Friday 16 September 2022

2154.. 🇨🇾 Cyprus - Gods Of Olympus And Asia Minor Catastrophe.

 

New issues.

🇨🇾 Cyprus Post -

19 September 2022 - Centenary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe- 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp. Lithographed by Baltijas Banknote, Latvia. Rating:- *****.

  In the wake of the First World War and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire war broke out between Greece and Turkey. The Greeks hoped to establish a state taking in territory both in Europe and Asia Minor. In May 1919 Greek forces were sent to Smyrna to protect those of Greek heritage who lived there and secured the town and the coastal areas of Asia Minor. At this stage conflict broke out between Greek royalists and those supporting the former Greek prime minister Venizelos and in consequence the army was purged of the supporters of Venizelos. The Greek Army became isolated in central Turkey and was defeated by Ataturk’s forces. The army was forced to retreat to the shores of the Aegean and tens of thousands of Greek and Christian residents fled with them fearing they would be massacred by the Turks. 

  In September 1922 the Turks burned Smyrna to the ground and massacred thousands of Greeks and Armenians who were in the destroyed city. It was estimated that hundreds of thousands of Greeks were killed at this time. A pro-Venizelos revolution broke out on board the Greek naval ship Lemnos among the officers of the Second Army which had been evacuated from Smyrna and this spread to Athens. The king was exiled and the officers and politicians who were seen as being responsible for the defeat in Asia Minor were put on trial and executed with only the British government protesting at this action.

  1650000 Greek Orthodox Christians fled from Turkey while while 650000 Greek Muslims escaped from Greece to Turkey fearful of reprisals against them. As a result of the influx of refugees from Turkey the population size of both Athens and Thessaloniki doubled in size. For the first time in 3000 years there was no Hellenic presence in Asia Minor.

19 September 2022 - The twelve god of Mount Olympus - 12 stamps issued in a sheetlet containing all 12 stamps. Printed by Baltijas Banknote, Latvia. Rating:- ***.





🇱🇹 Stamperija (Lithuania-based producer and vendor of paraphilatelic products with contracts from some Commonwealth postal administrations allowing it to produce items on their behalf).

Togo (issues from 25 June 2022 which is when Togo became a member of The Commonwealth) - 

1 September 2022 - Sinking of the Russian warship Moskva by Ukrainian forces - 2 ‘stamps’ produced in 2 sheetlets of 6 and 2 miniature sheets. Rating:- 0.

These are the first products released by Stamperija after 25 June 2022 with the name of Togo printed on them following Togo’s admission to Commonwealth membership. Further products released by Stamperija in the name of Togo will not generally be mentioned in this Blog.








4 comments:

  1. Very informative and thoughtful posts! I would like to suggest that you make a comprehensive list of which agency (like Stamperija, Pobjoy, IGPC, CASCO ) represents which countries. I think it would be useful and important because it explains a lot about the issuing policy, the topics, the aesthetics. And you already have this information, it's just here and there.

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    1. Yes, I will be pleased to produce a list of agencies and their customers as you suggest in an upcoming Blog.

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  2. as Togo is represented by Stamperija, expect a flood of thematical issues every couple of weeks.

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    Replies
    1. WK - Yes I’m afraid that is very much the case. Hundreds of ‘stamps’ had already been issued during 2022 prior to Togo’s admission to The Commonwealth by Stamperija with the name of Togo printed on them. Stamperija of course also produces similar such items in the name of Sierra Leone, the extinct Mozambique postal service and Maldives (though this may no longer be the case as no Stamperija-produced items have appeared inscribed ‘Maldives’ for quite a long time. That doesn’t mean that some more won’t appear in the future as we learned with Sierra Leone this year).

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