Greek-Turkish Population Exchange

On 30 January 1923, Greece and Turkey signed an agreement in Lausanne for a compulsory exchange of populations, one of the largest forced population transfers in history up to that time. The agreement was based on religion rather than language or ethnicity. Orthodox Christians living in Turkey were to move to Greece, and Muslims living in Greece were to move to Turkey. The idea had been promoted by Fridtjof Nansen, the League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and it was agreed by Eleftherios Venizelos and İsmet İnönü. In practice, most Greeks of Asia Minor had already fled during and after the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922. In total, around 1.2 million Orthodox Christians moved to Greece, and around 400,000 Muslims moved from Greece to Turkey. Exceptions were made for the Greeks of Constantinople and the Muslims of Western Thrace, who were allowed to stay. For the people involved, it meant losing their homes, property and ancestral lands forever. The exchange transformed both countries, ending centuries of mixed communities, and its memory remains strong among their descendants.