We condemn the Producers of the movie Smyrna and their supporters and organizations
“War is murder unless unless it is based on legitimate grounds.”
M. Kemal Ataturk
There is a part of the sentence that describes the movie SMYRNA, which will be in theaters nationwide in the UK on December 4th, and in the US on December 8th, for one day only. That part of the sentence reads: “moving drama about an elderly Greek American woman whose family diary recounts the Turkish occupation of the cosmopolitan city of Smyrna in 1922; where Greeks, Turks, Jews, Armenians, and Levantines once lived together harmoniously.”
That should actually read like this: “ “moving drama about an elderly Turkish woman whose family diary recounts the 1919 invasion of the cosmopolitan city of Smyrna by the Greek Army, who committed atrocities against the civilian Turkish population in the villages and towns, where Greeks, Turks, Jews, Armenians, and Levantines once lived together harmoniously.”
The advertisement for the film is historically incorrect, describing a “historic film about the Turkish occupation in 1922”… “The historical events and facts” clearly show that the occupying side was the Greeks, not the Turks. The Ottoman Empire was occupied and partitioned by the Allied Forces following its defeat in World War I….IZMIR (Smryna), which has been under Turkish rule beginning in 1081, and part of the Ottoman Empire since 1426, was invaded by the Greek Forces on May 15, 1919. The idea to occupy İzmir came from then British Prime Minister of the time, Lloyd George, with the suggestion of Greek Prime Minister Elefterios Venizelos; after The Ottoman Empire, suffering defeat, signed the Mudros Armistice Agreement at the end of World War I.
Article 7 of the Mudros Armistice Agreement specified that the allied forces had a right to occupy any strategic location in the event of a threat to the security of the allies. Using Article 7 as an excuse, Great Britain, France and USA came to an agreement and decided for the occupation of Izmir by Greece, on behalf of the Allied Powers; even though they did not have the right to do so! There was no event that would endanger the security of the Allied Forces in İzmir… Despite this, the occupation of Izmir by the Greek Army happened on May 15, 1919; violence and massacres took place with the cooperation of local Greeks, in and around Izmir. The Armistice of Mudros was abolished with the signing of Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923; following the Turkish victory in the War of Independence. Even though the Greek occupiers tried to conceal massacres on local Muslim populations; testimonials of British, American, Swedish and Canadian officials in the British archive documents clearly reveal the facts. And there are books written about the historical facts by unbiased Greek historians.
But the most powerful confirmation of these facts came from a very unexpected source; the person who came up with the suggestion to invade Izmir; The Greek Prime Minister Elefterios Venizelos himself! In 1928, Venizelos changed his attitude and made attempts to start a friendship with Turkey and the founder of the newly established Turkish Republic, Atatürk. As a matter of fact, he nominated his old enemy Atatürk for the Nobel Peace Prize on 12 January 1934. And, In 1981, the centennial of Atatürk’s birth, the memory of Atatürk was honored by the United Nations and UNESCO by declaring it that year “The Atatürk Year” in the World. These two extraordinary facts are clearly enough to show the worldwide acceptance of the great Turkish military leader and peace-loving statesman Atatürk, and the injustice and oppression that was once committed against the Turks. His old enemy, Venizelos, admitted Greece’s past mistakes against the Turks; The United Nations, on the other hand, told the world that there is no other peace-loving leader like Atatürk. He is the only person worthy of such recognition by UNESCO
How could this be possible if he was the commander of a cruel and murderous army as described in the movie SMYRNA?
Although the Greek and Turkish peoples went to war due to political problems and went through very difficult times, their common cultural and artistic values have brought them closer together over the centuries. We, as the followers of the legendary world leader Ataturk around the world; with the awareness of the enlightenment that Atatürk brought to the Turkish people and the philosophy of peace he wished for all humanity; and with respect for Venizelos’ great step for friendship, condemn the producers of the film Smyrna and everyone and every organization who supports such productions by distorting historical facts for the sake of their political ambitions. We invite you to be PEACEFUL, not HATEFUL.
Atatürk World Platform-AWP