The French Sovereign Commissioner Pelle in Constantinople on the 28th of November 1921 filled a report to the French Prime Minister that included the following testimonies:

"The following testimony is signed by Giacomo Cantoni 48 years of age, Giorgio Cantoni 46 years of Age and their kids Constantino 21 years of age, Giorgio 20 years of age and Filipo 18 years of age. All of them are Italian citizens exiled from Samsounta and they reached Constantinople on the Italian ship Cleopatra on the 18th of July 1921.

They were witnesses of terrible and bloody incidents that took place in Samsounta and on the surrounding areas. Here are some of the incidents that described to us:

1) A month ago the Turks stared to cause trouble to the Christians of Samsounta and especially to the Greek villages. The Turkish irregulars and the Turkish villagers armed heavily, manipulated by the Turkish Government, for a long time had started to destroy and kill the Christians of Samsounta and especially their villages. Most of the above mentioned villagers were slaughtered with horrific brutality. The situation became worst and worst as time passed. These Turks killed people like Anesti and many more that we cannot remember their names just for fun. They took numerous Greeks women and girls and they raped them, these incidents took place for quite a while and nobody could say anything about them!

2) It was decided by Kemal Ataturks Government that all the foreign Greeks must leave Samsounta in 7 days. As a result all the Greeks that came from Russia were exiled.

3) The poor Christians would not leave their homes, as a result the Turkish Government said that the Greek people should not be afraid and an order was issued for them to go back to their jobs and continue normally. The poor people believe them and few days after, on the morning of the 16th of June 1921 the city of Samsounta was surrounded by police was. The Turks arrested all the Greeks, even those amongst the workers of the American Tobacco Company. These poor people, around 3000 of them, ages from 12 to 60 were locked up in the Turkish school Kutchuk Mearif. The Turkish police was very brutal to them. In the morning they were exiled to the central Turkey, naked hungry, bitten up by the savage policemen that guarded them. This poor caravan of 999 people began its Golgotha of its martyrdom. 2 days later another caravan under even worst conditions left Samsounta with 1200 people and the next, the 3rd one with 751 people left next day.

The 1st caravan after a very long and painful march of many days reached Kavak approx. 10.45'. It was there that they would suffer their martyrdom under the worst possible conditions. When they reached Kavak they were all numbered and then split into two groups, from which the 1st one had less people and was sent to the Han of the City and the second one was sent towards a warehouse that was 15 minutes away from Kavak. When the second group reached the warehouse it was surrounded by the police that guarded them and the local Turkish villagers and they all shot them dead!!! The shooting lasted until 2:00 in the morning!! (Note: they were shooting at them for more than 3 hours!!!!)

Mr Giorgio Cantoni, the son of Giacomo, although Italian citizen was included in the 1st group of people and travelled with them up to Kavak. There he was released after a telegraph from Samsounta. This gentleman is a witness all of the above mentioned incidents, he even heard the shouting and shooting of the Greeks. Next morning he saw the caravan of the slaughtered Greeks, he calculated that 20 of them were transported to the garden of the main residency of Kavak.

The 2nd caravan of Greek people reached Kavak, after is suffered some loses along the way, they were all naked. The 3rd caravan had the same fate as the 1st caravan before it even reached Kavan in the bottom of the mountain Mahmour Dagh when the irregulars of Topal Osman attacked it.

4) After all of the above took place the Turks called all the remaining Greeks to surrender or else they will be hanged outside their homes with all the members of their family. All Greeks of Samsounta over the age of 14 had to surrender immediately. The remaining 3000 Greeks surrender straight away. From these people they split them into two groups in which one had all the 20-36 year old people, and they forced them to join the Turkish Army. The rest were locked up in town schools. Later on they were exiled and until today they fate is not known!

5) After the slaughtering of all the male Greeks it was the turn of the Greek women and children. On the16th of July the president Stauros Tsirkezoglou guarded by Turkish police announced that all the Greek people of Samsounta must leave the city within 3 days, until the 19th of July. That announcement made all the remaining Greek women and children horrified them all.

The desperate women and children said that they would prefer for their children to be killed inside their homes, and not outside the city, as they knew their fate. The poor families were left on their own fate, and they sold their properties with very little money. That was the situation when we left Samsounta.

(Note: the witnesses then continue naming villages and people that they knew of what happened to them, and how whole villages were destroyed, a little example of what is described in this statement is found below)

In particular the village of Ada, around 2 1/2 hours away from Samsounta had perhaps the most tragic end. The local Turkish Police under the orders of Demir Ali and with the help of the Turkish irregulars of Osman Agha gathered all the Greeks of the village of Ada and the surrounding areas and burned them ALIVE (!!!), the people that manage to escape the flames were shot dead by the police, more than 3000 people died in that particular incident.

... we testify all of the above with all the responsibilities acknowledged."

Constantinople 21st of July 1921