"We are very happy to be with you. We had the opportunity to be here as part of our visit to the United States. The day before yesterday we spoke in Philadelphia and we visited the Liberty Bell of the American fight for independence.
We believe that in our historic region in the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor there are many other peoples who need to have their own symbol of independence; their own Liberty Bell. In Philadelphia we spoke about this issue of great concern to us, about the genocide of the Pontian Greeks.
Referring to a great personality in the world of music, a person known to all of you, –Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart–I have to tell you that in 1870 in the Palazzo Ducale of Milan, Italy he performed for the first time one of his great operas: "Nifridate, Re di Ponto" (Nifridatis, King of Pontos).
Mozart did this at a time in which the rich cultural and historic tradition of the Pontian Greeks had disappeared. If one were to subtract the Pontian Greek history from the Black Sea (Efksenos Pontos), the Black Sea would have no history.
Thus, Mozart decided to dedicate his work to this rich historic Pontian tradition at a time in which Hellenism in general and Pontian Hellenism in particular went through a very rough time."