Population exchange in Midilli Island after the Treaty of Lausanne

Mytilene, while under the rule of Gattilusio family from Genoese, was conquered and annexed to Ottoman Empire in the reign of Fatih Sultan Mehmet in 1462. Shortly after Turkish hegemony, it had been organized as sanjak and participated in the province of Cezayir-i Bahr-i Sefid which was founded later. Since the conquest, high incidence of Turks and Muslims lived on the island. Thus, the island which was under control of Ottoman till Balkan War, was invaded by Greeks and this invasion lasted until treaty of Lausenne. In the end of Independence War, Greeks lived in Anatolia, ran away to Greece, and to Greek islands after the defeat of Greek army. By this migration wave and the flow of migrants, Greek government decided to send Turks in Greece to their land and replace its own public. Besides, Turkish government no longer wanted to live with Greek minority after all these dready experiences. On the other hand, western countries supported the idea of population exchange in order to bring permanent peace. As a result of all these initiatives, shortly after Independence War, Population Exchange agreement' was signed between Greece and Turkish Grand National Assembly in as part of the Treaty of Lausanne (30th January, 1923) By another signed treaty between Turkish and Greek government, some islands including Mytilene entered into domination of Greece. Thus, the Muslims on Mytilene island were subjected to exchange of population too. In this thesis, Mytilene Muslims' intelligency of population exchange, the stituation they were in while waiting for exchange, the reasons of their prompt and initial move to Turkey, housing regions determined according to their attempts in Mytilene were evaluated in the light of Presidency Republic Archive, the newspapers of that time, oral history studies and parliamentary minutes. Key Words: Mytilene, The Treaty of Lausanne, Population Exchange, Emigrants, Aegean Question