“Facts Matter”: HALC responds to the National Geographic

Thanos Davelis, HALC Director of Public Affairs

Re: This Day in Geographic History: Istanbul, not Constantinople

Dear Editor,

It is concerning to see National Geographic’s resource library — an educational tool for students — publish a post with such glaring inaccuracies.

The post indicates that the “Greek and Roman” population of Constantinople was “forced out” by “indigenous Ottoman Turks” in 1299. The author must have gotten the year 1299 from Wikipedia, where the date is used to mark the beginning of the Ottoman Empire. It’s obvious they didn’t bother to research or look at any maps. In 1299, the Ottomans controlled a small region in Asia Minor. They did not cross into Europe until the mid-14th century, and were not indigenous to Constantinople.

Meanwhile, Constantinople remained in Byzantine hands until its fall in 1453. Even then, the native Greek population comprised a significant minority in the city. The Greeks of Constantinople and the Ottoman empire were not “forced out” in 1299, but decimated by a coordinated campaign of genocide in the early 20th century, followed by the Istanbul pogrom in 1955.

Facts matter. Please make the appropriate corrections to your post.

Sincerely,

Thanos Davelis

Director of Public Affairs

Hellenic American Leadership Council

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