Pontians slam singer’s lyrics

The Pan-Pontian Federation of Greece issued a statement at the weekend about a song sung by a Turkish-Cypriot singer Isin Karaca during an event organized in the central square of Komotini in northwestern Greece on August 4 as an “unacceptable provocation” and a “direct insult,” as it references the destruction of Smyrna.

Smyrna, modern-day Izmir in Turkey, was destroyed by Turkish forces in 1922 while the city’s Greek and Armenia inhabitants either fled or were killed. 

“As descendants of refugees and those killed in the genocide of Mustafa Kemal’s nationalist frenzy, we must oppose this whole system of disinformation and incitement of hatred,” it said.