In April 1919, the Italians landed and took over Antalya and began showing signs of moving troops towards Smyrna. During the negotiations at about the same time, the Italian delegation walked out when it became clear that [[Rijeka|Fiume (Rijeka)]] would not be given to them in the peace outcome. Lloyd George saw an opportunity to break the impasse over Smyrna with the absence of the Italian delegation and, according to Jensen, he "concocted a report that an armed uprising of Turkish guerrillas in the Smyrna area was seriously endangering the Greek and other Christian minorities." Both to protect local Christians and also to limit increasing Italian action in Anatolia, French Prime Minister [[Georges Clemenceau]] and U.S. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] supported a Greek military occupation of Smyrna. Although Smyrna would be occupied by Greek troops, authorized by the Allies, the Allies did not agree that Greece would take sovereignty over the territory until further negotiations settled this issue. The Italian delegation acquiesced to this outcome and the Greek occupation was authorized. [[File:Great Fire of Smyrna.jpg|thumb|Photo of the [[Great fire of Smyrna]] (1922)]]  Greek troops evacuated Smyrna on 9 September 1922 and a small allied force of British entered the city to prevent looting and violence. The next day, Mustafa Kemal, leading a number of troops, entered the city and was greeted by enthusiastic Turkish crowds. Atrocities by Turkish troops and irregulars against the Greek and Armenian population occurred immediately after the takeover. Most notably, Chrysostomos, the Orthodox Bishop, was lynched by a mob of Turkish citizens. A few days afterward, a fire destroyed the Greek and Armenian quarters of the city, while the Turkish and Jewish quarters remained undamaged. Culpability for the fire is blamed on all ethnic groups and clear blame remains elusive. On the Turkish side - but not among Greeks - the events are known as the "[[Liberation of İzmir]]". The evacuation of Smyrna by Greek troops ended most of the large scale fighting in the Greco-Turkish war which was formally ended with an Armistice and a final treaty on 24 July 1923 with the Treaty of Lausanne. Much of the Greek population was included in the 1923 [[population exchange between Greece and Turkey]] resulting in migration to Greece and elsewhere. [[Category:Cyprus dispute]] [[Category:Greek nationalism]] [[Category:Greek Cypriot nationalism]] [[Category:EOKA]] [[Category:Irredentism]] [[Category:Megali Idea]]