Greeks remembered the National Day of Remembrance of the Genocide of the Greeks of Asia Minor with Defense Minister Nikos Dendias honoring the victims. He acknowledged the tragic events of Smyrna in 1922, where hundreds of thousands of Greek and Armenian residents were annihilated.

Dendias emphasized the resilience of the Asia Minor Greeks in overcoming the challenges and contributing to the development of Greece. The genocide of the Greeks, orchestrated by the Ottoman government and Turkish nationalist movements, aimed at eradicating the Greek populations of Eastern Thrace and Asia Minor up to 1923.