Losing a Homeland, 1923–1924 Answering several of these questions the wrong way would damage their
ability to integrate into their new homelands.
The terminology of the agreements precluded their ability to answer
several of these questions. According to the first article of the Lausanne
Treaty, “As of May 1 st, 1923 , there shall take place a compulsory exchange
of Turkish nationals of the Greek Orthodox religion settled in Turkish
territories, and Greek nationals of the Muslim religion settled in Greek
territories.”^25 The use of the term “settled” alludes to an understanding
of the transitoriness of minorities in the post-Ottoman states, as if these
groups were merely passing through en route to their authentic domiciles.
Despite the language of the treaty, the exchange was hardly a repatriation:
Anatolia had been a Hellenic domicile and Christian heartland since an-
tiquity; Muslims had made what is today modern Greece their home since
medieval times.^26 Instead, it was more like “deportation into exile” for all
parties concerned.^27 The use of the terms “Turkish territories” and “Greek
territories” even homogenized the lands that were the common origins of
diverse peoples. The compulsory exchange was irreversible. It offered no
possibility of return; citizenship in the country of origin was immediately
lost, and it was granted immediately in the country of migration.^28
As a consequence, up to half a million Muslims in Greece, who mainly
spoke Greek, were sent to Turkey, excluding those living in western
Thrace. Up to 1. 2 million Orthodox Christians of Turkey, many of whom
spoke only Turkish, ended up in Greece. Most had fled following the
defeat of the Greek army in Anatolia in 1922. The remainder, excluding
those in Istanbul and the two islands remaining in Turkish possession,
were “exchanged” in 1923. The Turkish delegation had attempted to get
the Greek delegation to agree to the expulsion of all Orthodox Christians,
including those of Istanbul, and to abolish the Orthodox Patriarchate;
delegation members expressed how “it would have been better if none
remained” in Turkey and hoped the rest would leave voluntarily.^29 Turkey
promoted a quick, forced exchange. Contrary to the treaty, over ten thou-
sand Orthodox Christians were also expelled from Istanbul.^30
In some ways, the history of the Orthodox Christians of Istanbul
paralleled that of the Dönme of Salonika. The former also had a phe-
nomenal rise, especially in the economic sphere, between 1890 and 1914 ,
just as the Dönme gained prominence between 1880 and 1912. Then, in
the crucible of the Balkan Wars, just as some Dönme began to migrate
to Istanbul and Izmir, some Greeks began to migrate to Salonika and