Turkish Ambassador to EU Responds to Latinpoulos on Pontic Genocide Allegations

In a strongly-worded response to Afroditi Latinpoulou, President of the ‘Voice of Reason’ party, the Turkish ambassador to the European Union, Faruk Kaymakci, has challenged claims regarding the genocide of the Pontic Greeks. The ambassador’s letter criticizes statements made by Latinpoulou concerning May 19th and the 353,000 victims of the Pontic Greek genocide. In his response, Kaymakci accuses Greece of involvement in a violent invasion campaign in Anatolia in 1919, attributing atrocities to the invading Greek army and local Greek forces. He argues that these events have been misrepresented historically and insists that Greece ultimately admitted guilt and paid reparations under the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Furthermore, the ambassador emphasizes the need for historical incidents to be studied objectively by scholars rather than exploited politically. According to him, the term ‘genocide’ should not be used loosely but must meet specific legal criteria as defined by international law.