Greco-Turkish Wars

Greco-Turkish Wars

(1897, 1921–22) Two military conflicts between the Greeks and the Turks. The first, or Thirty Days' War, took place after an 1896 rebellion on Turkish-ruled Crete between Christian residents and their Muslim rulers. Greek troops occupied the island in 1897. The European powers imposed a blockade to prevent assistance to the island. Unable to reach Crete, the Greeks sent a force to attack the Turks in Thessaly, but it was overwhelmed by the superior Turkish army. Though a peace treaty forced the Greeks to withdraw, Turkish troops also left Crete, which had been made an international protectorate and was later (1913) ceded to Greece. The second war occurred after World War I, when the Greeks attempted to claim territories assigned to them by the Treaty of Sèvres (1920). In 1921 the Greek army launched an offensive in Anatolia against nationalist Turks who would not recognize the treaty. The Greek forces were driven out by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) returned the disputed territories to Turkey.