Abstract
After the occupation of Izmir by the Greeks on May 15, 1919, Turkish troops ended the occupation on September 9, 1922, with Mustafa Kemal Pasha himself entering Izmir the following day. Fahrettin (Altay), the Commander of the 5th Corps, sent a telegram to the Western Front Command stating that at 10:00 am on September 9, the 1st and 2nd Brigades, followed by the 14th Brigade, entered Izmir amidst the applause and joy of the people. Thus, the Turkish army entered Smyrna and received the most valuable reward of their hard struggle against the Greeks. However, on September 13, 1922, a fire disaster occurred that changed the entire physical, economic and sociological structure of Smyrna, and the Greek army continued the “the scorched-earth tactic” in Smyrna, which they had used while retreating from the interior of Anatolia. In this study, the perpetrators of the fire that broke out after the retaking of Smyrna by the Turks are analyzed based on the news in the contemporary foreign sources.
Keywords: İzmir, Büyük İzmir Yangını, Millî Mücadele, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, Yunanistan.
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