The Izmir Metropolitan Municipality is preparing to host a meaningful exhibition on the 106th anniversary of the occupation of Izmir, a turning point in the city's history. The exhibition titled "The First Day of Resistance, May 15, 1919" will meet its visitors on Thursday, May 15 at 17.30:XNUMX in the garden of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Ahmet Piriştina City Archive and Museum (APİKAM).
The exhibition focuses on the painful process that began with the occupation of Izmir by Greece on May 15, 1919, and the first civil resistance movements of the people of Izmir against this occupation. At the same time, the critical role of this tragic event in the awakening of the spirit of national struggle will also be emphasized in the exhibition.
The exhibition “The First Day of Resistance, May 15, 1919” has been enriched with rare documents and photographs from the Nejat Yentürk collection, as well as visuals from APIKAM’s rich archive and striking paintings by Italian painter Vittorio Pisani from the Şişli Atatürk Museum of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Thanks to this special selection, visitors will have the opportunity to see the dramatic events that took place in İzmir on the day of the occupation more closely and to feel the atmosphere of that day.
The exhibition also places special emphasis on the historic journey that the Great Leader Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk started from Istanbul to Samsun on May 16, 1919, just one day after the occupation of Izmir, and the importance of starting the War of Independence from there on May 19, 1919. The “First Day of Resistance, May 15, 1919” exhibition, May 15 2025 since September 9, 2025 It can be visited in the garden of APIKAM until . All Izmir residents are invited to this meaningful exhibition, which was prepared with the aim of keeping the painful memory of the occupation of Izmir alive and transferring the spirit of national struggle to future generations.
