🇬🇷 🇹🇷 Why did Huseyin return to his home in Greece 92 years later? | AJ Stories

Huseyin was part of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey that has been painful to overcome.
As part of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, Greece and Turkey agreed to uproot two million people in a massive population exchange, the lasting effects of which are still felt by some in both countries today.
The exchangees had to travel on foot, by train and by sea and many of the ships involved in this mammoth operation were full to overflowing. The elderly and the young especially suffered from the terrible travel conditions.
"My mother had to throw my younger sister, who was three or four, into the sea. I don't remember it but that's what my mother told me", says Huseyin Selvi, who had to leave Greece when he was five years old.
At the age of 97, he was able to travel back to the village where he was born. Only since the 1990s has it been possible for the "exchangees" and their families to visit what they see as their ancestral villages in Greece and Turkey.
Population shifts occurred in the early 20th century as old empires disintegrated and new nation-states emerged. But these changes often raised complex questions of identity for the ordinary people caught up in them. Greek Orthodox Christians and Muslims had lived together under Ottoman rule for centuries, though not always entirely peacefully.
The Greek war of independence from the Ottomans was fought between 1821 and 1832 and the new state of Greece founded. This created tension which increased after the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. Muslims remaining in Greece and the Balkans suffered discrimination and persecution, while Greek Orthodox Christians were expelled by the Ottomans from the Aegean region.
After the Ottoman defeat in World War I, the victorious allies manoeuvred to divide up their former empire. This was resisted by the Turkish nationalists led by Mustafa Kamal Attaturk who fought the Turkish War of Independence between 1919 and 1923.
At Lausanne in Switzerland, all the parties sat around the conference table in 1922-23. Part of the resulting Treaty of Lausanne involved an agreement between Greece and Turkey to forcibly exchange around 1.5 million Greek Orthodox Christians and a lower number of Muslims in the largest population displacement of modern times.
When the exchangees arrived at their destinations, they often faced serious problems integrating into their new communities - and some of their social, housing and education problems have persisted.
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[@giannarosize]

Great, now show what happened to the Christians that used to be in Turkey, go on :)

[@Apyramidfrfr]

What hapenned?

[@disco_depression]

They are living in Izmir and openly practicing their religion :) greece doesn't even allow mosques

[@amongussus9779]

Population exchange with Greece bozo learn history. Also they were openly trying to take Turkish lands soooooooo

[@ogulcanozcan1147]

What happened to Turks in Greece and Balkans also happened to Christians in Turkey. Same faith Masaccres, expulsions, persecution.

[@muhammedjaseemshajeef6781]

​@@ogulcanozcan1147exactly

[@sbrechegno]

Heartbreaking and mindblowing...what geopolitics can never erase:people's past and roots

[@alci4999]

:) Isn't it interesting that Greeks and Turks (only live in Anatolia) still do not aware that both of those nations are brothers and sisters genetically...! And ancestors of almost 90% of today Anatolian Turks were originally Greek and changed their religion (from Christian to Muslim) and their language (from Greek language to Turkish language) during last 500 years...! Wake Up!! Look at mirror!!!

[@captanphillips7794]

I also think like this

[@gl8218]

Prove it!

[@user-hx9iy8zn9x]

We have both Greek and Turkish blood but we are different than you. We are different country. Its not about our races. Some Greeks have turkish ancestors too... That's normal. We are Anatolian Turks which is different from Greeks and central asians

[@valery2711]

Bullshit... They look diferent.. They speaking diferent. Diferent culture beside some turkish food which greeks like.. Diferent religion.. I am so happy turkey and greece agree to exachange population.

[@valery2711]

Aslo turkish are mix of anatolians and seljuk turks.. İts impossible that Alexander time greeks outnumbered anatolians... More like both greeks and turkish have ancient anatolian People dna..

[@corikubon3441]

I think that everyone commenting below is reacting to the politics that led to the population exchange. The difficult part about these documentaries is that the people that left their homes were forced to by the respective governments against their will. Yes there are a lot of details about the exchange that this documentary is not mentioning like how in many occasions displaced families would have to leave with the families whose houses they were given until their turn came to move out.

[@babisdefingos2157]

No worries!! Exchange of thousands of people for both ethnicities in a hundred of years!

[@AlexS-oj8qf]

So that's why Greece is so over-populated and Turkey has so many empty countryside. Imagine 1.5 Mil replacing the 1/2 Mil population.

[@user-jg5du6wl1k]

My familly was from ankara and i can go in the future

[@alperaksoy1726]

Are you Karamanlidika ?

[@pantelispantelis1820]

@@alperaksoy1726 I'm galatian

[@pantelispantelis1820]

@@alperaksoy1726 not karamanli from karaman my great grandmother from Ankara knew greek

[@pantelispantelis1820]

@@alperaksoy1726 my great grandmother from ankara looked like nordic and had no Albanian or slav ancestory

[@alperaksoy1726]

@@pantelispantelis1820 I guess Ankara,Turkey. Did she know Turkish?

[@aek1928]

The facts of the subject is that all these lands in today's Turkey were Greek and will be Greek again. The "turk' is a fabrication from the depths of their origin of mongolia Central Asia. All the rest is utter bullshit!

[@disco_depression]

You weak cells won't admit we won and took everything you had. You were weak. Entire civilisations all united couldn't defend one anatolia from the turks. Anatolia is now turkish forever.

[@aek1928]

@@disco_depression Well the upcoming Byzantium Emperor Putin does not see it that way. In fact he has plans to destroy Turkey. None the less the "Turks" on the occupied western coast of 'Turkey" are genetically offspring of Byzantium Greeks and this is no more so through the scientific evidence of DNA screening of which Erdogan wants to abolish. Anatolia will come back to its former owners - The Greeks!

[@mohahisham2584]

Look you may be right that turks came from central asia and that anatolia was greek and still is but you can’t also deny that half the turkish population has European ancestry so they kind of have the right to live in anatolia too

[@aek1928]

@@mohahisham2584 This is true to a degree.

[@Threezi04]

If the Turkish are supposedly from Mongolia how come they're dna tests say they are native Anatolian? They're ancestors were Turkified just like how they were Hellenised. And now since they are proud Turks this makes Anatolia rightfully Turkish in every way.

[@NikhileshSurve]

1.5M to 0.5M in population exchange is quite a huge difference.

[@deumevet]

proportionally not so much, greece is way less populated than turkey.

[@gl8218]

I saw turkish flags in the village, though! Huh?!

[@user-hx9iy8zn9x]

Is ıt a problem?!

[@gl8218]

@@user-hx9iy8zn9x YES! A HUGE ONE!!!

[@user-hx9iy8zn9x]

@@gl8218 you proved how stupid you are.... He is Turkish and ıt's his flag. Freedom?!

[@ihsanamsal2947]

@@gl8218 i dont want to say that it is your mental problem...

[@zera_61]

​@@gl8218the problem is what exactly?

[@timothyrivera5371]

He shouldn't be allowed to come back

[@Threezi04]

Why not? It's his birthplace, his home, and the home of his ancestors for thousands of years he has all the right to come back.

[@i_likemen5614]

@@Threezi04 Do Anatolian or Istanbul (Constantinople) Greeks have the right to return to their home? And Turks only entered Greece a couple hundred years ago unlike Greeks who have actually been living in Anatolia for thousands of years

[@joahua122]

@@i_likemen5614 this man Is Greek

[@majstter7420]

His home is in the steppes of central Asia, Anatolia and Constantinople are rightfully Greek, civilised ancient nation, not barbaric nomadic tribes.

[@zera_61]

Why not?😂

[@horror11]

"turk" is an invented etnicity by ataturk, hence his name. under the name "turk" every muslim no matter his ethnic background was forcefully transformed from ottoman citizen to turkish citizen to invent a new state as a vassal of the great powers who had chosen mustafa kemal as their puppet. thats why the greek army had to retreat in 1922 and thats how "turkey" was allowed to exist. most socalled "turks" are former greek and other byzantine population which changed forcefully to islam and forgot their roots. only the strongest remained christian and kept their roman-greek identity until they was forced out of their own occupied land anatolia. the muslim who was send to turkey was also mostly greek, slavs and bulgars former christian . in a few years i suspect that turkey will be dismembered and than the populations will move acording to their dna and constantinopolis will be again the capital of the greek.

[@fatihdemir5055]

Horror çoğu balkan Türkü rumu yunanlımı

[@horror11]

@@fatihdemir5055 well it depends, who do u mean with "balkan turks". "turks" are ppl from mongolia and central asia. they have specific face structures. in turkey only 10-15% are seljuc turk , i doubt there are any turks in the balkan. all we have here mostly are islamized former byzantine populations. even hungarian are slavs and bulgars even though they concider themselves as turcic origin.

[@aygir839]

Lmao Turks were around before ataturk, by the way what even is a greek? greeks have gotten conquered by persians romans Turks

[@horror11]

@@aygir839 im talking about "turks" in turkey, which is a forced citizenship on the mostly muslim population in asia minor. ofc turkss existed before ataturk in central asia and mongolia. real turks are a mix of mongols and persian ppl. the "turks" in turkey are mostly european former byzantine and armenian and kurds and only a small percentage of seljuc. by the way all regions seljuc turks came from was conquered and ruled by greek for centuries. the seleucid empire was exactly where later the seljuc came from. wouldnt wonder if seljuc are a mix of former greek intermixed with the local ppl, but thats another story.

[@aygir839]

@@horror11 You're delusional, seljuc isn't the only Turkic group, do you even know what a Turk is?

[@dimitrisorestis8091]

there's a plan behind this sensibilisation of human drama, to reconcile Turks and Greeks, so they can form some kind of confederation. Of course under the obrella of NATO,the interests of Germany and the Greek oligarchy, who has a lot to win since there's money involved. And since we're talking money, how about paying back the Armenians and Greeks who lost everything under the young of Kemal, the Hitler No one?

[@iceman4319]

Dude what conspiracy juice r u drinking?

[@dgvjyshrm]

Yes money involved ataturk and jinnah both needed to be put trial in Nuremberg for their hateful manipulating speeches but the west used them for locations advantage and now paying price for their greed

[@FM-vo8pb]

@@dgvjyshrm this discussion is not about India mate,you better stay out.

[@cloneeja]

Sick man. You need to get help

[@elenihelenmelb]

The truth is ... true history has been purposely turned upside down and the puzzle can never be revealed unless all the pieces are brought together- that’s when REVELATION happens... The PLANS of Evil will never stay ‘hidden’ - all one day shall be revealed! But GOD IHSOUS XRISTOS will have the LAST SAY + Let all Glory be to God Ihsous Xristos XRISTOS ANESTI+ ICXC NIKA

[@bigmac8230]

Ζητά ψηχολογικη βοήθεια επείγοντος

[@baits9301]

Guess were these Christian turk greeks went , to Macedonia and now these refugees think there macedonians .

[@horror11]

there are turks or there are greeks, there are no turk-greeks. the region where today is turkey was inhabited by greeks continuously for 4000 years, lrn some history u muppet xd

[@CaptainHarlock-kv4zt]

Turk Greeks? Another chapter in the history books of "the Republic north of Macedonia" I suppose!

[@cumar9875]

​@@horror11 nope it was not their land they occupied it's the land of Hittite and many other anatolian indeginous people

[@horror11]

@@cumar9875 which cities did the greek occupy from hittites? I dont know any. Most cities in todays socalled turkey was founded by greek and was inhabitted by greek for thousands of years until the socalled turks committed the genocides against the indegious greek populations of anatolia, which also is a greek name, and is used till today for the region. Constantinopolis is the capital of the greek and hagia sophia the most holy church and they will be free again one day when the satan cult of islam will be ended, so god will.

[@wankawanka3053]

Says the slav who believes he is macedonian 😂😂😂 what about all the greeks who were there before the refugees and before the slavs ?