The Turkish Foreign Ministry has made public a collection of archival documents and historical photographs that it states provide evidence of atrocities carried out by the Greek Army against Turkish civilians in Anatolia. The materials, which were released on Friday via a statement posted on X, cover the period of the Greek Army’s occupation and subsequent retreat during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922.
According to the ministry, these records detail a systematic policy of destruction, which was a point of recognition in both international reports from the era and the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. The ministry stated that the documents and photographs serve to reveal the nature of the atrocities committed during that time. Among the records shared are harrowing examples of massacres against the Turkish civilian population, specifically in a village located near Bursa.
The release features handwritten archival documents alongside photographs attributed to a commission of inquiry. Visual evidence includes images showing the remains of villages, civilian victims, and survivors of attacks in settlements near Bursa in northwestern Türkiye. One specific photograph displays the village of Mashara Hasan following its destruction by fire; the accompanying caption notes that its inhabitants were massacred by Greek forces during their retreat from the region. Additional images document the bodies of civilians, including women and children, as well as injured survivors from Sogutpinar village in Mudanya. Captions for these photographs indicate that residents of Sogutpinar were forced into a local mosque, where many were killed or wounded by gunfire and bayonets.
The Greco-Turkish War, which began after Greek forces landed in Izmir on May 15, 1919, concluded with the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye in 1923. Article 59 of the Treaty of Lausanne, signed on July 24, 1923, formalised Greece's obligation to provide reparations for damages caused in Anatolia by the Greek Army or administration through acts that violated the laws of war. The Turkish Foreign Ministry maintains these records within its Diplomatic Archives, which include documentation related to the National War of Independence. These materials are now accessible to the public through the ministry’s digital archives and research facilities.
