During our independence war, Greece invaded West Anatolian region after WW1. İzmir was the mini capital of the region. Greek Army expanded its field through the Central Anatolia. West Anatolian region was invaded by Greece till September 1922.

Mustafa Kemal was the commander of national forces. He was supervising and planning the military operation in the middle of battlefield. Finally Turkish national forces won the war and entered İzmir on 9th September 1922. A day after, Commander Mustafa Kemal came to the city. The crowd was happy and excited. When he was about to enter government building, some people placed Greek flag under his feet in order to step on it. He surprised but he asked what they were doing. They told him that Greek troops had entered the government building by stepping on the Turkish flag. So, they told him to do the same thing. He refused it and told the crowd that a national flag was always a symbol of a nation. Thus, he told them to remove the flag.

Even Greeks were the enemy of Turkish forces, he refused to be disrespectful against a flag. He was a soldier and a wise stateman.