19 May 1919 is a sacred date signifying the start of our nation’s struggle for its survival under the leadership of Great Leader, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye. This unprecedented liberation war has taken its place in history as a lesson that Greece, who dared to invade Anatolia with the support of the then Imperialist Powers, should never forget.

We consider it a futile attempt to target this special day, that marks the beginning of our War of Independence, through the baseless “Pontian” allegations of certain radical groups against our history, activities that are fomenting hatred against Turkish nation, and statements by some Greek politicians distorting historical facts.

We remind those who target our country with unfounded claims and statements of the fact that the Treaty of Lausanne established the responsibility of Greece for the atrocities committed during the bloody invasion of Anatolia by the occupying Greek army, in violation of the laws of war, and that Greece was ordered to pay compensation for them.

We call on those politicians, who still continue to employ such tools as deception, distortion, fabrication, lies and inversion of the truth, to get over their Turkophobic hysteria and face their dark history instead.

We strongly recommend all circles in Greece to adopt a vision that will foster an environment of peace and cooperation, instead of pursuing their provocative rhetoric and actions.