The Anatolian peninsula is of particular importance in Mezalim research: on the one hand, it is to be regarded as the site of numerous mass murders and genocides of the local Muslim population, and on the other as a place of refuge for many victims of ethnic cleansing, genocides and expulsions. The local image of Mezalim is characterized above all by the mass crimes of violence during the Armenian-Russian occupation of Eastern Anatolia in the First World War, the subsequent Greek occupation of Western Anatolia and the Balkan wars with their consequences for the Muslims in Thrace. The influx of Mezalim victims from the Eastern Balkans, the Aegean region, the Crimea, the Caucasus and Central Asia had a significant influence on the Mezalim narrative in today’s Turkey. Together with the local experiences of suffering, they form the contemporary Mezalim culture of remembrance in Turkish society.
Contact us
Ilker Akgül
Head of department Anatolia
i.akguel@mezalim.org
- Greek Atrocities During The Great Offensive: Setting Firesby Professor Uğur Üçüncü, Black Sea Technical University of Trabzon The Ottoman Empire accepted defeat in the Great War and signed the Armistice of Mondros. With the Armistice, the borders of the empire shrank and Anatolia became the last refuge of the Turkish nation. However, the Allied powers considered that the control of Anatolia as…
- May 15, 1919: The prelude to the invasion and depopulation of Western AnatoliaIt is May 15, 1919, when at 7:30 a.m. the Greek warships Patris and Atronitos moor at the port of Izmir and soldiers of the Efzon Regiment go ashore. The occupation of the great economic metropolis was decided during the peace negotiations in Paris, although it had previously been granted to Italy in a secret…
- May 15, 1919: The prelude to the invasion and depopulation of Western AnatoliaIt is May 15, 1919, when at 7:30 a.m. the Greek warships Patris and Atronitos moor at the port of Izmir and soldiers of the Efzon Regiment go ashore. The occupation of the large economic metropolis was decided during the peace negotiations in Paris, although it had previously been awarded to Italy in a secret…
- The Greek Occupation of Western Anatolia 1919-1922by Kemal Bölge Warships and landing craft at the port of Izmir On the morning of 15 May 1919, dark clouds gathered over the sky of the port city of Izmir. Under the escort of warships from Great Britain, France, the USA and Italy, 12,000 soldiers of the Greek occupation army landed at the port…
- The Occupation of Izmir from the Pen of an Italian Journalistby Prof. Dr. Mevlüt Çelebi, Ege University Izmir I. During the World War, Britain, France and Russia made some promises to Italy and Greece in order to get them to join the war on their side. Izmir was promised to both Greece and Italy. After the Armistice of Mudros signed between the Ottoman Empire and…
- The black smoke over KaratepeOn the evening of February 18, 1922, Greek armed forces committed a mass murder of the local population in the mountain village of Karatepe/Aydın, which became synonymous with horror and inhumanity. Exactly 101 years ago, on February 18, 1922, one of the cruelest massacres of the Turkish-Muslim civilian population in western Anatolia took place in…
- A Political Project Built on Massacre: Declaration of Armenian Independence in Erzurum (1918)by Tolga Başak, Prof. Dr., Erzurum Atatürk University The massacres committed by Armenian militias against the local Muslim population consisted by Turks, Kurds and Arabs, which began in the 19th century and continued until the early 20th century, were designed to implement an abstract political project that was incompatible with the ethnic and demographic conditions…
- The fate of Muslims and Ottoman cultural assets in GreeceAfter the Turkish-Russian War (1877-1878) and the signing of the Treaty of Berlin, the Ottoman Empire had to cede these territories to Greece. However, on condition that the Muslim residents are guaranteed security of property and religious freedom. In the XVII century, the polyglot writer and commercial traveler Evliya Çelebi visited the then town of…