Expulsion of Greeks from Istanbul
1964–1965 discriminatory measures by the authorities of the Republic of Turkey / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The expulsion of Istanbul Greeks (Turkish: 1964 Rum Tehciri or 1964 Rum Sürgünü) in 1964–1965 was a series of discriminatory measures by the authorities of the Republic of Turkey aimed at the forced expulsion of the Greek population of Istanbul (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις, romanized: Kōnstantinoúpolis). Though the Greeks of Istanbul were initially excluded from the Greek-Turkish population exchange of 1923 and were allowed to remain in their native city, the Turkish government enacted a series of measures that resulted in a dramatic decrease in their numbers, such as the "wealth" tax of 1942 and later the anti-Greek pogrom of September 1955.[1]
Especially during the 1950s and 1960s, the Greek minority was used as an apparatus of pressure for the Cyprus issue as part of the Greek-Turkish relations.[2] The anti-Greek measures of 1964–1965 resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of Greeks in Istanbul. As such, from a population of about 80,000 only about 30,000 remained in 1965.[3] The measures also resulted in the appropriation of minority-owned properties by the Turkish state and were accompanied by restrictions in the fields of religion and education.[4][5] The expulsion during this period was part of the final phase of state measures aimed at the Turkification of the local economic, social, and cultural life.[6]