“The Greeks burned and destroyed Smyrna in 1922,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defiantly claimed, distorting the events that culminated almost a century ago with the Asia Minor Catastrophe.

Speaking at an event to mark the 101st anniversary of the Turkish victory against the Greeks and the Allied forces in 1922, Turkish President Erdogan referred to the Asia Minor Catastrophe, saying that Turkey won the war against the enemy: “who with his treacherous ambitions and his dirty boots stained our permanent homeland Anatolia”.

Erdogan’s provocative statements torpedoed the relatively calm climate in Greek-Turkish relations and the upcoming meeting between Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on September 5 in Ankara.

Erdogan’s speech took place in the courtyard of the Presidential Palace in Ankara, where portraits of Kemal Atatürk and Tayyip Erdogan dominated the front of the building.

“August is such a special month for us, as we have made history with our victories. We have reached the end of this month, where we have written history in gold letters, such as in Majikert, Belgrade, and Cyprus. We close August with a great victory that led to the foundation of our history. On August 26, 1922, our army launched the great offensive on the orders of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk,” the Turkish president said, referring to the timeless Ottoman-Turkish victories that took place in the month of August.

Then, referring to the events of 1922 that led to the Asia Minor Catastrophe, where Greeks were forcibly uprooted from their historic lands, he attacked Greece, misinterpreting the events. “Our heroic army smashed the enemy fronts and on August 30th broke up a large part of the Greek invasion forces and opened the road to Smyrna. 15 days after the beginning of the “great offensive” Turkish flags were flying in Smyrna which had been burnt by the enemy who had fled. And so we won the war with battles fought for 3.5 years against the enemy, who with his treacherous ambitions and his dirty boots stained our permanent homeland Anatolia,” he said.

The Turkish President’s provocative statement was preceded by NATO’s congratulatory message to Turkey and in particular NATO’s Land Command (LANDCOM) based in Smyrna (Izmir), on the celebration of the so-called “Victory Day” on 30 August. The day when the offensive of the Kemalist forces began and led to the defeat of the Greek Army on the Asia Minor Front.