Lakatamia, Cyprus. Cyprus schools will teach and commemorate the genocide of the Pontic Greeks under measures formally integrated into the education system, Education Minister Athena Michaelidou said on Monday. She made the remarks at a remembrance event at Ayios Ioannis Chrysostomos high school in Lakatamia.
Integration into the education framework
Michaelidou said Cyprus had made the “preservation of historical memory a priority” and confirmed that commemoration of the Pontic Greek genocide had become part of the institutional educational framework.
“In the schools of Cyprus, this has become a legislative act,” she said.
She said parliament had approved a specific Remembrance Day and that during the school year schools will commemorate and teach issues related to the genocide of the Greeks of Pontus.
Comments on history teaching and Cyprus
Michaelidou said history teaching gives children “the opportunity to learn about important aspects of Hellenism” and helps them develop “the necessary skills as active citizens.”
“We live in a divided homeland, you can draw your conclusions from today’s day of remembrance,” she said.
Event at Ayios Ioannis Chrysostomos high school
School headmaster Aris Tirkas said there are “historical and emotional bridges” connecting Pontus and Cyprus, adding that “mourning, crying and pain are common.”
The event concluded with a theatrical and musical performance by students featuring traditional songs from Pontus and Cyprus.
Background on the Pontic Greek genocide
The Pontic Greek genocide refers to mass killings and deportations of Pontic Greeks in the Pontus region of Anatolia between 1914 and 1923 during and after World War I.
Historians estimate that around 350,000 Pontic Greeks died through massacres, forced marches, starvation and persecution carried out under the Young Turk and later Kemalist forces.
How will the new school-based commemoration and teaching be implemented during the school year?
