Emeritus Professor of History Konstantinos Fotiadis has sent a formal letter to Greece’s Minister for Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, regarding the case of Yannis Vasilis Yaylalı. Greece faces shame as Pontic genocide decendant faces deportation to Turkey. As previously reported by Geopolitico.gr, Yaylalı’s asylum application has been rejected and he now faces deportation to Turkey — where his life is in serious danger.
This is a case that strikes at the heart of historical memory, national responsibility, and the moral integrity of the Greek state.
Yaylalı was born Ibrahim Yaylalı into a Muslim family in Turkey. Through personal research, archival investigation and testimony, he uncovered his Pontic Greek roots. He was baptised as an Orthodox Christian in Greece, located surviving relatives, settled in the country, and has lived peacefully for several years in what he considers his true homeland.
At the same time, Turkish authorities have issued multiple prosecutions, charges and arrest warrants against him — linked to his public advocacy for recognition of the Pontic Greek Genocide, his human rights activism, and his exposure of abuses by the Turkish state.
His deportation raises profound questions:
How is “national security” being interpreted when applied to a man who identifies as Greek by ancestry and conscience — and who has already endured persecution, torture and convictions simply for expressing his views?
What is Greece’s stance towards descendants of forcibly Islamised Greeks who seek to reconnect with their historical identity?
Professor Fotiadis’ letter to Minister Plevris goes far beyond a legal objection. It is a public intervention carrying historical, ethical and political weight. It challenges Greece’s adherence to its international obligations, its responsibility to descendants of Islamised Greeks of Asia Minor and Pontus, and warns against Greece becoming complicit in a decision that could place a persecuted man in mortal danger.
Below is Professor Fotiadis’ open letter, followed by Yaylalı’s biographical account as documented by retired General Lazaros Kampouridis, presented here for full public awareness.
Thessaloniki, 11 February 2026
OPEN LETTER FROM KE.PO.ME TO THE MINISTRY OF MIGRATION AND ASYLUM
Mr Minister,
Yannis–Vasilis Yaylalı is a genuine Pontic Greek, supported by documented evidence. He located his relatives in Greece. He was baptised Orthodox in Kalamaria. The Greek state should have undertaken his financial and housing rehabilitation under the Treaty of Lausanne, as he is one of tens of thousands of refugee children who were never able to reach Greece.
The Minister of Migration and Asylum should read Mert Kaya’s book The Islamisation of Asia Minor Greeks (1919–1925) (Kyriakidis Publications) and reverse the deportation order — so as not to become complicit in the killing of not merely an innocent man, but a courageous Greek activist who exposes, through his traumatic personal story, the true face of militarised Turkey.
Pontic organisations must now demonstrate their deeper purpose. As President of KE.PO.ME, together with retired General Lazaros Kampouridis, I stand ready to prove through documentation that he descends from a forcibly Islamised Greek family.
I attach below the concise biographical account published by Turkologist General Lazaros Kampouridis, with which I fully agree.
Konstantinos Fotiadis
Emeritus Professor of History, University of Western Macedonia
www.pontos–genoktonia.gr | hellenicponticmrc.gr
Tel: 6977629094
Lazaros Kampouridis
Yannis Vasilis Yaylalı — born Ibrahim Yaylalı into a Turkish Muslim family — later discovered his Pontic Greek heritage and has now received a second deportation order from Greece’s Ministry of Migration and Asylum.
The Ministry claims his asylum was rejected on allegations of war crimes and, astonishingly, that he faces no persecution in Turkey — despite 13 active legal cases and arrest warrants, including charges relating to genocide recognition, insulting Atatürk, and alleged membership of the PKK.
In reality, Yaylalı fought against the PKK during his compulsory military service in 1994. He was wounded, captured, and abandoned by the Turkish state, which refused to assist his family — revealing only then that they were Turkified Greeks.
He later learned his great-grandfather’s name was Konstantinos and that their village near Bafra had been destroyed, its Greek population murdered. His grandfather, aged just three, was handed to a Turkish family rather than placed in a Greek orphanage.
Yaylalı has testified to Turkish army atrocities, including the burning of Kurdish villages and torture of civilians. He personally committed none of these acts.
Instead, Turkey — and now Greece — are using his whistleblowing to accuse him of war crimes.
After being shot and falling 30 metres during combat, he was treated by the PKK and released after two-and-a-half years. Upon return, Turkish military intelligence subjected him to interrogation and torture. Though acquitted, legal proceedings dragged on until 2001.
He later became a conscientious objector, joined human rights organisations, and was imprisoned again in 2010 for “terrorist propaganda”. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in his favour and awarded compensation.
In 2017 he was jailed for honouring the Greek and Armenian genocides online. In 2019 he fled Turkey after being accused of “international espionage”, largely due to Greek media interviews and pro-Greece social media posts.
Since arriving in Greece, he has lived peacefully. He served only six months in the Turkish army over 30 years ago and has since devoted his life to peace activism.
He should be safe in Greece — not handed back to a regime that will undoubtedly imprison him.
Resolve this matter, Mr Plevris.
