The Ecumenical Federation of Constantinopolitans (EFC) submitted a petition to the Grand Natioanl Assembly of Turkey on August 17, 2026. EFC stated that it was addressing the GNA on behalf of more than 100,000 Istanbul Greeks who, through various policies and practices, had been forced to emigrate and compelled to live away from Istanbul.
The petition noted that the overwhelming majority—approximately 99 percent—of Istanbul Greeks, who were born and raised as citizens of the Republic of Turkey under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and who should have been able to continue living in the land they regarded as their homeland, now live outside Turkey.
EFC stated that the negative consequences of the events of the night of September 6–7, 1955 remain in effect, noting that a large proportion of the Greek community was forced to emigrate in 1964 following the deportation of Greek citizens from Turkey.
The petition emphasized that the events of September 6–7, 1955 also constituted a major rupture, and that the number of Greeks in Turkey, which had exceeded 100,000 during the Republican period, has now fallen below 1,000. The community, it said, has been steadily shrinking and is gradually being left to disappear.
The Federation noted that over the past 15 years it had submitted concrete proposals to government authorities, but that only a very small number of these proposals had been implemented.
Two Requests from the GNA
On the occasion of the 71st anniversary of the September 6–7, 1955 pogrom, EFC made two principal requests of the GNA.
The Federation called for the events to be placed on the parliamentary agenda and explicitly condemned by the Parliament. EFC also called for the state, for the first time, to officially extend its support to the Istanbul Greek community, which was subjected to the events, had its lives and property targeted, and was forced in overwhelmingly large numbers to abandon the homeland and family homes where its members had been born and raised.
As part of its second request, EFC called on the executive organs of the Republic of Turkey, through the GNA’s legislative authority, to take concrete measures to heal the wounds suffered by the Greek community as a result of the September 6–7, 1955 pogrom and to remedy the injustices committed against it.
EFC also called for positive measures to be taken to enable the Greek community—which is shrinking by the day and faces the threat of extinction—to maintain its presence and continue its life in Istanbul, Imbros (Gökçeada), and Tenedos (Bozcaada).
The Federation further called for policies and measures to be introduced to support members of the Greek community who emigrated from Turkey as a result of past policies toward minorities and who now wish to return to and resettle in their homeland, as well as for the executive authorities to be encouraged to pursue such measures.
The petition was signed on behalf of the Universal Federation of Istanbul Greeks Abroad by its President, Nikolaos Ouzounoglou, and Secretary-General, Nikolaos Anagnostopoulos.
