The Constantinople Pogrom took place on September 6-7, 1955. Of course, this barbaric attempt at the complete extermination of the Greek minority was not the first painful event experienced by the native Greeks of Istanbul. With the Wealth Tax, which was put into effect on November 11th 1942, a tax of 156% was taken from the Greeks, and those who did not have financial means were sent to labor camps forcibly. The properties of the dynamic, productive, modern minorities of Istanbul were seized and changed hands. The Istanbul Pogrom, on the other hand, was the second step of the strategy of forcing the remaining Greek population to physically emigrate.
How Did It Happen?
Educated minorities, who have been at the center of production and communication with Europe and Russia since the Ottoman Empire, were gradually massacred and their goods plundered. With this policy, which was continued during the Republic of Turkey, the aim of completely eliminating the Christian Greek minority, which no longer had a large population, was completed. The lie spread in the newspapers that the house where Mustafa Kemal was born in Thessaloniki was bombed.
Extremists organizations and individuals provoked the people, and people from many parts of Anatolia came and participated in the looting. Churches, cemeteries, icons and shops were looted. More than 73 Greek Orthodox Churches were burned. The economic existence of the native Greek population of Istanbul was confiscated. The properties of not only Greeks but also refugee Russians, Armenians and Jews were plundered. Turkish newspapers welcomed these events with enthusiasm and happiness. 4214 houses, 1004 shops, 1 synagogue, 2 monasteries, 26 schools were looted. 5317 workplaces, including factories and hotels, were robbed.
Dark Memories
Lefter Kucukandonyadis was a ethnic Greek football player loved by the Turkish people. He was a member of a poor family. He played football in the Turkish National Team and gained a great reputation. When the pogrom began, looters attacked him. He was attacked by the children he gave his allowance and his house was stoned. His neighbors and close friends attacked him and his property. He barely escaped death. The President of Turkey at the time, Celal Bayar, visited and inspected the central areas of Istanbul after the events. He said: ” I think we have exceeded the dose! ” to the Minister of Interior Namik Gedik.
Greek women pretended to be Turkish to protect themselves from rape. A woman whose house was looted, joined a crowd that applauded the looters. So she would not be recognized as the owner of the house. Members of the Greek minority hung a Turkish flag on their windows to avoid being looted or killed, but this could not save them.
Today
Areas where the Greek population once lived have now turned into a dangerous criminal zone. The surroundings of the Fener Greek Patriarchate are dangerous enough to cause death to anyone traveling alone. The Tarlabasi region was once a neighborhood where the Greeks slept without locking their doors. Today, it is the center of drug trade, prostitution and all kinds of illegal events. Beyoğlu, Fener and all other regions are the result of ghettos built on usurped Greek goods. This plunder and pain permeated every Greek house. All the old Greek quarters are like cursed today. The Greek population, which was 100,000 in 1925, is less than 2000 today.
Derelict buildings, abandoned houses, structures that are longing for their owners are still intact. The 6-7 September Pogrom is not an end. Today, attacks on Greek structures and cemeteries continue from time to time. Greek Tombs are opened and grave robberies are made. The Greek word is used as an insult. With the psychology of guilt, all traces of the Greek people in Constantinople are erased. However, as long as Consantinople exists, it will not be possible to erase the Greek traces and Greek spirit from this city.
Konstantinos Sen
