11 - The Smyrna Commission

Summary

Greek attacks on Turks in the İzmir region began on the first day of their invasion. The British could not say that they did not completely understand what occurred in İzmir. The British High Commission in Istanbul reported on the Greek atrocities on 17 May, two days after the Greek invasion. Arthur Balfour, foreign secretary, wrote to Lord Curzon, who was soon to replace him in that office:

I transmit to your Lordship copies of various reports received either direct or through the American Delegation of the atrocities perpetrated by the Greek troops in Smyrna. The reports are detailed, circumstantial, and trustworthy, and there can unfortunately be no doubt of the disgraceful conduct of the Greek troops or the lack of control of the Greek authorities.

The reports forwarded by Balfour, which included accounts by American naval officers and the Swedish consul, corroborated the reports of High Commissioner Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe in Istanbul and James Morgan, his deputy in İzmir. They described ill-treatment, theft, pillage and the murders of Turkish soldiers, officials and civilians. Greek civilians and Greek soldiers took part. The descriptions by British and American officers on the scene were horrific – bayonets and torture were the weapon of choice in murdering Turks. An example:

(The statement of the Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Arizona) Old men, unarmed, and other unoffending civilian Turks were knocked down by the Greeks, killed by stabbing with knives or bayonets, and then afterwards, having their valuables and clothing stripped off their bodies, were thrown into the sea. In one instance, the man was again shot after being thrown into the sea, this by Greek soldiers. Many of the prisoners, including high military officers, as they were marched along with hands up were permitted to be beaten by the rabble who followed. Specific instances are cited by these same eyewitnesses where Turkish soldiers and officers were bayoneted from behind by their Greek guards, while the rabble rifled their pockets and then threw their bodies into the sea. Many of the worst instances of inhuman treatment of the Turks were while they were under arrest and on the open sea front at noonday.