STATE
OF NEW YORK
EXECUTIVE
CHAMBER
GEORGE
E. PATAKI, GOVERNOR
The following proclamation was
issued by Governor of New York State, George E. Pataki, in commemoration
of the 80th Anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastophe presented to the
Holocaust Memorial Observance Committee of Asia Minor on Sunday, October
6, 2002.
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.