Izmir: A City Burned and Rebuilt

It is well known to many and likely to you, the dear reader, that the lands that include the present country of Turkey were inhabited and occupied by many nations over the years.  Some of the more recent occupants have been the Greeks, the Armenians, the Kurdish, various Syrian Peoples and others.  While it is not the purpose of this post to provide a detailed history of what has become known as present day Turkey, I instead intend to point out what we have seen and what is relevant to our visit to the coastal Mediterranean city of Izmir.

As you likely know from previous history lessons or from my recent post on our visit within Turkey to the ancient Greek City of Ephesus, you are well aware that the coastal portions of Turkey were occupied in whole or in part at one time by the Greeks.  Over time, and with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, the Greeks were relieved of these places.  Present day Istanbul was once known as the Greek city of Constantinople and the city we are visiting, Izmir, was once known as the Greek city of Smyrna.

 In the early 1900's, the Greeks attempted to retake these lost cities and others, some well into the interior of the country.  Some attempts immediately failed.  Smyrna, however, held a Greek occupation from May 15, 1919 until the great fire on September 9, 1922.  It was this fire, likely the result of ammunition burning that ultimately leveled the town as the Turkish forces swept in and herded those who could not escape the flames into the sea where many drowned.

It was during this time that those Armenians who had been displaced during the cleansing of the nation of non-Turkish peoples were huddled within the city and they found themselves in an unfortunate situation as well.  The Turkish army was not ready to let the Greeks get away alive and so those who either swam out to awaiting French rescue ships were either shot or, if by boat, found burning Molotov cocktails being hurled to burn their boats and the people in them.  If you have not read it, take a look at Gary's post on Izmir which is complementary.

 We caught quick snippets of footage of the city on fire and the attempted escape by the then citizens of the city while we watched a documentary at the Attaturk Museum in the city.  I'll share them here.

 






 

Present day Izmir and the same "beach"

A closer look at the present day shoreline where once atrocities occurred.

 

 Mustafa Kemal Attaturk is to Turkey what George Washington is to the United States.  He is the first of a new republic of leaders who would bring the failing Ottoman Empire together and liberate the people.  He was born in 1881 in Thessaloniki.  You might say that this was a Greek City and you would be right except that in that time, the city was part of the Ottoman Empire. It was a cosmopolitan city that hosted Turks, Greeks, Jews and many others living side by side peacefully.

His education was extensive and he was both an avid reader and writer.  His views of the then current chaos of the Turkish Nation provided the drive to become someone who would serve to reshape the country into what it is today as a modern and progressive country.  The language used, once Arabic characters, was changed to the Latin alphabet as a means to help the country assimilate with Europe and the west.  Attaturk also realized that women, who once held a second place to men, had many talents and gifts to share with the nation and he believed that a successful nation could not be achieved without allowing all of its people to contribute with equality recognized.  Quite progressive indeed.

 

Attaturk has his own Mini Mt. Rushmore

 

 It was impressive to read his history, and the relation of his history to the development of the present Turkish nation.  As a person of Turkish descent and Armenian culturally, I was still a bit disheartened to know that, although he was not a direct participant in the "relocation" and ultimate deaths of the Armenian people, it is unfortunate that he did not take a verbal stance on his position.  I wonder what exactly he thought.... 

I'll include the pictures from the museum, that you can read at your leisure.  They cover the history of this historical figure, his life and his accomplishments. 

 
















 

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