Abstract:

The study aims to determine how the Greeks' occupation of Izmir at the end of World War I was received in the Balıkesir press. The Turkish nation, which had partially calmed down with the Wilsonian principles before the occupation of Izmir, was seriously shaken by the decisions of the Paris Peace Treaty. On 15 May 1919, when the Greeks set foot in Izmir for the purpose of occupation, they came face to face with the stark reality and understood that they would not receive any benefit or help from the Sultan and the Istanbul Government. Understanding this situation correctly, the Turkish nation, understanding that the occupation that started in Izmir would continue, quickly organised itself and established associations such as Müdafafa-i Hukuk or Redd-i İlhak throughout the country. In this way, they explained to the international community that the occupations were carried out unjustly and unlawfully through legal means, and made preparations for armed resistance, that is, the Kuva-yı Milliye. Such a nationwide movement was also strongly supported by the press. İzmir'e Doğru, published during the period of the National Struggle, is one of these newspapers. In addition to this newspaper, the well-established newspapers of Balıkesir such as Karesi¸ Türk Dili and Balıkesir Postası carried one of the important turning points of Turkish history such as the occupation of İzmir to their pages through poems, news, commemorative news and memoirs they published. Based on this information, in this study, these news and memoirs were classified and analysed in the ways indicated by the content, and the stance of the Balıkesir press against the occupation of Izmir was revealed.

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