Smyrna
1922
The Destruction of a City
In September 1922, Mustapha Kemal (Ataturk), the victorious revolutionary leader of Turkey, led his
troops into Smyrna, a predominantly Christian city, as a flotilla of 27 Allied warships – including 3
American destroyers – looked on. The Turks soon proceeded to indulge in an orgy of pillage and
slaughter that the western powers, anxious to protect their oil and trade interests in Turkey, condoned
by their silence and refusal to intervene. Turkish forces then set fire to the legendary city and totally
destroyed it. There followed a massive cover-up by tacit agreement of the Western Allies. By 1923
Smyrna's demise was all but expunged from historical memory.
"The victims of the massacre-Greeks and Armenians-were estimated at 150,000. What was left of
Smyrna was only its Turkish suburb. This very old and extremely beautiful Greek city had been
founded in 3000 B.C. and restored by Alexander the Great. It used to be one of the most important
economic centers of the Mediterranean. It used to be full of life and activity. It used to be prosperous.
And now from one moment to the next it was turned into a dead city. To a huge pile of ruins which
emitted smoke. Those of its inhabitants who escaped the massacre fled, ousted and miserable, to
Greece." – U.S. Consul at Smyrna, George Horton
Bekiari Theodora