Antonis Klapsis, Associate Professor of Modern History and International Politics at the University of the Peloponnese, spoke about the history of the Pontic Greek Genocide, which led to the deaths of more than 350,000 Greek Christians. Speaking on the Voice of Greece radio program “Our Global Voice” with Dimitris Kontogiannis, he described the conditions prevailing in the Ottoman Empire during the first decades of the 20th century and the developments that led to the persecutions.
Professor Klapsis explained the methods through which the Turks drove hundreds of thousands of Pontic Greeks to their deaths, as well as the broader objective behind the ethnic cleansing of Christian populations — including Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, and others who had lived in Anatolia for thousands of years — within the framework of creating a homogeneous Muslim Turkish state. He also noted that Mustafa Kemal arrived in Samsun on 19 May 1919 to initiate the second and most brutal phase of the persecutions, just days after the Greek army entered Smyrna.
Professor Klapsis was also asked about his new book, A World Without Rules? The International System in a Time of Deregulation, published by Metaichmio Publications and released, coincidentally, on 19 May. The book presentation will take place on Thursday, 28 May, at 19:30 at the IANOS Café in Athens.
He explained that the book examines the emerging multipolar world order, in which international law plays an even smaller role than before, while power has become a far more decisive instrument. As a result, countries that see themselves as regional powers — such as Turkey — are increasingly encouraged to impose their views by any means necessary, disregarding international law.