events - Greece, Turkey

People

Modernisation of Turkey (Kemal Ataturk) 1922-35.

End of the Greek monarchy 1922-24.

Armenian massacres, 1894-96 & 1915.

Egyptian rebellion 1831-41.

Independence of modern Greece 1821-32.

Russian involvement in Turkey, 1774-1878.

Law of Fratricide, 1481-1595

1000s – 1600s expansion of Ottoman Turkey.

Peleponnesian Wars

10/7/2020, The Turkish Council of State voted unanimously to reconvert the Hagia Sofia museum back into a mosque. There were protests from Greek Christians, noting that the building had been built as a church in AS 537 for Byzantine Emperor Justinian, before conversion to a mosque in 1470, and then a museum in 1934 as Turkey secularised under Attaturk. There were suspicions that the move by Turkish President Erdogan was intended to distract from Turkish economic problems.

10/8/2018, US President Trump announced a doubling of tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium. The US was in dispute over the detention of a US pastor on dubious charges of terrorism. There were concerns over Turkish President Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule. Erdogan refused to raise interest rates, and the Turkish lira plummeted in value.

16/4/2017, A referendum in Turkey was narrowly won by President Erdogan, with 51.3% of the vote. The victory gave him wider powers.

31/12/2016, A nightclub in Istanbul packed with New Year’s Eve revellers was attacked by a gunman who killed 39 and injured 69.

19/12/2016, The Russian Ambassador to Turkey was shot dead in an art gallery in Ankara by an Islamist gunman in revenge for the Russian intervention to support pro-Assad forces in Syria. Turkey was in opposition to the Russian policy in Syria, being very anti-Assad.

10/12/2016, An explosion at a football match in Istanbul killed 35 people and injured 155. Kurdish militants were blamed.

15/7/2016, A military coup began in Turkey. The military wanted to preserve the secular nature of Turkey and were against the Islamist policies of President Erdogan. However by 16/7/2016 the coup had failed, with 161 dead, over 1,400 injured and some 3,000 arrested.

24/11/2015, Turkey shot down a Russian jet fighter that was taking part in Russia’s pro-Assad campaign in Syria, against both ISIS and non-ISIS rebels. Turkey said the aircraft had transgressed into Turkish airspace, and was warned several times. Russia denied the warnings, and it appeared the jet had at most been in Turkish airspace for 2 or 3 seconds as it (might have) crossed a finger of Turkish territory jutting into Syria.

Greek Debt Crisis 2010 (2002, 1992) - 2015

5/7/2015, A referendum in Greece solidly rejected the austerity measures demanded by the IMF and Brussels as a condition of further loans to Greece to rescue its economy. However these measures were largely implemented after the Greek banks and stock exchange closed and drastic limits were imposed on cashpoint withdrawals.

25/1/2015, In Greece the Left-Wing populist party Syriza, led by Alexis Tsipras, won the elections. Greece was suffering the effects of an austerity programme having gone through a major recession and owing massive debts to the EU. Syriza now threatened to default on Greece’s repayment schedule, much to the consternation of Germany. Greek debts in 2015 amounted to 175% of its GDP, with 25% unemployment.

27/10/2011, An emergency meeting in Brussels concerning the Greek Debt Crisis. A writedown of 50% of Greek bonds was agreed, recapitalisation of European banks, and an increase in the bailout fund of the European Financial Stability facility.

2/5/2010, The EU and the IMF agreed a Euro 110 billion bailout for Greece; Greece would adopt austerity measures.

2002, Greece adopted the Euro.

2/12/1992, The Prime Minister of Greece, Constantine Mitsotakis, dismissed his entire Cabinet after dissent over austerity measures broke out.

29/10/2014, 150 Kurdish fighters set off from Erbil (Kurdish Iraq) to travel through Turkish territory to reinforce Kurdish fighters across the Turkish-Syria border battling ISIS in the Syrian border town of Kobani. ISIS began to lose ground there, as Syrian Kurds were reinforced by US arms drops and US air strikes against ISIS. The fight for Kobani assumed increased importance as the global TV media focussed on the battle from just across the border in Turkey. The issue of Turkey allowing Kurdish reinforcements across its territory was sensitive because Turkey has its own Kurdish minority region in the south-east.

2013, The European Court of Human Rights demanded that Turkey pay Euro 90 million compensation in damages to Greek Cypriots. Turkey refused to comply.

31/5/2013, Turkish police burnt down a protestors camp in Gezi Park, Istanbul. The protests were against plans to redevelop the park, one of the few green spaces in the city, for commercial uses.

6/12/2008, Rioting in Greece after Greek police shot a 15 year old in the head, killing him.

2007, Turkish-Armenian community leader Hrant Dink was assassinated.

2006, Talks on Turkey joining the EU broke down over the northern Cyprus issue.

2003, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the AK Party became President in Turkey. Restrictions on using the Kurdish language in Turkey were eased.

20/11/2003, Suicide bombers struck again in Istanbul at the British Consulate and the headquarters of the HSBC bank. They killed 27, including the British Consul, Roger Short.

23/6/1996, Andreas Papandreou, Greek statesman, born 1919, died.

2/7/1993, In Turkey, 40 died in an arson attack on a hotel by Islamist terrorists protesting against Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses.

14/6/1993, Tansu Ciller became Turkey’s first woman president.

1991, Turkey relaxed some laws that repressed Kurdish culture. Speaking Kurdish was now allowed, but publishing or broadcasting in Kurdish remained banned; it was also an offence to own a recording of Kurdish music.

1987, Turkey applied to join the EEC.

6/12/1983, Turkey’s National Security Council dissolved, ending three years of military rule.

24/4/1983. Turkey restored political parties.

18/10/1981. The first Socialist government in Greece was elected under Andreas Papandreou.

1/1/1981. Greece became the 10^th member of the European Community.

12/9/1980, General Kenan Evren headed a military takeover in Turkey. Demirel was ousted.

15/10/1979, Bulent Ecevit, leader of the governing leftist secular Republican People’s Party, resigned amidst growing unrest in Turkey. At the start of 1979, martial law was in force in 13 of Turkey’s 67 provinces, due to clashes between Sunni and Shia Muslims. In April 1979 unrest in Kurdish regions caused martial law to be instituted in a further 6 provinces. There were also Left-Right wing clashes. The Turkish Army began to ally with the Right wing opposition Justice Party, led by Suleyman Demirel. Demirel took over governing Turkey, and announced that during Ecevit’s 22-month rule, there had been 2,444 murders by terrorists. However the killings continued. The US was hoping to store nuclear weapons at its bases in Turley, but Ecevit had not allowed this, without USSR approval, which was not given.

24/8/1975, The officers responsible for the military coup in Greece were sentenced to death in Athens – this was later commuted to life imprisonment.

12/6/1975. Greece applied to join the EEC.

8/12/1974, Greece voted against restoring the monarchy by 62%.

17/11/1974. The rule of the colonels ended in Greece, and Karamanlis became Prime Minister.

19/8/1974, The US Ambassador to Nicosia, Rodger Davies, was shot dead during a Greek Cypriot demonstration outside his Embassy.

1/8/1974, Restoration of the 1952 Constitution in Greece.

27/7/1974. Greek military leaders handed political power to a civilian government.

23/7/1974, The Greek ‘Colonels’ military junta resigned. Civilian rule returned to Greece, under President Karamanlis.

25/12/1973, Ismet Inonu, Turkish statesman, died aged 84.

14/11/1973, Greek students, in a protest against the military rule of the Colonels, occupied the Polytechnical School of Athens. The protest was ended by brutal police violence.

5/8/1973, A terrorist attack at Athens Airport left 3 dead and 55 wounded.

1/6/1973. The Greek monarchy was abolished and George Papadopoulos became first president of the Republic. The Greek Colonels (see 21/4/1967 and 13/12/1967) alleged that ex-King Constantine II was plotting to overthrow their regime from exile.

23/5/1973, The Greek Government foiled a naval mutiny.

10/4/1970, The Greek government relaxed martial law.

17/9/1968, Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece, was born

1/11/1968, Georgios Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece, died.

13/12/1967, King Constantine II fled Greece after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the military junta, see 21/4/1967, and 1/6/1973.

21/4/1967. Colonels in Greece under Papadopolous took power in a military coup; parliamentary democracy was suspended. King Constantine II initially collaborated with the colonels until 13/12/1967 but then unsuccessfully attempted a counter coup. He later fled to Rome.

17/8/1964, Greece withdrew its forces from NATO because of tension with Turkey over Cyprus.

6/3/1964, Constantine II became king of the Hellenes, succeeding his father Paul I.

29/10/1961, General elections in Greece were won by the National Radical Union. Constantine Karamanlis became Prime Minister.

17/9/1961. The ex-President of Turkey, Menderes, (see 27/5/1960) was executed at the prison on Imrali island, having been accused of breaking the Turkish Constitution.

27/5/1960, President Adnan Menderes (1889-1961) of Turkey was ousted in an army coup. He founded the Democratic Party in 1945 and became Prime Minister in 1950. Pro-Western, he took Turkey into NATO in 1952. However he was also sympathetic to Islam, and the Turkish army, very secularist, found this intolerable. The Army believed that Menderes posed a threat to the secularisation of Turkey begin by Ataturk in the 1920s. Ultimately, severe inflation from 1954 eroded Menderes’s support in the towns; Menderes relied on rural peasant support. Menderes was forced to assume dictatorial powers in April 1960, just before his overthrow. See 17/9/1961. In September 1990 Menderes was posthumously ‘rehabilitated’ and given a State Funeral, attended by the Turkish President.

25/12/1959, The USSR agreed to supply financial and technical aid to Syria.

14/6/1959, The US agreed to provide Greece with nuclear information and supply ballistic missiles.

27/10/1957, Celal Bayar was re-elected President of Turkey.

16/10/1957, Syria declared a State of Emergency following Turkish troop movements on the Syrian border. US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles warned the USSR against attacking Turkey.

5/10/1955, Karamanlis became Prime Minister of Greece, succeeding Alexander Papagos on his death.

6/9/1955, Anti-Greek riots in Istanbul and Izmir.

24/2/1955, Turkey and Iraq signed the Baghdad Pact. This was an alliance of mutual support against Communist activity within their borders or as an external threat. Iran joined later in 1955.

23/8/1954, Greece, Yugoslavia and Turkey signed a treaty of mutual assistance.

16/11/1952, In Greece, Field Marshal Alexandros Papagos formed a government after the success of Greek Rally in the elections.

18/2/1952, Greece and Turkey joined NATO.

20/9/1951, NATO invited Greece and Turkey to join.

2/4/1950 Recep Peker, Prime Minister of Turkey 1946–1947, died aged 61

16/10/1949, The Greek civil war ended with the defeat of the rebels.

27/12/1947, The Greek Government banned the Communist Party.

1/4/1947. King George II of Greece died aged 56, and was succeeded by his brother, 45, as King Paul I.

28/9/1946, King George II returned to Greece. A referendum had shown a majority in favour of restoring the monarchy.

1/9/1946. A Greek plebiscite favoured return the of the monarchy.

27/6/1946, Italy ceded the Dodecanese islands to Greece.

23/2/1945, Turkey, reluctantly, declared war on Germany – only because the Allies had announced that only those nations who did so would be invited to take part in the United Nations Conference at San Francisco.

Post War civil conflict in Greece

12/2/1945, The Treaty of Varkiza was signed. The Greek resistance agreed to disarm and relinquish control of all the territory it occupied in exchange for legal recognition, free elections, and the removal of Nazi collaborators from the armed forces and police.

20/12/1944, British troops rescued 350 military personnel from Greek ELAS Communist fighters at Kifissia, near Athens. Since Greece was liberated from the Nazis, there has been a vicious power struggle between Communist and Nationalist factions.

18/12/1944, British troops in Greece began an offensive against ELAS rebels

17/10/1944, Rival partisans in Athens began to fight each other.

End of World War Two in Greece

13/10/1944, Athens was liberated from the Germans, who occupied it on 27/4/1941.

4/10/1944, Allied troops landed on the Greek mainland, at Patras.

2/10/1944. British troops landed on Crete.

2/8/1944. Turkey broke off relations with Germany, reluctantly, under pressure from the United Nations to fulfil its treaty obligations.

3/1944, The EAM (National Liberation Front) of Greece, a Leftist coalition dominated by the KKE (Communist Party of Greece), set up the PEEA (Political Committee of National Liberation). This was effectively a rival to the Greek Government-in-exile; the PEEA ran, in areas liberated from the Nazis, systems of healthcare, education and ustice. It was vehemently opposed to the return of King George II. In 1945 the EAM disintegrated and the KKE took over. After the War, the Communists, Republicans and Royalists started a civil war that lasted until 1949.

See France-Germany for main European events of World War Two

18/6/1941, Turkey concluded a two-year non-aggression pact with Germany.

29/5/1941. Axis forces took the capital of Crete, Canea.

20/5/1941. Germany began an aerial invasion of Crete. King George II of Greece fled Crete on 23/5/1941. By 1/6/1941 the German occupation of Crete was complete. Guerrilla action continued on Crete until its liberation in 1945.

14/5/1941. Germany began a week-long bombing of Crete. On 20/5/1941 German paratroopers attacked the islands three airfields. They managed to seize only one airfield, Maleme, but this was enough, and the British had to evacuate Crete, leaving 13,000 wounded behind.

27/4/1941. The Germans occupied Athens. They held it until 12/10/1944.

22/4/1941. British forces left Greece.

9/4/1941, Salonika was taken by the Germans. This cut off Thrace from Greece and divided Macedonia in two.

28/3/1941, The Battle of Matapan, off the coast of Crete. The British navy beat an Italian fleet, sinking seven warships for no loss of its own.

22/11/1940. The Greeks routed the Italians at Koritza.

29/10/1940, British troops landed in Greece.

28/10/1940. Italy invaded Greece, from Albania. This opened a Balkan Front, and was a complication to Hitler’s plans to invade Russia, as the British would become involved.

2/6/1940, Constantine I, King of the Hellenes, was born the son of King Paul.

24/6/1939, Turkey concluded a pact of mutual assistance with France, see 12/5/1939. Turkey enedeavoured to remain neutral in the unfolding conflict. Its army was poorly equipped.

23/6/1939. Hatay, formerly the Syrian town of Alexandretta, was incorporated into Turkey. It had been part of Ottoman territory until 1919, and had been the subject of a Franco-Turkish dispute which was settled at the League of Nations in 1937. This said that Alexandretta was to be its own entity controlling its own internal affairs, with Syria controlling its foreign policy. Iskenderun is the Turkish name; a city near this site was established by Alexander the Great in 333 BC to commemorate his victory over the Persians at Issus.

12/5/1939, Turkey concluded a pact of mutual assistance with Britain. See 24/6/1939.

18/11/1938, Twenty people were trampled to death at the funeral of Kemal Attaturk.

11/11/1938. Ismet Inonu succeeded Kemal Ataturk, who died the day before, as President of Turkey.

10/11/1938. Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic in 1923, died aged 57. Ismet Inonu, 54, was elected to succeed him.

31/7/1938. Bulgaria signed a non-aggression pact with Greece.

3/7/1938, By agreement with France, the district of Alexandretta was established as an autonomous part of Syria, but with a legal system conforming mainly to Turkey. It was called Hatay, after the Hittites, which Turkey considered its ancestors. Within a year, Hatay was ceded to Turkey.

27/4/1938. A friendship treaty was signed between Greece and Turkey.

15/2/1937, The Balkan Entente Conference was held at Athens.

5/8/1936, The Greek Communist Party attempted to call a General Strike. However this precipitated a Right Wing dictatorship which broke up the Communist Party.

13/4/1936, After the inconclusive Greek general elections of 26/1/1936, a period of uncertainty, and the death of Prime Minister Demerdjis, General John Metaxas became Greek Prime Minister.

18/3/1936, Eleutherios Venizelos, Greek politician, died.

25/11/1935, The monarchy was restored in Greece.

3/11/1935, Plebiscite in Greece favoured the restoration of King George II, with 97% voting in favour.

9/6/1935, General election in Greece. The Populists (Monarchists) won 243 seats, although the Liberal party boycotted the election,

1/1/1935. Mustafa Kemal changed his name to Kemal Ataturk.

25/11/1934. Mustapha Kemal told all Turks to adopt a surname by 1/1/1935. His was to be ‘Ataturk’, or ‘Father of the Turks’. He also banned hereditary titles in Turkey. Turkey decreed that the Hagia Sofia mosque in Istanbul was now to be a secular museum.

16/1/1933, Eleutherios Venizelos again became Prime Minister of Greece.

31/10/1932, In Greece, after an inconclusive general election, Prime Minister Eleutherios Venizelos resigned and was replaced by Panyoti Tsaldaris, a moderate Royalist.

20/4/1931. The Republican party of Mustapha Kemal won a landslide in the Turkish national elections.

1930, The Balkan Entente was set up. It included Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia; it was essentially a defensive alliance against the expansionist aims of Bulgaria, which was seeking to regain territories lost to Greece and Yugoslavia under the Treaty of Neuilly (1919). In the 1930, as authoritarian regimes gained power in all members of the Balkan Entente, the entire region moved politically closer to Germany and Italy.

30/10/1930. Greece and Turkey signed a treaty of friendship.

12/8/1930. Turkish and Iranian forces launched attacks on Kurdish rebels.

28/3/1930. Constantinople had its name changed to Istanbul, and Angora to Ankara, by Kemal Attaturk.

27/6/1929, In Turkey, President Kemal outlawed Communist propaganda.

3/11/1928. Turkey abolished the use of the Arabic script and adopted the Roman alphabet. The Turkish Post Office was ordered to return to sender all post not bearing the new-style ‘correct’ addresses.

19/8/1928, Greek elections produced a victory for the Liberals under Venizelos.

3/7/1928. In Greece, Eleutherios Venizelos was again appointed Prime Minister, following his return in March.

9/4/1928. Turkey abolished Islam as the State religion.

30/10/1927, Admiral Paul Kondouriotis, the President of Greece, survived an assassination attempt by a 25-year-old waiter. Zafioios Goussies shot President Kondouriotis in the head as the he was leaving a conference of Greece's mayors in Athens.

2/9/1927, Mustafa Kemal made Turkey a one-party state.

1/9/1926, Civil marriage was established in Turkey.

5/6/1926, At the Treaty of Angora, Turkey accepted the Brussels Line, setting the northern boundary of Iraq, and including Mosul within Iraq. Turkey was to receive a share of oil revenues from Mosul for the next 25 years, and to be compensated for public works carried out around Mosul.

17/2/1926, Polygamy was prohibited in Turkey.

3/1/1926, In Greece, Pangalos assumed dictatorial powers; in April 1926 he was elected President.

16/12/1925, The League of Nations voted to uphold the Brussels Line, dividing Mosul villayet, see 21/11/1925, 29/10/1924.

25/11/1925, In Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, as part of his Westernisation program, outlawed the traditional fez and substituted western hats.

21/11/1925, The Permanent Court of International Justice agreed to the Brussels Line, dividing Mosul villayet, see 29/10/1924, and 16/12/1925.

29/10/1925, Greek troops withdrew from Bulgaria, on orders from the League of Nations.

22/10/1925. Border dispute flared between Greece and Bulgaria.

26/6/1925, Coup in Greece; General Theodoros Pangalos seized power.

16/4/1925. In Turkey, the Kurdish uprising ended.

2/4/1925, France and Turkey agreed on the autonomy of Alexandretta.

28/2/1925. Kurdish uprising in Turkey.

20/11/1924, Kurds in Turkey rebelled; they were suppressed with considerable force.

29/10/1924, The Council of Brussels drew the Brussels Line, dividing the villayet of Mosul into Turkish and Iraqi areas. See 21/11/1925, 16,12,1925.

20/4/1924, Turkey continued its modernisation plan, with the abolition of tithes and the shortening of military service.

25/3/1924, Greece was proclaimed a Republic, as conformed by plebiscite on 13/4/1924. Admiral Pavlos Koundouriotis became President.

2/3/1924, The Turkish National Assembly abolished the caliphate, disestablishing the Islamic religion.

27/1/1924. Rauf Denktash, Turkish-Cypriot politician, was born.

11/1/1924, Eleutherios Venizelos accepted the Premiership of Greece under the National Assembly.

19/12/1923, King George II left Greece at the request of the ruling Revolutionary Committee.

17/12/1923. The Greek Army deposed King George II.

29/10/1923. Mustapha Kemal proclaimed Turkey a Republic and himself as its first President, called Kemal Ataturk.

12/10/1923. The Turkish capital was officially moved from Istanbul to Ankara.

31/8/1923. Italy seized the Greek island of Corfu. This followed an incident in which an Italian General and 4 members of his staff were shot whilst determining the Albanian-Greek border on 27/8/1923. Mussolini saw the incident as a national insult. Greece appealed to the League of Nations on 3/9/1923, and under pressure from France and the UK, Italy withdrew from Corfu on 27/9/1923. Greece was compelled to pay a considerable indemnity to Italy.

13/8/1923. Mustapha Kemal, (Ataturk), was elected President of Turkey.

24/7/1923. The Treaty of Lausanne was signed. This restored Adrianople to Turkey after the Greco-Turkish was of 1923. Turkey regained the territories lost after World War One, including the eastern Aegean and Armenia.

11/1/1923, Constantine, King of the Hellenes, died of a brain haemorrhage in Palermo (born 2/8/1868).

1/11/1922. Mustafa Kemal announced a new Turkish Republic.

13/10/1922, The Armistice of Mudanya ended the Greek-Turkish War. Relations between Ankara and the Allies wree settled, and the Allies now allowed Turkish troops to enter Istanbul.

27/9/1922. Following Greece’s defeat in Turkey, King Constantine abdicated (see more at 18/3/1913). He was succeeded by King George II.

11/9/1922. The British Mandate in Palestine began; Britain took over rulership from the Ottoman Turks.

9/9/1922, The Turkish Army entered Smyrna, and its Christians fled in chaos. Central Smyrna was burnt on 13/9/1922.

26/8/1922. Turkey began an offensive against Greece to recover land lost after World War One. The Russian government was sending military aid to Turkey. On 9/9/1922 Greece lost Smyrna, ending its presence on the eastern Aegean coast. Turkish forces now threatened British forces occupying the southern Dardanelles at Chanak; the British government authorised an ultimatum to Turkey, but the local British commander delayed its delivery until local Turkish agreement to respect the British zone had been secured. As the Greek Army retreated it burnt Turkish towns.

29/7/1922. The Allies forbade Greece to occupy Constantinople.

1921, The chief organiser of the Ottoman massacre of Armenian Christians, Talaat Pasha, was himself assassinated by a survivor of that genocide. Pasha had rfecorded that the population of Armenians under Ottoman rule had fallen from 1,265,000 in 1915 to just 284,157 in 1917.

20/10/1921, France recognised the Turkish Government in Ankara.

13/10/1921, Turkey, Russia, and the Caucasian Republics signed a treaty in Kars. Turkey retained Kars, Ardahan, and Artvin, and Russia took Batum.

3/1/1921, Turkey concluded a peace with the Republic of Armenia at Alexandropol. Armenia had been raiding Turkish frontier villages, which had led Turkey to attack Armenia. Turkey took Kars and Alendropol.

18/12/1920 King Constantine was restored to the Greek throne.

5/12/1920, A Greek referendum result called for the return of King Constantine, deposed by the Allies in 1917.

2/12/1920, Armenia was forced to conclude a peace treaty with Turkey that not only annulled the Wilson Line but gave the district of Kars, formerly Russian/Armenian, to Turkey. This treaty also stated that ‘there were no Armenian majorities anywhere in Turkey’.

22/11/1920, US President Wilson set a proposed border (The Wilson Line) between Turkey and Armenia that would have given Armenia lands as far west as Trebizond, Erzingan, and Bitlis. However on the ground both Turkey and the USSR were advancing into Armenia and the Wilson line never materialised. See 2/12/1920.

17/11/1920, Dowager Queen Olga became Regent of Greece.

25/10/1920, King Alexander of Greece died of blood poisoning after being bitten by a monkey. His father, who abdicated in 1917, resumed the throne, continuing the struggle against Turkey.

14/11/1920, In Greece, supporters of Venizelos were heavily defeated in general elections.

10/8/1920. The Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Sevres, ceding 80% of its land area. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_S%C3%A8vres for possible dismemberment of Turkey as proposed by Sevres. Syria became a French mandate (including Lebanon, see1/9/1920), Palestine and Mesopotamia became British mandates, Rhodes and the Dodecanese islands went to Italy, and the other Aegean Islands went to Greece.

25/7/1920, The Greeks took Adrianople.

9/7/1920, The Greeks took Bursa.

24/6/1920. The Greeks defeated the Turks at Alashehr.

22/6/1920, With British support, Greek forces attacked Turkish Nationalist troops.

23/4/1920. Turkish Nationalists set up a provisional government at Ankara, with Mustapha Kemal as President.

20/3/1920. In response to the Syrian claim of 8/3/1920, the Lebanese Christians proclaimed their independence, choosing as their flag the French tricolour with a Lebanese cedar at its centre.

16/3/1920. Allied troops occupied Istanbul; Turkey arrested the Nationalists and the Sultan closed Parliament. Some Nationalists escaped to Ankara.

8/3/1920. Syria proclaimed independence from Ottoman Turkey, with Emir Faisal, hero of the Arab revolt, as King. He claimed not just the smaller Syria agreed by Britain and France, but of ‘natural Syria’, extending to the Euphrates and including Lebanon and Palestine. See 20/3/1920.

12/2/1920, A conference began in London to settle the main frontiers of Turkey to be demarcated in the Treaty of Sevres. This conference ended on 23/2/1920, see 19/4/1920.

28/1/1920, The new Turkish Parliament, with a Nationalist majority, issued the Pact of Ankara affirming the integrity of Turkish territory, based on the resolutions of the Nationalist Congress of 1919.

5/8/1919, Kemal declared Turkey independent of the Sultan at the Turkish Nationalist Congress.

23/7/1919, Turkish Nationalists met at Erzurum to resist Allied plans to carve up Turkey.

11/7/1919, The Turkish Sultan outlawed Kemal.

8/7/1919, The new Turkish Sultan Mohammed VI dismissed Mustapha Kemal.

19/6/1919, In Turkey, Mustafa Kemal and other nationalist leaders signed the Amasia Protocol, declaring their resistance to the Allied plans for Turkey and the Sultan’s co-operation with these plans.

19/5/1919, The Turkish war hero Mustapha Kemal resisted the further reduction of Turkish territory, organising military resistance.

15/5/1919, The Greek Army landed at Smyrna, under the protection of British, French, and US fleets, beginning an occupation of the area by massacring Turkish civilians.

5/2/1919, Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece, was born.

26/12/1918, George Rallis, Prime Minister of Greece, was born (died 2006)

1/11/1918, Anglo-French troops took Constantinople.

31/10/1918. Ottoman Turkey surrendered to the Allies; the Dardanelles were reopened to Allied shipping. Anglo-French troops occupied Constantinople.

30/10/1918. (1) An armistice was concluded aboard the British warship Agamemnon, at Mudros, between Britain and Turkey. However Turkey was to face some four more year’s fighting with Greece, and effectively with the Western Allies.

(2) Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lawrence, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, shocked King George V by turning down the Order of the Bath and Distinguished Service Order. Lawrence was disappointed at how the Arabs had not achieved independence after World War One but their land had been carved up between Britain and France. France, Catholic, took the Christian sites of Lebanon and Syria; Britain took Jordan and Iraq.

26/10/1918. Aleppo, Syria, was captured from the Turks by British and Arab troops advancing from the south.

13/10/1918, British troops occupied Tripoli, Lebanon.

7/10/1918, British troops took Beirut and Sidon.

1/10/1918. Arab forces under Emir Faisal, including the British officer T E Lawrence, captured Damascus from the Turks.

22/9/1918. Turkish resistance in Palestine collapsed.

20/9/1918. The British captured Nazareth.

18/9/1918, The British under General Allenby started a major offensive against the Turks, pushing them north out of Palestine, starting with a British victory at Megiddo. This offensive pushed the Turks out of Palestine, captured Damascus, and forced the Turks to accept an armistice on 30/10/1918.

9/9/1918. Allied victory at Megiddo.

29/7/1918. Germany severed diplomatic relations with Ottoman Turkey.

13/6/1918. A Turkish offensive in Palestine was halted.

26/4/1918, The Turks captured Kars, Caucasus, from Russia, however their cause was doomed as General Allenby made major gains in Palestine.

14/4/1918, Following the collapse of the Russians, Turkey captured Batumi on the Black Sea. See 26/4/1918.

10/2/1918, Abdul-Hamid II, Sultan of Turkey from 31/8/1876, died (born 21/9/1842).

9/12/1917. Jerusalem was surrendered by the Turks to the British under General Allenby, who had advanced from Gaza in 10/1917 into Judaea and on to Jerusalem. The Turks had ruled Jerusalem since its capture from the Crusaders in 1244.

14/11/1917. Jaffa (Joppa) was captured by the British, under General Allenby, from the Turks.

9/11/1917. Arthur Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, unveiled plans for a Jewish national homeland in Palestine. The message was conveyed to the Zionist representative, Baron Rothschild. The British Wear cabinet, under David Lloyd George, believed that Zionist support would help the war effort, especially against the Ottoman Turks. Arabs outnumber Jews by ten to one in Palestine but Zionist leaders like Dr Chaim Weizmann would try and build up their numbers.

31/10/1917. British forces under General Allenby captured Beersheba from the Turks. This opened the way for the British capture of Jerusalem and the rest of Palestine.

Meanwhile in 1916 Britain and France had secretly signed the Sykes-Picot agreement to divided up the Ottoman Lands in the Middle East after the War. France was to get the north-western half of the Fertile Crescent, that is Syria and Lebanon; Britain was to get the south-east, Jordan and Iraq. The Catholic church wanted French control of the Mediterranean coast, where many Maronite Christians lived, and Britain wanted French lands between them and the Russians to the north. Britain retained an air corridor to Iraq through Jordan; Britain was dropping poison gas on rebellious Iraqi Arabs. France divided off Lebanon as a Christian Republic from Syria; it also divided off Hatay and gave that to Syria, due to lobbying from Hatay’s Turkish minority. The Allies also considered giving Palestine to Belgium. They also, at the Treaty of Sevres (10/8/1920) backed the formation of a Kurdish State, but refused to allow the Kurds in Iraq or Syria to be part of this State; the idea never materialised.

4/7/1917, Lawrence of Arabia reassured the Arabs, who were wary of attacking the Turkish fort of Kethira under a full moon, that “for a while there will be no moon”. Lawrence knew a lunar eclipse was due. Turkish defenders panicked as the moon vanished, and the fort fell to the Arabs.

29/6/1917. Greece declared war on Germany.

12/6/1917. The pro-German King Constantine of Greece, who dismissed the pro-Allied government of Venizelos, was himself forced to abdicate by the Allies.

26/3/1917. British attack the Turks at Gaza (First Battle of Gaza).

17/3/1917. The British heavily defeated the Turks near Gaza.

11/3/1917. The Allies captured Baghdad from Ottoman Turkey.

16/10/1916. The Allies took Athens.

27/9/1916. Greece declared war on Bulgaria, which itself had declared war on Rumania earlier in the month.

10/9/1916. The Allies launched an offensive in Salonika.

See France-Germany for main events of World War One

20/8/1916. The Allies began an offensive against Turkey in Mesopotamia.

5/8/1916. The British defeated the Turks in a naval battle off Port Said.

9/6/1916. Sherif Hussein of Mecca led a revolt against the Ottoman Turks. The Arabs were angered by the Young Turks nationalist and secular policies.

16/5/1916, French diplomat Francois-Georges Picot and British diplomat Mark Sykes began a secret correspondence to decide how the Middle East would be divided up after World War One (see also 30/10/1917). The Western Powers had already decided that the Ottoman Empire was too vast and too corrupt to be allowed to survive. Britain would claim Jordan, most of Iraq, and the port city of Haifa. France would take SE Turkey, northern Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Palestine would be jointly administered between Britain and France. Russia would be granted the city of Constantinople and several Armenian-dominated regions. In fact the Russian Revolution of 1917 and further diplomatic developments meant that not all these provisions became reality, but the Sykes-Picot agreement set the scene for many of the issues of the Middle East during the 20th century.

29/4/1916. British troops surrendered to the Ottoman Turks after a siege of 143 days at Kut-el-Amara in Iraq. See 22/11/1915.

14/4/1916. The Allied bombarded Istanbul.

2/3/1916, The Russians took Bitlis, in Turkestan, from the Ottoman Turks.

16/2/1916, The Russians captured Erzurum, in the Caucasus, from Turkey.

13/2/1916, In the Erzurum Offensive Russian forces advanced on the Ottoman Third Army, which was too small to defend against the assault.

17/1/1916. Russia began an offensive against Turkey.

8/1/1916. Gallipoli was evacuated by Allied troops. This was the end of an unsuccessful attempt to capture Constantinople. See 20/12/1915.

20/12/1915. Australian, New Zealand, and British troops were evacuated from the ill-fated Gallipoli expedition. See 25/4/1915. The aim had been to capture the Dardanelles and Constantinople, and so knock Turkey out of the war, and link up with the Russian Black Sea Fleet. However disease, flies, fever, and mosquitoes, and the incompetence of the Allied commanders, were compounded by the fact that landings were not made until two months after Turkish positions here had been bombarded. Hence the element of surprise was lost, and the Turks had ample time to prepare strong defences. Evacuation was completed by 8/1/1916, without casualties. An ingenious plan involved loading provisions onto the Gallipoli beaches in daylight, but at night men, guns and horses were evacuated, leaving rifles set to fire automatically at intervals. At the last moment an Allied destroyer trained a searchlight on the Turkish lines, the Turks fired back, and under this exchange of fire the Allies slipped away undetected.

22/11/1915. General Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend was advancing by boat on Baghdad with a force of 9,000 men of the 6^th Indian Division. The land was roadless, an ‘arid billiard table’ as he described it. At Ctesiphon, 20 miles short of Baghdad, Townshend came up against a large, well supplied force. He was short of supplies because a stingy and over-optimistic government in India expected him to get all the supplies he needed in Baghdad. Townshend’s forces drove out the Turks but at a loss of 40% of his men. He was now unable to withstand any Turkish counter-attack, let alone advance further, so he retreated to Kut with 1,600 Turkish prisoners of war and 4,500 wounded from both sides. The Invasion of Mesopotamia was to secure the oil but that only required the occupation of a small area around Basra. This would, keep the Turks away from the Iranian port of Abadan, terminus of the Anglo-Iranian pipeline which supplied the Royal navy with oil. Kut was besieged by the Turks, from 8/12/1915. Townshend had 13,500 inside to feed, including some 2,500 Indian non-combatants and 2,000 sick and wounded. There were also 6,000 Arabs. They had to contend with freezing cold and torrential rain. A relief force never got near enough; three relief attempts were made, at a cost of 23,000 casualties. The Indians would not eat meat, although the oxen were slaughtered for food by the British, then the camels, horses, and finally cats, starlings, dogs, and hedgehogs. Gallipoli had been evacuated by the British on 8/1/1916 and elated by this, and now with troops to spare from there, the Turks refused a ransom of £2million (£67million in 2002 prices) to let the defenders leave. Kut was the first siege in which supplies were dropped by air, including flour for the Indian’s chappatis. However the Turks and their German allies had more and better aircraft. Finally Kut surrendered on 27/4/1916, with rations down to seven ounces of grain a day for the 12,000 men there. More Indian and British soldiers died during the forced march from Kut to captivity in Mesopotamia or even all the way to Turkey. However Townshend was in relatively comfortable captivity near Constantinople. Kut finally fell to the Allies in February 1917, and Baghdad fell in March 1917.

5/10/1915. Allied troops landed at Salonika, Greece, to help Serbia (see 26/4/1915). These troops probably dissuaded Greece from joining the German side, and in 1918 took part in an offensive against Bulgaria, but otherwise played little role in the war.

28/9/1915. The British defeated the Turks at Kut El Amara in Mesopotamia.

23/9/1915. King Constantine of Greece began mobilising against Bulgaria, in aid of Serbia.

15/9/1915, The Entente (France, UK) promised Bulgaria part of Macedonia if she declared war on Turkey.

21/8/1915. Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire.

15/8/1915, The Allied landings at Suvla, Dardanelles, were completed.

6/8/1915. New Allied landings on Gallipoli. See 8/1/1916.

27/5/1915. The Turkish government decided to deport the entire Armenian population to Syria and Mesopotamia, suspecting them of lack of loyalty. The deportation involved much cruelty against the Armenians. Of the total Armenian population of 1.8 million, a third were deported, a third escaped deportation, and a third were killed. The Russians conquered Turkish Armenia in 1916 and proclaimed ‘the liberation of the Armenian people from the Turkish yoke’ but prevented the Armenians from returning to their homeland as they planned to settle the area with Cossacks.

26/4/1915. Allied forces established themselves on the Gallipoli Peninsula, having landed the previous day, 25/4/1915. This was an attempt to take control from the Dardanelles from Turkey, and open up a supply route to Russia. The Allies hoped, against all evidence, that the landing itself would provoke a coup in Turkey and remove it from the War. Russian Jews, who saw the ottoman Empire as a barrier to a Jewish Homeland, supported the exercise. Forces landed included 27,500 British, 18,100 ANZACs, and 16,800 French. However the landing site was fully exposed to Turkish fire, and evacuation of Allied troops was the only option. Also on 25/9/1915 the Germans attacked Serbia and Allied forces had to go to Salonika to buttress Serbian resistance (see 5/10/1915). Evacuation began on 8 December 1915 and was completed by 9 January 1916. The Dardanelles expedition cost 70,700 British casualties (26,000 dead), 25,700 Australians (7,800 killed), 23,000 French (8,000 killed), 7,100 New Zealanders (2,445 killed) and 5,500 Indians (1,682 killed). However the evacuation was managed with very little loss of life.

24/4/1915. The arrest in Constantinople (now Istanbul) of 235 Armenian academics, politicians, lawyers and journalists. Another 600 were later detained. All were sent to Anatolia, most of them slaughtered. Turkey feared they would collaborate with Russia. On this day the Ottoman Interior Minister, Talaat Pasha, gave the order for the Armenian Massacre. Many Armenians were deported to the Syrian desert to die.

19/2/1915 The Dardanelles campaign began. A Franco-British fleet began shelling Turkish fortifications along the Dardanelles, to open up the strategic waterway to get munitions to Russia via the Black Sea, and deliver Russian grain to France and the UK. Spotter planes from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal were directing the gunners by radio.

2/2/1915. The Turks were defeated on the Suez Canal.

See France-Germany for main events of World War Two

14/11/1914. The Sultan of Turkey declared a Jihad, or Holy War, against the Allies.

6/11/1914, British troops landed at Fao (now Iraq) and captured the Turkish fort there.

5/11/1914. Following Russia, Britain and France declared war on the Ottoman Empire. Britain annexed Cyprus. However the Dardanelles were now closed to Allied shipping, and it was vital to be able to get supplies to support Russia. The ports of Archangel and Vladivostock were ice-bound, so an attempt was made to seize the Dardanelles by the Gallipoli campaign (see 25/4/1915).

4/11/1914. The Russians declared war on Turkey and invaded Armenia, part of the Ottoman Empire.

29/10/1914, Turkish warships bombarded the Russian ports of Sevastopol, Odessa and Novorossiysk. This provoked a declaration of war by Russia against Turkey on 4/11/1919; also by Britain and France on 5/11/1914. In Turkey the Young Turks, in 1908, had had two aims; to pull together the disintegrating remains of the Ottoman Empire, and to recover land lost to Russia. However they found the Turkish Treasury in debt to European banks by the then-colossal sum of £200 million. They sought an alliance with a wealthy European nation that could help rebuild the Turkish economy. Britain, which had helped found Turkey’s National Bank in 1908, was approached, as an enemy of Germany with whom the former Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid had been friendly. Britain declined the approach, believing that an alliance with Turkey would unite Europe against it. Turkey again approached Britain during the Balkan War (1912-13) and was again rebuffed. In July 1914 France also rejected overtures by Turkey. Moreover on 1/8/1914 Winston Churchill ordered the requisition of two warships being built in Britain for the Turkish Navy. Meanwhile the German General Otto Liman von Sanders was assisting the modernisation of the Turkish Army. Germany hoped that Turkey, possibly allied with Bulgaria, would threaten Russia without direct German involvement. The Young Turk, Ismail Enver Pasha, Minister for War, approached the German Ambassador in Constantinople on 22/7/1914 to propose a formal alliance. The German Ambassador, Freiherr von Wangenheim, declined; Germany assessed that an alliance with Turkey would exacerbate tensions with Russia, and therefore be of advantage to Britain and France, but be of no gain to Germany because of the weak state of the Turkish Army, and the parlous state of the Turkish economy that retarded the development of the Turkish military. However Kaiser Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany, on learning of Enver’s approach, overruled Wangenheim and instructed Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann to open negotiations with Turkey. A secret treaty of alliance between Germany and Turkey was signed on 2/8/1914, essentially a mutual guarantee of defence against, only, any attack by Russia. The secrecy allowed Enver to hedge his bets and only intervene against Russia when it suited him. Therefore although Germany had mobilised against Russia on 1/8/1914 Enver did not attack immediately. German Admiral Wilhelm von Souchon sailed two German ships, the SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau, past British ships in the Mediterranean just hours before Britain declared war on Germany, on 4/8/1914. Britain chased these ships but did not prevent their arrival at Constantinople, where they became part of the Turkish navy, replacing the ships confiscated by Britain. They were renamed the Yavuz Sultan Selim and the Midilli, and Turkey also received 20 million marks in gold by train from Germany, to assist in updating Turkish military capabilities. Once the gold was received, and Turkey had witnessed German successes against the Russians in East Prussia (following initial defeats inflicted on Germany at Tannenbirg and the Marne) the Yavuz Sultan Selim and the Midilli, complete with German crews, bombarded the Russian ports. Churchill was not too perturbed by Turkey’s entry into the Great War on the German side. Almost all the Turkish Army’s 43 divisions were only on peacetime strengths of 4,000 men, not the wartime basis of 10,000. The Turkish divisions based in Mesopotamia (now Iraq), also Arabia and the Levant, were manned by local recruits of dubious loyalty to the Ottoman Empire. The British enjoyed easy victories against these divisions in the Basra area, where the local oilfields were secured. However later in the war the Young Turks reinforced the fighting capabilities of the army, giving Britain a harder battle.

1/10/1914. Turkey closed the Dardanelles.

2/9/1914. The Ottoman Empire mobilised its forces, in World War One.

Start of World War One

13/8/1913, Archbishop Makarios, President of Cyprus 1960-77, was born near Paphos, the son of a farmer.

Second Balkan War

13/6/1914, Greece annexed the islands of Chios and Lesbos from Turkey.

12/6/1914, 100 Greeks in Phocaea were massacred by Turkish irregular troops.

14/3/1914, Peace was concluded between Turkey and Serbia.

14/12/1913, Greece formally annexed Crete.

13/11/1913, Peace was concluded between Turkey and Greece. Greece acquired Crete and the Aegean Islands, excepting Tenedos and Imbros; also the Dodecanese Islands remained under Italian occupation.

17/10/1913. Serbia invaded Albania.

29/9/1913, The Treaty of Constantinople, an addition to the Treaty of Bucharest (see 10/8/1913), settled the frontier between Bulgaria and Turkey.

21/9/1913. Turkey and Bulgaria settled their border dispute; Turkey kept Adrianople.

10/8/1913. The Third Treaty of Bucharest ended the Second Balkan War. Rumania gained the fertile area of Southern Dobruja, which had been Bulgarian since 1878, whilst Serbia and Greece divided Macedonia between them; again territory that Bulgaria wanted. Greece received Salonika, a major port. Bulgaria merely received the mountainous areas of Pirin and Dospat, and two small Mediterranean ports called Dedeagach and Lagos; Bulgaria was left resentful. Turkey’s possession in Europe were limited to the area around Constantinople and Adrianople. Albania was created. See 6/9/1915. In the First World War, the losers by this Treaty (Turkey and Bulgaria) fought on the German side; the gainers (Greece, Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro) fought on the Allied side.

18/7/1913, Turkish forces recovered Adrianople from the Bulgarians, who took the city in March 1917.

12/7/1913, Turkey seized Adrianople.

11/7/1913, Romania invaded Bulgaria.

10/7/1913. Russia declared war on Bulgaria. 500,000 Romanian troops crossed the frontier into Bulgaria, occupied southern Dobruja, and advanced on Sofia.

3/7/1913. Romania mobilised its troops. in response to Bulgaria’s attack on its neighbours.

1/7/1913. Greece and Serbia declared war on Bulgaria.

29/6/1913. Bulgaria launched a surprise attack on Serbia and Greece, thereby starting the Second Balkan War. Bulgaria was then invaded by Romania and Turkey. See 10/8/1913.

24/6/1913. Greece and Serbia broke their alliance with Bulgaria over a border dispute. On 29/6/1913 Greece and Serbia were attacked by Bulgaria.

18/3/1913, George I, King of Greece from 1863, was assassinated in Salonika by a Greek called Schinasi. Constantine I became King of Greece, in the newly-occupied city of Salonika. Constantine opposed the pro-Allied policy of Venizelos, and in June 1917 the Allies forced his abdication in favour of his second son, Alexander, who ruled until dying from a monkey bite in October 1920. A plebiscite two months later voted overwhelmingly for the return of Constantine I. However Constantine was unfairly blamed for Greek military failure in action against Turkey in Anatolia and Smyrna, and he abdicated on 27/9/1922. He died in exile in Sicily a year later.

1912, Electric lighting was introduced in Istanbul.

First Balkan War

30/5/1913. Turkey signed a peace treaty with the Balkan League (the Treaty of London), ending their war. Under this Treaty Salonika was formally assigned to Greece. The Great Powers formally recognised Albanian sovereignty.

22/4/1913. Montenegro captured Scutari after a 6 month siege.

16/4/1913, Turkey signed an armistice with Bulgaria.

1/4/1913, The Turkish government approved the terms of peace to end the First Balkan War, losing 60,000 square miles of territory to the Balkan nations.

26/3/1913. The Balkan allies took Adrianople from Turkey after a 155 day siege.

6/3/1913. Hostilities resumed in the Balkans; the Greeks took Janina, capturing 32,000 Turks.

7/2/1913, 5,000 Turks died in a battle with Bulgaria.

3/2/1913. Bulgaria re-stared the Balkan War. On 7/2/1913 a Turkish-Bulgarian battle left 5,000 Turks dead, and on 26/3/1913 the Bulgarians captured Adrianople from Turkey.

22/1/1913, Turkey accepted a ceasefire ultimatum.

17/1/1913, Serbian troops massacred Muslims.

9/1/1913. Turkey breached the armistice by attacking Bulgaria.

6/1/1913, A peace conference in London broke down when Turkey refused to cede Adrianople, the Aegean Islands and Crete.

2/1/1913. Turkey agreed to give up almost all its European territories.

16/12/1912, The Balkan Peace Conference began in London.

4/12/1912. Turkey concluded an armistice with Bulgaria and Serbia; Greece also ceased fighting.

30/11/1912, Bulgaria and Turkey signed an armistice.

28/11/1912. Albanian independence was proclaimed and confirmed in London on 20/12/1912 in principle and the new state’s borders were confirmed on 29/7/1913. However these borders included less than half of the ethnic Albanians.

18/11/1912. The Serbs occupied Monastir.

8/11/1912. The Greeks occupied Salonika. This was during the First Balkan War, and ended 482 years of Turkish occupation.

3/11/1912. Turkey appealed for mediation in the war with Italy, by the great European powers.

1/11/1912. The Greeks occupied Samothrace.

23/10/1912. The Greeks routed the Turks at Sarandaporos.

19/10/1912. Allied Balkan armies invaded Turkey.

18/10/1912. The Ottoman Turks agreed to cede Tripoli and Cyrenaica (now Libya) to Italy, at the Peace of Lausanne. Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia declared war on Turkey. The Greek Army had been well-equipped under Venizelos, and the Turks were pushed back, to the point where Istanbul itself was threatened; the city was only saved by bad weather making the roads impassable and a cholera outbreak, halting military operations.

15/10/1912, Turkey made peace with Italy at Ouchy.

14/10/1912. The Turks invaded Serbia. Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria issued ultimatums to Turkey demanding the demobilisation of the Turkish Army in the Balkans.

8/10/1912. Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire.

1/10/1912, Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia prepared to fight Turkey.

30/9/1912, Russia mobilised its forces in response to unrest in the Balkans.

29/9/1912, British and French forces quelled riots on Samos, after Turkey withdrew troops from there.

3/8/1912. The Ottoman Turks granted Albania limited autonomy.

2/7/1912, Serbia allied with Greece and Bulgaria against Ottoman Turkey, see 29/5/1912.

29/5/1912. Greece signed an anti-Ottoman alliance with Bulgaria. Serbia joined this alliance on 2/7/1912.

First Balkan War

4/5/1912. The Italians occupied the island of Rhodes, formerly held by the Ottoman Turks.

25/3/1912, The Greek Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos won a majority of seats in elections in Greece.

13/3/1912, Under Russian influence (wanting to undermine Austro-Hungary), Serbia and Bulgaria buried their territorial rivalries for the time being (but see 29/6/1913), and, along with Greece and Montenegro, formed the Balkan League. Originally directed against the large multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire (which contained many ethnic Serbs within its borders), the League redirected its efforts against Ottoman Turkey, ultimately aiming to oust the Turks entirely from all its European territories. Serbia and Bulgaria signed a mutual defence pact. Balkan nationalism was on the rise. The pact also divided northern Macedonia between them. It was assumed that southern Macedonia would be divided between Bulgaria and Greece. On 30/5/1913 the Treaty of London divided up the Balkans amongst the members of the Balkan League, leaving Ottoman Turkey with only a sliver of European territory immediately west of Istanbul.

5/11/1911. Italy announced that it had taken from Turkey the territories of Libya, Tripolitania, and Cyrenaiaca.

20/10/1911. Italy defeated the Turks at Tripoli, Libya.

30/9/1911. Italian troops attacked the Turks in Tripoli harbour.

29/9/1911. Italy declared war on Turkey, having been assured of the neutrality of other European countries. The Italian Navy bombarded Preveza, and Italian forces landed at Tripoli and in Cyrenicia. This was in retaliation for the alleged mistreatment of Italians in Libya. The Italians expected the Arabs to welcome them as liberators from Turkish rule, but instead the Arabs sided with the Turks in resisting Italian rule. In May 1912 Italy invaded some islands off Turkey, including Rhodes, to put further pressure on Turkey. Then Italy had some unexpected good fortune when in 1912 Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece started the Balkan War against Turkey, forcing the Ottomans to surrender Libya to Italy. However Arab resistance continued and despite a permanent Italian garrison of 50,000 troops Italian rule only covered Tripoli and other major towns. At least, though, Italy could now claim to have its own African colony.

See also Italy

6/2/1911. A large part of Constantinople was destroyed in a fire.

11/12/1910, In elections for the Greek National Assembly, supporters of Venizelos received 300 seats out of 364.

9/12/1910, The Turks suppressed an Arab uprising in Palestine.

28/8/1910. Montenegro declared independence from Turkey under King Nicholas I, 69, who ruled for 9 years.

21/8/1910, First meeting of the Greek National Assembly (officially opened by the King on 14/9/1910).

27/7/1910. Turkey threatened Greece with war if it accepted Cretan representatives in Parliament.

16/3/1900. Sir Arthur Evans uncovered the ancient city of Knossos, Crete.

27/4/1909, Mehmed V (1844-1918) succeeded his father, Abdul Hamid II (born 1842, died 1918; Sultan from 1876 – 1909) as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

24/4/1909, The Turkish Army coup of 13/4/1909 was suppressed, and its leaders executed.

23/4/1909. Moslem fanatics backed by the sultan massacred at least 30,000 Armenians.

19/4/1909. Turkey recognised Bulgarian independence. On 27/4/1909, Germany, Austria, and Italy also recognised Bulgarian independence.

13/4/1909, Army insurrection in Constantinople. The First Army Corps deposed Hussein Hilmi Pasha. See 24/4/1909.

13/2/1909, In Turkey, Kiamil Pasha, 76-year-old Ottoman Grand Vizier, was deposed and replaced by Hussein Hilmi Pasha.

12/1/1909. Turkey accepted Austria’s offer of 2.5 million Turkish Pounds for Bosnia-Hercegovina.

1/12/1908, Italy demanded that Austria pay compensation for the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, see 7/10/1908.

7/10/1908. Austria annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina, taking advantage of instability within the Ottoman Empire. Though formally part of the Ottoman Empire, its Serb-Croat population favoured union with Serbia. Other European countries were shocked at Austria’s move. Serbia was especially angry that Serbs in the region had not got autonomy. However Russia agreed with Austria not to oppose this annexation in return for Austria supporting the opening of the Dardanelles to Russian warships. Turkey accepted cash compensation for the loss of Bosnia and Hercegovina on 12/1/1909. See 1/12/1908.

6/10/1908. Crete declared itself independent of Turkey and joined Greece.

5/10/1908. Prince Ferdinand declared Bulgaria independent of Ottoman Turkey. Russia wanted Turkey weak so as not to block its plans for expansion.

Young Turks

23/1/1913, Enver Pasha, leader of the Young Turks, entered the principal council chamber of the Sublime Porte with Talat and Kemal and shouted “Death to Kamil Pasha”. They forced the Grand Vizier to resign at gunpoint and shot dead the Minister of War, General Nazim. Enver then forced the Sultan to appoint his ally, Shevket, as Grand Vizier. The British ensured safe passage for Kamil out of Turkey but he was never reinstated as Grand Vizier. Enver, Talat and Kemal went on to establish a military junta to govern Turkey.

4/4/1909, The Young Turk, Mahmud Shevket, entered Constantinople, and imposed his will on the National Assembly and the Old Turks.

24/7/1908, Sultan Abdulhamid II, ruler of the Ottoman Empire, was forced to implement reforms by the Young Turk (Jonturkler) Movement. This included the reinstatement of the 1876 constitution and the recall of Parliament, both suspended under the Sultan’s autocratic rule. The Young Turk Movement began in 1889 when a group of medical students at the Istanbul Academy started a campaign to overthrow the Sultan. The Movement spread to other colleges, and the authorities tried to suppress it; they exiled many Young Turks to Paris, where they continued to plan for a revolution.

10/1/1900, The Young Turks published their manifesto in Cairo. It called for the modernisation of Turkey and an end to ‘ineffective’ Ottoman rule.

1889, The Young Turk movement was founded by an Albanian, Ibrahim Temo.

3/7/1908, In Ottoman Turkey, Major Ahmed Niyazi revolted against the provincial authorities, under the autocratic rule of Sultan Abdulhamid II. The rebellion quickly spread to other army divisions, forcing concessions by the Sultan.

8/2/1908. Czar Nicholas II ordered Russian troops to the Iranian border after Turkey made incursions into Iran.

13/6/1905, Theodoros Delyanni, Greek statesman, born 1826, was murdered in revenge for the strict measure shad had taken against gambling houses.

10/10/1904. Kurdish tribesmen massacred Armenians in Turkey.

26/3/1904, Xenophon Zolotas, Prime Minister of Greece, was born

17/9/1903, Turks massacred 10,000 in Macedonia.

8/9/1903. Turks massacred 50,000 Bulgarians.

2/8/1903, The revolutionary organisation VMRO (Vnutrasnja Makedonska Revolucionarska Organizacija, or Internal Revolutionary Macedonian Organisation) staged the Illinden Uprising against Ottoman rule. They hoped to bring in the major European powers, but the rebellion was badly organised and its leader, Gotse Delchev, was captured and executed before it even began. The European powers avoided involvement in the uprising and it was brutally suppressed by the Ottomans. However post-event the Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia forced the Ottoman Government to pay compensation to Macedonia and allow in foreign observers.

14/12/1901, Paul I, King of Greece, was born.

9/11/1901, The Sultan of Turkey accepted a French ultimatum to stop interfering with French interests in Turkey.

1900, On Crete, British archaeologist Arthur Evans discovered a previously unknown Bronze Age civilisation. He called it ‘Minoan’ after a legendary Cretan king.

6/11/1898. Turkey evacuated its forces from Crete.

Greco-Turkish War 1897

4/12/1897. Greece and Turkey signed a peace treaty.

20/5/1897, With Greek troops demoralised and on the retreat, the Czar of Russia appealed to Turkey, and an armistice was arranged.

17/5/1897, Only now did Turkish troops attack Domokos (see 6/5/1897), this delay having given the Greeks time to entrench good defences.

6/5/1897, The Turks drove the Greeks from their defensive positions in front of Pharsala. The Greeks retreated to Domokos.

27/4/1897, Turkish forces only now reached Larissa. Neither side showed great military skill, with political considerations interfering with good strategy.

23/4/1997, Turkish forces reached Deliler. The Greeks could have retreated in good order to Larissa, where a defensible position was available, but instead fled south in disorder towards Pharsala.

19/4/1997, Turkish forces occupied the Meluna Pass, threatening the Greek frontier town of Larissa just 10 miles to the southeast.

18/4/1897, Easter Sunday; Edhem Pasha, Turkish military leader, began a general advance from his headquarters at Elassona against Greece. Turkish troops began bombarding Arta.

17/4/1897. War broke out between Greece and the Ottoman Empire. Turkey accused Greece of fomenting revolt in Crete. On 19/5/1897, after several defeats by Turkey and having been forced to withdraw from Crete, Greece signed an armistice with Turkey at Thessaly. Support for Greece by France and the UK saved it from total defeat, but Greece had to pay large war indemnities to Ottoman Turkey, bankrupting the country.

10/4/1897, Greek irregular troops crossed the frontier into Macedonia, then under Turkish rule, hoping to provoke insurrection there.

10/2/1897. Greece sent ships and troops to Crete, 4 days after Crete’s proclamation of union with Greece.

4/2/1897, Christians in Canea, Crete, protested over the slow pace of reform by the island’s Turkish Governor, which reforms were intended to safeguard their rights. Turkish troops fired at the demonstrators, many of who took refuge on European naval ships just offshore, and part of the town was burnt down.

Greco-Turkish War 1897

29/8/1896. Many Armenians, perhaps 3,000 or more, were being killed in Turkey three days after the Armenians seized the Ottoman Bank in Istanbul, to draw the world’s attention to their fight against Ottoman rule. The Armenian uprising began in 1894, and they hoped to break free of Turkish rule as Bulgaria had done. Some 200,000 Armenians were killed in Anatolia. Britain’s support for Armenia threatened the favoured position it had held for over 40 years in Istanbul. Germany began to manoeuvre to take Britain’s place, eager to secure concessions for its Berlin to Baghdad Railway project.

1894, The Armenians within the Ottoman Empire, numbering some 2.5 million, refused to pay greatly increased taxes demanded by Sultan Abdu l Hamid II. From the late 1880s, Russia had been encouraging these Armenians to demand greater autonomy from Turkey. This refusal of the tax demands precipitated a massacre of thousands of Armenians by Turkish soldiers. In turn this sparked off the raid by Armenians on the Ottoman Bank in Istanbul, see 29/8.1896.

6/8/1893. The 3 ½ mile Corinth Canal opened in Greece. Cut up to 300 feet deep, it took ten years to build.

19//6/1886, Pasha Hobart, naval commander for Britain and Turkey, died (born 1/4/1822).

7/1881, The Greek frontier was adjusted northwards at the expense of Turkey, adding some 300,000 people and 34,700 square kilometres to Greece.

12/3/1881, Kemal Attaturk, Turkish President, was born in Salonika, Greece as Mustafa Kemal Pasha.

13/7/1878. At the Congress of Berlin, (Treaty of Berlin) Britain, Russia, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire reached agreement on the future of the Balkan states, superseding the Treaty of San Stefano. Northern Dobruja, formerly part of Bulgaria under Turkish rule, was given to Romania. At the same time, Romania ceded Bessarabia to Russia. Bessarabia was more desirable than Dobruja, and Romania wanted Transylvania, which belonged to Hungary but had a mainly Romanian population. The independence of Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro were recognised by Turkey; Bulgaria was also divided into two parts, one of which, Eastern Rumelia, was to be a self-governing Turkish Province. In 1885 an uprising in Eastern Rumelia resulted in the union of that province with Bulgaria. Russian naval expansion was limited, Austro-Hungary was allowed to occupy Bosnia-Hercegovina, the location of Sarajevo.

22/6/1878, At Shumen the Turks capitulated to the Russians; the town of Shumen was ceded by Turkey to Bulgaria. It was renamed Kolarovgrad in 1950.

4/6/1878. Britain and Turkey signed a secret agreement by which Britain was allowed to occupy Cyprus in return for protecting Turkey against Russian advances in Anatolia.

Russia attacks Turkey; Western Europe alarmed at Russian expansionism

3/3/1878. The Treaty of San Stefano ended the war between Russia and Turkey. Bulgaria, Russia’s ally, was enlarged to include much of Thrace and Macedonia, with ports on the Black Sea and Aegean. Britain objected. The arrival of a British fleet on 15/2/1878 as the Russians stood at the gates of Istanbul persuaded the Russians to make peace. Russia and Britain were now on the brink of war.

15/2/1878. A British fleet arrived at Istanbul in support of the faltering Ottoman Empire. An earlier decision to send a fleet had been reversed in January 1878.

8/2/1878. Britain dispatched a fleet to Constantinople. A Conference concerning the growth of Russian influence in the Balkans and the waning of Turkish power there had broken down without agreement. In the summer of 1877 war broke out between Russia and Turkey. Britain was concerned that if Russia advanced to the Bosphorus, British interests in the Mediterranean would be threatened so she intervened in favour of Turkey.

2/2/1878, Greece declared war on Turkey.

31/1/1878. Following the capture of Plevna (see 15/1/1877), and also Plovdiv and Adrianople, the Russians closed in on Istanbul. The Ottoman Turks opened truce negotiations at Adrianople.

25/1/1878, The first torpedo was fired in warfare; a Russian boat sank a Turkish steamer.

20/1/1878, Russian forces attacking Turkey captured Adrianople, threatening Constantinople and the Straits.

11/9/1877, The Third Battle of Plevna.

30/7/1877, The second Battle of Plevna.

24/4/1877, After the Turkish Parliament had met on 19/3/1877 and rejected Russian demands, Russia declared war on Turkey.

18/11/1877. In the Caucasus, Russia captured the fortress of Kars from Ottoman Turkey.

15/1/1877. Russia and Austria agreed that Austria was to be neutral in any war in the Balkans between Turkey and Russia. The two states rejected the idea of a Slav state in the Balkans. Russia declared war on Turkey on 24/4/1877. Rumania entered the war on the side of Russia in May 1877 and a joint Russian/Rumanian army laid siege to the Bulgarian town of Plevna. The Turks in Plevna surrendered in December 1877. See 31/1/1878.

23/12/1876, Grand Vizier Midhat Pasha, aged 54, proclaimed a new Turkish Constitution, allowing for representative Parliamentary Government, and also stated that the Ottoman Empire was ‘indivisible’.

Serbia, Montenegro, attack Turkey but are defeated

31/10/1876. Under pressure from Russia, Turkey agreed to an armistice with Serbia and Montenegro.

6/9/1876, British public opinion was turned against Turkey by a pamphlet published by Gladstone, “The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East”. Russia prepared to attack Turkey, see 1877.

1/9/1876, Serbian forces were heavily defeated by Ottoman Turkey at Alexinatz.

31/8/1876, Accession of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Sicceeding his brother Abdul Aziz, Abdul Hamid gained prestige at home for defeatingGreece in 1897, and followed a pro-German foreign policy.

9/8/1876. The Turks invaded Serbia and defeated the Serbs at Aleksinac. On 1/9/1876 the Turks again defeated the Serbs at Aleksinatz.

1/7/1876 Montenegro also declared war on Turkey.

30/6/1876. Serbia declared war on Ottoman Turkey.

30/5/1876, Abdul Aziz, 32^nd Sultan of Ottoman Turkey, born 9/2/1830, was forced to abdicate. Succeeding his brother, Abdul Mejid, in 1861, he promised economic and political reform, but instead wasted money on personal luxuries and grand building projects. Insurrections occurred in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1875. He was assassinated on 3/6/1876.

31/1/1876, The ‘Andrassy Note’ (see 30/12/1875) was handed to the Ottoman Sultan in Constantinople. The Sultan promised, but did nothing.

30/12/1875, Russia, Germany, and Austro-Hungary agreed on the terms of a note to Constantinople calling for Ottoman Turkey to deliver on its promises of equality for Christians with Muslims and measures to protect Christians in the Balkans from persecution. This was the so-called ‘Andrassy Note’, see 31/1/1876.

16/9/1875. Following the anti-Turkish uprising in Bosnia and Hercegovina on 29/7/1875, the Bulgarians rebelled against the Turks, led by Khristo Botev, in Stara Zagora.

14/6/1873. King Priam’s treasure of 8,7000 priceless pieces was discovered in Turkey by the German – American Heinrich Schliemann. In disinterring this treasure he destroyed what was left of ancient Troy.

6/9/1871, Death of Pasha Aali Mehmet, Turkish statesman (born 1815). He strongly promoted Western style reforms of his country.

1870, Heinrich Schliemann began excavating the site of ancient Troy.

2/8/1868, Constantine, King of the Hellenes, was born in Athens (died 11/1/1923 of a brain haemorrhage in Palermo).

26/7/1867. King Otto I of Greece died.

18/6/1867, Turkey passed a law allowing, for the first time, foreigners to own land within Turkey, except in Hejaz.

29/10/1864, The Greek Constitution was adopted. It provided for a single-House Assembly elected by universal male suffrage. In 1911 a second Chamber was added.

23/8/1864, Eleutherios Venizelos, Greek politician, was born in Crete.

6/6/1864, King George of Greece entered the Ionian Islands. They had been ceded by Britain to Greece.

2/2/1864, Greece occupied Corfu.

14/11/1863. Britain ceded the Ionian Islands to Greece.

29/10/1863, The new King of Greece, George I, arrived in Athens.

4/6/1863 A protocol between Britain, France, and Russia provided for the incorporation of the Ionian Islands with Greece.

1862, King Otto I, King of Greece, second son of Louis of Bavaria, abdicated. He had been elected King in 1832. However his pro-German policies caused disputes. He spent the latter part of his life in Munich.

25/6/1861, Sultan Abdul Mejid died. Born 23/4/1823, he succeeded his father, Mahmud II, as Ottoman ruler in 1839. The Ottomans had then just been defeated by the Egyptians at the Battle of Nisib under Ibrahim Pasha and they would have advanced to take Constantinople, where they had sympathisers, had Europe not intervened.

9/6/1861, Turkey agreed with the French that Lebanon was to have autonomy, under a Christian Governor to be appointed with the consent of both European Powers and Turkey.

28/2/1857. British and French troops ended their occupation of Piraeus, which began on 26/5/1854.

18/2/1856, Abdul Mejid, the Ottoman Sultan, issued the Hatt-i-Humayun Edict. This guaranteed full civic rights for his Christian subjects, abolished torture and reformed prisons. These reforms were effectively forced upon the Sultan by the western European Allies.

26/5/1854. Franco-British forces occupied the port of Piraeus to prevent Greece from joining the Crimean War with Russia against Turkey. See 28/2/1857.

27/3/1854. Crimean War began; Britain and France declared war on Russia. On 12/3/1854 the British and French formally allied with Turkey. See 30/11/1853. The ostensible cause of the Crimean War was a dispute between Russia, France, and Turkey over control of the Christian Holy Places in Turkish-controlled Palestine. The Turks refused Russia’s demands and Russia marched into the Turkish vassal states of Wallachia and Serbia. This threatened Russian occupation of Istanbul and hence Britain’s communications with its Indian Empire, so Britain entered the war against Russia.

20/3/1854, Russia sent troops southwards across the Danube, threatening Ottoman Turkey. Ultimately this posed the threat of Russia on the Mediterranean, putting communications between Britain and India at risk, and so was unacceptable to the UK.

12/3/1854, Britain and France made an alliance with Ottoman Turkey.

3/1/1854, An Anglo-French squadron entered the Black Sea, and insisted that the Russian fleet withdraw from attacking Turkey.

30/11/1853. The Russians destroyed a Turkish fleet at Sinope. On 3/1/1854 British and French fleets entered the Black Sea to protect Ottoman Turkish coasts and shipping. See 4/10/1853, and 23/3/1854.

4/10/1853. The Russians refused to withdraw from the Danubian Principalities, and Turkey declared war on Russia. On 23/10/1853 the Turks, under Omar Pasha, crossed the Danube into Wallachia. See 30/11/1853.

23/9/1853. The British fleet was ordered to Istanbul.

22/6/1853, A Russian Army attacking Turkey, under Prince Mikhail Gorchakov, invaded Turkey’s Danubian Principalities.

31/5/1853, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia despatched troops to protect Christian minorities in Ottoman-ruled Moldavia and Wallachia.

24/12/1845, George I, King of Greece, was born.

15/9/1843, Military revolt against King Otto’s absolute rule. A constitution was introduced, limiting his powers.

21/9/1842, Abdul-Hamid II, Sultan of Turkey from 31/8/1876, was born (died 10/2/1918).

13/7/1841, The Straits Convention, signed by the five great European powers, guaranteed Ottoman sovereignty and closed the Bosporus and Dardanelles to all foreign warships. This was directed at preventing Russian expansion.

1/6/1841, Mehmet Ali became hereditary Viceroy of Egypt.

13/2/1841, The Ottoman Sultan issued a decree confirming Mehemet Ali as ruler of Egypt, also Nubia and Darfur.

27/11/1840, Under the Convention of Alexandria, drawn up by Napier, Mohammed Ali of Egypt agreed to return the Ottoman fleet and renounce claims over Syria, in return for hereditary rule over Egypt.

3/11/1840, Acre was taken by British forces.

10/10/1840, Beirut fell to British forces. The French decided not to support Mehmet Ali of Egypt.

6/10/1840. France, Britain, and Russia entered the war between Turkey and Egypt on Turkey’s side. They occupied the Syria-Palestine coastland to cut off the Egyptian Pasha from the route to Anatolia. On 4/11/1840 the British fleet bombarded the ports of Beirut and Acre.

9/9/1840, British gunboats bombarded Beirut and landed troops there.

15/7/1840, The Treaty of London. Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia agreed to form a military alliance against Egypt, which was being pressured to give up the Ottoman fleet it held, and abandon claims on northern Syria, Medina, Mecca and Crete.

3/10/1839, Beirut fell to the French, and Ibrahim, surrounded by a hostile population and cut off by sea, retreated hurriedly.

11/8/1839, The French fleet appeared off Beirut, hostile to Ibrahim, and this encouraged a revolt by the Syrians against the tyranny of Ibrahim. See 3/10/1839.

2/7/1839, Mahmud II, Sultan of Turkey, died, aged 54. He had been poisoned, after his fleet surrendered to Egypt at Alexandria. He was succeeded by his 16-year-old son, Adbul Mejid I.

24/6/1839. Ottoman Sultan, Mahmud II, launched another offensive against Mohammed Ali, Pasha of Egypt. However this day at the Battle of Nezib Egyptian forces under Ibrahim Pasha defeated the Ottomans. The battle took place near the present day Turkish-Syrian border.

21/4/1839, A revolt against Mehemet Ali of Egypt began in Hauran, Arabia. The Ottoman Army invaded Syria, only to be heavily defeated by Ibrahim at Nezib.

1/6/1835, Otto I assumed the Kingship of Greece.

8/7/1833. Turkey, by signing the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi, gave Russia the right to close the Dardanelles Straits in times of war. This treaty was signed by the Ottoman Sultan due to the threat faced by the Ottoman Empire from the revolt in Egypt. Europe became very concerned over growing Russian influence over Ottoman Turkey.

27/5/1833, See 1/11/1831, Mehemet Ali of Egypt captured the Ottoman garrison of Acre.

4/5/1833. A peace treaty between Turkey and Egypt gave Egypt the territories of Syria and Cilicia, ending the war between them that began in 1832, see 21/12/1832.

20/2/1833, At Constantinople’s invitation, a Russian squadron entered the Bosphorus. The Russians had promised to protect the Ottoman capital against Mehemet of Egypt and Russia got to be effective gatekeeper of the entrance to the Black Sea. The western European powers had procrastinated about helping Constantinople, whilst Russia had come up with concrete assistance.

23/12/1832, Mehemet Ali of Egypt continued to advance towards Constantinople, defeating the Turks at Konia.

21/12/1832. Russia offered military assistance to Turkey against Egyptian forces who were 50 miles from Istanbul. The Egyptians had invaded Turkish lands after Turkey broke a promise to give Syria to Egypt in return for help during the Greek war of Independence. See 4/5/1833.

1/8/1832, Ibrahim Pasha captured the city of Antioch from Ottoman Turkey during the Syrian War.

21/7/1832, The Greek frontier was fixed, running from the Gulf of Arta to the Gulf of Lamia.

9/7/1832, Mehmet Ali crushed an Ottoman Army at Homs, and on 17/7/1833 defeated the main Ottoman Army at the Pass of Beilan.

15/6/1832, Mehemet Ali captured Damascus.

7/5/1832, Greece was proclaimed an independent kingdom, with Otto I as King. Britain, France and Russia guaranteed protection. Otto ruled as an absolute monarch, surrounded by Bavarian advisors, and his rule was unpopular. See 15/9/1843.

1/11/1831, Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt, began a revolt against Sultam Mahmud, Ottoman ruler in Constantinople. Mehemet had helped to suppress initial rebellions by the Greeks in Morea (southern Greece) but now feared that Constantinople would not reward but dispose of him. On this day Mehemet entered Syria and began a siege of the Ottoman garrison in Acre. See 27/5/1833.

9/10/1831, The first Greek President, Ioannes Kapodistrias, aged 55, was assassinated. His brother Avgoustinous was made provisional President.

3/2/1830. At the London conference, Britain, France, and Russia guaranteed Greek independence as a kingdom, under the Protocol of London.

27/9/1829, Mount Ararat was first climbed.

14/9/1829. The Treaty of Adrianople preserved the Ottoman Empire. Reeling under a series of defeats, the Turks faced occupation of Istanbul by the Russians; they held back from this for fear of destroying the Turkish Empire entirely and starting another European War. The Turks retained nominal sovereignty over Wallachia and Moldavia, but Russia has the real power here. Europeans grew anxious over the growing power of Russia.

11/6/1829. The Russians defeated the Turks at the Battle of Kulecheva, opening up a route to the Balkan Mountains.

16/6/1826, The insurrection of the Janissaries in Istanbul ended.

10/6/1826, The final revolt of the Janissaries in Turkey began. They objected to the formation of a new military corps to replace them, by Mahmud.

23/4/1826, The Turks captured Missolonghi. This town was famous in Europe because the poet Lord Byron had died there in 1824, after a lifetime promoting the cause of an independent Greece. After a prolonged siege that began in 4/1825 the Greeks attempted a break-out, but most were massacred. This incident appalled liberal opinion in western Europe, which led to the intervention at Navarino 20/10/1827.

11/4/1827, The Greek National Assembly elected Capo d’Istria as President.

4/4/1826, The Anglo-Russian protocol was issued. It proposed that Greece be an autonomous State within the Ottoman Empire, paying a tribute to the Porte, with its ruler appointed by the Sultan. In return Ottoman Turkey was to withdraw its troops from Greece. However Sultan Mahmud II believed he was winning against the secessionist Greeks and would render the negotiations moot by soon reconquering Greece. Meanwhile the British negotiator, Foreign Minister George Canning, was in failing health and due to retire; his successor, the Duke of Wellington, was much less concerned about the fate of Greece.

18/7/1823, The Treaty of Erzerum was signed, between the Sultan of Ottoman Turkey and the Qajar Shah of Persia; this Treaty defined their common frontier in lower Iraq. However the two powers continued to dispute possession of the town of Muhammara, at the mouth of the Karun River, a disagreement dating from 1812. In 1847 a second Treaty of Erzerum was signed, giving Muhammara to Persia.

Creation of the modern State of Greece

22/3/1829. At a conference in London, the boundaries of the independent state of Greece were agreed, after nearly 400 years of Ottoman rule.

26/4/1828. In support of the Greek struggle for independence, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire. On 8/6/1828 the Russians crossed the Danube, and took Varna on 12/10/1829.

18/1/1828, Ioannis Kapodistrias was elected the first President of Greece.

20/10/1827. In response to the rebuffed ultimatum of 6/7/1827, British, French, and Russian forces destroyed the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Navarino. Over 50 Turkish and Egyptian ships were sunk. This ensured the creation of an independent Greek State, whose exact boundaries had yet to be established.

8/9/1827, Egyptian troops landed at Navarino (now in southern Greece).

6/7/1827. At the Treaty of London, France, Britain, and Russia threatened to use force against Turkey if the Ottoman Empire did not agree to an armistice with Greece. In August 1827 the Turks refused this. See 20/10/1827.

5/6/1827. Athens was captured by the Ottoman Turks.

19/4/1824, Lord Byron died at sunset of marsh fever (malaria) at Missolonghi, helping the Greeks during their struggle for independence from Ottoman Turkey; he was 36. See 22/3/1829.

23/4/1823, Sultan Adbul Mejid was born, see 25/6/1861.

25/3/1823, Britain recognised the Greek insurgents as a belligerent party. This was despite fears that the Greek rebellion would spark another Turkish-Russian war.

19/6/1822. The Greeks under Constantine Kanaris destroyed an Ottoman Turkish fleet. A large Ottoman army invaded Greece in July 1822. In January 1823 the Ottomans failed to capture the key fort of Missolonghi at the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth and were forced to withdraw.

13/1/1822. Greek rebels proclaimed independence from the Ottoman Turks at Epirus.

19/6/1821, At the Battle of Dragashani, a Greek uprising against Turkish rule was defeated.

2/4/1821, The Greeks under Turkish rule began a revolt under Archbishop Germanos of Patras. The Greek population rose en masse, captured the capital of the Morea Peninsula, Tripolitza, and the revolt then spread north, and to the Greek Islands. These islands were the main recruiting ground of the Ottoman Navy, so Turkish sea power was weakened.

5/11/1815, By The Treaty of Paris Britain gained the Ionian Islands, including Corfu.

1/6/1815, Otto I, King of Greece, was born.

11/2/1776, Giovanni Capo d’Istria, President of the Greek Republic, was born (died 9/10/1831).

End of period of conflict between Ottoman Turkey and the central European powers, also Russia. Turkey was losing power to Russia

5/4/1826, Russia demanded the cessation of Ottoman military operations on the Danube.

12/5/1812, A peace treaty was signed between Russia and Turkey.

5/6/1809, A peace treaty was signed in Chanak between England and Turkey.

1808, Ottoman Grand Vizier Mustafa Bairakdar, aged 33, marched on Constantinople to restore Sultan Selim III. The Janissaries then strangled Selim; Baraikdar had the new Sultan Mustapha IV deposed and assassinated. Baraikdar then installed Selim’s 23-year-old nephew as Sultan, and Baraikdar himself then committed suicide, to avoid being captured by the Janissaries. The new Sultan began a 31-year reign as Mahmud II.

28/5/1807, Ottoman Sultan Selim III was deposed by the Janissaries. He was succeeded by the 28-year-old son of Sultan Abdul Hamid, who ruled as Mustapha IV.

6/1/1784, Under the Treaty of Constantinople, Ottoman Turkey ceded the Crimea to Russia.

9/1/1792, Russia and Turkey signed the Peace of Jassy.

8/1/1792. The Ottoman Turks bowed to the inevitable and accepted Catherine the Great’s Russian sovereignty over Georgia. Britain feared further Russian expansion in the Black Sea as this could threaten British Mediterranean interests.

7/4/1791, Selim III (1761-1808) became Sultan of Ottoman Turkey.

7/4/1789, Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid (born 1725) died aged 64. He had succeeded his brother Mustafa III in 1773.

16/7/1774. The Russians and Turks signed the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainardji, ending their six-year war. Moldavia and Wallachia were returned to Turkey and the Crimea became independent. Russia gained control of much of the northern Black Sea coast. The Sultan was allowed to remain spiritual leader of the Crimean Moslems; however Russia gained the right to build and protect an Orthodox church in Istanbul. Russian merchants were to have unrestricted access to the Black Sea and Mediterranean across Ottoman territories. This gave Russia a pretext to intervene in Turkish internal affairs.

28/5/1740, Mahmud I, ruler of Turkey, agreed to respect Christian rights in the Holy Land.

20/9/1730, Mahmud I succeeded Ahmed III as Ottoman Sultan.

17/9/1730, The Ottoman Grand Vizier was strangled in a revolt by the Janissaries. Sultan Ahmed III (1673-1730) was forced to abdicate, having suffered serious defeats by the Austrians.

21/7/1718, The Peace of Passarowitz ended the conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. The position of the two Empires was stabilised in the Balkans until well into the nineteenth century.

5/8/1716, The Ottoman Turks were defeated by Eugene of Savoy at Peterwardein.

21/7/1711, Peter the Great of Russia had to sign the Treaty of Pruth after his defeat , alongside his Wallachian and Moldavian allies, by the Ottoman Turks. Turkey recovered the Fortress of Azov, and King Charles XII of Sweden was permitted safe return to Stockholm.

23/8/1703, Ottoman Sultan Mustafa III was deposed.

13/6/1700, Peter the Great concluded a peace with Turkey.

26/1/1699, Prince Eugene, having invaded Serbia and Bosnia, forced the Turks to conclude the Peace of Carlowitz. This restored the entire Kingdom of Hungary, with the exception of the Banat of Temesvar, to Austria from Turkey. This was the start of the rise to power of the Hapsburg Dynasty.

16/11/1698, A congress began in Sremski Karlovici to discuss an end to the war between The Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire.

11/9/1697, At the Battle of Zenta, Prince Eugene of Savoy, leading an Austrian army, defeated the Ottomans under Mustafa II, see 26/1/1699.

22/8/1696, Forces of Venice and Turkey fought near Molino.

28/7/1696, Russian forces under Peter the Great captured the fortress commanding the Sea of Azov from its Ottoman defenders.

1691, Ottoman Sultan Suleiman III died aged 50 as his army was defeated in Morea (Greece, Peleponese). He was succeeded by his 49-year-old brother who ruled until 1695 as Ahmed II.

19/8/1691, Louis of Baden won a major victory overt the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Szelankemen. Louis had continued the war against the Ottomans after his ally Austria had been diverted inti fighting France as part of the League of Augsburg. Grand Vizier Zade Mustafa Kuprili, aged 54, died in the battle, which led to the expulsion of the Ottomans from Hungary.

8/10/1690. Belgrade was retaken by the Ottoman Turks.

26/9/1687. The Parthenon and the Propylea were destroyed when the Venetians bombarded Athens. The Venetian army was besieging the Turks when a mortar bomb fired by the Venetians set off Turkish gunpowder stored in the Acropolis.

High point of Ottoman advance into Europe; halted at Vienna

6/2/1695, Ottoman Sultan Ahmed II died (born 1642, acceded 1691, succeeding his brother Suleiman II). He was defeated by the Austrians at Slankamen (20/8/1691), which denied possession of Hungary to the Ottomans, This battle established the Danube as the boundary between Austria and Ottoman Turkey.

1687, Ottoman Sultan Mohammed IV, aged 46, was deposed after a reign of nominally 43 years. He was succeded by his 45-year-old brother who reigned until 1691 as Suleiman III. He introduced liberalising reforms.

12/8/1687, At the Second Battle of Mohacs (Hungary), Charles of Lorraine defeated the Ottoman Turks.

11/9/1683. The conquering armies of Islam under Vizier Kara Mustafa were defeated at the gates of Vienna. The Turks had been besieging Vienna since July 1683. Relief came under Poland’s King John III and Charles, Duke of Normandy. The Ottoman Sultan ordered Mustafa to commit suicide.

7/9/1683, German reinforcements arrived outside the besieged city of Vienna.

31/7/1683, Invading Turkish forces reached the gates of Vienna. If Vienna fell, Germany would be open to a Turkish invasion.

1/8/1664. The Ottoman Turkish advance into Austria was halted by Hapsburg (Austrian) defences at the Battle of St Gotthard.

16/10/1676, The Treaty of Zuravno ended the 4 year war between Poland and the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman Turkey acquired Podolia and much of the Polish Ukraine, thereby bringing Ottoman territory up to the border with Russia.

27/9/1669. Candia, the capital of Crete, was captured by the Ottoman Turks from the Venetians after a 21 year siege. Spain, Britain, France, the Pope, Tuscany, and Malta, had all supplied troops to the Venetians but to no avail. Towards the end the Ottoman Turks intensified the blockade and disagreements broke out between the allies leading to the withdrawal of some of the Europeans.

13/5/1654. The Battle of the Dardanelles took place. The Venetian navy defeated Turkish forces.

8/8/1648, In Constantinople, the Janissaries deposed Sultan Ibrahim after he ordered the lifting of the siege of Candia (Heraklion), Crete. On 18/8/1648 Ibrahim was strangled by his own executioner and replaced by his eldest son, 9-year old Mohammed IV.

1640, Ottoman Sultan Murad IV died aged 31 after a 17-year reign during which he had re-established order by a reign of terror. He was succeeded by his brother Ibrahim I, aged 25, who began an 8-year reign, dominated by his mother Kusseem Sultana, and hos story-teller, Sheker-Pare.

20/5/1622, Ottoman Sultan Osman II was murdered. He had alienated the powerful Janissaries by attempting to eliminate them; instead, he was imprisoned in his own palace by them, before being strangled this day.

Sultan Ahmed I

1617, Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I died (born 1590, acceded 1603). He fought a long and losing war against Persia, 1602-12.

1616, The Blue Mosque, Constantinople, was completed.

11/11/1606, The Treaty of Zsitvatorok ended the Long War between the Hapsburgs and the Ottoman Empire.

1603, Sultan Mohammed III died aged 37. He was succeeded by his 14-year-old son who ruled until 1617 as Ahmed I.

1595, The last killings under the Law of Fratricide, see 1481. Sultan Mohammed III ordered the execution of his 19 brothers. The succession now automatically went to the eldest male member of the ruling House. The system of sending Ottoman princes to the provinces to learn how to rule now ended. Instead they spent their lives in the kafe (cage), a group of buildings in the royal palace, from which they emerged only to rule or when dead. They lived lives of ;uxurious imprisonment, surrounded by concubines. This resulted in a significant decline in the quality of the Sultans, who often came to rule feeble on body or mind.

26/10/1595, Hungary defeated Ottoman Turkey at Giurgiu, Wallachia (modern-day Romania).

21/5/1590, The Ottoman-Safavid Peace Treaty extended the borders of the Ottoman Empire to the Caucasus and the Caspian.

12/12/1574, Selim II, Sultan of Turkey, died, aged 50. He was succeeded by his eldest son, 27-year old Murad III, who had his brothers strangled in his presence.

7/3/1573. Venice concluded a peace with the Turks by which Venice recognised Turkey’s sovereignty over Cyprus.

7/10/1571. The Ottoman Turkish fleet under Ali Pasha was defeated by the navies of Spain, Venice, and the Pope at the Battle of Lepanto, in the Gulf of Corinth. Christendom was concerned at the fall of Cyprus to Turkey, under Selim II, Suleiman the Great’s successor. This was the last battle fought between galleys. The Turks used ramming tactics, but allied ships used firepower to defeat the Turks. Although Ottoman Turkey retained control of Cyprus, its western expansion in the Mediterranean was halted. The Ottomans lost 230 galleys to the Christians 17.

6/9/1566. Suleiman the Magnificent, leader of the Ottoman Empire for 46 years, died. He had brought the Ottoman Empire to the peak of its power, ruling an area from Hungary to Mesopotamia, and promoting justice and culture. His eldest surviving son, the incompetent drunkard Selim, succeeded him. All other potential rivals had been eliminated by intrigue and murder.

8/9/1565, The Great Siege of Malta was raised.

18/5/1565. The Ottoman Turks arrived at Malta to try and capture it, see 21/12/1522. However the island held out until relieved by a Christian fleet from Sicily arrived in September 1565. Casualties had been heavy for both the Turks and the Maltese; however the Turks had been riven by disputes between their naval and army commanders. The Turks returned to Istanbul, their hopes of dominating the western Mediterranean dashed.

4/7/1546, Death of Ottoman Admiral Khair el Din, better known as Barbarossa (born ca. 1478).

28/9/1538, At the Battle of Preveza, the Turkish fleet under Suleiman the Magnificent, commanded by Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, defeated the Holy League forces of Charles V, commanded by Andrea Doria.

24/2/1538, The Treaty of Nagyvarad; peace was declared between King Ferdinand and the Turks. John Zapolya was recognised as King of Hungary, whilst Ferdinand retained northern and western Hungary and was recognised as heir to the Hungarian throne.

31/12/1534. The Ottoman army captured Baghdad. By 1546 they controlled Yemen, gateway to the Red Sea.

13/7/1534. Ottoman armies captured Tabriz in north western Persia.

25/6/1532, Suleiman I attempted another invasion of Hungary, but failed.

15/10/1529. The Ottoman Turks withdrew from their siege of Vienna, as winter approached.

23/9/1529, Turkish forces began a siege of Vienna.

8/9/1529, Invading Turkish forces captured the city of Buda.

27/5/1529, Ad-Din Barbarossa completed his conquest of Algeria, bringing the Ottoman Empire to its peak.

10/5/1529, The Turkish Army under Suleiman I left Constantinople to invade Hungary.

29/8/1526, The Battle of Mohacs. The Turkish army under Suleiman I defeated the Hungarians under King Loius II, who was killed whilst retreating. Suleiman took Buda, whilst Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and John Zapolya, Prince of Transylvania, disputed over the succession. As a result of this dispute, Dubrovnik achieved independence, although it recognised Turkish overlordship. The Hapsburgs now ruled Bohemia and Hungary.

21/12/1522. Rhodes, formerly the base of the Knights of St John, was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, led by Suleiman, after a six-month siege. The Knights of St John, driven out of Rhodes, were given permission by Emperor Charles V in 1530 to settle in Malta. See 18/5/1565.

18/12/1522, The Turks finally broke into Rhodes, but the Knights continued fierce resistance in the streets.

28/7/1522, Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I began a siege of the Knights of St. John in Rhodes.

21/9/1520, Ottoman Sultan Selim died, aged 53. He was succeeded by his 24-year old son, Suleiman I (The Magnificent).

1518, Ottoman Turkey took Algiers.

1517, Ottoman Turkey captured the city of Acre.

20/1/1517, The Ottomans conquered Cairo, Egypt.

1516, The Ottoman Turks captured Damascus.

5/7/1515. The Ottoman Turks, led by Sultan Selim, invaded Egypt. The Mameluke dynasty was destroyed.

23/8/1514, At the Battle of Chaldiran, Selim I , ruler of the Shia Muslim Ottoman Empire, defeated the Sunni Muslim Persians under Shah Ismail I. Drawing on lessons learnt from fighting European armies, the Ottoman Army was well disciplined and equipped with heavy cannon and musket-armed infantry. In contrast the smaller Persian Army relied on the cavalry charge and possessed no artillery. The Safavid capital at Tabriz was taken by the Ottoman Turks, forcing the Persians to move their capital further east. This battle was instrumental in fixing the present day frontier between Turkey and Iran.

1512, Death of Bayezid I (1448-1512), Ottoman Sultan 1481-1512. He succeeded his father, Mehmed II. he fought wars against Hungary, Poland, Venice, Egypt and Persia, establishing further the power of the Ottoman Empire.

25/8/1499, The Venetian fleet was defeated at the Battle of Zonchia by the Ottomans. This was the first time cannon had been used in a naval battle. The Venetian-Ottoman War, 1499-1503, started. Venetian sea-power in the Mediterranean was an obstacle to Ottoman expansion. Ottoman Turkey gained the upper hand, and by 1503 Ottoman cavalry raids were reaching into Venetian territory. Venice was forced to recognise Turkish gains.

17/7/1490, Lightning struck an old Greek church in Constantinople in which the Ottoman Turks were storing gunpowder; the ensuing explosion killed 5,000.

3/5/1481, Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, died and was succeeded by his 34-year old son Bayezid II.Mehmet II promulgated the Law of Fratricide – that whichever son inherited the Sultanate should assassinate all his brothers, to preserve order. This law lasted for over 100 years, see 1595.

13/10/1479, The Battle of Kenyermezo. The Hungarian army under Pal Kinizsi and Istvan Bathori defeated the Ottoman army in Transylvania, Hungary.

24/1/1479, The Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire signed a peace treaty. Venice ceded Argo, Negroponte, Lemnos, and Scutari, and agreed to pay an annual tribute of 10,000 golden ducats.

11/8/1473, Ottoman Turkey defeated the Turkomans at the Battle of Otlukbeli. The ‘White Sheep Turkomans’, under Uzun Hasan, had comprised the most significant threat to the ottomans since the Mongols under Timur in the early 1400s. However at Otlukbeli the overwhelming firepower of the ottoman Army comprehensively defeated the Turkomans.

1468, The Ottomans took Karaman in south-central Turkey.

1467,Ottoman Turkey conquered Albania.

15/8/1461, The Ottomans took Trebizond.

1456, The Ottoman Turks conquered Athens.

29/5/1453. THE TURKS CONQUERED CONSTANTINOPLE, following a siege of over a year.

12/5/1453, The Ottoman Sultan ordered the walls of Constantinople be bombarded with huge cannon balls fired from an 8 metre long, 1.05 metre calibre, cannon.

6/4/1453, The Turkish attack on Constantinople began. 80,000 Turkish troops were faced by just 7,000 in Constatinople, and the city’s walls had been under-maintained for years due to lack of funds.

17/10/1448, Battle of Kosovo: Hungarian forces under John Hunyadi were defeated by the Turks.

10/11/1444, Christian forces were heavily defeated at Varna by Ottoman Turks.

27/10/1439. Death of King Albert II of Hungary at Langendorf. He reigned less than two years and spent this in the defence of Hungary against the Turks.

6/7/1439, Emperor John III of Constantinople (by then he ruled very little outside Constantinople, Salonika and Morea, and was known in western Europe as ‘Emperor of the Greeks’, not as he was officially, Roman Emperor) travelled to an Ecumenical Council in Florence and accepted papal primacy and union with Rome. The Decree of Union (Laetentur Caeli) formally uniting the Latin and Greek churches was issued. This was a last-ditch attempt to save his dominions from the Ottoman Turkish advance. However the Greek clergy rejected this union; there were too many fundamental differences of doctrine between the two Churches. Those who had formally accepted the union recanted upon return home. They preferred, in the words of a Byzantine dignitary, ‘the power [in Constantinople] of the Turkish turban rather than the Latin tiara.

1430, The Ottoman Turks took Thessalonica, holding it for nearly 500 years.

1421, Ottoman Sultan Mohammed I died aged 34 after an 8-year reign. He was succeeded by hius 8-year-old son who ruled until 1451 as Murad II.

1416, At the naval Battle of Gallipoli, Venice defeated the Ottoman fleet.

1403, Death of Bayazid I (ca. 1360-1403), Sultan of Turkey 1389-1402. He succeeded his father, Murad I, who died at the Battle of Kosovo. Within three years of his accession he had conquered Bulgaria, parts of Serbia, Macedonia and Thessaly, and most of Asia Minor.

21/7/1402, The Ottoman Turks were decisively defeated by Timur at the Battle of Ankara. The Ottomans lost control of Anatolia. However they had expanded territorially into Europe, and were able to recover Anatolia after Timur departed.

17/7/1394, Turkish troops took Trnovo, a town in Bulgaria 124 miles ENE of Sofia.

15/6/1389. Serbia was crushed by the Ottoman Turks. At a battle in Kosovo, at the ‘field of the blackbirds’, the entire Serbian nobility was wiped out. The Ottomans had already invaded Bulgaria.

1362, Edirne (Adrianople) was captured by the Ottoman Turks from Byzantium.

Sultan Orkhan

1359, Ottoman Sultan Orkhan died aged 70 and was succeeded by Murad I, aged 40. Murad continued the Ottoman expansion in the Balkans

1353, Ottoman Turkey seized Gallipoli, on the European side of the Dardanelles.

1326, The first Ottoman Emperor, Osman I, died aged 67 after a 36-year reign. He was succeeded by his 47-year-old son who ruled as Orkhan until 1359. Orkhan extended Ottoman rule from Angora, central Turkey, out into Thrace in Europe.

6/4/1326. Orhan, son of Osman, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, captured Bursa from the Byzantines and made it his capital. By 1341 Orkhan had reinforced his influence in the Byzantine Empire by marrying twice into it; first to Theodora, daughter of Byzantium’s new joint Emperor John Cantacuzene, whom he had lent 6,000 troops for his coup. Secondly, Orkhan’s new sister in law, Helen, married the other joint Emperor and coup victim, John Paleologus.