Unprecedented forced removal

Submitted by Oscar (Sweden), Apr 11, 2005 at 16:51

In 1923 Greece and Turkey agreed to exchange parts of their countries' populations to better fit their countries new shape, after WW1 and the war 1922. Greece transferred over half a million muslims (the exchange was interesting enough only based on religion, not ethnicity or language) to Turkey around 1923.

I do not know
1) If Greece during this period is to be considered "democratic"
2) If the muslims living in Greece were citizens in Greece
or
3) To what degree Greece used force to remove them

However, it seems to be a contender. But my 20th century Greece history is lousy, so I may be wrong.

When Finland 1944 conceded a part of the country (Karelia) to the Soviet Union the Finns could be considered to have used force (in the shape of the Red Army) to remove their citizens.


Regarding Gaza I, if I was living in Israel, would prefere the military to spend money on Hellfires, not bomb-bait. And let everone pay for their housing themselves.

Regards,

Oscar

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".