kke strongly opposed greece's involvement in the greco-turkish war of 1919–1922. it considered the war an imperialistic plot to control the market of asia minor. kke members advocated this position both on the front as well as in the mainland. kke worked with the soviet ambassador to persuade venizelos' administration to withdraw its troops from asia minor. kke also tried to persuade the soviet union to pressure mustafa kemal atatürk to allow autonomy for greek cities in asia minor.