Erdogan: “I Congratulate the Liberation of Smyrna From Enemy Occupation”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan marked the 104th anniversary of what Greeks call the Asia Minor Catastrophe by celebrating it as a military triumph, calling Smyrna's fall a "liberation from enemy occupation."
In an official statement posted Wednesday, Erdogan congratulated Turkey on what he called the liberation of Izmir and praised Mustafa Kemal as the leader who brought the "National Struggle to a great victory." He extended personal greetings to the citizens of Izmir, framing the anniversary entirely as a moment of Turkish pride.
"I congratulate the liberation of Izmir from enemy occupation" — Erdogan
For Greeks, September 9 marks one of the darkest moments in modern history. The burning of Smyrna in September 1922 killed tens of thousands of Greeks and Armenians and drove over a million Greek refugees from Asia Minor, ending a 3,000-year Greek presence in the region.
Erdogan's statement makes no acknowledgment of the massacres, the destruction of the Greek and Armenian quarters, or the mass drownings of civilians attempting to flee into the harbor. The language he used, "liberation from enemy occupation," is the standard Turkish state framing of the events, which Greek historians and genocide scholars categorically reject.
This year marks 104 years since the catastrophe. The Greek community worldwide observes the anniversary each September 9 in memory of the dead and the displaced.
