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Action Alert - THANK GOV. PATAKI FOR COMMEMORATING TURKEY'S DESTRUCTION OF THE GREEK, ARMENIAN, AND ASSYRIAN COMMUN Counter the Ankara-based Email Campaign Targeting the Governor for his Strong Stand on Human Rights Current Status In response to this principled stand, the Turkish government has launched an Ankara-based email campaign to flood the Governor's office with protests. Last Updated: 10/10/02 1) Click here to write to Governor Pataki by using the WebForm
on his website. 2) Call the Governor's Citizen's Assistance Office at (518) 474-1041 to express your appreciation. PLEASE ASK THAT YOUR COMMENTS BE RECORDED. This will help to ensure that your opinion contributes to the permanent record of positive responses towards the Governor's proclamation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wanted to commend your leadership in marking the 80th anniversary of the burning of Smyrna and persecution of the Greeks of Asia Minor. My family and I value your tireless efforts to help prevent future atrocities by commemorating past crimes against humanity. We stand with you in support of the universal values of human rights and tolerance that you have so effectively championed during your tenure as Governor. I was especially pleased to learn that the Armenian National Committee of New York has endorsed your reelection campaign and will do everything in my power to educate others in my community about your exemplary record. Thank you once again for your leadership for human rights. Sincerely, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STATE OF NEW YORK FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The following proclamation was issued by Governor of New York State,
George E. Pataki, in commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the
Asia Minor Catastrophe presented to the Holocaust Memorial Observance
Committee of Asia Minor on Sunday, October 6, 2002. Proclamation 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 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. |
