The story of the world’s largest population exchange

A project to describe what these families experienced has been initiated by Dokuz Eylul University (DEU) academic Dr. Kemal Ari with contributions by the foundation of the Lausanne Treaty of Emigrants, reported the Anatolia news agency.

In January 1923, Greece and Turkey signed the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations." The convention was signed in the wake of Greece’s failed invasion of Turkey’s Anatolian mainland and Turkey’s repudiation of the Treaty of SŠvres of 1920. Within the framework of the Convention, 1,002,000 Greeks and approximately 500,000 Turks were forced to relocate.

"The war-torn Turkey of that time faced serious problems in placement of these Turkish families who were like foreigners in their own home countries. This population exchange is one of the most important tragedies of the last century," said Ari.

"The project will not only reflect the time of exchange but what problems these families faced and what they experienced after the exchange, in the period between 1923 and 1930," Ari went on to say, adding such a project will help develop a common culture and understanding within these families.

The project will explore the previous lifestyles of people while they were in Greece, the conditions in which they arrived in Turkey, their problems on placement and sheltering and their process of harmonization with their home countries.

The project is expected to be completed within six to twelve months.