by Murataga » Fri Dec 15, 2006 1:12 am
I invite all participants of this forum to protest Nickp (including those with Greek background) by not writing any response to his above particular message.
His concern was respected and in return was given a legitimate and logical explanation about an issue he raised. However, he has clearly shown his intensions to cross a red line. Both the Turks and the Greeks could use less of these provocative and disrespectful types. I call on all participants to end this unfortunate discussion here and leave the readers with the following excerpt reminding us a part of history we should work towards ...
The postwar leaders of Turkey and Greece, Kemal Atatürk and Eleftherios Venizelos, were determined to establish normal relations between the two states. After years of negotiations, a treaty was concluded in 1930, and Venizelos made a successful visit to Istanbul and Ankara. Greece renounced all its claims over Turkish territory. This was followed by the Balkan Pact of 1934, in which Greece and Turkey joined Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Romania in a treaty of mutual assistance and settled outstanding issues (Bulgaria refused to join). Both leaders recognising the need for peace resulted in more friendly relations, with Venizelos nominating Atatürk for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934.
In 1941 Turkey was the first country to send humanitarian aid to Greece to relieve the great famine in Athens during the Axis occupation. Turkish president İsmet İnönü signed a decision to help the people whose army he had personally fought during the Turkish War of Independence 19 years earlier. Foodstuffs were collected by a nationwide campaign of Kızılay (Turkish Red Crescent), and were sent to the port of İstanbul to be shipped to Greece. The aid was shipped on board the ship SS Kurtuluş with big symbols of the Red Crescent painted on both sides.