Greek Prime Minister Venizelos and Turkish Republic’s Founding President Atatürk exchanging greetings. Venizelos and Atatürk were enemies on the battlefield, but Venizelos would later on nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

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by Suitable-Quiet5683

9 comments

  1. Here is Venizelos’ writing which accompanied the nomination :

    (Translation from French into English by Stella Colston) 

    *Athens, January 12, 1934*

    *Mister President,*

    *For almost seven centuries the whole of the Near East and a large part of Central Europe was a theatre for bloody wars. The main cause of this was the Ottoman Empire and the absolutist regime of the Sultans.*

    *The subjugation of Christian peoples, the religious wars of the Cross against the Crescent which inevitably followed, and the successive resurgences of all the peoples who aspired to their liberation, created a situation which remained a permanent source of danger as long as the Ottoman Empire retained the imprint of the Sultans.*

    *The foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1922, when the national movement of Moustafa Kemal Pasha triumphed over its adversaries, put a definitive end to that state of instability and intolerance.*

    *Indeed, very rarely has such a radical change been achieved in so short a time in the life of a nation.*

    *An empire in decline, living under a theocratic regime where the notions of law and religion intermingled, was turned into a modern nation state, full of vigour and life.*

    *Through the impetus given by the great reformer Moustafa Kemal Pasha, the absolutist regime of the Sultans was abolished, and the state became truly secular. The whole nation embraced progress, rightly ambitious to be present at the forefront of civilized peoples.*

    *But the consolidation of peace went hand in hand with all the internal reforms which gave the new, predominantlyethnic Turkish state the image it has nowadays. Indeed, Turkey did not hesitate to accept legally the loss of provinces inhabited by other nationalities and, satisfied with the ethnic and political borders defined by the treaties, she became a true pillar for peace in the Near East.*

    *We, the Greeks, who had been driven for centuries of bloody battles into continuous confrontation with Turkey, were the first to feel the effects of the deep change which occurred in that country, the successor of the old Ottoman Empire.*

    *Having discerned, very soon after the catastrophe in Asia Minor, the opportunity of an understanding with reborn Turkey – which came out of the war as a national state-we offered her our hand which she took with sincerity.*

    *This rapprochement, which shows that even peoples divided by the most serious differences can come closer to each otherwhen they become filled with the sincere desire for peace, was beneficial both for the two countries involved and for keeping the peace in the Near East.*

    *The man to whom this invaluable contribution to the cause of peace is due is, of course, the President of the Turkish Republic, Moustafa Kemal Pasha.*

    *Thus, I have the honour, as the leader of the Hellenic Government in 1930, when the signature of the Greek-Turkishpact marked a new era in the march of the Near East towards peace, to propose Moustafa Kemal Pasha as a candidate for the distinguished honour of the Nobel Peace Prize.*

    *Yours sincerely,*

    *E. K. Venizelos* 

  3. such a leader such a great figure not very easy to get this much respect for the actual enemy at war

  5. I‘ve met many German Turks who told me the first question they’d ask upon meeting other Turks outside of Turkey would be **Atatürk or Erdogan** to check for political and social compatibility.
    From my western pov, the Atatürk Turks are my favourite kind of people.

  6. Controversy aside, the guy on the left doesn’t look like venizelos

  8. There are a lot of things about (and policies by) Atatürk that I admire. Looking at Turkey (gov obv) now… just makes me want to go back to bed and maybe cry a bit.

  9. They became friends after a devastating war against each other because their master the British Empire wanted that.

    The capitalist British and USA wanted a strong border against the communist Soviet Union.

    In some Turkish newspapers from that time you even will find texts about the idea to make Greece and Turkey to one country.

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