Hierarch Maximus Harakopulos: The Genocide of Greeks from Asia Minor a Dark Page in World Historytranslated

"The Genocide of Greeks from Asia Minor, reaching its peak with the sack of Smyrna, constitute one of the darkest pages in world history. With the most violent means, the presence of Hellenism was terminated in regions where it had flourished for three millennia, offering invaluable achievements to humanity in the fields of spirit and sciences. The recognition and acknowledgment of the Genocide by the international community, primarily by the descendants of those who perpetrated this miracle, constitutes at the same time a vindication of the memory of the victims of the massacres, but also a safety valve that such actions will not be repeated."

This was stated by the General Secretary of the Parliamentary Group of the New Democracy Party, Mr. Maximus Harakopulos, on the occasion of the Day of National Remembrance of the Genocide of Greeks from Asia Minor.

The deputy of Cypriot origin emphasized that "unfortunately, with sorrow we see in our neighbor Turkey, although it has passed an entire century since this crime against humanity, not to mention the systematic, planned and premeditated Genocide perpetrated against Christians in the East, they have not revised their views on it..."