19
May
2026
Watch
Commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and Greeks in Pontos and Asia Minor (debate)
Mr President, today, on this black anniversary of 19 May, the day of remembrance of the Pontic Greek Genocide, I am once again tabling a resolution in the European Parliament and rest assured that I will table it every year until the just request is heard. So I ask all the Member States to do what they did for the Armenians, to recognize the genocide of the Pontians by the Turks, now. 353 000 souls are seeking justice. It wasn't just a tragedy. It was pure genocide. An organized extermination of the Pontians by the Ottoman state. Rivers with blood· children, women, elders· villages lost· voices that were never heard. Of course, it wasn't just the Pontians: over 1 200 000 Armenians, 250 000 Assyrians and 600 000 Greeks from Asia Minor were exterminated by the same regime. Three genocides, a common hand, a butcher, and today the European Union itself, which speaks of rights and European values, is still discussing Turkey's accession to it. If possible, we can include the murderous nation state that denies the genocides it committed, the butcher state, the Trojan horse that threatens the Christian character of the European Union. Because Turkey not only does not stop falsifying history, insulting our memory, but continues to threaten us and blackmail us today with the so-called blue homeland of the Aegean. The European Union not only pretends not to see but also cooperates normally with Islam through Turkey, Qatar and other countries hostile to our existence. Not any more. The Pontians do not seek vengeance. They seek recognition, justice, honor and, above all, historical truth. May the souls of the hundreds of thousands of their dead rest in peace. Make sure they have it. As long as we exist, their voice will not be extinguished. We do not forgive, we do not forget. Because no matter what Romania has gone through, it's booming and it's bringing more. He'll never die.