Editing Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

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{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922
|partof=[[Turkish War of Independence]]
|image=[[Image:Greko-Turkish-Afyon-1920.png|300px]]
|caption=[[Trench warfare|Trench warfare]]
|date=May [[1919]] - October [[1922]]
|place=West [[Anatolia]]
|casus=[[Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire]]
|territory=Lands initially ceded to Greece from the [[Ottoman Empire]] are restored to the [[Republic of Turkey]].  [[Exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey|Population exchange]] between the two nations.
|result=[[Turkey|Turkish]] victory, [[Treaty of Lausanne]]
|combatant1=[[Image:Flag of Kingdom of Greece.PNG|20px|]] [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]]
|combatant2=[[Image:Flag of Turkey.svg|20px|]] [[Turkish Revolutionaries]]
|commander1={{flagicon|Greece|old}}[[Leonidas Paraskevopoulos]] ,<br>{{flagicon|Greece|old}} [[Anastasios Papoulas]],<br> {{flagicon|Greece|old}} [[Georgios Hatzianestis]]
|commander2={{flagicon|Turkey|}}[[Ali Fethi Okyar]],<br>{{flagicon|Turkey|}} [[İsmet İnönü]],<br> {{flagicon|Turkey|}}[[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]],<br>{{flagicon|Turkey|}}[[Fevzi Çakmak]]
|strength1=200,000 men{{Fact|date=October 2007}}
|strength2=120,000 men (plus village protectors){{Fact|date=October 2007}}
|casualties1=23,500 dead; 20,820 captured
|casualties2=20,540 dead; 10,000 wounded
|notes=
}}
{{Campaignbox Greco-Turkish War}}
The '''Greco&ndash;Turkish War of 1919&ndash;1922''', also called the '''War in Asia Minor''', or the Greek campaign of the '''[[Turkish War of Independence]]''', was a series of military events occurring during the [[partitioning of the Ottoman Empire]] after [[World War I]] between May 1919 and October 1922. The war was fought between [[Greece]] and [[Turkish revolutionaries]] of the [[Turkish National Movement]] that would later establish the [[Republic of Turkey]].

The Greek campaign was launched because the western Allies, particularly [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[David Lloyd George]], had promised Greece territorial gains at the expense of the [[Ottoman Empire]].  It ended with Greece giving up all territory gained during the war, returning to its pre-war borders, and engaging in a [[Exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey|population exchange]] with the newly established state of Turkey under provisions in the [[Treaty of Lausanne]]. 

The collective failure of the military campaigns of Greece, and of the [[Turkish-Armenian War|Turkish-Armenian]] and [[Franco-Turkish War]]s against the Turkish revolutionaries, had forced the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] to abandon the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] and negotiate at [[Lausanne]] a new treaty, recognising the independence of the [[Turkish Republic]] and its sovereignty over [[Eastern Thrace]] and [[Anatolia]].

== Background ==
=== The geopolitical context ===
[[Image:ParisPeace-Venizelos-Map.png|thumb|200px|The territories claimed by Venizelos in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.]]
{{main|Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire}}
{{Further|[[Agreement of St.-Jean-de-Maurienne]]}}

The geopolitical context of this conflict is linked to the [[partitioning of the Ottoman Empire]] which was a direct consequence of [[World War I]] and involvement of the Ottomans in the [[Middle Eastern theatre of World War I|Middle Eastern theatre]]. Greeks received an order to land in Smyrna by the Triple Entente as part of the partition.  During this war, the Ottoman government collapsed completely and the [[Ottoman Empire]] was divided amongst the victorious Entente powers with the signing of the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] on [[August 10]], [[1920]].

There were a number of secret agreements regarding the partitioning of the [[Ottoman Empire]] at the end of [[World War I]].  The [[Triple Entente]] had made contradictory promises about post-war arrangements concerning Greek hopes in Asia Minor.<ref>[http://www.lib.msu.edu/sowards/balkan/lect14.htm Greek nationalism, the "Megale Idea" and Venizelism to 1923]</ref>

At the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919]], Venizelos lobbied hard for an expanded Hellas (the Megali Idea) that would include the large Greek communities in [[Northern Epirus]], [[Thrace]] and [[Asia Minor]]. The western Allies, particularly [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[David Lloyd George]], had promised Greece territorial gains at the expense of the Ottoman Empire if Greece entered the war on the [[Allies#World War I|Allied side]]. {{Fact|date=February 2007}} These included eastern [[Eastern Thrace]], the islands of [[Imbros]] ([[Gökçeada]]) and [[Tenedos]] ([[Bozcaada]]), and parts of western [[Anatolia]] around the city of [[Smyrna]], which contained sizable ethnic Greek populations.

The Italy and Anglo-French repudiation of the April 26, 1917, ([[Agreement of St.-Jean-de-Maurienne]]), which settled the "middle eastern interest" of Italy was overridden with the Greek occupation, as İzmir was part of the agreements promised to Italy. Before the occupation the Italian delegation to [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919]], angry about the possibility of the Greek occupation of Western Anatolia, left the conference and did not return to Paris until [[May 5]]. The absence of the Italian delegation from the Conference ends up by facilitating [[Lloyd George]]'s efforts to persuade France and the United States in Greece’s favor to prevent Italian operations in Western ''Anatolia''.

According to some historians, it was the Greek occupation of Izmir that created the Turkish National movement. British Historian [[Arnold J. Toynbee]] blamed the policies pursued by Great Britain and Greece, as the main instigators of atrocities committed by both sides during the war: ''"...The Greeks of 'Pontus' and the Turks of the Greek occupied territories, were in some degree victims of Mr. Venizelos's and Mr. Lloyd George's original miscalculations at Paris."''<ref>Arnold J. Toynbee, The Western question in Greece and Turkey: a study in the contact of civilisations, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1922, pp. 312-313</ref>
Toynbee argued that:
<blockquote>"The war between Turkey and Greece which burst out at this time was a defensive war for safeguarding of the Turkish homelands in Anatolia. It was a result of the Allied policy of imperialism operating in a foreign state, the military resources and powers of which were seriously under-estimated; it was provoked by the unwarranted invasion of a Greek army of occupation..."<ref>Arnold J. Toynbee and Kenneth P. Kirkwood, Turkey, 1926, London : Ernest Benn, p. 94</ref>
</blockquote>

=== The Greek community in Anatolia ===
[[Image:Proportions des populations en Asie Mineure statistique officielle d1914.png|thumb|200px|The archive document of 1914 Census of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Total population (sum of all [[Millet (Ottoman Empire)|millets]]) was 20,975,345 and the Greek population before the [[Balkan wars]] were 2,833,370 (1909 census) was dropped to 1,792,206 (due to lost of lands to Greece) in 1914 census; published also by [[Stanford J. Shaw]]. <ref name="OttomanCencus1914"> [[Stanford Jay Shaw]], Ezel Kural Shaw "History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey" Cambridge University page 239-241</ref>]] 
One of the reasons proposed by the Greek government for launching the Asia Minor expedition was that there was a sizeable Greek-speaking Orthodox Christian population inhabiting Anatolia. Greeks have lived in Asia Minor since antiquity. Before the outbreak of the First World War, over 2.5 million Greeks lived in Turkey.<ref>Area Handbook for the Republic of Turkey - Page 79 by Thomas Duval Roberts</ref> In 1915 the Young Turk government enacted genocidal policies against the minorities in the Ottoman Empire, slaughtering hundreds of thousands of people. While the [[Armenian Genocide]] is the best known of these events, there were also atrocities towards [[Pontic Greek Genocide|Greeks in Pontus]] and western Anatolia. <ref>Taner Akçam, A Shameful Act</ref> 

The Greek Prime Minister [[Eleftherios Venizelos]] stated to a British newspaper that: ''"Greece is not making war against Islam, but against the anachronistic Ottoman Government, and its corrupt, ignominious, and bloody administration, with a view to the expelling it from those territories where the majority of the population consists of Greeks."''<ref>"Not War Against Islam-Statement by Greek Prime Minister" in ''The Scotsman'', June 29 1920 p.5 </ref> Opponents of the Greek argument have pointed out that the Young Turk government was not in power at that time as its leaders had fled the country at the end of World War I and the Ottoman government in Istanbul was already under British control. Furthermore, in a letter sent to Greek [[King Constantine]] dating January 1915, Venizelos had already revealed his hope for future annexation of territories from Turkey, arguing that: ''"I have the impression that the concessions to Greece in Asia Minor... would be so extensive that another equally large and not less rich Greece will be added to the doubled Greece which emerged from the victorious Balkan wars."'' <ref>Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor, 1919-1922 By Michael Llewellyn Smith, p. 35</ref>

The suggestion that Greeks constituted the majority of the population in the lands claimed by Greece has been contested by a number of historians. In their book about the British foreign policy of World War I and post war years, Cedric James Lowe and Michael L. Dockrill argued that:
''Greek claims were at best debatable, [they were] perhaps a bare majority, more likely a large minority in the Smyrna Vilayet, which lay in an overwhelmingly Turkish Anatolia.'' <ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=DEYNKvzs14IC&pg=PP1&dq=the+Mirage+of+Power&sig=Neip8xS7rkHEtdH9bQl3wSBziKU#PPA367,M1</ref>

=== Greek nationalism ===
{{Seealso|Megali Idea|Rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire}}

One of the main national motivations for initiating the war was to realize the [[Megali Idea]], a core concept of Greek nationalism. The Megali Idea was an [[irredentist]] vision of a restoration of a new [[Byzantine Empire]] on both sides of the [[Aegean]], a "Greater Greece" that would incorporate territories with Greek populations outside the borders of the modern Greek state (in [[Ionia]], [[Thrace]] and [[Constantinople]], [[Pontus]] etc.). From the time of [[Greek War of Independence|Greek independence]] from the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1830, the [[Megali Idea]] had played a major role in Greek politics. Greek politicians, since the independence of the Greek state, had made several speeches on the issue of the ''"historic inevitability of the expansion of the Greek Kingdom."'' <ref>Michael Llewellyn Smith, Ionian vision : Greece in Asia Minor, 1919-1922, London : Hurst & Company, 1998, p. 3 ISBN 0472109901  </ref> For instance, Greek politician John Kolettis voiced this conviction in the assembly in 1844: "There are two great centres of Hellenism. Athens is the capital of the Kingdom. Constantinople is the great capital, the City, the dream and hope of all Greeks." <ref>Michael Llewellyn Smith, Ionian vision : Greece in Asia Minor, 1919-1922, London : Hurst & Company, 1998, p. 3 ISBN 0472109901  </ref>

The Great Idea was not merely the product of the 19th century nationalism. It was, in one of its aspects, deeply rooted in many Greeks' religious consciousness. This aspect was the recovery of Constantinople for Christendom, the reestablishment of the universal Christian Byzantine Empire which had fallen in 1453. ''Ever since this time the recovery of St Sophia and the city had been handed down from generation to generation as the destiny and aspiration of the Greek Orthodox.''<ref>Michael Llewellyn Smith, Ionian vision : Greece in Asia Minor, 1919-1922, London : Hurst & Company, 1998, p. 3 ISBN 0472109901  </ref>

Great Idea or [[Megali Idea]], besides Constantinople, also included Crete, Thessaly, Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace, the Aegean Islands, Cyprus, the coastlands of Asia Minor, and even Pontus on the Black Sea.

=== The Venizelism movement ===
{{Seealso|Venizelism}}

[[Constantine I of Greece]] was in the difficult personal position of deciding to which side to support during [[World War I]] due to family ties and emotional attachments. Despite his blood relationship to the British royal family, Constantine's personal sentiments and attachments lay with the [[German Empire]]. He had studied at the Prussian Army Staff College in Berlin.  In addition, he was married since 1889 to [[Sophia of Prussia]], a younger sister of [[William II, German Emperor]]. The United Kingdom had hoped that this familial connection might persuade Constantine to join the cause of the [[Allies of World War I]]; Constantine signalled his intention to join the [[Triple Entente]] and actually gave a tentative promise to that effect. Constantine "went along with Venizelos’ plan of discussing the matter with the Allies on the conditions that Greece not spontaneously offer her cooperation to the Entente Powers..." {{Fact|date=February 2007}} (date time, place). He took no concrete steps towards doing so. The Queen Sophia wrote about her husband’s preoccupation with the Megali Idea: "[[Constantine I of Greece|Constantine]] is completely possessed by the specter of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]]." According to Queen Sophia, Constantino’s dream of "marching into the great city of Hagia Sophia at the head of the [[Hellenic Army|Greek army]]" was still "in his heart" and it appeared as if the King was ready to enter the war against Ottoman Empire. The conditions, however, were clear; the occupation of [[Constantinople]] had to be undertaken without incurring excessive risk. 

Though Constantine did remain decidedly neutral, the influence of [[List of Prime Ministers of Greece|Prime Minister of Greece]] [[Eleftherios Venizelos]] is evident. {{Fact|date=February 2007}} In May [[1917]], after the exile of Constantine, Venizélos returned to [[Athens]] and allied with the Entente. Greek military forces (though divided between supporters of the monarchy and supporters of "[[Venizelism]]") began to take part in military operations against the [[Military of Bulgaria|Bulgarian Army]] on the border.

== Overview of military operations ==
The military aspect of the war begins with the [[Armistice of Mudros]].  The military operations of the Greco-Turkish war can be roughly divided into three main phases: The first phase, spanning the period from May 1919 to October 1920, encompasses the Greek Landings in [[Asia Minor]] and their consolidation along the [[Aegean]] Coast. The second phase lasted from October 1920 to June 1921, and was characterised by Greek offensive operations. The third and final phase lasted until August 1922, when the strategic initiative was held by the Turkish Army.

=== Occupation of İzmir/Smyrni, May 1919 ===
{{Main|Occupation of İzmir}}
[[Image:Izmir15Mayis1919.jpg|right|thumb|280px|Greek Soldiers taking their posts.]]

On [[May 15]] [[1919]], twenty thousand<ref> Lord Kinross, Atatürk. p.154</ref> Greek soldiers landed in İzmir/Smyrna and [[occupation of İzmir|took control of the city]] and its surroundings under cover of the Greek, French, and British navies. Legal justifications for the landings was found in the article 7 of the [[Armistice of Mudros|Armistice of Moudros]], which allowed the Allies "to occupy any strategic points in the event of any situation arising which threatens the security of Allies."<ref> Stanford J.Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press 1977 p. 342 </ref> The Greeks had already brought their forces into Eastern Thrace (apart from [[Constantinople]] and its region).

The Greeks of İzmir/Smyrna and other Christians, (mainly Greeks and Armenians, who formed a minority according to Turkish sources,<ref>Yurt Ansiklopedisi, 1982, p.4273, 4274 </ref> a majority according to Greek sources<ref>Hellenic Army General Staff, 1957, Ο Ελληνικός Στρατός εις την Σμύρνην, p.56 </ref>), greeted the Greek troops as liberators. By contrast, the Turkish population saw this as an invading force, as they resented the Greeks. The Greek landings were met by sporadic resistance, mainly by small groups of irregular Turkish troops in the suburbs {{Fact|date=February 2007}}. However, the majority of the Turkish forces in the region either surrendered peacefully to the Greek Army, or fled to the countryside {{Fact|date=February 2007}}.

While the Turkish army was ordered not to open fire, a Turkish nationalist ([[Hasan Tahsin]]) among the crowd fired a shot and killed the Greek [[standard-bearer]].<ref name="two-one-seven"/> Greek soldiers then opened fire on the Turkish barracks as well as the government building. Between 300 to 400 Turks and 100 Greeks were killed on the first day.<ref name="two-one-seven"/> The occupation proved a humiliation for many of the Turkish and Muslim inhabitants. Von Mikusch notes: “The Christian crowd rages and yells.... Many fall under the bayonet thrusts. The men are forced to tear the fezes from their heads and trample them underfoot – the worst outrage for a Mohammedan – all who refuse are cut down with the sword. The veils are torn from the women's faces. The mob begins to plunder the house of the Mohammedan”.<ref> [[Dagobert von Mikusch|Von Mikusch]], Mustafa Kemal, pp.192-193.</ref> Several Turkish civilians who were arrested by the mob, were subjected to severe cruelty by both soldiers and civilians until they collapsed...A long line of killed and wounded were seen along the front.<ref>The statement of the officers of the British ship the Brescia, F.O. 371-4218, no.91630, Calthorpe to Curzon, Constantinople, 12 June 1919, enclosure C, "Events which happened in Smyrna on the 15th May, During the Greek Occupation, as Witnessed by the Undersigned on the Brescia" (Signed by nine officers of the ship).</ref>

=== Greek summer offensives, Summer 1920===
During the summer of 1920, the Greek army launched a series of successful offensives in the directions of [[Büyük Menderes River|Meander]] (Menderes) Valley, [[Peramos]] and [[Alaşehir|Philadelphia]]. The overall strategic objective of these operations, which were met by increasingly stiff Turkish resistance, was to provide strategic depth to the defence of Smyrna. To that end, the Greek zone of occupation was extended over all of Western and most of North-Western Asia Minor.

=== Treaty of Sèvres, August 1920 ===
{{Main|Treaty of Sèvres}}
In return for the contribution of the Greek army on the side of the Allies, the Allies supported the assignment of eastern Thrace and the millet of Smyrna to Greece.  This treaty ended the [[World War I|First World War]] in [[Asia Minor]] and, at the same time, sealed the fate of the [[Ottoman Empire]].  Henceforth, the Ottoman Empire would no longer be a European power. 

On August 10, 1920, the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Sèvres ceding to Greece Thrace, up to the Chatalja lines. More importantly, Turkey renounced to Greece all rights over Imbros and Tenedos, retaining the small territories of Constantinople, the islands of Marmara, and "a tiny strip of European territory."  The Straits of Bosporus were placed under an International Commission, as they were now open to all.

Turkey was furthermore forced to transfer to Greece "the exercise of her rights of sovereignty" over Smyrna in addition to "a considerable Hinterland, merely retaining a ‘flag over an outer fort.’"  Though Greece administered the Smyrna enclave, its sovereignty remained, nominally, with the Sultan. According to the provisions of the Treaty, Smyrna was to maintain a local parliament and, if within five years time she asked to be incorporated within the Kingdom of Greece, the provision was made that the League of Nations would hold a plebiscite to decide on such matters. 

The treaty was never ratified by the Ottoman Empire<ref>{{cite book | last = Sunga | first = Lyal S. | title = Individual Responsibility in International Law for Serious Human Rights Violations | date = [[1992-01-01]] | publisher = Martinus Nijhoff Publishers | id=ISBN 0-7923-1453-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Bernhardsson | first = Magnus | title = Reclaiming a Plundered Past: archaeology and nation building in modern Iraq | date = [[2005-12-20]] | publisher = University of Texas Press | id=ISBN 0-292-70947-1}}</ref> or Greece.<ref>[http://www2.mfa.gr/NR/rdonlyres/3E053BC1-EB11-404A-BA3E-A4B861C647EC/0/1923_lausanne_treaty.doc]</ref>

=== Greek expansion, October 1920 ===
In October 1920, the Greek army advanced further east into Anatolia, with the encouragement of Lloyd George, who intended to increase pressure on the Turkish and Ottoman governments to sign the Treaty of Sèvres. This advance begun under the Liberal government of [[Eleftherios Venizelos]], but soon after the offensive began, Venizelos fell from power and was replaced by Dimitrios Gounaris, who appointed inexperienced monarchist officers to senior commands. King Constantine assumed personal command of the army at [[Smyrna]] ([[İzmir]]). The strategic objective of these operations was to defeat the Turkish Nationalists and force Kemal into peace negotiations. The advancing Greeks, with their superiority in numbers and modern equipment, had hoped for an early battle in which they were confident of breaking up ill-equipped Turkish forces. Yet they met with little resistance, as the Turks managed to retreat in an orderly fashion and avoid encirclement. Churchill said: "The Greek columns trailed along the country roads passing safely through many ugly defiles, and at their approach the Turks, under strong and sagacious leadership, vanished into the recesses of Anatolia."<ref> Patrick Kinross, The Rebirth of a Nation, p.233 </ref>

=== Death of King Alexander and the ouster of Venizelos, October 1920  ===
In October of 1920 [[Alexander I of Greece|King Alexander]] was bitten by his favorite monkey and died. This incident has been characterized as the "monkey bite that changed the course of Greek history".[http://www.ahistoryofgreece.com/venizelos.htm]  Venizelos's preference was to declare a Greek republic and thus end the monarchy.  However, he was well aware that this would not be acceptable to the European powers. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}

After King Alexander died leaving no heirs, the general elections scheduled to be held on November 1, 1920 suddenly became the focus of a new conflict between the supporters of Venizelos and those of King Constantine. The war-weary Greek people opted for change. To the surprise of many, Venizelos won only 118 out of the total 369 seats. The crushing defeat obliged Venizelos and a number of his closest supporters to leave the country.  

The new government prepared for a plebiscite on the return of King Constantine. Remembering his pro-German posture during the war, the allies warned the Greek government that if he should be returned to the throne they would cut off all aid to Greece. 

A month later a plebiscite called for the return of King Constantine. The Greek Army which had secured Smyrna and the Asia Minor coast was purged of Venizelos supporters while it marched on Ankara.

=== First Battle of İnönü, December 1920 ===
{{Main|First Battle of İnönü}}
In December 1920, the Greeks had advanced to Eskişehir. Finding stiff resistance, they retired to their former positions. In early 1921 the Greeks resumed their advance in greater earnest, but again met stiff resistance from the entrenched Turkish Nationalists, who were increasingly better prepared and equipped like a regular army.

The Greek advance was halted for the first time at the [[First Battle of İnönü]] on January 11, 1921. This development led to Allied proposals to amend the Treaty of Sèvres at a [[Conference of London|conference in London]] where both the Turkish Revolutionary and Ottoman governments were represented. 

Although some agreements were reached with Italy, France and Britain, the decisions were not agreed to by the Greek government, who believed that they still retained the strategic advantage and could negotiate from a stronger point. The Greeks initiated another attack on March 27th, the [[Second Battle of İnönü]], which was resisted fiercely and finally defeated by the Turkish troops on March 30th. The British favoured a Greek territorial expansion but refused to offer any military assistance in order to avoid provoking the French.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} The Turkish forces received significant assistance from the newly formed [[Soviet Union]].<ref name=Kapur> Kapur, H. ''Soviet Russia and Asia, 1917-1927''</ref>

=== Battle of Sakarya, August 1921 ===
{{Main|Battle of Sakarya}}
In July 1921, a reinforced Greek army beat the Turkish troops commanded by [[Ismet Inonu]] in the battle of Kutahya-Eskisehir and advanced afresh to the [[Sakarya River]] (Sangarios in Greek), less than 100 km (62 miles) west of [[Ankara]]. Constantine's battle cry was "to Angora" and the British officers were invited, in anticipation, to a victory dinner in the city of Kemal<ref> Kinross, p. 275</ref>. Despite the Soviet help, supplies were short as the Turkish army prepared to meet the Greeks. Owners of private rifles, guns and ammunition had to surrender them to the army and every household was required to provide a pair of underclothing, sandals. <ref> Shaw, p. 360</ref> It was envisaged that the Turkish Revolutionaries, who had consistently avoided encirclement would be drawn into battle in defence of their capital and destroyed in a battle of attrition. Meanwhile, the Turkish parliament, not happy with the performance of [[Ismet Inonu]] as the Commander of the Western Front, wanted Mustafa Kemal and Chief of General Staff [[Fevzi Cakmak]] to take control. The advance of the Greek Army faced fierce resistance which culminated in the 21-day [[Battle of Sakarya]] (August 23 – September 13, 1921).  The Turkish defense positions were centred on series of heights, and the Greeks had to storm and occupy them. The Turks held certain hilltops and lost others, while some were lost and recaptured several times over. Yet the Turks had to conserve men, for the Greeks held the numerical advantage. <ref> Kinross, p. 277</ref> The crucial moment came when the Greek army tried to take Haymana, 40 kilometers south of Ankara but the Turks held out. Greeks also had their problems, advance into Anatolia lengthened their lines of supply and communication and they were running out of ammunition. The ferocity of the battle exhausted both sides to such an extent that they were both contemplating a withdrawal  but the Greeks were the first to withdraw to their previous lines. The thunder of cannon was plainly heard in Ankara throughout the battle.

That was the furthest in Anatolia the Greeks would advance, and within few weeks they withdrew in an orderly manner back to the lines that they had held in June. The Turkish Parliament awarded both Mustafa Kemal and [[Fevzi Cakmak]] with the title of [[Field Marshall]] for their service in this battle. To this day no other person has received this five-star general title from the [[Turkish Republic]].

=== Outcome of Greek offensive ===
Some claim that a major factor contributing to the defeat of the Greeks was the lack of whole-hearted Allied support.  According to another view, the fact that British troops invaded the [[Turkish Straits|Straits]], the richest and most populous part of Turkey, and French troops were attacking the Turkish army [[Turkish War of Independence#Conflicts in the south|from the south]] and invading other important cities (including [[Adana]]), constituted as great a level of support as Greece could have asked for.  In addition, Turkish troops also had to [[Turkish War of Independence#Conflicts in the East|fight with the Armenian army on a third front]].

One reason for the alleged lack of support was that King Constantine was reviled by the British for his [[pro-German]] policies during World War I (in contrast to former prime minister [[Eleftherios Venizelos|Venizelos]]).  Meanwhile, the Turks enjoyed [[Soviet]] support in return for giving [[Batum]] back to the [[Soviet Union]].  On August 4th, Turkey's representative in Moscow, Riza Nur, sent a telegram saying that soon 60 Krupp artillery pieces, 30,000 shells, 700,000 grenades, 10,000 mines, 60,000 Romanian swords, 1.5 million captured Ottoman rifles from WWI, 1 million Russian rifles, 1 million Mannlicher rifles, as well as some older British Martini-Henry rifles and 25,000 bayonets would be delivered to the Kemalist forces.<ref name=Kapur> Kapur, H ''Soviet Russia and Asia, 1917-1927''</ref> Soviets also provided monetary aid to the Turkish national movement, not to the extent that they promised but almost in sufficient amount to make up the large deficiencies in the promised supply of arms.  The Turks also received significant military assistance from Italy and France {{Fact|date=February 2007}}, who threw in their lot with the Kemalists against Greece which was seen as a British client {{Fact|date=February 2007}}.  The Italians used their base in Antalya to arm and train Turkish troops to assist the Kemalists against the Greeks.<ref>{{cite book | last = Smith | first = Michael | title = Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor, 1919-1922 | date = [[1999-01-15]] | publisher = University of Michigan Press | id=ISBN 0-472-08569-7}}</ref>

In his public speeches, Mustafa Kemal built up the idea of Anatolia as a "kind of fortress against all the aggressions directed to the East".  The struggle was not about Turkey alone but "it is the cause of the east", he said.  Turkish national movement attracted sympathizers especially from the Muslims of the far east countries, who were living under colonial regimes and who saw nationalist Turkey as the only independent Moslem nation. <ref> Kinross, p. 298</ref> The Khilafet Committee in Bombay started a fund to help the Turkish National struggle and sent both financial aid and constant letters of encouragement:  

"Mustafa Kemal Pasha has done wonders and you have no idea how people in India adore his name.. We are all waiting to know the terms on which Angora offers peace to the Greeks.. May the Great Allah grant victory to the Armies of Gazi Mustafa Kemal and save Turkey from her enemies.." <ref> Kinross, p. 298</ref>

However, the main reason for the Greek defeat was the poor strategic and operational planning of this ill-conceived advance in depth.  Although the Greek Army was not lacking in men, courage or enthusiasm, it was lacking in nearly everything else due to the poor Greek economy, which could not sustain long-term mobilisation and had been stretched beyond its limits.  Very soon, the Greek Army exceeded the limits of its logistical structure and had no way of retaining such a large territory under constant attack by regular and irregular Turkish troops fighting in their homeland.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

On the other hand, Turkish troops had an exceptionally good strategic and tactical command.  At the climax of the Greek offensive, Mustafa Kemal commanded his troops 

:''"There is no such thing as a line of defence.  Only a surface to defend.  That surface consists of the entire Fatherland.  Not one inch of our country can be abandoned unless drenched with the blood of its people."'' [http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN/BelgeGoster.aspx?17A16AE30572D31371BE64510F6C8BC9DFB6D1186A7B243F]

The main defence doctrine of the [[World War I|First World War]] was holding on a line{{fact|date=September 2007}}, so this command was unorthodox for its time. However it proved successful.  Turkish troops also had high morale since they were defending their homeland.

=== Stalemate, March 1922 ===
{{Main|Conference of London#Second stage}}
Having failed to reach a military solution, Greece appealed to the Allies for help, but early in 1922 Britain, France and Italy decided that the Treaty of Sèvres could not be enforced and had to be revised.  In accordance with this decision, under successive treaties, the Italian and French troops evacuated their positions, leaving the Greeks exposed. 

In March 1922 the Allies proposed an armistice, but [[Mustafa Kemal]] feeling that now he had the strategic advantage, declined any settlement while the Greeks remained in Anatolia and intensified his efforts to re-organise the Turkish military for the final offensive against the Greeks.  At the same time, the Greeks strengthened their defensive positions, but were increasingly demoralised by the inactivity of remaining on the defensive and the prolongation of the war.

Historian Malcolm Yapp wrote that:

<blockquote>"After the failure of the March negotiations the obvious course of action for the Greeks was to withdraw to defensible lines around Izmir but at this point fantasy began to direct Greek policy, the Greeks stayed in their positions and planned a seizure of [[Istanbul]], although this latter project was abandoned in July in the face of Allied opposition."<ref>M.E. Yapp, The making of the modern Near East, 1792-1923, London ; New York : Longman, 1987, p. 319 ISBN 0582493803  </ref></blockquote>

=== Turkish counterattack, August 1922 ===
Turks finally launched a counter-attack on August 26th, what has come to be known to the Turks as the Great Offensive (Buyuk Taaruz).  The major Greek defense positions were overrun on August 26, and Izmit also fell the same day.  On August 30, the Greek army was defeated decisively at the [[Battle of Dumlupınar]], with half of its soldiers captured or slain and its equipment entirely lost.<ref> Stanford J.Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press 1977 p. 362 </ref> This date is celebrated as Victory Day, a national holiday in Turkey.  During the [[Battle of Dumlupınar]], Greek General Tricoupis and General Dionis were captured by the Turkish forces. <ref>Kinross, p. 315</ref> General Tricoupis only after his capture could have learnt that he was recently appointed [[Commander-in-Chief]] in General Hajianestis' place.  On September 1, Mustafa Kemal issued his famous order to the Turkish army: "Armies, your first goal is the Mediterranean, Forward!"<ref>Shaw, p. 362</ref> 

On September 2 [[Eskisehir]] was captured, and the Greek government asked Britain to arrange a truce that would preserve its rule in Smyrna at least.<ref> Stanford J.Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press 1977 p. 363 </ref> [[Balikesir]] was taken on September 6, and [[Aydin]] and [[Manisa]] the next day.  The government in Athens resigned.  Two days later Turkish cavalry entered into Smyrna.  Gemlik and Mudanya fell on September 11, with an entire Greek division surrendering. As historian George Lenczowski has put it: "Once started, the offensive was a dazzling success. Within two weeks the Turks drove the Greek army back to the Mediterranean Sea."<ref>George Lenczowski, The Middle East in World Affairs, Cornell University Press, New York, 1962, p. 107</ref>

Then Kemal's forces headed north for Bosporus, the sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles where the Allied garrisons were reinforced by British, French and Italian troops from Constantinople .<ref>Stanford J.Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press 1977 p. 363 </ref> 
The British cabinet decided to resist the Turks if necessary at the Dardanelles and to ask for French and Italian help to enable the Greeks to remain in eastern Thrace.<ref>David Walder, The Chanak Affair, London, 1969, p.281</ref> However Italian and French forces abandoned their positions at the straits and left the British alone to face the Turks.  On September 24, Kemal's troops moved into the straits zones and refused British requests to leave.  The British cabinet was divided on the matter but eventually any possible armed conflict was prevented. British General Harrington, allied commander in Constantinople, kept his men from firing on Turks and warned the British cabinet against any rash adventure.  The Greek fleet left Constantinople upon his request.  The British finally decided to force the Greeks to withdraw behind Maritsa in Thrace.  This convinced Kemal to accept the opening of Armistice talks.

===Greek Scorched Earth Policy===

According to a number of sources, the retreating Greek army carried out a scorched earth policy while fleeing from [[Anatolia]] during the final phase of the war after each battle they lost.<ref>http://www.hri.org/docs/Horton/hb-12.html George Horton, Blight of Asia</ref><ref>Andrew Mango, Atatürk. p.217.</ref> For instance Middle East historian Sydney Nettleton Fisher wrote that:

<blockquote>"The Greek army in retreat pursued a burned-earth policy and committed every known outrage against defenceless Turkish villagers in its path."<ref>Sydney Nettleton Fisher, The Middle East : a history, New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1969, p. 386</ref></blockquote>

[[James Loder Park]], the U.S. Vice-Consul in Constantinople at the time, who toured much of the devastated area immediately after the Greek evacuation, described the situation in the surrounding cities and towns of İzmir he has seen, as follows: 

<blockquote>"[[Manisa]]...almost completely wiped out by fire...10,300 houses, 15 mosques, 2 baths, 2,278 shops, 19 hotels, 26 villas…[destroyed]. Cassaba (present day [[Turgutlu]]) was a town of 40,000 souls, 3,000 of whom were non-Moslems. Of these 37,000 Turks only 6,000 could be accounted for among the living, while 1,000 Turks were known to have been shot or burned to death. Of the 2,000 buildings that constituted the city, only 200 remained standing. Ample testimony was available to the effect that the city was systematically destroyed by Greek soldiers, assisted by a number of Greek and Armenian civilians. Kerosene and gasoline were freely used to make the destruction more certain, rapid and complete. Alasehir, hand pumps were used to soak the walls of the buildings with Kerosene. As we examined the ruins of the city, we discovered a number of skulls and bones, charred and black, with remnants of hair and flesh clinging to them. Upon our insistence a number of graves having a fresh-made appearance were actually opened for us as we were fully satisfied that these bodies were not more than four weeks old.[the time of the Greek retreat through Alasehir]"</blockquote>

Consul Park concluded:

<blockquote> 
:1.The destruction of the interior cities visited by our party was carried out by Greeks. 
:2.The percentages of buildings destroyed in each of the last four cities referred to were: [[Manisa]] 90 percent, Cassaba ([[Turgutlu]]) 90 percent, [[Alaşehir]] 70 percent, [[Salihli]] 65 percent. 
:3.The burning of these cities was not desultory, nor intermittent, nor accidental, but well planned and thoroughly organized. 
:4.There were many instances of physical violence, most of which was deliberate and wanton. Without complete figures, which were impossible to obtain, it may safely be surmised that 'atrocities' committed by retiring Greeks numbered well into thousands in the four cities under consideration. These consisted of all three of the usual type of such atrocities, namely murder, torture and rape.''<ref>U.S. Vice-Consul James Loder Park ''to [[Secretary of State]], [[Smyrna]], [[11 April]] [[1923]].'' US archives US767.68116/34</ref></blockquote>

Kinross wrote: "Already most of the towns in its path were in ruins. One third of [[Uşak|Ushak]] no longer existed. [[Alaşehir|Alashehir]] was no more than a dark scorched cavity, defacing the hillside. Village after village had been reduced to an ash-heap. Out of the eighteen thousand buildings in the historic holy city of [[Manisa]], only five hundred remained".<ref>Patrick Kinross 1964, ''Atatürk: Rebirth of a Nation'' p.318.</ref> It is estimated some 3,000 lives had been lost in the burning of Alaşehir alone <ref>Andrew Mango, Atatürk. p.217</ref> 

In one of the examples of the Greek atrocities during the retreat, on 14 February 1922, in the Turkish village of Karatepe in Aydin Vilayeti, after being surrounded by the Greeks, all the inhabitants were put into the mosque, then the mosque was burned. The few who escaped fire were shot.<ref> Letter from Arnold Toynbee to ''The Times'', 6 April 1922, transmitting a letter from Turkey of 9 March 1922</ref> The Italian consul, M. Miazzi, reported that he had just visited a Turkish village, where Greeks had slaughtered some sixty women and children. This report was then corroborated by Captain  Kocher, the French consul.<ref> F.O. 371-7898, no. E10383,' Report on the Nationalist Offensive in Anatolia by Major H.G. Howell, British Member of the Inter- Allied commission proceeding to Broussa" Constantinople, 15 September 1922</ref>

=== Re-Capture of Smyrna, September 1922===
With the possibility of social disorder once the Turkish Army occupied Smyrna, Mustafa Kemal was quick to issue a proclamation, sentencing any Turkish soldier to death who harmed non-combatants.<ref name=glenny>M. Glenny, ''The Balkans''</ref> A few days before the Turkish capture of the city, Kemal's messengers distributed leaflets with this order written in [[Greek language|Greek]]. Kemal said that Ankara government can't be hold responsible in the case of an occurrence of a massacre<ref>"Kemal won't Insure Against Massacres." in the New York Times September 11, 1922.</ref> These orders were largely ignored by the Turkish army, and Nasruddin Pasha, the commander of Turkish forces in the Smyrna district gave orders contradicting Atatürk's. Nasruddin Pasha's orders had as their main objective the extermination of the Christian population of the city and were largely followed: the Greek and Armenian civilian population of Smyrna suffered heavily at the hands of the Turkish army.<ref name=dopkin>Dobkin, Marjorie ''Smyrna: The Destruction of a City''</ref>

During the confusion and anarchy that followed, a great portion of the city was [[Great Fire of Smyrna|set ablaze]], and the properties of the Greeks were pillaged.  The cause of the fire is disputed: a number of sources implicate the Turkish army, while others attribute it to an accident. However, the fact that only the Greek and Armenian quarters of the city were burned, and that the Turkish quarter stood, gives credence to the theory that the Turks burned the city.  Nevertheless, the opposite, that the defeated Greeks simply continued their policy of scorched earth, could also be possible.  The Turkish Army [[massacre]]d a significant part of the Christian population.  This massacre include the lynching and brutal murder of the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan [[Chrysostomos of Smyrna]]<ref name=dopkin>Dobkin, Marjorie ''Smyrna: The Destruction of a City''</ref> whose ears, nose, and hands were cut off and his eyes gouged out with knives. Greeks managed to seek refuge on Greek ships at the harbor of İzmir and other coastal towns because the Allied (primarily British) ships (with the exception of some Japanese and Italian ships) refused the [[Greek refugees]], even to the point of keeping those who had swum out to their ships away, as they had orders not to get involved in the event.

Many of the buildings from which the fire originated were supply depots and warehouses, which would have been to the advantage of the Turks to preserve.  On the other hand, most of these supply depots and warehouses were owned by Greeks and Armenians, as the Muslim quarter of the city was largely untouched by the fire. Thus some claimed that the Turks had a motive to burn these buildings to extinguish any Christian presence from the city.<ref>Fromkin, David, ''A Peace to End All Peace.'' Henry Holt and Company 1989.</ref>

The British historian and journalist, [[Arnold J. Toynbee]], stated that when he toured the region he saw Greek villages that had been burned to the ground. Furthermore, Toynbee stated that the Turkish troops had clearly, individually and deliberately burned down each house.<ref> Toynbee, Arnold, J.''The Western Question in Greece and Turkey'', p.152.</ref>

== Resolution ==
[[Image:Turkey-Greece-Bulgaria on Treaty of Lausanne.png|200px|thumb|Map of Turkey with its western borders as specified by the [[Treaty of Lausanne]].]] 

{{main|Armistice of Mudanya|Treaty of Lausanne}}

The [[Armistice of Mudanya]] was concluded on [[October 11]] [[1922]]. The Allies ([[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]], [[France]], [[Italy]]) retained control of eastern [[Thrace]] and the [[Bosporus]]. The Greeks were to evacuate these areas. The agreement came into force starting [[October 15]], one day after the Greek side agreed to sign it.

The Armistice of Mudanya was followed by the [[Treaty of Lausanne]], a significant provision of which was [[Exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey|an exchange of populations]]. Over one million [[Greek Orthodox]] Christians were displaced; most of them were resettled in [[Attica]] and the newly-incorporated Greek territories of [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] and [[Western Thrace|Thrace]].

=== Shift of support towards Turkish Revolutionaries ===
{{Main|Conference of London}}
{{Seealso|Treaty of Alexandropol|Treaty of Ankara (1921)|Treaty of Moscow (1921)}}
The new government, under Gounares, replaced all the veteran officers and the leadership of the army was given to [[Anastasios Papoulas]]. The French and the Italians concluded private agreements with the Turkish revolutionaries in recognition of their mounting strength.  Turkish revolutionaries received (bought) arms from Italy and France, who threw in their lot with the Turkish revolutionaries against Greece which was seen as a British client. The Italians used their base in Antalya to assist, especially from the point of view of intelligence, to the Turkish revolutionaries against the Greeks.<ref name=Antalya> Antalya City Website History, http://www.antalya-ws.com/english/location/antalya/whistory.asp </ref> There was a positive relationship between the Soviet Union and the Turkish Revolutionaries, which was solidified under [[Treaty of Moscow (1921)]]. The unquestionable help from Soviet Union was instead of opening another front, Soviets waited for the results of the [[Turkish-Armenian War]] and conflicts with Greece. The Soviet Union also supported Kemal with money and ammunition.  {{Fact|date=February 2007}}

== Atrocities and claims of ethnic cleansing by both sides ==
=== Greek massacres of Turks ===

British historian [[Arnold J. Toynbee]] wrote that there were organized atrocities since the Greek occupation of Smyrna on the 15th May 1919. 
Toynbee also stated that he and his wife were witnesses to the atrocities perpetrated by Greeks in the Yalova, Gemlik, and Ismid areas and they not only obtained abundant material evidence in the shape of "burnt and plundred houses, recent corpses, and terror stricken survivors."<ref>Arnold J. Toynbee, The Western question in Greece and Turkey: a study in the contact of civilisations, Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1922, p. 260.</ref>
but also witnessed robbery by Greek civilians and arsons by Greek soldiers in uniform in the act of perpetration.<ref>Toynbee, p. 260</ref> Toynbee wrote:

<blockquote>"No sooner had they landed than they began a ruthless warfare against the Turkish population, not omitting the commission of atrocities in the worst Near Eastern manner, they laid waste the fertile Maender Valley, and forced thousands of homeless Turks to take refuge beyond the occupied area."<ref> Arnold J. Toynbee and Kenneth P. Kirkwood, Turkey, 1926, London : Ernest Benn, p. 92</ref></blockquote>

Historian [[Taner Akcam]] noted that a British officer claimed: 

<blockquote>"The National forces were established solely for the purpose of fighting the Greeks...The Turks are willing to remain under the control of any other state...There was not even an organized resistance at the time of the Greek occupation. Yet the Greeks are persisting in their oppression, and they have continued to burn villages, kill Turks and rape and kill women and young girls and throttle to death children." .<ref>Taner Akcam, A Shameful Act, p. 318</ref></blockquote>

Inter-Allied commission in the Yalova-Gemlik peninsula, in their report of the 23rd May [[1921]], during the Greek occupation of western Anatolia, wrote that:
<blockquote>
" A distinct and regular method appears to have been followed in the destruction of villages, group by group, for the last two months, which destruction has even reached the neighbourhood of the Greek headquarters. The members of the Commission consider that, in the part of the kazas of Yalova and Guemlek occupied by the Greek army, there is a systematic plan of destruction of Turkish villages and extinction of the Moslem population. This plan is being carried out by Greek and Armenian bands, which appear to operate under Greek instructions and sometimes even with the assistance of detachments of regular troops."<ref>Arnold J. Toynbee, The Western question in Greece and Turkey: a study in the contact of civilisations, Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1922, p. 284.</ref></blockquote>

Inter Allied commission also stated that the destruction of villages and the disappearance of the Moslem population might have at its objective to create in this region a political situation favourable to the Greek Government.<ref>Toynbee, p. 284</ref>

M. Gehri, the representative of the [[Geneva]] International [[Red Cross]] who accompanied the Inter-Allied Commission wrote as follows: 

<blockquote>"...The Greek army of occupation have been employed in the extermination of the Moslem population of the Yalova-Gemlik peninsula. The facts established -burning of villages, massacres, terror of the inhabitants, coincidence of place and date- leave no room for doubt in regard to this. The atrocities which we have seen, or of which we have seen the material evidence, were the work of irregular bands of armed civilians(tcheti) and of organised units of the regular army...Instead of being disarmed and broken up, the bands have been assisted in their activities and have collaborated hand in hand with organised units of regulars."<ref>Arnold J. Toynbee, The Western question in Greece and Turkey: a study in the contact of civilisations, Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1922, p. 285.</ref></blockquote>

Arnold J. Toynbee wrote that they obtained convincing evidence that similar atrocities had been started in wide areas all over the remainder of the Greek occupied territories since June 1921. <ref>Toynbee, Western Question, p. 260</ref> Toynbee argued that: " the situation of the Turks in Smyrna City had become what could be called without exaggeration a 'reign of terror', it was to be inferred that their treatment in the country districts had grown worse in proportion." <ref>Toynbee, Western Question, p. 318</ref>

=== Turkish massacres of Greeks and Armenians===
''See'' [[Pontian Genocide]]

Many Western newspapers reporting gross abuses committed by Turkish forces against Christian, mainly Greek and Armenian civilians.<ref>"Turk's Insane Savagery: 10,000 Greeks Dead" in The Times, Friday, May 5 1922</ref> <ref>"5,000 Christians Massacred, Turkish Nationalist Conspiracy" in The Scotsman August 24, 1920</ref>  <ref>"24 Greek Villages are Given to the Fire" in the Atlanta Constitution March 30, 1922</ref> <ref>"Near East Relief Prevented from Helping Greeks" in the Christian Science Monitor July 13 1922</ref><ref>"Turks will be Turks" in the New York Times September 16, 1922</ref><ref> "More Turkish Atrocities" in Belfast News Letter, Thursday May 16 1922</ref> The British historian Tonybee stated that Turkish troops deliberately burned numerous Greek homes, pouring petrol on them and taking care to ensure that they were totally destroyed. <ref> Toynbee, Arnold, J.''The Western Question in Greece and Turkey'', p.152.</ref> There were massacres throughout 1920-1923, the period of the [[Turkish War of Independence]], especially of Armenians  in the East and the South, and against the Greeks in the Black Sea Region. <ref>Akcam, Taner. A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility. Metropolitan Books 2006 p.322</ref> There was also significant continuity between the organizers of the massacres between 1915-1917 and 1919-1921 in Eastern Anatolia. <ref>Akcam, Taner. A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility. Metropolitan Books 2006 p.326</ref>

According to the London based ''Times'': ''"The Turkish authorities frankly state it is their deliberate intention to let all the Greeks die, and their actions support their statement."''<ref>"Turk's Insane Savagery: 10,000 Greeks Dead" in The Times, Friday, May 5 1922</ref> An Irish paper, the ''Belfast News Letter'' wrote: ''"The appalling tale of barbarity and cruelty now being practiced by the Angora Turks is part of a systematic policy of extermination of Christian minorities in Asia Minor.''"<ref> "More Turkish Atrocities" in Belfast News Letter, Thursday May 16 1922</ref> According to the ''Christian Science Monitor'', the Turks felt that they needed to murder their Christian minorities due to Christian superiority in terms of industriousness and the consequent Turkish feelings of jealously and inferiority, The paper wrote: ''"The result has been to breed feelings of alarm and jealously in the minds of the Turks which in later years have driven them to depression. They believe that they cannot compete with their Christian subjects in the arts of peace and that the Christians and Greeks especially are too industrious and too well educated as rivals. Therefore from time to time they have striven to try and redress the balance by expulsion and massacre. That has been the position generations past in Turkey again if the Great powers are callous and unwise enough to attempt to perpetuate Turkish misrule over Christians."''<ref> "Turkish Rule over Christian Peoples" in the Christian Science Monitor February 1, 1919</ref>

A Turkish governor, Ebubekir Hazim Tepeyran in the Sivas Province said in 1919 that the massacres were so horrible that he could not bear to report them.  He was referring to the atrocities committed against Greeks in the Black Sea region, and according to the official tally 11,181 Greeks were murdered in 1921 by the Central Army under the command of [[Nurettin Pasha]] (who is infamous for the killing of Archbishop Chrysostomos).<ref>Akcam, Taner.  A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility. Metropolitan Books 2006 p.323</ref> Some parliamentary deputies demanded Nurettin Pasha to be sentenced to death and it was decided to put him on trial although the trial was later revoked by the intervention of Mustafa Kemal. 

Taner Akcam wrote that according to one newspaper, Nurettin Pasha had suggested to kill all the remaining Greek and Armenian populations in Anatolia, a suggestion rejected by Mustafa Kemal. <ref>Akcam, Taner.  A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility. Metropolitan Books 2006 p.323</ref> 

According to the newspaper the Scotsman, on August 18th of 1920, in the Feival district of Karamusal, South-East of Ismid in Asia Minor, the Turks massacred 5,000 Christians. <ref>"5,000 Christians Massacred, Turkish Nationalist Conspiracy" in The Scotsman August 24, 1920</ref> As well as massacring Greeks, the Turks also massacred Armenians, continuing the policies of the 1915 [[Armenian Genocide]] according to many Western newspapers. <ref>"Allies to Act at Once on Armenian Outrages" in the New York Times February 29, 1920. </ref>  

The were widespread massacres of Greeks in the [[Pontus]] region, which is recognized in Greece and Cyprus<ref name=Cyprus>Cyprus Press Office, New York City</ref> as the [[Pontian Genocide]]. On February 25, 1922 24 Greek villages in the Pontus region were burnt to the ground. An American newspaper, the ''Atlanta Observer'' wrote: ''"The smell of the burning bodies of women and children in Pontus" said the message "comes as a warning of what is awaiting the Christian in Asia Minor after the withdrawal of the Hellenic army."''<ref>"24 Greek Villages are Given to the Fire" in the Atlanta Constitution March 30, 1922</ref> In the first few months of 1922, 10,000 Greeks were killed by advancing Kemalist forces, acccording to Belfast News Letter .<ref>"Turk's Insane Savagery: 10,000 Greeks Dead" in The Times, Friday, May 5 1922</ref><ref> "More Turkish Atrocities" in Belfast News Letter, Thursday May 16 1922</ref>  
The Turks continued the practice of slavery, seizing women and children for their harems.<ref>"Turk's Insane Savagery: 10,000 Greeks Dead" in The Times, Friday, May 5 1922</ref><ref> "More Turkish Atrocities" in Belfast News Letter, Thursday May 16 1922</ref> Many Turkish soldiers would also rape women. <ref>"Girls died to escape Turks" in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin</ref>  
American relief works were also treated with extreme disrespect, even when they were aiding Muslim civilians. <ref>"Turk's Insane Savagery: 10,000 Greeks Dead" in The Times, Friday, May 5 1922</ref> ''Christian Science Monitor'' wrote that Turkish authorities also prevented missionaries and humanitarian aid groups from assisting Greek civilians who had their homes burned, the Turkish authorities leaving these people to die despite abundant aid. The ''Christian Science Monitor'' wrote: ''"the Turks are trying to exterminate the Greek population with more vigor than they exercised towards the Armenians in 1915."''<ref>"Near East Relief Prevented from Helping Greeks" in the Christian Science Monitor July 13 1922</ref>

According to a proclamation made in 2002 by the then-governor of [[New York]] (where a sizeable population of [[Greek Americans]] resides), [[George Pataki]] (of Hungarian descent [http://www.wargs.com/political/pataki.html][http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/newyork/features/9494/][http://traveltohungary.com/english/articles/article.php?id=99]), Greeks of Asia Minor endured immeasurable cruelty during a Turkish government-sanctioned systematic campaign to displace them; destroying Greek towns and villages and slaughtering additional hundreds of thousands of civilians in areas where Greeks composed a majority, as on the Black Sea coast, Pontus, and areas around Smyrna; those who survived were exiled from Turkey and today they and their descendants live throughout the [[Greek diaspora]].<ref>Resolution of the State of New York, October 6th, 2002; NY State Governor George E. Pataki Proclaims October 6th, 2002 as the 80th Anniversary of the Persecution of Greeks of Asia Minor</ref>

In fact, the Greeks who left Anatolia after 1923, were not exiled, but exchanged with Turks in Greece according to the terms of the [[Treaty of Lausanne]] signed by both Greek and Turkish governments. A sizable population of Greeks had been forced to leave its ancestral homelands of [[Ionia]], [[Pontus]] and [[Eastern Thrace]] between 1914-1922. These refugees, as well as the [[Greek American]]s with origins in Anatolia were not allowed to return after 1923 and the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne.

==In Literature and the Arts==

[[Tasos Athanasiadis]], ''The Children of Niovi'' (Τα Παιδιά της Νιόβης), novel which was later serialized on Greek television

[[Louis de Bernieres]], ''[[Birds Without Wings (novel)|Birds Without Wings]]'', 2004

[[Thea Halo]], ''Not Even my Name'', memoir 2000

[[Ernest Hemingway]], ''On the Quai at Smyrna'', collected in ''[[In Our Time (book)|In Our Time]]'', 1925.

[[Jeffrey Eugenides]], ''[[Middlesex(novel)|Middlesex]]'', novel (won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction]] in [[2003]])

[[Panos Karnezis]], ''[[The Maze (2004)| The Maze]]'' novel 2004 shortlisted for 2004 Whitbread First Novel Award.

[[Elia Kazan]], ''America, America'' film 1964 Oscar nominated for Best Picture

[[Nikos Kazantzakis]], ''[[The Greek Passion|Christ Recrucified]]'' (Ο Χριστός Ξανασταυρώνεται) , novel 1948

[[Bohuslav Martinů]] , ''[[The Greek Passion]]'' (Řecké pašije), Opera 1961

[[Dido Sotiriou]], ''[[Farewell Anatolia]]'' (Ματωμένα Χώματα, 1962), Kedros 1997

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==See also==
*[[Aftermath of World War I]]
*[[Menemen massacre]]
*[[Battle of Dumlupınar]] (Battle of Afyon-Karahisar)
*[[Great Fire of Smyrna]]
*[[Chanak Crisis]]
*[[Chronology of the Turkish War of Independence]]
*[[Greco-Turkish relations]]
*[[Timeline of modern Greek history]]
*[[Greek refugees]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/5GKE3D?OpenDocument&View=defaultBody&style=custo_print Red Cross Report on the Greek-Turkish Conflict]

{{War of Turkish Independence}}

[[Category:Turkish War of Independence]]
[[Category:Wars involving Greece]]
[[Category:Wars involving Turkey]]
[[Category:Aftermath of World War I]]
[[Category:Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]]
[[Category:Greco-Turkish relations]]

[[id:Perang Yunani-Turki (1919-1922)]]
[[bg:Гръцко-турска война (1919-1922)]]
[[de:Griechisch-Türkischer Krieg]]
[[el:Ελληνοτουρκικός πόλεμος (1919-1922)]]
[[es:Guerra Greco-Turca (1919-1922)]]
[[eo:Greka-turka milito (1919-1922)]]
[[fr:Guerre gréco-turque (1919-1922)]]
[[hy:Հունա-Թուրքական պատերազմ (1919-1922)]]
[[he:מלחמת יוון-תורכיה]]
[[nl:Grieks-Turkse Oorlog]]
[[ja:希土戦争 (1919年-1922年)]]
[[nn:Den gresk-tyrkiske krigen 1919-1922]]
[[pl:wojna grecko-turecka ]]
[[ru:Вторая греко-турецкая война 1919—1922]]
[[sl:Grško-turška vojna]]
[[tr:Türk-Yunan Cephesi]]