Constantinople




Jennings Honored in New York for Aid in Smyrna Holocaust, Descendants Give Testimony Jennings, an Upstate Methodist minister now buried in Oswego County, in 1922 helped organize ships that saved more than 300,000 people —mostly Greeks — who likely would have perished at the hands of theTurkish government. Among those saved were Arvantides’s and Bantuvanis’s mother and grandfather. “He helped all those people during the extermination and genocide in Turkey — he helped get the ships to Smyrna,” said Arvantides, who lives in Lysander and has a dental practice in Baldwinsville. His story was told during a special program on September 14th at his gravesite in Cleveland Village Cemetery, followed by a program and display at Cleveland United Methodist Church, with a speech by Jennings' grandson, Roger Jennings, of Queensbury, New York. Read full article.
Turkish Scholar Discusses Assyrian, Greek, and Armenian Genocide The following interview was conducted by Linda Abraham for the Assyrian Genocide Research Center. Altug Taner Akcam is one of the first Turkish scholars to openly acknowledge and discuss the reality of the Armenian Genocide. Professor Akcam's initial research topic was the history of political violence and torture in late Ottoman and early Republican Turkey. Since 1990, however, he has focused his attention on Turkish nationalism and the Armenian Genocide, with eleven books and numerous articles to his credit. Read entire interview with this scholar and his candid remarks on the violence out of which the modern Turkish republic was born.
Australian Women's Labor Conference Adopts Hellenic, Armenian and Assyrian Genocide Resolution in Landmark Action 15 May 2011 (Return to Anatolia Committee)--In a landmark resolution adopted by the National Women’s Labor Conference in Brisbane, Queensland last weekend, delegates resolved to ‘recognise the genocides of the Armenians, Hellenes and Assyrians from 1915 to 1923 is one of the greatest crimes against humanity’. In line with the conference theme - ‘Labor Women: Lead, Challenge, Inspire’ – delegates from Australian Labor Party branches all over the country also recognised the fact that the genocides of the Armenians, Hellenes and Assyrians are an integral part of the Australian story, where Australian women led, challenged and inspired others to follow. Read entire release.
A Pilgrimage to Asia Minor in October 2010--by Fr. Alexander G. Leondis During the first two weeks of October, I traveled to Asia Minor, modern day Turkey and the second Holy Land of Christianity, and visited my schoolmate and friend Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. This trip was and still is a reminder of the glorious past of our Orthodox Church and its promise of the magnificent future. . . . Our first experience was visiting the remarkable city of Cappadocia, appropriately considered a Wonder of the World. We had an earlier glimpse of it in Bob Simon’s “Sixty Minutes” which toured the area with Patriarch Bartholomew. (The video is available on the Archdiocese or Archons’ webpage.) Cappadocia in Caesarea is a fairy tale setting fashioned by the volcanic erosions, which formed chimney rocks for over ten thousand years. Within these formations are carved caves that are still decorated with fine Byzantine icons. Read entire article.
The Assyrian Genocide: a Product of Ottoman Jihad The Assyrian Genocide "was carried out in a true jihadist strategy, ethnically annihilating all the non-Muslim citizens living under the Ottoman occupation, with the objective of homogenizing Turkey with a notion of creating 'one-Nation' and 'one-Religion.' History provides us . . . with pure facts about when or where specific events have occurred. . . . Past genocides have to be known and condemned in order to prevent future genocides. It is a big mistake to think that a genocide lies in the past and should be forgotten. History is not about oblivion. It is about knowledge. It is about education. It is about the future. . . . . We Assyrians lost two thirds of our population in 1915. We were uprooted from our motherland. . . .Today we are struggling with our sheer existence. . . . How can we forget about all this?" Read entire speech by Sabri Atman and reproduced with permission from Assyrian International News Agency.
Hellenic League of America Announces 3rd Annual Greek Genocide Commemoration in NYC Hellenic League of America extends an invitation to the public to pay tribute to the victims of the Greek, Armenian and Assyrian Genocides outside the United Nations in Ralph Bunche Park in New York. This year’s commemoration is organized and hosted by Panthracian Union of America ‘Orpheus’ and supported by the Hellenic League of America, HLA, and will feature well-known keynote speakers. Read more.
Sweden Recognizes Assyrian, Greek, and Armenian Genocides Stockholm (AINA) --- In a resolution adopted today, the Swedish parliament (the Riksdagen) referered to the World War I-era killings of 2.75 million Armenians, Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) and Pontic Greeks by the Ottomans as a genocide. Turkey is regarded legally and politically as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire but vehemently rejects calling the killing genocide according to the U.N. definition adopted in 1948, insisting that those killed were victims of war and uprising. The Left Party's foreign policy spokesperson Hans Linde told The Local newspaper on Thursday that the time had come for Sweden to take a stand on the issue. "First, to learn from history and stop it from repeating and second, to encourage the development of democracy in Turkey, which includes dealing with its own history. The third reason," added Linde, "is to redress the wrongs committed against the victims and their relatives." Read entire article.
Armenian Genocide Resolution Passes US Congress Committee A resolution calling the World War I -era killing of Armenians genocide has narrowly passed a key committee of the U.S. Congress. Turkey has responded by recalling its ambassador from Washington for consultations. Over the objections of the Obama administration, the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee (4 March 2010) passed the nonbinding resolution by a vote of 23 to 22. The legislation declares that the killing of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire was genocide. Read entire article.
Mining Interests in Asia Minor 1920-1921 [PDF] By Stavros Stavridis This brief article lists four US Department of State documents showing the importance of the Arghana copper mine in Asia Minor. 1 Other mining areas mentioned were Tireboli on the BlackSea, Fatza and Ordou. These documents highlight French interests seeking economicconcessions in their sphere of influence in South East Anatolia. Read full article.
*Book Review for The Greek-Turkish War of 1919-23: An Australian Press Perspective* by Stavros Stavridis** This book describes different facets of the Greek-Turkish conflict through the eyes of two Melbourne newspapers: The Age and Argus. Australian forces had played a major part in the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East in the 1914-18 War. Although Australia had no direct involvement in the actual conflict between the Greeks and Turks from 1919-1923, the Colonial Office did provide the Australian government with some information on the events unfolding in Asia Minor. Throughout the period, Australia was trying to chart an ‘independent’ foreign policy within the framework of the British Empire. Australian Prime Minister W. M. Hughes wanted the Dominions to have some input into the foreign policy formulation of the British Empire. The Chanak crisis of September 1922 nearly brought Australia into direct conflict with the Kemalists following the defeat of the Greek army. Read more.
Assyrian Genocide Center Issues Statement on Sweden's Genocide Recognition (Assyrian International News Agency, 13 March 2010) Just 10 days ago that the United States House of Representatives' Committee on Foreign Affairs have voted on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The decision was upheld by just one vote majority. Yesterday, the Swedish Parliament had debated the motion to recognize the Assyrian, Armenian and, Greek genocide for long hours. Once again, the resolution was passed by one vote. The Turkish Government did not delay to take the expected stand. Soon after the decision became known, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Turkey Mr. Davutoglu, upon his direction recalled its Swedish Ambassador back to Turkey. Read more.
Documentary Filmmaker Apo Toposyan Produces "The Morgenthau Story" U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Sr. From 1913 to 1916, Henry Morgenthau served as U.S. Ambassador in Constantinople (today Istanbul in Turkey). During the Armenian Genocide, which started in April 1915, he appealed to the Turkish Ottoman leaders to stop the killings, without success. He quit his post in 1916, and returned to the United States. From the reports he received and forwarded to the U.S. Government, there are over 30,000 documents still existing in the Library of Congress. He was also the Chair of the Greek Resettlement Commission under the League of Nations in 1923. He ended up with great success with this post, resettling 1,250,000 displaced immigrants in Greece. Read more about film or how to purchase--click here.
Sweden Recognizes Assyrian, Greek, and Armenian Genocides In a resolution adopted today (11 March 2010), the Swedish parliament (the Riksdagen) referered to the World War I-era killings of 2.75 million Armenians, Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) and Pontic Greeks by the Ottomans as a genocide. Turkey is regarded legally and politically as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire but vehemently rejects calling the killing genocide according to the U.N. definition adopted in 1948, insisting that those killed were victims of war and uprising. Read more.
New York Life Donates $1,000,000 for the Study of Hellenism in Asia Minor New York Life Insurance Company presented Archbishop Demetrios with a one million dollars donation, last Friday Jan. 9, for the establishment of the New York Life Center for the Study of Hellenism in Pontus and Asia Minor at Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of Theology, the Archdiocesan institution of higher learning and scholarship in Brookline, Mass. This donation is part of New York Life’s outreach program to the heirs of Greek policyholders in the Ottoman Empire. Read entire press release.
Obama Prostitutes Freedom and Truth in Turkey By Ioannis Fidanakis, Hellenic League of America, April 2009 It was in the course of one his first forays through the Levant and Iraq that Mr. Obama found himself in Angora. . . and Constantinople. . . to address a crowd of Turkish leaders with his venal lectures and actions on April 6, 2009. . . .President Barack Obama, before the entire world, demonstrated the ideological side his administration would ally itself with. Mr. Obama chose Kemalism, his actions and words that day, reeked of anti-Hellenic symbolism. Symbolically choosing the date of the Pan-Hellenic and international day of remembrance for the Genocide of Thracian Hellenism, Mr. Obama first embarked on an official visit to the tomb of Mustafa Kemal, the butcher of Anatolia, a man who ruthlessly organized and executed a government policy of extermination towards millions of indigenous Hellenes, Armenians, and Assyrians. An act, which had it been the tomb of “Adolf Hitler”, would have caused huge backlash in the West. Read entire article.
The Fall of Constantinople and the Final Tragedy of our Times By Theodoros Karakostas The Eastern Roman Empire (known as Byzantium, or the Byzantine Empire) had been in decline for at least three centuries before the final blow of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror destroyed it on the dreadful Tuesday of 29 May 1453. Intrigue and various civil wars contributed to the further demise of the Christian Empire even following the two devastating blows that occurred in 1071 and 1204 respectively. In 1071, the Seljuk Turks invaded Anatolia and defeated the armies of Christian Emperor Romanus Diogenes, who had been betrayed by his Generals. Such lack of unity and vision on the part of the Greeks would be repeated again in 1920 when another great man who sought to restore the nation to its past glory would likewise be undermined. Read entire article.
History Through Song: The Impact of Rembetika on Greek Music by Stephen Brothwell, Athens News Following the Asia Minor Catastrophe, Greece was forced to accept the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne. The consequences of the new peace terms were considerable. Through its lyrics and musical style, rembetika - which has its own tradition of metre and linguistic style typical to the Near East and Smyrna - served to reflect the changing status of the dispossessed. In imposing itself upon Greece, it impacted everyone. Just two decades on, it was able to symbolize the spirit of Greek resistance during the Second World War. Read entire article [original title "History Through Song"].
Constantinople Massacre August 26-27, 1896: Australian Church Reaction by Stavros T. Stavridis and Vahe G. Kateb This short article outlines the seizure of the Imperial Ottoman Bank by the Armenian Dashnaktsutiun (or Dashnaks) in August 1896 to draw the attention of the Great European powers of the failure of Sultan Abdul II to implement administrative reforms in the Eastern Vilayets of the Ottoman Empire. The slaughter of Armenians that followed in Constantinople was discussed by the Presbyterian Church in Colonial Victoria (Australia). As it will be seen, the actions of the Dashnaks and massacre that followed in Constantinople certainly drew the attention and ire of the Church. Read more.
Istanbul's Greek Chic By Alex Penman, Athens News It is a first in the history of the Turkish Republic. For three days in June and July, Constantinopolitan Greeks gathered from around the world to talk about the city's dwindling community. And the news was encouraging. Read more.
May 29, 1453: The Fall of Constantinople by Dionysios Hatzopoulos When, at the age of twenty-one, Mehmed II (1451-1481) sat on the throne of the Ottoman Sultans his first thoughts turned to Constantinople. The capital was all that was left from the mighty Christian Roman Empire and its presence. To give the final blow to the half-dead body of the Byzantine Empire, he had to move fast. He was so much preoccupied by his project of conquest that, according to the contemporary Greek historian Michael Dukas, his mind was occupied by it day and night. Read entire article.
Petros Tatanis: Concern for the "Patrida" by Stavros T. Stavrides Petros P. Tatanis, the publisher of the Greek American newspaper National Herald (Ethnikos Kyrix), sent an interesting telegram to US President Warren Harding on October 7, 1922 regarding the plight of the Christian population in Eastern Thrace. This telegram is best understood within the context of the Mudania conference taking place in early October 1922 between Allied Generals and Kemalists establishing armistice terms between the Greek and Turkish armies. The Mudania convention eventually paved the way for the Lausanne peace conference held in late November 1922 – February 1923 and resuming again in April – July 1923 Click here for entire article.
Andreades' "Mission" to America: Political Questions 1919--Part One by Stavros T. Stavrides A correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor interviewed Professor A.Andreades in early May 1919 in New York. The interview was published in four instalments on May 2, 3, 6 and 7, respectively. The first two articles dealing with Greek diplomacy and the others discussing financial and economic matters. The information provided by Andreades is placed within the context of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Click here to read full article.
Book Release for The Mechanism of Catastrophe: The Turkish Pogrom of September 6-7, 1955, and the Destruction of the Greek Community of Istanbul by Dr. Speros Vryonis On the night of September 6-7, 1955, the Greek community of Istanbul was violently struck thoughhout the expanse of Turkey's most important metropolis. Within a matter of hours, businesses, homes, and even the churches of the Greeks were in ruins, with the British press calculating the damage at 100 million Britsh pounds. It was the beginning of the end for the ethnic descendants of the city's founders, who had first settled this eastern tip of Europe over two and a half millennia earlier. Click here to read more about this monumental and critically important work.
Do Any Life Insurance Companies Owe Greeks or Greek-Americans Death Benefits? Are there U.S. or European insurance companies that owe monies to relatives of those whom the Turks killed during the 1922 Smyrna and Asia Minor holocaust? This year, Martin Marootian was among 12 plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit to reach a tentative $20 million settlement with New York Life. Marootian, 88, had hoped that the agreement, thought to be the first in connection with the often disputed massacre and open to claims from survivors worldwide, would bring more recognition to a catastrophe that hasn't been acknowledged by the federal government of the United States. Click here to read entire release.
Proclamation on Genocides Issued by New York Governor George Pataki Gov. Pataki issued a formal proclamation on Sunday, October 6, 2002 in commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe and presented it to the Holocaust Memorial Observance Committee of Asia Minor. Click here to read the full text of the proclamation.
American Hellenic Institute (AHI) Hosts Noon Forum on the 50th Commemoration of Turkey's Pogrom of September 1955 and the Destruction of the Greek Community of Istanbul AHI President Gene Rossides details the origin of the Cyprus invasion and occupation by Turkey within the wider sphere of international politics involving Britain. Through instigation by the U.K., Turkey reversed her decision not to become involved in the Cypriot independence movement and incited and staged widespread destructive riots in Istanbul during 1955. The result was the near decimation of a once significant Christian minority, causing millions of dollars of irreparable damage to homes, businesses, and churches. Click here to read the full text of this speech by AHI founder, president, and former Assistant to the U.S. Treasurer, attorney Gene Rossides.
Nicephorus Bryennius and Anna Comnena: The "Roman" Xenophon and Thucydides of Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Constantinople By John C. Rouman, Ph.D. In a speech delivered at The Greek Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, Prof. Emeritus Rouman described the general rise of the Byzantine, or New Roman Empire, setting the scene for the ascension to power of Alexios I Comnenos. He reviewed some of the highlights of the reign of Alexios I, citing the works of historians contemporary with the astute ruler: the Caesar Nicephorus Bryennius, Alexius' son-in-law, and Anna Comnena, the daughter of Alexius and the widow of Bryennius. Click here to read more.
The Atmeidan or Hippodrome in Constantinople By Jason C. Mavrovitis Author Mavrovitis offers an overview of the history of the atmeidan or hippodrome of Constantinople from its inception in classical times through its renovation in the early Byzantine era and its status up through the Fall of the city. His use of antique steel engravings and vintage postcards and ephemera enhances the article and provides an interesting visual frame of reference for viewers. Click here to read entire article.
Istanbul Greeks Seek Justice in Land Claims By George Gilson of the Athens News Turkey is trying to bring its laws on minorities in tune with those of the EU, but ethnic Greeks living in the capital say they are victimized through unfair land expropriations. Vartholomaios, ecumenical patriarch and archbishop of Constantinople, is wont to call the 2,000-strong Greek community of Istanbul a "drop in the ocean". Shrunken and scarred by the violent vicissitudes of Greek-Turkish relations over the decades, that drop is now in danger of evaporating. Despite reforms for the protection of minorities intended to bring Turkey in line with European Union law, the leaders of Istanbul's Greek community are struggling for basic rights. That includes establishing the legal grounds to claim back around 400 pieces of prime Istanbul real estate gradually confiscated by the Turkish state since 1974. "The confiscated property was certainly worth billions of dollars. We are talking about entire apartment buildings and tracts of city land that produced significant revenues," says Vasslis Kalamaris, an attorney. Click here to read more.
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