Constantinople
The city of Constantinople (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολη, Turkish: İstanbul)
Constantinople during the Greek Genocide
A makeshift Greek refugee camp in Constantinople in the 1920s
During the Greek Genocide in total more than 15,000 Greeks of Constantinople were rounded up and deported.
By 8 March 1915 two hundred Greeks of Constantinople had been arrested and deported into the Interior of Asia Minor where they were murdered. They included:
C. Theodorou (Κ. Θεοδώρου), G. Vassiliou (Γ. Βασιλείου), Th. Vassiliou (Θ. Βασιλείου), G. Demosthenes (Γ. Δημοσθένης), B. Athanassiou (Β. Αθανασίου), Th. Karamitsos (θ. Καραμήτσος), T. Vassiliou (Τ. Βασιλείου), Ch. Stylianos (Χ. Στυλιανός), P. Simeon (Π. Σιμεόν), K. Ioannou (Κ. Ιωάννου), G. Panayotou (Γ. Παναγιώτου), L. Nicolaou (Λ. Νικολάου), A. Karakos (Α. Καράκος), P. Vitalis (Π. Βιτάλης), M. Apostolou (Μ. Αποστόλου), B. Joseph (Β. Ιωσήφ), E. Anastasiades (Ε. Αναστασιάδης), A. Deocosmides, L. Georgiou (Λ. Γεωργίου) , N. Zografides (Ν. Ζωγραφίδης), E. Manulides (Ε. Μανουλίδης), I. Papoulis (Ι. Παπούλης), P. Constantinou (Π. Κωνσταντίνου), P. Samaras (Π. Σαμαράς), N. Athanassiou (Ν. Αθανασίου), N. Dimou (Ν. Δήμου), Ch. Basiliou (Χ. Βασιλείου), Th. Prodromou (θ. Προδρόμου), N. Dimitriou (Ν. Δημητρίου), B. Safaidaris, S. Okoumou, D. Safir, Th. Dimitriou (θ. Δημητρίου), S. Gregoriou (Σ. Γρηγορίου), G. Photiou (Γ. Φωτίου), D. Roumounos and Z. Ignatiou (Ζ. Ιγνατίου).
The March 1915 arrest and deportation of 200 Greeks from Constantinople was a precursor to the April 1915 arrest and deportation of a similar number of Armenians from the same city.
In June 1915 Greeks from the districts of Vathikolpos (Greek: Βαθύκολπος, Turkish: Büyükdere), Caenophrurium (Greek: Tυρολόη, Turkish: Çorlu), Metres (Greek: Μέτρες, Turkish: Çatalca), Selybria (Greek: Σηλυβρία, Turkish: Silivri) were imprisoned in the city. In July 1915 the Greek residents of Sosthenion (Greek: Σωσθένιο, Turkish: İstinye) were all deported with the exception of five families who were exempted on the orders of the Chief-Policeman of Mega Revma (Greek: Μέγα Ρεύμα, Turkish: Arnavutköy). In the same month numerous members of the Greek clergy were imprisoned in the city. Later 200 Greek families of Tatavla (Greek: Ταταύλα, Turkish: Kurtuluş) were deported into the Interior.
In December 1917 the British Legation at Berne affirmed:
"Greeks are being daily cleared out of Constantinople and its surroundings and taken to the interior of the country. Their property is seized and their belongings sold by auction. The women and girls are distributed between the German officials and the Moslems of importance. ... It is estimated that in Constantinople over 300 Greeks have been enslaved."
The Pogrom of September 1955
The anti-Greek pogrom of 6-7 September 1955 in Constantinople (Greek: Σεπτεμβριανά, Turkish: 6-7 Eylül Olayları) was a systematic act of ethnic cleansing perpetrated against the Greek minority of the city.
Acts of ethnic cleansing as perpetrated by the Republic of Turkey are viewed distinctly from the 1914-1923 Greek Genocide. A few scholars, however, have indicated that the 1955 pogrom exhibited characteristics of a genocide program.
İstanbul, 9 September 1955
In a telegram to the US State Department sent on the night of 6 September, the American consul general in Istanbul reported:
"Extensive destruction and situation appears completely out of hand with no evidence of police or military attempt to control. I personally witnessed the looting of many shops while the police stood idly by or cheered on mob."
İstanbul, 11 September 1955
A British correspondent in the city at the time, reported:
"all evidence points to an exact, perfectly co-ordinated attack. The flame that swept the city was ignited at a hundred different points at precisely the same zero hour"
Suggested Reading
- Alexandris, Alexis, The Greek Minority of Istanbul and Greek-Turkish Relations 1918-1974, Centre for Asia Minor Studies, Athens, 1992, ISBN: 9608502144.
- De Zayas, Alfred, ‘‘The Istanbul Pogrom of 6–7 September 1955 in the Light of International Law,’’ Genocide Studies and Prevention, Vol. 2, No. 2, August 2007, pp. 137–154.
- Kaloumenos, Dimitrios, The Crucifixion of Christianity, Athens, 2001.
- Vryonis, Speros, The Mechanism of Catastrophe: The Turkish Pogrom of September 6-7, 1955, and the Destruction of the Greek Community in Istanbul, Greekworks.com New York, 2005.
- Βασίλης Κυρατζόπουλος, Η Άγραφη Γενοκτονία: Κωνσταντινούπολη Σεπτέμβριος 1955 [Unregistered Genocide: Constantinople September 1955] , Εκδόσεις Τσουκάτου, Athens, 2006