Antonis Klapsis, Associate Professor of Contemporary History and International Politics at the University of the Peloponnese, spoke about the tragic events and violence of 6 and 7 September 1955, which ultimately led to the uprooting of most of Istanbul’s Greek community, then numbering more than 100,000 people. He joined Dimitris Kontogiannis on Voice of Greece’s “Our Global Voice.”
Mr. Klapsis described the political climate of the period, marked by the beginning of EOKA’s struggle in Cyprus, and examined Britain’s role in drawing Turkey into the Cyprus dispute as part of its divide-and-rule policy.
He also discussed the Turkish provocation involving the bombing of the Turkish Consulate in Thessaloniki, which was housed in Kemal Atatürk’s childhood home. The attack was carried out by a Turkish student who later pursued a career in Turkey’s intelligence services. Mr. Klapsis also addressed the muted response from both the international community and Athens, concluding with the lessons Greece should draw from the Istanbul pogrom.