Persecution of the Greeks of Constantinople (1964-1965)
ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ The persecution of the Greeks of Constantinople, which took place in 1964 and 1965, is one of the darkest periods in modern Turkish history, during which thousands of Greek nationals and citizens were forcibly displaced from the country. It was a series of state-led expulsions and mass deportations aimed at the forced expulsion of the Greek minority from Constantinople, with the goal of completing Turkey's Turkification policies. Historical Context The Greek minority in Constantinople, although initially excluded from the Greek-Turkish population exchange of 1923 and the Lausanne Agreement, became the target of intense pressures and political restrictions by the Turkish government. These pressures aimed at the Turkification of the city and the economic dismantling of the Greek communities. The series of measures began with the wealth tax of 1942 and followed by the 1955 pogrom, known as the "Septemvriana," which led to the destruction of Greek properties and chu...