Mustafa Kemal Atatürk established the Turkish national movement against the Allies in Samsun on May 19 , 1919 , the date which traditionally marks the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence . Atatürk , appointed by the Ottoman government as Inspector of the Ninth Army Troops Inspectorate of the Empire in eastern Anatolia , left Constantinople aboard the now-famous May 16 for Samsun . Instead of obeying the orders of the Ottoman government , then under the control of the occupying Allies , he and a number of colleagues declared the beginning of the Turkish national movement . As a result of this , the Greek population of Samsun was subject to looting , massacre and deportation by Turkish irregular groups , as noted by representatives of the American Near East Relief . However these groups could n't operate freely in Samsun as they did in adjacent region of Merzifon and Bafra due to the presence of the Allied fleet . Being alarmed due to the presence of Greek warships in the vicinity of Samsun the Turkish national movement undertook the deportation of 21,000 local Greeks to the interior of Anatolia . Later , in early June 1922 , the city was bombarded by the Allied navy
looting , massacre and deportation
Greek genocide
Samsun