1934 Thrace pogroms

Background

The 1934 Thrace pogroms were a series of violent attacks against Jewish citizens of Turkey that took place in June and July 1934 in the Thrace region. One of the crucial factors behind the events was the Resettlement Law passed by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 14 June 1934. Some researchers have argued the acts were encouraged by articles written by Pan-Turkist ideologists such as Cevat Rıfat Atilhan and Faik Kurdoğlu in the magazine Millî İnkılâp (National Revolution). One researcher accepted Atilhan's role but concluded that Nihal Atsız, who wrote for the magazine Orhun, did not participate, since Orhun published only two articles about Jews and both appeared after Atsız had relocated to Istanbul. The Resettlement Law was intended to enable demographic engineering favoring a Turkish-speaking majority, and it coincided with the "Citizens speak Turkish!" campaign, which sought to compel the use of Turkish and was supported by the Turkish Halkevleri (People's Houses). On 5 July, after becoming aware of the potential repercussions, the chairman of the Halkevleri in Izmir denied the campaign was directed at Jews, claiming it targeted foreign languages generally, including Greek, Spanish, and Albanian.

The Pogrom

Incidents preceding the pogrom began in Çanakkale in the second half of June 1934. The pogroms subsequently occurred in Tekirdağ, Edirne, Kırklareli, and Çanakkale, and were motivated by antisemitism. The government of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk acted against rioters and officials who failed to prevent the violence. After foreign press outlets reported on the pogroms, Prime Minister İsmet İnönü acknowledged their existence, condemned them, and attributed them to antisemitism.

Foreign diplomats based in Turkey at the time, in the context of the 1934 Turkish Resettlement Law, believed the Turkish government implicitly supported the Thrace pogrom as a means of facilitating the relocation of Turkey's Jewish population. According to historian Corry Guttstadt, as reported by Haaretz, Turkish authorities "had apparently opted for the strategy of putting the Jews under such pressure with boycott activities and anonymous threats 'from the population' that they would leave the area 'voluntarily.'" Other historians disagree with this characterization; while the Resettlement Law may have provoked the outbreak of violence, national authorities did not side with the attackers and intervened to restore order. Following the restoration of order, governors and mayors of the involved provinces were removed from office. Historian Rifat Bali has noted that incitement of violence against Jews was common in the press of the period and contributed to the violence.

Aftermath

Up to 15,000 Jewish citizens of Turkey fled the Thrace region as a result of the pogroms and settled in Istanbul.