Arriving at Mytilini’s northern waterfront, Epano (or Apano) Skala, you should cross the road and see a statue opposite where we just came from. The Statue is called “Asia Minor Mother” or “Mikrasiatisa Mana”. It represents a typical refugee family who were forced to move to Greece, particularly the Aegean Islands, as a result of the “Asia Minor Catastrophe” (The European Heritage Project, 2010).
Asia Minor Mother Statue, Mytilini
The Asia Minor Catastrophe refers to the Greek-Turkish war of 1919-1922. The war was fought over the Greek invasion of the cities of Smyrna (modern Izmir) and Adrianoupolis (Edrine) for territorial gain on what is now the Turkish mainland (ibid.). The invasion was supported by the Allied powers, notably Great Britain. However, the Greeks were defeated by Turkish counter attacks, and as a result lost a lot of the territory gained during the First World War.In 1923 the Greeks were forced to engage in population exchange with Turkey (Barrett, 2016a), and many ethnically Greek communities were forced to move out of Asia Minor and re-settle in Greece. Many of these families had been imprisoned, mistreated or even subjected to genocidal events before their forced expulsion to the nearest Greek settlements including here in Mytilini, Lesvos (The European Heritage Project, 2010).
Apano Skala, neighbourhood settled in by Greek Refugees
Our Asia Minor Mother and Children here typify the common, penniless, refugee family who would reach the shores of Lesvos with a sense of a new beginning in a new country. Unfortunately, many of these families had to live in squalor on the island, or move on, since the mass immigration in the 1920s worsened the already poor conditions of Lesvos – a hangover from previous wars- with the island already lacking the necessary housing (ibid.). Those immigrants that stayed in Mytilini settled in the area of Apano Skala in 1922 the coastal area to the West of the statue (Barrett, 2016b).
Overall, this event dramatically changed society, with a huge increase in population numbers not just in Lesvos but across the whole of Greece. By 1928, a Greek census was published by the Educational Institute of Greece, showing that 4.6% of the Northern Aegean Island’s population was refugee, with around 56,613 migrants settling there (Revolvy, 2015). It also is a major reason why there is still much political tension between Greece and Turkey.
Greek Refugees Fleeing from Smyrna 1922 (Source: greece.org, 2003)
Refugees fleeing from Syria, landing in Mytilini, 2015 (Source: NEOnline, 2016)
This large-scale humanitarian crisis has many similarities with today’s European refugee crisis facing the island. The history of immigration in Lesvos is one of the reasons why the local response to the current crisis, on the whole, has been so peaceful, organised and welcoming. Some of the local population remember what being a refugee was like (click here for more). In fact in the summer of 2015, the Asia Minor Mother’s square and beach was occupied by the refugees coming in off the Aegean – a rather poignant happenstance.
Nowadays here on the northern waterfront there are accessible beaches, a couple of children’s playgrounds and a few restaurants that serve very nice fish and seafood.
References
Barret, M. (2016a) Venizelos and the Asia Minor catastrophe. Available at: http://www.ahistoryofgreece.com/venizelos.htm (Accessed: 4 April 2016).
Barret, M. (2016b) Mytilini, Lesvos. Available at: http://www.lesvos.com/mytilini.html (Accessed: 5 April 2016).
greece.org (2003) The Hellenic Genocide. Available at: http://www.greece.org/genocide/quotes/p-he-smyrna-vict-refugees.html (Accessed: 4 April 2016).
NEOnline (2016) ‘Balkans border closures increase the burden on Greece – new Europe’, Greece, 25 February. Available at: https://neurope.eu/article/balkans-border-closures-increase-the-burden-on-greece/ (Accessed: 4 April 2016).
The European Heritage Project (2010) History of Lesvos. Available at: http://www.european-heritage.org/greece/lesvos/history-lesvos (Accessed: 4 April 2016).
Revolvy (2015) Greek refugees. Available at: http://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Greek%20refugees (Accessed: 4 April 2016).
All Photos Taken by Site Owner, Unless Otherwise Stated in a Caption Under ‘Source’
The Three Women of Mytilini 