September 8, 1955
TURKISH VANDALISM: Dramatic events for Turkey’s Greek community took place again yesterday and the night before last. (…) «Terrible and unprecedented» events were how Greeks described the attacks against the Greeks of Istanbul and Izmir. Shops were looted and burned; the homes of ethnic Greeks and of Greek officers stationed with NATO in Izmir were broken into and looted, even churches were desecrated. It is too soon to have an evaluation of the damage to property, and unconfirmed reports say that over 300 people have been injured by the crazed, uncontrolled Turkish mobs. The justification for the atrocities was an attempt at an attack on the Turkish Consulate in Thessaloniki, under mysterious circumstances. ‘COMMUNISTS’: Istanbul, 7 – The Turkish government has issued an official announcement stating that as of yesterday the city was being controlled by communist agents provocateurs. OR TURKISH PATRIOTS: In London, the Turkish foreign minister, Mr Fatim Zorlu, said that (the events) were a «natural reaction by the Turkish people to the damage to the place of birth (in Thessaloniki) of Kemal Ataturk.»
