Anniversary

Published by The National Herald, September 23, 2005

A Sad and Shameful Anniversary

This month is 50 years since the day the Greek Orthodox inhabitants of Constantinople saw their lives destroyed by hordes of inflamed Turkish riffraff, mobilized and directed by the Turkish Government of Adnan Menderes.

It is a sad anniversary for the Greek people. It is a shameful anniversary for the Turkish people.

In its 659 pages, "The Mechanism of Catastrophe," a recently published book by the eminent scholar Professor Speros Vryonis Jr., describes in minute and vivid detail, and with a wealth of evidence, the carnage perpetrated within a few hours in Constantinople on September 6-7, 1955. It is a timely book, and not only because of the anniversary.

At the very moment Turkey seeks to join the European family, and the leaders of the European Union ponder the current realities, this book comes as a reminder that Turkey has much to do in order to prove that it is indeed ready – not only with official declarations or legal remedies, but as a nation – to join the European family.

Not widely known is that the sinister role of the Turkish Government in the destruction of the Greek community in Constantinople was exposed by the Yassada Tribunal, the Turkish special court which tried Adnan Menderes and other members of his government for violations of the Turkish constitution. Menderes and his foreign minister, Fatim Zorlu, were hanged. In the course of their trial, the sordid conspiracy came to light.

In 1955, the Greek Cypriots were pressing the British Government to end British colonial rule over the island. With the era of colonialism coming to an end worldwide, the quest of the Greek Cypriots for enosis (union) with Greece had, for the British, become a vexing political problem. To counter Greek Cypriot pressure, the British turned to Turkey.

With an 18-percent minority of Turkish Cypriots on the island, it was easy to persuade the Turkish Government to enter the arena and raise strong objections to any solution which would have resulted in enosis of Cyprus with Greece. Moreover, the Menderes government, facing serious economic problems, had an added interest in diverting public attention toward Cyprus. With the dispute now involving three parties instead of two, a tripartite conference was called to meet in London for the first week of September 1955. Initially, the apparent intention was only to incite public demonstrations to underscore the Turkish interest in Cyprus during the conference. Eventually, however, the organizers found an opportunity to destroy Greek communities.

To inflame the Turkish public, the Turkish Government planned and carried out an explosion in the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki, which was located in the house where Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish state, was presumably born. The Turkish Government’s role in organizing this provocation was fully revealed and documented later, during the Yassada trial.

The explosion caused minor damage to the building but when, within hours, it was reported in Turkey, it became the spark the Turkish Government needed to set off the pogrom against the Greek communities in Constantinople and in Smyrna.

The next day, around 5:30 PM, bands of "enraged" citizens began to gather and attack stores belonging to Greeks or Armenians. By 7 PM, according to the American consular official in Constantinople, who filed an extensive report to the State Department, "the mob split into two sections, in an orgy of vandalism…" as quoted in Professor Vryonis’ monumental work.

Greek-owned stores were put to the torch, after they were looted and vandalized. Greek residents were attacked in their homes. Greek Orthodox churches were pillaged and burned. It was past midnight by the time the destruction ended. According to the Istanbul police and other sources, 3,542 stores and other enterprises owned by Greek Orthodox were destroyed in the city of Constantinople alone.

There were also 741 Armenian- and 523 Jewish-owned properties attacked. In their frenzy, the attackers even destroyed 436 properties owned by Turks.

In a list reported by Professor Vryonis, 69 churches were vandalized or burned. It was a night which brought the Crystal Night to memory, when Nazi bands destroyed Jewish stores in Berlin. The magnitude of the calamity can be seen in two stark numbers: Before September 6-7, 1955 more than 200,000 Greek Orthodox lived in Turkey. Today, the Greek community in Constantinople numbers less than 2,000.

Ten days later, on September 18, 1955, then American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles issued a statement addressed to both the Greek and the Turkish Governments. In his statement, Mr. Dulles placed no blame on the Turkish Government for the destruction of the Greek communities. He glossed over the abhorrent incidents, and instead called on both governments not to allow any problem to "disrupt the course of Greek-Turkish friendship."

The Greek people felt betrayed. Those who want to trace the first seeds of anti-Americanism in Greece may well mark the Dulles statement as the place to start.

In less than a month, the European Union leaders are expected to start formal talks for the potential admission of Turkey into the Union. Many in Europe have serious reservations about the prospect of accepting Turkey as a member of the EU. Once again, Cyprus is one of the issues.

In spite of European reservations, it is expected that preliminary admission talks will start in December. Whether they will eventually reach fruition is not equally certain. But in making up their minds, European leaders might consider spending some time to leaf through Professor Vryonis’ book.

Dr. Kousoulas is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, DC. He is the author of several books, notably "The Life and Times of Constantine the Great (1999)," and numerous scholarly articles.



Volume 7 Number 39 - Tuesday, September 27th, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY