Katastrophe "Total Destruction" Greek Genocide 1914-1923 Background Greeks have lived in Turkey for thousands of years. Greek communities were primarily concentrated around the regions of Pontus, Cappadocia, and the Aegean sea. Under the Millet system, Greeks managed to preserve their religion and culture, yet remained second-class citizens under Ottoman law. The Young Turks and later the Republic of Turkey sought to create Map of Massacre Sites a "pure" Turkish state and embarked on a decade-long campaign of expulsion and genocidal massacres of Greek communities across Turkey. Testimonials Key Perpetrators "You couldn’t get the women to give up their Talaat Pasha Extermination dead babies. They’d have babies dead for six Ottoman Minister of days. Wouldn’t give them up. Nothing you The Greek Genocide began in 1914 with massive could do about it. Had to take them away Interior Affairs deportation and execution campaigns in the regions of finally. Then there was an old lady, most extraordinary case. I told it to a doctor and Topal Osman - Turkish Eastern Thrace, Pontus, and Anatolia. Using the same he said I was lying. We were clearing them off bandit leader in Pontus methods employed against the Ottoman Armenian and the pier, had to clear off the dead ones, and this old woman was lying on a sort of litter. Assyrians, under direct order from the ruling Committee They said, “Will you have a look at her, sir?” Djemal Pasha for Union and Progress (CUP), Turkish gendarmes, So I had a look at her and just then she died Ottoman Minister of and went absolutely stiff" - Ernest the Navy Kurdish militias, and freed criminals embarked on a Hemingway. "On the Quay at Smyrna horrific campaign of looting, rape, and murder of Greek Mustafa Kemal Ataturk populations. Greek women and children were abducted "I see that time has come for Turkey to have 1st President of Turkey from their families and forced to convert to Islam and it out with the Greeks the way it had it out take Turkish names. The genocide against Greeks with the Armenians in 1915"- Talaat Pasha continued after the end of the First World War. In 1922, "We walked all day and sometimes night too. the Turkish Army captured the city of Smyrna (now They wanted us to die. Women, young Izmir) and systematically burned down the Greek children; walking and walking. Whoever couldn't walk anymore was left on the side of sections of the city with the population trapped inside, the road. The first to fall from exhaustion killing an estimated 200,000 civilians. This massacre is was Barba Konstantis the candle lighter at our church. He laid lifeless under some now known as the Great Fire of Smyrna. branches. Nobody buried him, no one blessed his body. It took, but I think it was two months"- Marianthi Karamousa,Genocide Aftermath Survivor Destroyed Greek Church after Smyrna Fire The genocide and deportation of Greeks created thousands of refugees. The vast majority of these refugees For more information please visit the Greek Genocide Resource Center fled to Greece, with smaller groups fleeing to the Soviet Union, Europe, and North America. Following the end of the Greco-Turkish War and the signing of the Treaty of Denial Lausanne, Greece and Turkey embarked on a large-scale population exchange. All Christians were forcibly moved to As with the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides, Turkey Greece and all Muslims moved to Turkey. Greek heritage vehemently denies the events described above as "genocide". and memory in Turkey following the genocide were almost The Turkish government has paid a large network of completely destroyed. In 1955, the few remaining Greeks lobbyists, academics and politicians to perpetuate the denial living in Istanbul experienced another violent pogrom. of the Greek genocide. Only six countries have recognized the Turkish mobs destroyed Greek homes and businesses. events as "genocide". The United States, United Kingdom, Currently, only a few thousand Greeks live in Turkey. European Union, and the United Nations have all failed to Erdogan's Turkish nationalist rhetoric keeps them in recognize the Greek Genocide. constant fear. 1 M 800,000 107 Y Greeks Killed Greek Displaced Turkey's Denial of the Genocide.