Events of September 6-7, 1955: Shameful chapter and today’s reality in Türkiye

The events of September 6-7, 1955, were provocative attacks targeting Greeks in Türkiye and public outrage over the treatment of Turks in Cyprus.

In 1955, Hurriyet, Türkiye’s best-selling newspaper at the time, claimed that the Greek minority in Istanbul was raising funds to support the ENOSIS group in Cyprus. Amidst ongoing diplomatic negotiations in London, news of a bomb explosion at Atatürk’s house in Thessaloniki was broadcast on September 6, 1955, at 1:00 p.m., triggering a wave of anger among the Turkish public.

The first attack began around 7:00 p.m. at the Haylayf Patisserie in Sisli, and the growing crowd moved through Istanbul, targeting businesses owned by Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and even some Turks by mistake. The police response was notably passive. Over 5,000 properties were damaged, millions of dollars’ worth of goods were looted, and at least 11 people were killed during the attacks.

Describing the events of Sept. 6-7, Lefter Kucukantonyadis, the legendary Turkish national team footballer of Fenerbahce of Greek origin, said the following:

What has changed today?

Decades have passed since these events, but similar social tensions still occasionally resurface in Türkiye. In recent years, the country has been home to a large number of immigrants. As economic difficulties deepen, immigrants increasingly become targets.

The targeting of migrants is largely driven by a network of social media trolls close to the far-right Victory Party. Every individual crime involving migrants is socially portrayed as the fault of all migrants. However, individual incidents are attributed to certain identity groups as if there are no crimes in Türkiye.

In 2021, an incident in Ankara’s Altindag district, and another in Kayseri in 2024, revealed a continuing culture of mob violence reminiscent of September 6-7. These reactions are often further incited by far-right and populist groups.

These incidents raise the question of whether any lessons have been learned from the events of September 6-7. The persistence of mob violence and targeting suggests that the lessons of the past may not have been fully absorbed.