Annual Academic Conference on the Asia Minor Catastrophe

The Hellenic League of America, HLA is proud to announce this year’s annual Academic Conference on the Asia Minor Catastrophe, hosted by the Pontian Greek Society of Chicago, on Saturday November 7th, 2009. The event, which is co-sponsored by the Pan-Pontian Federation of USA & Canada, the Hellenic Link-Midwest and the Federation of Hellenic American Organizations ‘Enosis’, will focus on the experiences of Ottoman Hellenes living in Asia Minor, Pontos, and Eastern Thrace during the Hellenic Genocide. A follow-up to last year’s Conference, which addressed several important issues dealing with the struggle for recognition of our Genocide. For more information concerning this year’s conference please visit the Pontian Greek Society of Chicago’s web site [http://ww.pontiangreeks.org]

Conference registration documents and program and the letter from the Pan-Pontian Federation USA , can also be downloaded from the HLA homepage, please see URL link at the very top above for online copy of this press release.

This year’s panel will be moderated by the Director of the Zoryan Institute of Toronto Canada, Mr. George Shirinian. It will feature such known academics as Dr. Taner Akcam, from Clark University presenting on ‘The Greek Deportations and Massacres of 1913-1914 a Trial Run for the Armenian Genocide’. Also joining the conference will be Dr. Constantine Hatzidimitriou from St. Johns University presenting on ‘Official and Unofficial American Reactions to the Asia Minor ‘Catastrophe’, what the documentary evidence reveals”. Danish Historian and researcher Matthias Bjornlund will present on ‘The persecution of Greeks and Armenians in Smyrna, 1914-16: A special case in the course of the late Ottoman genocides’. From Haverford College, Dr. Alexander Kitroeff will be presenting on ‘The plight of the Greek refugees after the break-up of the Ottoman Empire’. And also from Purdue University Dr. Van Coufoudakis will be presenting on ‘Turkey’s deliberate and systematic violations of International agreements since 1923’.

We, at the Hellenic League of America, HLA would like to encourage all those able to attend the conference to please support the Pontian Greek Society of Chicago in their efforts to help produce the needed academic discussions and published material concerning the Hellenic Genocide. Only united can we as a people find justice and International recognition for the injustice suffered by all our ancestors from Eastern Thrace, Asia Minor and Pontos.

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