To the sounds of the Pontian lyre, the «Flame of Memory» for the Genocide of the Pontian Hellenism was lit in Aghia Sophia Square in the centre of Thessaloniki, to mark the 104th anniversary of the massacre and uprooting of the Greeks of Pontos.
The event was organized by the municipality of Thessaloniki at the site of the Monument of the Genocide of Pontian Hellenism, as part of the anniversary action of the «Network of Cities with communities of descendants of Greeks of the East’ of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE).
The flame was lit by Mayor Konstantinos Zervas, who said that May 19 is for all Greeks «a very heavy day, a day that we remember, that we commemorate the 353,000 Greeks of Pontus who were massacred».
Mr.Zervas added that «in refugee-stricken Thessaloniki, the Pontian lyre has never stopped playing, the songs have never stopped, but also the lamentations for all those who lost their homelands, for all those who lost their own people» and concluded that it is the duty of the flame that was lit today «to be constantly lit until the final vindication in all lengths and widths of the sea. There must be recognition. We will fight until that day.».
For her part, the deputy regional governor of Thessaloniki, Voula Patoulidou, stressed that «we must remember and honour the unjust dead, because only in this way, perhaps, humanity can remain vigilant and avoid such atrocities in the present and in the future».
During the event, the president of the Pontian Associations of Thessaloniki Pavlos Galegalidis said that the State «must include the promotion of the Genocide in its central agenda» and suggested that a central monument to commemorate the Genocide be created in every city of the country.
After the lighting of the flame, a minute's silence was observed in memory of the thousands of victims of the Genocide, and then the participants left red carnations at the site of the monument.
