Mustafa Kemal Atatürk established the Turkish national movement against the Allies in Samsun on 19 May 1919, the date which traditionally marks the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence. Atatürk, appointed by the Ottoman government as Inspector of the Ninth Army Troops Inspectorate of the Empire in eastern Anatolia, left Constantinople aboard the now-famous 16 May for Samsun. Instead of obeying the orders of the Ottoman government, then under the control of the occupying Allies, he and a number of colleagues declared the beginning of the Turkish national movement. As a result of this, the Greek population of Samsun was subject to looting, massacre, and deportation by Turkish irregular groups, as noted by representatives of the American Near East Relief. However these groups couldn't operate freely in Samsun as they did in adjacent region of Merzifon and Bafra due to the presence of the Allied fleet. Being alarmed due to the presence of Greek warships in the vicinity of Samsun, the Turkish national movement undertook the deportation of 21,000 local Greeks to the interior of Anatolia. Later, in early June 1922, the city was bombarded by the Allied navy.