Liberation of İzmir | |||||||||
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Part of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22) | |||||||||
Painting of the Turkish Army's entry into İzmir (located at Anıtkabir) | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Ankara Government | Greece | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Mustafa Kemal Pasha Fahrettin Pasha Mürsel Pasha Colonel Ahmet Zeki Colonel Mehmet Suphi[1] | Aristeidis Stergiadis | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
1st Cavalry Division 2nd Cavalry Division 14th Cavalry Division Total: 9,100 – 9,200[2] | 40,000 (4 divisions)[3] |
The Turkish retake of Izmir or the Liberation of İzmir (Turkish: İzmir'in Kurtuluşu) marked the end of the 1919–1922 Greco-Turkish War, and the culmination of the Turkish War of Independence. On 9 September 1922, following the headlong retreat of the Greek army after its defeat at the Battle of Dumlupınar and its evacuation from western Anatolia, the Turkish 5th Cavalry Corps under the command of Major-General Fahrettin Altay within Turkish Army under the command of Mustafa Kemal Pasha marched into the city of Smyrna (modern İzmir), bringing three years of Greek occupation to an end.[4]