Pontus Incident in the Perspective of History: Its Effects on Our Recent History and Today

Abstract

Let's examine the issue by examining the historical development of the Pontus issue, which was brought up as a matter on the political platform by the Greeks today. Let's examine to what extent the Pontus State established in ancient times was related to Greekness and Greekness. Where does the name Pontus come first? In ancient times, the Greeks called the Black Sea "pontus" meaning "sea". The southern shores of the Black Sea were also given the same name and the residents of the region were called Pontus. What does the Pontus State or Pontus people have to do with the claimants of the Pontus State who want to claim the heritage of the historical Pontus State and which is tried to be resurrected since the late 19th century? In other words, did the historical Pontus people have anything to do with Greekness and Hellenism, as the Greeks claimed? If yes, how much? Let's learn the answer to this question or questions from Stefanos Yerasimos! "... most of them were Orthodox Christians, that is, they were not Armenians. But it is difficult to say that the Orthodox were Greek at that time ... This Orthodox Christian population will be influenced by the efforts of the church and the new bourgeoisie and will start to adopt the feeling of belonging to the Greek nation, like all Turkish or Greek-speaking Orthodox Christians living in Anatolia. .