Greek settlement. 1821 Greek struggle for independence Following riots In 1821, the Greek Christian male population was massacred by the Turks, and the women and children were sent into slavery. The then British Ambassador Lord Strangford reported that Osman Pasha accepted the submission of the Aivaliotes, until he could get fresh instructions from Constantinople. However a squadron of Greek insurgents appeared, persuading the inhabitants to hope that it had come to their rescue, and that another revolt might meet with greater success. They accordingly rose en masse, and about fifteen hundred Turks were killed. But the appearance of the squadron turned out to have been merely accidental and it soon sailed away. The Turks then recovered their courage, and an indiscriminate massacre of the Greeks followed. World War I and its aftermath As of 1920, Ayvalık's population was estimated at 60,000. Its small port was used to export soap, olive oil, animal hides and flour. The British described Aivali (Ayvalık) and nearby Edremid (Edremit) as having the finest olive oil in Asia Minor and reported large exports of it to France and Italy. This industry suffered during the First World War due to the deportation of the local Christian population (some of whom fled to the nearby Greek islands), who were the main producers of olive oil. Alarmed at the decline of the industry, the Turkish government brought back 4,500 Greek families in order to resume olive oil production. But although these repatriated Greeks were paid wages, they were not allowed to live in their own homes and were kept under official surveillance On 29 May 1919 the town was occupied by the Greek Army, only to be reoccupied by the Turkish forces under the command of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on 15 September 1922. Some of the population managed to escape to Greece. However, many of the local men were seized by the Turkish Army and died on death marches into the interior of Anatolia. Among the victims were the Christian clergy and the local metropolitan bishop, Gregory Orologas. Following the Turkish War of Independence, the Greek population and their properties in the town were exchanged for a Muslim population from Greece, and other formerly held Ottoman Turkish lands, under the 1923 agreement for the Exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey. Most of the new population consisted of Greek Muslims from Mytilene (Lesbos), Crete and Macedonia. Until recently Greek