Burning of Smyrna
The burning of Smyrna (Greek: Καταστροφή της Σμύρνης, "Smyrna Catastrophe"; Turkish: 1922 İzmir Yangını, "1922 İzmir Fire"; Armenian: Զմիւռնիոյ Մեծ Հրդեհ, Zmyuṙnio Mets Hrdeh) destroyed much of the port city of Smyrna (modern İzmir, Turkey) in September 1922. Eyewitness reports state that the fire began on 13 September 1922 and lasted until it was largely extinguished on 22 September. It began four days after the Turkish military captured the city on 9 September, effectively ending the Greco-Turkish War, more than three years after the Greek landing of troops at Smyrna. Estimated Greek and Armenian deaths resulting from the fire range from 10,000 to 125,000.
| Part of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) and the Greek genocide and Armenian genocide | |
Plumes of smoke rising from Smyrna on 14 September 1922 | |
| Date | 13–22 September 1922 |
|---|---|
| Location | Smyrna, Greek Zone of Smyrna (today İzmir, Turkey) |
| Also known as | Great Fire of Smyrna Smyrna Catastrophe |
| Perpetrator | See Responsibility for the burning of Smyrna |
| Outcome | 80,000–400,000 refugees Destruction of the Greek and Armenian quarters |
| Deaths | Estimated at 10,000–125,000 |
Approximately 80,000 to 400,000 Greek and Armenian refugees crammed the waterfront to escape from the fire. They were forced to remain there under harsh conditions for nearly two weeks. Turkish troops and irregulars had started committing massacres and atrocities against the Greek and Armenian population in the city before the outbreak of the fire. Many women were raped. Tens of thousands of Greek and Armenian men were subsequently deported into the interior of Anatolia, where most of them died in harsh conditions.
The fire completely destroyed the Greek and Armenian quarters of the city; the Muslim and Jewish quarters escaped damage. There are different accounts and eyewitness reports about who was responsible for the fire; most contemporary sources and modern scholars attribute it to Turkish soldiers setting fire to Greek and Armenian homes and businesses to eradicate the last traces of Christian presence in Anatolia, while a few, Turkish or pro-Turkish, sources hold that the Greeks and/or Armenians started the fire either to tarnish the Turks' reputation or deny them access to their former homes and businesses. Testimonies from Western eyewitnesses were printed in many Western newspapers.
The event is considered one of the most catastrophic urban fires in history and it is widely regarded as an act of genocide and a war crime; the event is still a source of tension between Greece and Turkey. Winston Churchill called it an "infernal orgy" and stated that: "For a deliberately planned and methodically executed atrocity, Smyrna must...find few parallels in the history of human crime".