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[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 160 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                              S. RES. 160

   A resolution marking the anniversary of the anti-Greek pogrom in 
                     Turkey, on September 6, 1955.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               August 7 (legislative day, July 10), 1995

 Mr. D'Amato submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
   A resolution marking the anniversary of the anti-Greek pogrom in 
                     Turkey, on September 6, 1955.
Whereas, in September 1955, there existed a Greek minority population of 100,000 
        in Istanbul, Turkey;
Whereas, on the night of September 6-7, 1955, a pogrom against the Greek 
        community began in Istanbul;
Whereas anti-Greek rioters attacked, pillaged, gutted and destroyed more than 
        2,000 Greek homes, 4,200 Greek shops and stores, 73 Greek Orthodox 
        churches, 52 Greek schools, eight Greek cemeteries, all three major 
        Greek newspaper plants, and dozens of Greek factories, hotels, 
        restaurants, and warehouses in Istanbul;
Whereas 15 Greeks were killed in the pogrom or died subsequently, and 32 were 
        seriously injured;
Whereas as many as 200 women were raped by rioters;
Whereas the United States Consul General in Istanbul reported that police stood 
        idly by or cheered on the rioting mobs;
Whereas the State Department received confirmation of ``elaborate advanced 
        planning for widespread destruction of the property of the indigenous 
        Greek community,'' involving careful preparations by many individuals;
Whereas American journalist Frederick Sondern, Jr., writing at the time for 
        Readers Digest, described the events of that night as ``. . . one of the 
        wildest eruptions of mob fury and hysteria in modern times . . .'';
Whereas homes of Greek officers stationed at NATO headquarters in the Turkish 
        city of Izmir were also attacked and destroyed;
Whereas rioters attacked and burned down the Greek Consulate in Izmir and the 
        Greek Pavilion at the Izmir International festival;
Whereas Turkish authorities failed at the time to convict a single rioter, out 
        of thousands, for any crime committed during the pogrom;
Whereas five years later, after a military coup in Turkey, the former Prime 
        Minister and acting Foreign Minister at the time of the pogrom were 
        charged with, and convicted of, numerous criminal actions, including the 
        instigation of the anti-Greek riots;
Whereas the pogrom marked the beginning of the end of the Greek community's 
        presence in Istanbul, numbering about 2,000 in 1995; and
Whereas September 6, 1995 will mark the 40th Anniversary of the pogrom: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the President 
should--
            (1) take all appropriate steps to observe and commemorate 
        the loss of life and property, and the numerous injuries and 
        offenses, which took place during the pogrom by proclaiming 
        September 6, 1995 as a day of remembrance for the victims of 
        these attacks; and
            (2) urge all Americans to honor the victims of the pogrom 
        in the appropriate manner.
                                 <all>
```