Italian Sources on Greek Atrocities in Anatolia (1919-1922)

Greece occupied Izmir on May 15, 1919 in order to achieve its Megali Idea goal and to make Western Anatolia a homeland. For the Turks, the occupation of Izmir was different from the occupation of other Entente states. The invader was the Greeks who had lived under Turkish rule for hundreds of years. Moreover, the occupation was bloody. Greece, knowing that the Turks would not accept to live under its rule, established an occupation based on violence. It committed arbitrary killings, injuries, imprisonment, rape, theft, insulting religious values and other acts incompatible with human dignity against Turks. Since the Greek and Italian occupation zones in Western Anatolia were bordering each other, the Italians recorded all kinds of atrocities committed by the Greeks. Turks complained to the Italians as well as other European states about the atrocities they saw from the Greeks. In addition to this, the Italians also recorded the Greek atrocities identified on the spot by their military and civilian officials. In this article, only examples of Greek atrocities identified by Italian authorities are given. The atrocities committed by the Greeks in Anatolia were also reported in the Italian press. Examples from these newspapers were also given. Italian sources identified the atrocities committed by the Greeks with terms such as "Massacre", "Brutality", " Savagery", "Banditry". It is in the interest of both sides for Türkiye and Greece, two neighboring countries by land and sea, to establish good relations. For this, mutual sincerity and not allowing the past to mortgage the future are essential. However, the current attitude of Greece is to forget the crimes against humanity it committed in Anatolia. It is necessary and useful to reveal the Greek atrocities detected by the impartial and objective Italian and other Allied sources. In this way, it is hoped that Greece will reach a point of understanding.

Click to cite.

Note: You can access the citation text via the ‘Actions’ tab in Crossref.