May 15, 2017--- The Canadian Hellenic Congress welcomes the decision of the City of Montreal Municipal Council to pass a motion to recognise the Greek Pontic Genocide and to honour the memory of the men, women and children who died. At its May 15th meeting, the Municipal Council unanimously voted on the recognition and designated May 19th as Remembrance Day in the City of Montreal. The Greek Pontic Genocide, together with those of the Armenians and Assyrians, were the first genocides of the 20th century. “The Greek Pontic Genocide is one of the darkest moments in mankind’s history and one of the heinous crimes against humanity. This heinous crime was the precursor to the Holocaust committed by the Nazis against Jews, Roma and other peoples during the Second World War”, stated Dr. Theodore Halatsis, President of the Canadian Hellenic Congress. Between 1914 and 1922, more than a million Hellenes were systematically exterminated on orders of the Ottoman and the Kemalist governments through slaughter by Ottoman troops and paramilitaries, deportations involving death marches, starvation in labour and concentration camps, rapes and individual killing. “The City of Montreal Municipal Council decision is historic for the Hellenic community. It serves as a reminder to all of us here in Quebec and in Canada, and to the generations to come, of this brutal and heinous crime against our Greek ancestors and humanity”, Dr. Halatsis added. The Canadian Hellenic Congress and its Quebec Regional Council thank Mayor Denis Coderre, Deputy Mayor Mary Deros, Pierrefonds-Roxboro Borough Mayor Dimitrios (Jim) Beis, LaSalle Borough Mayor Manon Barbe and all the members of the Montreal Municipal Council for taking this important and historic decision.
For further information about this event, please contact: Costas Pappas Vice-President, Governmental and Public Affairs Canadian Hellenic Congress pappasc@hotmail.com / 905-617-1599