The Istanbul Pogrom of 6–7 September 1955 - IAGS

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The Istanbul Pogrom of 6–7 September 1955 in the
Light of International Law

"
Beginning around 5:00 p.m.,7 Turkish mobs devastated the Greek, Armenian, and
Jewish districts of Istanbul, killing an estimated thirty-seven Greeks8 and destroying
and looting their places of worship,9 homes, and businesses. The pogrom was not
spontaneous but centrally organized: many of the rioters were recruited in Istanbul
and in the provinces by the Demokrat Parti authorities and taken into Istanbul by
train, in trucks, and by some 4,000 taxis with instructions on what to destroy and what
was to be spared.10 They were given axes, crowbars, acetylene torches, petrol,
dynamite, and large numbers of rocks in carts. Predictably, the riots got out of control,
with the mobs shouting ‘‘Evvela mal, sonra can’’ (‘‘First your property, then your
life’’).11 The Turkish militia and police who coordinated the pogrom refrained from
protecting the lives and property of the Greek victims.12 Their function was, rather,
to prevent Turkish property from being destroyed as well.
These events are best described in English by Speros Vryonis in his 2005 book
The Mechanism of Catastrophe, which also draws on a vast range of Turkish sources,
including the Yassiada trials, and on the substantive report published by Helsinki
Watch (now Human Rights Watch)13 in 1992 on violations of the human and civil
rights of the Greeks of Turkey. There is still no official Turkish government or police
report on the violence of 6–7 September 1955.
Besides the deaths, thousands were injured; some 200 Greek women were raped,14
and there are reports that Greek boys were raped as well.15 Many Greek men,
including at least one priest, were subjected to forced circumcision. The riots were
accompanied by enormous material damage,16 estimated by Greek authorities at
US$500 million, including the burning of churches and the devastation of shops17 and
private homes.18 As a result of the pogrom, the Greek minority eventually emigrated
from Turkey."  
Source: IAGS http://www.genocidescholars.org/   http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1206&context=gsp   


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Yet, There is hope for Christ conquered evil, death and Hell.  ICHTHUS