1919, Ch. Vasilakaki, Turks and Greeks, Public Lecture, King’s College London, Greco-Turkish War

PUBLIC LECTURE

BY

Mr. Ch. Vasilakaki

on

TURKS AND GREEKS

Published by S. Vellonis in London in 1919

8vo, 16 pages

Original Paper Binding

The Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 was fought between Greece and the Turkish National Movement during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, between 15 May 1919 and 14 October 1922. The Greek campaign was launched primarily because the western Allies, particularly British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, had promised Greece territorial gains at the expense of the Ottoman Empire, recently defeated in World War I. Greek claims stemmed from the fact that Western Anatolia had been part of Ancient Greece and the Byzantine Empire before the Turks conquered the area in the 12th–15th centuries. The armed conflict started when the Greek forces landed in Smyrna (now İzmir), on 15 May 1919.

About the Book: The Lecture is given by Mr. Vasilakaki, Member of the Greek Parliament for Mitylene and Delegate of the Central Committee of the Unredeemed Greeks. “He has undertaken the task of enlightening the public opinion in Europe and America, as to the right claims of Hellenism and the unthinkable sufferings of the Greeks in Asia Minor and Thrace, under the Turkish yoke.” Here at the King’s College in London, he speaks “in order to accomplish his noble task” a few months before the start of the Greco-Turkish War.