THE EASTERN THRACE FROM OCCUPATION TO SALVATION

The territory of the Ottoman Empire was shared among the Allied Powers during the World War 1. With the secret treaties between Britain and Russia, the Eastern Thrace region and the straits were left to Russia. After Russia withdrew from the war with Treaty of Brest-Litowsk, Britain started to seek for reliable allies to hand in the hinterlands of the straits indeed to keep under control all the time. That fellow became Greece that tried to turn defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War 1 into an opportunity. When they took the occupation authority of Izmir and the Eastern Thrace in Paris Conference with the maneuvers which could be described as the mastery of foreign policy, Greek Prime Minister Venizelos first occupied Izmir later the Eastern Thrace. Greece which occupied Izmir and the Eastern Thrace with the support of the Allied powers, did not take into account that Thrace’s heart beat for Izmir and Izmir’s heart beat for the Eastern Thrace. They aimed to assimilate Turkish and Muslim community in the Eastern Thrace by carrying out the torture and slaughter which they carried out for Muslims and Turkish in Izmir. But the Eastern Thrace community rebelled the Greek under the name of Trakya-Paşaeli Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti and prevented the ambitions of Greece by cooperating with Turkish Grand National Assembly. The independence path of the Eastern Thrace passed from Izmir. Greeks firstly obliged to evacuate Izmir on 9^th September, 1922 and after Mudanya Armistice they obliged to evacuate the Eastern Thrace.