History and today
Our history and the community today
The Rum (Greek Orthodox) communities of Istanbul, Imbros and Tenedos are among the oldest in the region. The Treaty of Lausanne (1923) exempted them from the population exchange, so they stayed. Over the 20th century their numbers fell from more than 100,000 to a few thousand. Today they keep churches, schools, hospitals and cemeteries alive through their community foundations, and on Imbros the community is growing again as families return.
- 130.000+
- Rum stayed in Istanbul, Imbros and Tenedos in 1923Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- 68–69
- Rum community foundationsHürriyet Daily News, 2013
- 2.000–3.500
- Rum live in Turkey today (estimates)Minority Rights Group, 2018
- 53
- pupils in the three Greek schools of Imbros (2020)Wikipedia: Imbros
From Lausanne to today
The turning points that shaped our communities. Every entry links to its source.
- Istanbul
- Imbros
- Tenedos
- İzmir
- 1844
The Halki Theological School is foundedİstanbul
The Ecumenical Patriarchate's theological school opens on Halki (Heybeliada) and trains generations of clergy for more than a century.
Source: Greek MFA: The Halki Seminary - 1923
Treaty of Lausanne
The Rum of Istanbul, Imbros and Tenedos are exempted from the population exchange, and more than 130,000 stay. Article 14 promises Imbros and Tenedos special local administration, which was never put into practice.
Source: Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs - 1936
The 1936 Declaration
Minority foundations must declare their property. Anything acquired later was disputed for decades, until the 2011 decree opened the way for returns.
Source: Hürriyet Daily News via Archons, 2011 - 1942
The Wealth Tax (Varlık Vergisi)İstanbul
The emergency tax falls disproportionately on non-Muslims. About 2,500 people who could not pay are sent to labour camps at Aşkale.
Source: Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs - 1955
The September events (Septemvriana)İstanbul
On 6–7 September mobs ransack Rum homes, shops, churches, schools and cemeteries. The Greek Foreign Ministry counts 73 churches and 23 schools damaged; about 9,000 Rum had left by 1960.
Source: Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs - 1964
The 1964 expulsionsİstanbul
Turkey denounces the 1930 Convention of Establishment. More than 12,000 Greek nationals are expelled within two years, with 20 kg of luggage and 220 lira each; thousands of relatives with Turkish citizenship leave with them. The community falls from about 80,000 to 30,000.
Source: Wikipedia: Expulsion of Greeks from Istanbul - 1964
Imbros: the schools closeImbros
The island's 8 Greek schools, with 698 pupils, are closed. Almost all farmland is expropriated and an open prison operates on the island until 1992. Imbriots leave in large numbers.
Source: Hürriyet Daily News, 2013 - 1971
Halki Seminary is closedİstanbul
A law bringing private higher education under the state closes the Halki Theological School.
Source: Greek MFA: The Halki Seminary - 2011
Property returns and the founding of SYRKI
On 5 January SYRKI is founded to support and coordinate the community foundations. In August a decree provides for the return of minority foundations' property, or compensation at market value.
Source: ekklisiaonline, 2021 - 2015
Imbros opens a school againImbros
On 28 September, 51 years later, the Imbros middle and high school opens in Tepeköy (Agridia) with 11 pupils, following the primary school reopened in 2013. Families are moving back to the island.
Source: bianet, 28 Sep 2015 - 2022
Foundation elections resume
After nine years without election rules, a new regulation is published on 18 June and the community foundations can elect their boards again.
Source: bianet, June 2022 - 2026
Halki prepares to reopenİstanbul
In May Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew announces that the Halki Theological School will reopen in September, after 55 years.
Source: bianet, 12 May 2026
The community today
Where things stand now, place by place.
Istanbul
About 2,000 Rum live in Istanbul today. The Great School of the Nation, Zappeion, Zografeion and the other community schools teach about 50 pupils each, and the "Elpis" programme brings young graduates to live in the city every year.
Source: Orthodoxia News Agency, Oct 2022Imbros (Gökçeada)
Of 6,762 inhabitants in 1927, only a few hundred elderly people remained. Since 2013 about 600 people have returned, and children attend the island's three schools again.
Source: AFP via NewGreekTVTenedos (Bozcaada)
In 1927, 2,500 Rum lived on the island. Today about 15 remain, mostly elderly, keeping the church and the community open.
Source: Wikipedia: Tenedosİzmir (Smyrna)
The church of Agia Fotini serves Greeks, local Rum and other Orthodox Christians, and since 2016 Smyrna has a Metropolitan again.
Source: Greek Consulate General in SmyrnaThe community foundations
Some 68–69 Rum community foundations run churches, schools, hospitals, orphanages and cemeteries. SYRKI supports them with advice, coordination and joint projects.
Source: Hürriyet Daily News, 2013Figures for the September events, the 1964 expulsions and today's population differ between sources; we give the estimates of the sources cited. Corrections and additions are welcome.