation to the Turkish people".

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