17. Today in 1920s Turkey: 6 September 1923 (The Pasta Boycott)
Comments:
I was attracted to this particular snippet of news because of its title, which I suppose is why anyone gravitates toward anything… At first, I assumed this would be about Turks boycotting Italian pasta for some reason but in fact it is reporting that Greeks living in Turkey are the ones boycotting Italy vis-à-vis their staple national cuisine: pasta.
The “dispute” referred to in the text is the infamous “Corfu Incident” of 1923 (August 29- September 27). This was an international crisis that began between Albania and Greece over disputed territories and devolved into a military clash and diplomatic fiasco between Greece and Italy after several Italian officers were assassinated in Greece close to the disputed borderland on August 27.
It is difficult to discern from this source alone whether or not the report for the boycott is meant to be serious or if it is a “what if” type humorous musing. Further research could reveal if such an action was actually taken. It is plausible that this proposed boycott was a real initiative taken by Greeks living in Turkey since during the course of the dispute Italian navy forces raided Corfu killing 16–30 civilians and wounding 30–32 more on August 31. All of the victims were refugees from Asia Minor and many of them were orphaned children. This atrocity likely infuriated Turkey’s Greek population at an especially intense level perhaps prompting local Greeks to formulate this boycott plan.
English
A Pasta Boycott as of Tomorrow: Due to the dispute between Italy and Greece from tomorrow onward the [بالعموم] Greek restaurant owners have decided not to cook pasta and the Greek grocers have decided to put tobacco powder in the holes of the macaroni they are selling to disgust customers [and dissuade them] from [buying] pasta.
Türkçe
Yarından İtibaren Makarnaya Boykotaj: İtalya ile Yunanistan arasındaki ihtilaf üzerine, yarından itibaren şehrimizdeki [بالعموم] Rum lokantacılar makarna pişirmemeğe ve Rum bakkallar ellerindeki makarnaların deliklerine tütün tozu doldurarak müşterileri makarnadan tiksindirmeğe karar vermişlerdir.
Originally published at https://steemit.com on September 6, 2016.