The icon of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, had a central role in organization of the genocide of Pontian Greeks, deputy director of the Armenian Genocide Museum said.

“This is why mentioning the fact of the genocide and its possible recognition is viewed as sacrilege and crash of historic memory in Turkey,” Suren Manukyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

“If, in case with the Armenian Genocide issue, the blame could be shifted on Ottoman Empire authorities, the responsibility of genocide of the Pontian Greeks is mainly Kemal Ataturk's,” he said.

As of today, the genocide of the Pontian Greeks has been recognized by Greece, Cyprus and Sweden only.