Parliament: Plenary honours Asian Minor Genocide

Parliament’s plenary held a commemorative session on Monday, 14 September 2026 for the National Memorial Day of the Genocide of Greek Anatolians by the Turkish state, a day Parliament has established by unanimous decision. The session, which ran approximately from 14:53 to 17:53, was part of regular parliamentary activity and brought together representatives of all parliamentary groups as well as a member of the government. It was one of the fixed institutional moments of remembrance that Parliament dedicates each year to the Anatolian Catastrophe, aiming to highlight its historical significance for modern Greece. Alongside the commemoration of the genocide, the plenary also proceeded with a commemorative reference to the International Day of Democracy.

The session was chaired by Parliament Deputy Speaker Georgios Georgantas, who opened the commemorative reference and guided the proceedings. The commemoration of the Genocide was concluded with a minute’s silence by the plenary. Following this, legislators from all parties represented in Parliament took the floor, adhering to the established order of representation of parliamentary groups, while on behalf of the government, Deputy Minister of Interior Vassilios-Petros Spanakis spoke. After the reference to the Genocide, he also addressed the International Day of Democracy, before the session concluded. At its outset, both the presiding officers and representatives of the parliamentary groups expressed their condolences to the Communist Party of Greece for the loss of its former legislator Spyros Chalvatzis.

Opening the session, Georgios Georgantas said that the Genocide of Greek Anatolians indelibly marked modern Greece, characterising 14 September as a day of remembrance, justice and historical conscience. He clarified that “our remembrance is not directed against any people, but against oblivion and injustice”, reminding of the timeless value of respect for human life and peaceful coexistence of peoples. He referred to the thousand-year presence of Hellenism in Ionia, Cappadocia, Pontus and Eastern Thrace and to the figure of Saint John Chrysostom of Smyrna, while he described the Smyrna Catastrophe as a profound rupture that nonetheless marked the beginning of a new era for the nation, thanks to the contribution of refugees to the country’s reconstruction. Legislators from all parliamentary groups participated in the discussion: Maria-Nefeli Hatziioanidou (New Democracy), Dimitris Mantsos (PASOK-KINAL), Aphrodite Ktena (KKE), Stylianos Fotopoulos (Greek Solution), Elena Akrita (SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance), Andreas Voryllas (Niki), Alexandros Kazamias (Sailing Freedom) and independent legislator Athanasios Halkias.

The National Memorial Day for the Genocide of Greek Anatolians by the Turkish state was established by unanimous decision of Parliament on 24 September 1998 and is linked to the events of September 1922, when the Smyrna Catastrophe marked the end of the centuries-long presence of Hellenism in Anatolia. On the same day, the Foreign Ministry issued a separate statement, noting that Anatolian Hellenism was violently uprooted from its ancestral home after centuries of presence, with the tragic culmination in the Smyrna Catastrophe, and that the preservation of historical memory is a duty to those who were lost or displaced and to future generations. Parliament’s commemorative session was part of a broader circle of commemorative events held throughout Greece in preceding days.