The settlers in Kocaeli following the Turkish-Greek population exchange (1923-1930)

The Greek governments aimed at establishing the grand Greek-Byzantiumstate beginning with the achievement of independence from the Ottoman rule in1929. That expansionist policy, also known as ?Megale Idea? has remained alive inthe contemporary times. Yohannis Kolettis who came into power in 1844 defined theboundaries of ?Megale Idea? that includes the areas from Istanbul to Trabzon as wellas from Crete to Samos. Greece aspired to acquire such an ambitious plan by meansof a long-term policy, ?Enosis?. In order to realize ?Megale Idea?. Greece alliedwith the Great Britain in the First World War against the Ottoman State. In theaftermath of Ottoman defeat in the War, she endeavored to acquire lands fromAnatolia at the Paris Peace Conference. The Sevres Treaty that assigned EasternThrace, Imbroz, Izmir and Mid Aegean region to Greece helped the realization of?Megale Idea? to a large extent. However, Ataturk-led national independence war ofthe Turkish nation resulted in withdrawal from these areas. The Independence Warwas the decisive hit for ?Megale Idea?.In the aftermath of the Independence War, around a million Greek peoplewho oppressed and tortured Turks migrated to Greece. Such a massive migrationcaused a major turmoil there. The migration also created a major problem in theTurkish economy due the fact that it made a large amount of agricultural lands idle.For that reason, the Turkish-Greek population exchange was on the agenda ofLausanne Conference. The negotiations at the Conference paved the way for thepopulation exchangeFollowing the Greek invasion of Kocaeli, Greek people who lived inYeniköy, Bahçecik, Yuvacık pursued oppression and torture against Turks with thehelp of Greek soldiers. Greeks fired the city and escaped to Greece when they hadnews about that Ataurk-led Turkish army was marching toward Kocaeli. The Turkishpeople who were moved from Greece to Kocaeli witnessed the fact the city wasexposed to fire; then they desired to move to other cities. People who lacked anymoney desperately stayed in the city. They had various troubles for around ten years.The thesis is composed of three chapters in addition to the introductory andconcluding sections. The first chapter examines the Turkish-Greek populationexchange in general. The following chapter discusses how the Turkish settlers weremoved to Kocaeli, and that where they were located. The third chapter studies themajor problems that the settlers encountered in the city.Keywords: Turkish, Greek, Kocaeli, Izmit, Population Exchange, Exchangee