Photo taken with Bodrum Mayor 'disturbs' Pontian Greeks: They insulted Atatürk!
A photo taken in the office of Bodrum Mayor Tamer Mandalinci (CHP) with the mayor of the island of Kos has caused a crisis. The head of the Pontian Greek Association of Kos made statements targeting Atatürk.
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Mayor Theodosis Nikitaras, who came to Bodrum as part of the 5th Two Shores Culture and Friendship Festival jointly organized by Muğla's Bodrum district and the neighboring island of Kos, and visited CHP Mayor Tamer Mandalinci in his office, was subjected to a smear campaign following a statement made by the administrators of the Pontian Greek Association of Kos on the island.
According to the report by Yaşar Anter from Sözcü; the souvenir photo taken in the office of Nikitaras and Mandalinci in front of a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk caused an uproar among the administrators of the Pontian Greek Association of Kos on the island.
UGLY EXPRESSIONS FOR ATATÜRK
A joint press statement issued by Association President Charalambos Navrozidis and Association Secretary Thodoris Karakozidis was distributed to the Greek media. In the statement, terms such as "butcher" and other ugly expressions were used for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, while Mayor Theodosis Nikitaras was effectively lynched.
The following statements were included in the statement made by the Association:
The image of the Mayor of Kos in front of the butcher of our ancestors, the butcher of so many other brothers of ours in Asia Minor whose grandparents (those who managed to survive the fury of the genocides) boarded their rotting ships, causes the sorrow of those uprooted from their homes to reach refugee Kos as well, just as it has in many other islands and parts of our Motherland.
We do not forget, and we must be fair; it was the Mayor of Kos who was by our side when we wanted to create the Pontian Hellenism Park and the Pontian Greek Genocide Monument, and we saw him speak of Pontian Hellenism.
We know the Hellenism of Asia Minor and the tortures they suffered, we know his family ties with people of Pontian origin, and we assume that he was trapped by Turkish propaganda, by their fury to promote their own symbols, and that he was not aware of this.”
The statement by the administrators of the Pontian Greek Association of Kos was met with harsh reactions from NGOs on the island. Support poured in for Mayor Nikitaras.