Thracian Genocide

Letter To Ioannis Fidanakis                                                              April 5, 2009

President, Panthracian Union of America “Orpheus”

E-mail: Panthracian@yahoo.com

            On behalf of the membership of the Asia Minor Hellenic American Society, or AMHAS, I wish to commend the Panthracian Union of America “Orpheus” and the other participants at the public commemoration of the Greek Genocide being held in Ralph J Bunche Park in New York City on April 6, 2009. The 800 members of AMHAS stand in solidarity with our Thracian cousins. Although geographically separated by the narrow straits of the Bosporus and Dardanelles, the Thracians and Anatolians share a common culture and are tragically linked by a history of repression and persecution at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.

            AMHAS is an international organization of people of Hellenic descent who trace their origins to Asia Minor. Established fifteen years ago, AMHAS is committed to correcting the historical record, which the Turkish government has successfully falsified for almost a century. This distortion of history benefits only the agents of intolerance and repression. It violates the memory of the innocent victims of Ottoman and Turkish repression, who were brutalized by murder and rape, by massacre and the death march.

            These barbaric acts of the Ottoman Turks of Istanbul have been compounded by a century of denial and false claims of self-justification by their successors, the government of the Republic of Turkey in Ankara. The death of millions of innocent victims was not merely the “collateral damage” of unfortunates enmeshed in a theater of war but, the intentional and systematic eradication of a segment of the population by the leaders of the Ottoman Empire.

• We demand that the Turkish government acknowledge its responsibility in these crimes.
• We condemn the century of denial and distortion of the historical record by the Turkish government.
• We call for an end to the criminalization by the Turkish government of the questioning of the historical record. We welcome an honest and balanced reevaluation of history and the acknowledgement of crimes committed by any of the combatants involved in the conflict.

            AMHAS applauds the efforts of the Panthracian Union of America “Orpheus.” AMHAS reaffirms its commitment to stand with the Thracians and other victims in the common fight against abuse of power and the struggle for long-delayed justice.

William H. Samonides, Ph.D.

President, Asia Minor Hellenic American Society (AMHAS)