Welcome Fellow Tenedians

Tenedos and Imvros are two small islands in the Northern Aegean Sea, strategically located outside the Straits of the Dardanelles. After the disastrous war between Greece and Turkey, the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne was signed between the two nations. The treaty provided for the exchange of populations — Greeks living in Turkey would go to Greece, and Muslims living in Greece would go to Turkey — with the exception of the people living in Tenedos and Imvros, who were to remain on their respective islands.

Although the treaty provided for the continuation of a special administrative status, protecting the Tenedians' and Imvrions' right to live there freely, to use their language, to exercise their religious freedoms, and to have their basic human rights protected, these articles of the treaty were never enforced.

Many Tenedian families fled the island after the Treaty of Lausanne, traveling to other islands, to Australia, and to the United States in search of a better life for themselves and their families. This website is dedicated to all the Tenedian families who left their beautiful homeland in search of a safe place to grow and prosper.

“Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.”

In memory of my grandparents George & Anthepe Mingos Arvanitis, my father James, my uncles John & Peter, and my aunt Vasiliki.
— George & Lisa Arvanitis