The 1955 Turkish pogrom against the Greeks of Istanbul
It's September 6th 1955...
A Turkish mob, most of whom had been trucked into Istanbul in advance, start attacking the city's Greek community for nine hours.
The 1955 pogrom against the Greeks was carefully planned by the Turkish government to cleanse Istanbul of the approximately 100,000 Greeks, who were excluded from the Turkish-Greek population exchange of 1923, as were some Turks who STILL live in Greece untouched.
A similar pogrom against Jews was also carried out by the Nazis only a few years earlier.
The destructions included: 71 churches, 41 schools, over 4,000 stores and 2,000 residences. Many Greek tombs were desecrated.
The human toll was: over 30 dead, 300 injured and 400 raped, and there are reports that even boys were raped. A lot of men, including at least one priest, were subjected to forced circumcision. Some people were even burnt alive.
According to a foreign eye-witness, "a priest of 75 was taken out into the street, stripped of every stitch of clothing, tied behind a car and dragged through the streets. They tried to tear the hair of another priest, but failing that, they scalped him, as they did many others."
Some Armenians and Jews were also harmed during this pogrom.
Writer Ian Fleming was present during the event. The writer's account was published on 11 September, with the title "The Great Riot of Istanbul".
Turkey probably used this against Greece because Greece was considering annexing the Greek island of Cyprus against the wishes of the Turks, who nearly 20 years later invaded the island and still occupy the northern part...
The Greek population living in Turkey now is estimated at about 2,500 people.
You can read more here.
