not only a statue by mindcrime
The statue of Kemal Ataturk is everywhere in Turkey but this one is very important for the people of Izmir. After the defeat of the ottoman empire in world war 1 the winners took back regions that Ottomans had before. Greece took some of the western regions of Turkey with the Treaty of Sevres. On 1919 (15 of May) the greek army occupied Izmir but then the decision to go further inside Anatolia turned into a disaster for them. The end of the Greek-Turkey war at 1922 found Greece loose all regions there but the most important many local Greeks of turkey died or forced to seek refuge in Greece. Kemal Ataturk took back Izmir on 9 september 1922 and of course the local people of Izmir still celebrate about it(it?s the biggest celebration day in Turkey).
In 1923 after the proclamation of the Turkish Republic, because of Lausanne treaty the exchange of greek and Turkish populations took place and many people forced to leave their homes in both countries. The same old story, no one really cares about the people?
