The main goal of this website is to promote awareness of the Greek and Christian genocide it is also an appeal to my compatriots to promote reason and trust without denial and indifference to our civilization’s most painful and still unhealed wound.

I live in Denmark, a country and a culture that I love and have taken into my heart. During the many years of my stay here, I have learned several things from the Danes, one of which is the importance of solving disputes and conflicts through dialogue.

I was born in Athens, Greece, but all my ancestors were born in Constantinople, to-day’s Istanbul, and in Cappadocia in Asia Minor. Even though I grew up in Greece and have spent my adult life in Denmark, the city of my heart is Constantinople and I like to think of myself as Hellener, Byzantine and Rhomaios.

Even though I am blessed with a good and happy life here in Denmark, there is always a feeling of sadness in my mind which is due to the loss of our lands, culture and properties in the course of more than 3,500 years to what is Turkey to-day.

The atrocities and acts of barbarism that the Ottomans/Turks have been responsible for during the last 100 years are countless. The 'Young Turks' under the motto ”Turkey for the Turks” and by means of murder, legislation, violence, and terror, they have reduced a multimillion Greek Christian society to a mere 1,500 persons. They have destroyed and vandalised churches and cemeteries, transformed churches into mosques.
Those events are very difficult for a Greek to forgive and forget.

On the other hand reason must prevail. Otherwise history will repeat itself and the suffering will continue (As indeed happened in former Yugoslavia in the 1990`s).
If in the future the Turks prove themselves worthy - and by that I mean: in terms of legislation, respect for minority rights, freedom of expression, withdrawal from Cyprus, (The Cyprus problem) and most of all acknowledgement and regret of there doings over the last century. In my opinion, only then is the Turkish Nation welcome to the European Union.

We have things in common; let’s make the best of it. We cannot undo what has been done. But, if we have the will, we can make a good and just future for us all.
Let us make the region the place on earth where Christianity and Islam, Turks, Greeks, and others can live peacefully side by side.

The interested reader is invited to navigate among the various pages and enter his comments or even contribute with information, which will be logged in the "Guest-book" page. I will be even happier if I receive messages from the Turkish side that could enrich the pages of this site with personal stories or historic references from their side and point of view. Most of all I would enjoy receiving stories of Greek Turkish friendships that undoubtedly had been developed and were lost in the turmoil of war and destruction.

I would like to apologise to my Turkish friends if some of this presentation appears to be one sited, my intention is not to offend the Turkish Nation or the Turkish people and culture, which I truly appreciate, in spite of all biter historical and present experiences.

On the other hand  drawing historical parallels and  comparing historical experiences are very educational and valuable and one can derive wisdom and draw conclusions from a much deeper understanding on current events and options presented to all of us that will influence our lives and the lives of our children.

After all the Modern Turkish Nation was created out of the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the destruction of Greeks and other minorities in the area. That is a fact.
I would like to add, that I am not the author of the contents in this website. The text is been reproduced from various sources and is the work of other people, who I thank. I only stand for the presentation.

Sincerely yours,
Nikolas Ioannou

The shame of Sept. 6-7 is always with us

Mehmet Ali BIRAND
I am one of the living witnesses of what happened in Istanbul 50 years ago. I was 14 years old. I did not know what it was all about. However, the passage of time made me understand the seriousness of the incidents and I always carry the shame.

Mehmet Ali BIRAND
I am one of the living witnesses of what happened in Istanbul 50 years ago. I was 14 years old. I did not know what it was all about. However, the passage of time made me understand the seriousness of the incidents, and I always carry the shame. Even though it was the only such incident in which the Turkish state officially admitted its culpability and tried to compensate its victims, it still continues to weigh on our conscience.
 
I can never forget.

I can still remember what I saw in Beyoğlu on the morning of Sept. 7, 1955.

I had to go to Galatasaray High School to register for their preliminary class. I reached Beyoğlu with great difficulty. When I went to Tunel from Karaköy, I just was flabbergasted.
  
The scene was shocking.

The huge street seemed like a war zone, with windows of the shops on both sides of the street shattered and all their goods strewn all over the street. Bunches of clothes, books, notebooks, chandeliers and much more. People were taking home whatever they could find. The scene was like judgment day.

I was a child, and I had no idea what had happened.

What I noticed immediately was that while some shops were plundered, others were not even touched. I had a look and saw that there was a Turkish flag hanging on the windows of the shops that were not looted. Those that were had Greek names.
People with long beards and those who were dressed very shabbily were walking around. I saw that some people who were dressed normally were hiding in the shops, looking outside.
The police and the soldiers seemed like they were saying: “Enough is enough. You did what you did, but now just leave.” They were both intervening and not intervening at the same time.

That scene has always remained with me.

Even though half a century has passed, I still shiver when I remember it.

When I read the newspapers a day later, I realized the extent of the matter.

Similar incidents had occurred also in Taksim and Şişli, where most of the citizens of Greek origin lived. Not only the shops, but also churches, even cemeteries were damaged and plundered. Jewish citizens also got their share of trouble, but the main targets were Greeks.
Newspapers were writing about people waving Turkish flags, pleading with the looters: “Please don't do it. I'm a Turk. I am a Turkish citizen.”
It was a disgusting, belittling and tragic affair.

My mother and other adults were criticizing what had happened, while officials were talking about “the placing of a bomb at the house in Thessaloniki where Atatürk was born, which had been turned into a museum, and the anger felt against what was happening in Cyprus,” explaining that the people had become enraged.

We were living on Ethem Efendi Street at the time. Our neighbors were mostly Greek. They were my best friends. All of a sudden, they shut themselves in their homes. They talked to no one. I can never forget Madam Eleni when she asked, “Can we seek refuge in your home if they attack us?
” The barbershop she managed with her husband was in ruins. They were in shock. My mother sent them food for a week. We let them live in one of our rooms.

I was too young to make sense of what had happened. Why should they attack Madam Eleni? What could they ask from them? Why were they different from me?

As I was seeking answers to these questions, the Greek families in our neighborhood started to move to other places or go to Greece. After 1963 none of them were left. They left Istanbul.

They took with them an important culture, a color and a different lifestyle.

They left us alone in Istanbul to live our colorless lives.

Later on we were full of regret, but by then it was too late.
  
Turkey admitted all culpability, accepted responsibility:
Much later, we learned the Sept. 6-7 incidents were the doing of the infamous “deep state.” It was planned with government approval in order to let diplomats say “The people are reacting” during the U.N. discussions on Cyprus. However, it later got out of control and turned into a shameful plunder. It became a crime that the deep state could not handle, and it shamed the Turkish nation.
What's interesting is that apart from a few injuries, no one was killed. It wasn't a massacre. It was a disgusting plunder aimed at frightening people.
What's even more interesting is the way Sept. 6-7 shamed us and hurt us and tainted us as a nation.
This was also recorded as the only such incident when the Republic of Turkey officially admitted its responsibility, apologized and compensated the victims.
At the Yassıada trials, after the May 21, 1960 military coup, the Sept. 6-7 incidents were investigated down to the smallest detail, and those held responsible were tried and punished.
As always, there was no mention as the deep state. It emerged entirely unscathed by the affair. A few thieves, civilians with no links to the planning or to the politicians, were punished.
In the later years, whenever the Sept. 6-7 incidents were mentioned, I felt an overwhelming shame and I always apologized to the victims I saw at international meetings.

During the Sept. 6-7 incidents our Turkishness was trampled underfoot. It was then I realized that if we don't criticize such incidents and apologize to the victims, we can never feel proud of ourselves.

Apologizing is enriching. It shows self-confidence.

Discriminating due to religion, language or culture or using force on the weak is belittling one's self.

I don't know you, but I apologize to our neighbor Madam Eleni from Erenköy.
_______________________________

Dear Mehmet Ali BIRAND
I can not speak for Madam Eleni. But I, on a person to person basis, I thank you, apologies are accepted. You are a god example to us all.
I wish you well.
Nikolas Ioannou
Regarding your comments of compesation and injuries, please note:
While the pogromists were not instructed to kill their targets, sections of the mob went much further than scaring or intimidating local Greeks. 30 Greeks and one Armenian (including two clerics) died as a result of the pogrom. 32 Greeks were severely wounded. 200 men and women were raped, and according to the account of the Turkish writer Aziz Nesin, men, mainly priests, were subjected to forced circumcision by frenzied members of the mob and an Armenian priest died after the procedure.
As private insurance did not exist in Turkey at the time, the only hope the pogrom’s victims had for compensation was from the Turkish state. Although Turkish President Mahmut Celal Bayar announced that "the victims of the destruction shall be compensated", there was little political will or financial means to carry out such a promise.
On September 13, 1955 the New York Times stated that "The amount of damage has been assessed unofficially at $300,000,000." U.S. Senator Homer Capehart, who was in Ankara at the time, said the riots were "ghastly and unbelievable." He estimated the damage at $500 million. Turkey said it would pay compensation to the victims. It paid very little to a limited number of victims over a drawn-out period of years.If you add interest at 5 percent compounded annually for the 50 years since 1955, the amount owed to the victims would be several billion dollars.

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