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The Greek Genocide

The Greek Genocide is the systematic extermination of the Greek minority of the former Ottoman Empire (current day Turkey) during the years 1914-1923. The Genocide was widespread, and occurred in all regions of the Empire where Greeks resided, including Thrace, Smyrna, and the remainder of Asia Minor including Pontus. The death toll has been estimated at approximately 1 million lives. Some of the measures used to exterminate the Greeks included the boycott of businesses, death marches, destruction of Greek villages, and the confiscation of property.

These are the Turks

These are the Turks; Narratives on the Massacres of Nicomedia (Athens 1921). Written by K.Faltaits These are the Turks is a series of narratives which detail the massacres committed by the Turks in the region of Nicomedia in Western Asia Minor during 1920. Sent by newspaper Empros (Εμπρoς) to report on the war front in Anatolia, journalist K.Faltaits becomes eye witness to some of the worst atrocities committed during the Greek Genocide.

Persecutions of the Greeks in Turkey since the beginning of the European war

"From the 1st to the 15th of May (1915) the inhabitants of the villages of Bouyoukdere, Kephalikioi, Kirits and Yeni-Machala were ordered to abandon their villages within three days. Although the Turkish Government maintained that the deportations formed a general measure and were due to military necessity, as both the Grand Vizier (Prime Minister) and German Ambasssador told me when I protested in person about the deportations - still, after the departure of the Greeks, their houses and properties were seized by the Turks."

Greek Genocide death toll: 1.574.235

In his book titled The Concise History of the Genocide of the Greeks of Anatolia (Kyriakidis Publishers, 2009, in Greek), historian Haris Tsirkinidis uses archival material from a number of sources to conclude that the final death toll of Greeks living in the Ottoman Empire during 1914-1923 was 1.574.235. Tsirkinidis breaks the genocide period down into three phases when calculating the final death toll. As Tsirkinidis states himself, "In other words, in Thrace, in Pontus, and the remainder of Asia Minor, virtually half the Greek population was exterminated primarily from the beginning of 1914 until the end of 1923."

Osman Agha (1883-1923)

Also known as "Topal Osman", he served for the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) in the Balkans. It was there that he received an injury to his foot which resulted in him being referred to as ‘Lame' or ‘Crippled' Osman. He roamed the Black Sea (Pontus) region with his band and was responsible for numerous massacres and deportations of Greeks. He was a brigand and a Kemalist Military Commander. He had a fanatical loyalty to Mustafa Kemal to whom he served as a bodyguard. He was made Mayor of Giresun (Kerasus/Kerasund) in 1919 as a reward for his murderous deeds.

Relief for Greeks of Asia Minor

The wording accompanying the following photograph describes the plight of the Greeks of Asia Minor following the deportations they were forced to endure. The Turks deported hundreds of thousands of Greeks into the interior of Asia Minor without taking necessary steps to safeguard them. The world had already learnt how deadly these marches were, since the same method was used by the Turks only years earlier in the extermination of the Armenians. The Relief Committee for Greeks of Asia Minor sent messages to the American public appealling for monetary help to care for the Greek refugees.