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A family from Greece visited Istanbul's historic Bogazkoy neighborhood in Arnavutkoy to trace the home where their ancestors once lived, returning to the area their family left behind during the population exchange between Türkiye and Greece.
Although they could not find the house, the visit turned into an emotional homecoming shaped by local hospitality and shared memories.
The family came to Bogazkoy, a neighborhood in Arnavutkoy with a history stretching back roughly 300 years, hoping to track down the home where their grandfather had been born and raised. Carrying old photographs and images, they walked through the neighborhood and looked into areas where older houses once stood, while local residents joined in and helped them search.
Their visit was tied to the broader legacy of the 1923 population exchange between Türkiye and Greece, a compulsory resettlement process in which Muslim and Orthodox Christian communities were moved between the two countries, forcing many families to leave the places where they had been born.
George Birmpoutsoukis said his grandfather had grown up in the village before the family left for Greece during the war, and explained that he is now writing a book about these families. He said the purpose of the trip was to find the house where his grandfather was born and added that local people went out of their way to help. Although the family could not locate the house, he said being there still meant a great deal to them.
Panagiotis Birmpoutsoukis said they had come from Thessaloniki during Orthodox Easter and had also wanted to look for the house where their great-grandfather had lived. He said they found two old houses, but both had been demolished. While he said they were sorry not to find the home, he added that making the journey itself was a source of pride.
Residents did not leave the visitors on their own, even though the family did not speak Turkish. During the visit, locals showed them around the neighborhood, and the family was welcomed at the village coffeehouse with Turkish coffee and tea while possible locations of old homes were looked over together.
Bogazkoy neighborhood headman Ersin Esenboga described the visit as meaningful, saying the family had, in a sense, come back to their own village because their ancestors had once lived there. He said such visits make local people happy, adding that both sides learned things from one another as they walked through the streets together.
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Another resident, Abdullah Ozer, said locals showed the family old houses, took them around the village and offered them tea and coffee, adding that this was a way of showing Turkish hospitality. He also described Bogazkoy as a historic place and noted that many Yesilcam films starring Kemal Sunal had been shot there.
Ali Ercan, another local resident, said the family had once lived there around 150 years ago and had now come back to see the place where their ancestors had lived.
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