Trabzon and the 1923 Mübadele/Ἀνταλλαγή/Population Exchange

This blog post by Sean Swanick, Librarian for Middle East, North Africa, and Islamic Studies, Duke University.is part II of a short series exploring Duke University Libraries’ holdings about the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey. Part I of the series can be accessed here .

Most scholarship on the 1923 “Population Exchange” (Turk. Mübadele; Gk. Ἀνταλλαγή/Antallagí) deals with the Aegean coast of Turkey and Greece, this traumatic event also impacted the multi-ethnic region around the Black Sea (Turk. Karadeniz) / بحر سیاه (Bahar Sia) قره دكز / (Karadeniz) ‎/ Μαύρης Θάλασσας (Gk.Mávris Thálassas/Black Sea) / Πόντος Εὔξεινος (Gk.Pontus Euxinus/Hospitable sea) / Πόντος Ἄξεινος (Gk.Póntos Áxeinos/Inhospitable sea). Duke University Libraries holds items of interest from several of the affected Black Sea coastal communities.

Anadolu-i şahane’nin Hudut Harekatinin Haritasi / Map of the border operation of the imperial Anatolia, 1321 (1903).

The coastal communities that formerly inhabited this region of the world included (Pontic) Greeks, Georgians, Turks, Laz, Zaza, and Armenians. However, after the turmoil of 20th-century wars, forced migrations, and ethnic cleansings, cities like Samsun, Giresun, and Trabzon became fairly homogenous and mono-lingual. The homogenisation process took place over many years but was accelerated by the forced population exchange mandated by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

View of the Douane (Customs House), postcard ca. 1930. Duke University Libraries.

One of the Black Sea coastal communities represented in DUL’s collection on the population exchange is Trabzon (formerly Trebizond; Gk. Τραπεζούντα (Trapezounta), Georgian ტრაპიზონი (Trapizoni); Armenian Տրապիզոն (Trapizon)). Trabzon is a city on the southern coast of the Black Sea (present-day northern Turkey). Its history dates back several centuries as a significant city for trade and cultural exchange between Iran, the Caucasus region, and Russia.

Hagia Sophia. Photo taken by Sean Swanick, 2022.

Trabzon had long been inhabited by Greeks and Greek-speaking peoples. Indeed, as early as 401 B.C., the Classical Greek historian Xenophon wrote about Cyrus the Younger’s failed attempt to lay siege to the Persian Empire with assistance from 10,000 Greek soldiers. With the failure of the attack, the soldiers began their long march home. Having stumbled through the woods and hills, the soldiers enthusiastically shouted Θάλαττα! θάλαττα! (“The Sea! The Sea!”) when they found the Black Sea.

Trabzon was arguably the second most important city in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire (395 AD-1453). It even had its own Church of Divine Wisdom (Gk. Hagia Sophia), which rivaled the better-known Hagia Sophia in the imperial capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul). Located on a hill-top facing the Black Sea, the smaller Hagia Sophia of Trabzon was built in the 13th century, asserting the importance of the city for both the Empire and as an intellectually important city for Greek Orthodox Christianity.

View of the Hagia Sofia, postcard ca. 1930. Duke University Libraries.

Sadly, much of Trabzon’s centuries’-long history of multiculturalism in general, and Greek habitation in particular, was lost during the 1923 population exchange. The Mübadele / Ἀνταλλαγή had as one of its principles the ‘unmixing’ of peoples. This was codified to ensure that all Muslims living in Greece were ‘exchanged’ for all Greek Orthodox Christians living in Turkey.

As part of the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne, approximately 200,000 Pontic Greeks from Turkey were forced to move to Greece. The majority of these people were settled in Thessaloniki (Selanik) and villages or towns in Western Thrace. Some Pontic Greeks did manage to escape to Russia and the Caucasus region, where they awaited their return. Pontic Greeks from the Black Sea region, and specifically Trabzon, maintained their own customs and culture, which differed from those of mainland Greece. The following postcard from DUL’s collection demonstrates one of these customs, a folk-dance unique to the region known as the Χορόν (Gk. Horon) Dance.

Horon Dance, postcard ca. 1930. Duke University Libraries.

In 1928 Αρχειον Ποντου (Archeion Pontou) was founded by the Committee for Pontic Studies (E.P.M.) in Athens. The journal was founded in order to publish “studies on history, language, folklore, etc. Special annexes of the journal also include original, separate scholarly treatises on the culture of the Pontic Greeks.”

Trabzon. Photo taken by Sean Swanick, 2022.

Despite the fact that its Greek heritage was nearly erased, Trabzon remains an important city for understanding the population exchange of 1923. By the terms of the same treaty, cities along Turkey’s Black Sea coast were forced to “welcome back” over 56,000 Muslims from Greece. Trabzon, however, was only able to accommodate about 1,000 “exchanged” people from Greece due in large part to the wars that affected the city, particularly with Russia in the late 19th century. Trabzon was not as effected by the Mübadele/Ἀνταλλαγή as other cities on the Black Sea coast, such as Samsun (which was the first port of entry for Muslims from Greece) or Giresun. This was due, in part to Trabzon’s topography, which contains many steep hills making farming difficult, if not impossible.

In August 2025, the the Mary Duke Biddle Room of Perkins Library, on Duke’s West Campus, will host an exhibition of DUL’s extensive holdings of both primary and secondary sources on the Mübadele/Ἀνταλλαγή. Besides materials on Trabzon, these items will include images from the extensive postcard collections including the Izmir Postcards and photographs collection; the Selanik/Thessaloniki collection, and the Balkans collection. As well as select materials from the Ottoman Documents Collection and the Turkish political posters collection.

Further Reading

The Byzantine Legacy, Trebizond.

Eriş, Metin, ed. 2016. Trabzon. 1. baskı. Trabzon: T.C. Trabzon Valiliği.

Eden, Caroline, Ola O. Smit, and Theodore Kaye. 2018. Black Sea : Dispatches and Recipes, through Darkness and Light. London: Quadrille.

Kalkışım, Muhsin, ed. 2020. Trabzon’un Kültürel Yüzü : 100 Biyografi. İstanbul: Buhara Yayınları.

King, Charles. 2004. The Black Sea : A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Macaulay, Rose. 1956. The Towers of Trebizond. New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy.

Toksoy, Cemal. 2014. Trabzon Bibliyografyası. 1. baskı. İstanbul: Kitabevi.

Turan, Resul, and Veysel Usta. 2022. Yarım Kalmış Bir Rüya : Trabzon-Erzurum, Trabzon-Batum Demiryolu Projeleri. 1. baskı. Trabzon: Serander.

Özdemir, Yaşar Bedri. 2011. Gravür Ve Fotoğraflarla Trabzon Şehrengizi. 1. baskı. Trabzon: Mor Taka Kitaplığı.

Özükan, Bülent, ed. 2024. Bir Tutam Mübâdele Türk-Yunan Zorunlu Nüfus Değişimi. İstanbul: Boyut Yayıncılık.