Greek lawyer to present lecture on "Ponto-Armenian Federation"

A lecture entitled Negotiating Identity: Greek and Armenian Aspirations for a Ponto-Armenian Federation will be presented by lawyer and writer Dean Kalimniou, on Thursday, 18 August 2022, at 7 pm, at the Greek Centre and online, as a part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Much is made of the proposed Ponto-Armenian Federation as provided for by US President Wilson in the aftermath of the First World War, Greek Neo Kosmos news service reports. This lecture discusses how feasible this prospect could have been, given the facts on the ground, the competing interests of World Powers, and of course the attitudes of the key stakeholders themselves, the Greeks of Pontus and the Armenians.

Dean Kalimniou is a lawyer, poet, and short story writer within the Greek community. He has published seven poetry collections in Greek and translated the works of many local Greek authors into English. He has also published translations of Papadiamantis’ short stories in the critical anthology “The Boundless Garden. Selected Short Stories.” His most recent book, “Simela and the Magic Kemenche”, is also his first bilingual children’s book.

According to various sources, the Ottoman Armenians and Rums had collaborated against the Ottoman government during the First World War and its immediate aftermath, and then the Ankara government after 1920. They may have joined forces during the First World War when they regarded the "Turks" as their common enemy. However, when the "Turk" was out of the way after the First World War, Armenians and Rums could not agree on how to share the spoils. This was particularly true for the Turkish region of Trabzon which was coveted both by Armenians, who wanted to integrate it into their fictional "Greater Armenia", and Trabzon Rums who wished to establish an independent republic in the region.

While ostensibly working against the "Turk", Rums and Armenians essentially intrigued against one another over Trabzon. Although both parties paid lip service to a Ponto-Armenian federation from time to time, they at the same time undermined each other's efforts to gain ground in Trabzon. Combined with Turkish resolve to keep Trabzon and Allies' hesitancy to honour their promises to the Armenians and Rums during the First World War, the Armenian-Rum dispute over Trabzon rendered the project of a Ponto-Armenian federation abortive.