ATHENS — "We honour the memory of the victims of the Pontian Greeks genocide that led to the death and uprooting of a significant part of Hellenism with a long history. We honour the Pontian Greeks contribution to the social,cultural and economic restoration of Greece," stated main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras in a post on social media on Wednesday, the Pontian Greeks Genocide Remembrance Day.

He also underlined that the promotion and recognition of the historic truth and the preservation of the historic memory is a struggle not only for the past but mostly for the present and the future because the next generations will be safe once there is a stop to violations of human rights and of international law that lead to genocides, ethnic cleansing and new uprootings. We ought, united, to intensify our struggle for the historic truth and the dialogue at diplomatic and scientific level, recognising their importance both for the Greek people and the promotion of relations of sincere cooperation and mutual respect in our region".