In the early 20th century, Greek settlements were still both numerous and widespread throughout most of today’s Turkey.
The provinces of Cappadocia and Lycaonia had a large number of Greek settlements and sizeable populations in urban centres such as Kayseri, Nigde, and Konya.
According to 1897 estimations, the sanjak of Konya had a total Greek population of 68.101 (6.6%) and according to Ottoman population statistics of 1914, the sanjak of Niğde had a total Greek population of 58.312 (20%) and the sanjak of Kayseri had a total of 26.590 (10,1%).
The Cappadocian Greeks of the 19th and 20th centuries were renowned for the richness of their folktales and preservation of their ancient Greek tongue.


The underground cities continued to be used as refuges (Cappadocian Greek: καταφύγια) from the Turkish Muslim rulers.
As late as the 20th century the locals were still using the underground cities to escape periodic waves of Ottoman persecution.
Dawkins, a Cambridge linguist who conducted research on the Cappodocian Greek natives in the area from 1909–1911, recorded that in 1909, 
when the news came of the recent massacres at Adana, a great part of the population at Axo took refuge in these underground chambers, and for some nights did not venture to sleep above ground.

Scholars passing through Cappadocia during the 19th century described the Cappadocian Greeks and their habits.
In 1838 British scholar Robert Ainsworth wrote that "The Cappadocian Greeks are, generally speaking, pleasing and unreserved in their manners, and their conversation indicated a very high degree of intelligence and civilization, where there are so few books, and so little education, and consequently, little learning."
Sir Charles William Wilson, British consul-general in Anatolia from 1879 to 1882, described their character:
The Cappadocian Greeks have a reputation throughout Asia Minor for energy and commercial activity ; there are few towns in which a merchant from Kaisariyeh is not to be found; and the rocky nature of the country drives even the poorer classes to seek their living elsewhere.
Perhaps the most interesting trait in the character of these Greeks is their intense love of their native country; the great ambition of every man is to earn sufficient money to enable him to build a house and settle down in his beloved Cappadocia.
The young men go off to Constantinople for a few years, and then return to marry and build a house; a couple of years of married life sees the end of their savings, and they have to revisit the capital, sometimes remaining there ten or fifteen years, to earn sufficient to support themselves and their wives for the remainder of their lives…The people have no marked political aspirations such as those which prevail amongst the Greeks of the west coast; they dream, it is true, of a new Byzantine Empire, but any sympathies they can spare from an all-absorbing love of money and gain are devoted to the Russian.
The south Cappadocian district, in which St. Gregory of Nazianzus once ministered, shows many signs of growing prosperity ; building is going on, and the people are vacating, for houses above ground, the subterranean villages, to which they owe the preservation of their faith and language.
These villages are known by Greek as well as by Turkish names; in some Greek is spoken by Moslem and Christian, in others a Graeco-Turk jargon, and in others Turkish only; and this mixture is found even in the churches, where the descriptive remarks on the holy pictures are often in Turkish written in Greek characters.
In the early 20th century, Greek settlements were still both numerous and widespread throughout most of today’s Turkey. The provinces of Cappadocia and Lycaonia had a large number of Greek settlements and sizeable populations in urban centres such as Kayseri, Nigde, and Konya. According to 1897 estimations, the sanjak of Konya had a total Greek population of 68.101 (6.6%) and according to Ottoman population statistics of 1914, the sanjak of Niğde had a total Greek population of 58.312 (20%) and the sanjak of Kayseri had a total of 26.590 (10,1%). The Cappadocian Greeks of the 19th and 20th centuries were renowned for the richness of their folktales and preservation of their ancient Greek tongue.

The underground cities continued to be used as refuges (Cappadocian Greek: καταφύγια) from the Turkish Muslim rulers. As late as the 20th century the locals were still using the underground cities to escape periodic waves of Ottoman persecution. Dawkins, a Cambridge linguist who conducted research on the Cappodocian Greek natives in the area from 1909–1911, recorded that in 1909, 
when the news came of the recent massacres at Adana, a great part of the population at Axo took refuge in these underground chambers, and for some nights did not venture to sleep above ground.
Scholars passing through Cappadocia during the 19th century described the Cappadocian Greeks and their habits. In 1838 British scholar Robert Ainsworth wrote that "The Cappadocian Greeks are, generally speaking, pleasing and unreserved in their manners, and their conversation indicated a very high degree of intelligence and civilization, where there are so few books, and so little education, and consequently, little learning." Sir Charles William Wilson, British consul-general in Anatolia from 1879 to 1882, described their character:
The Cappadocian Greeks have a reputation throughout Asia Minor for energy and commercial activity ; there are few towns in which a merchant from Kaisariyeh is not to be found; and the rocky nature of the country drives even the poorer classes to seek their living elsewhere. Perhaps the most interesting trait in the character of these Greeks is their intense love of their native country; the great ambition of every man is to earn sufficient money to enable him to build a house and settle down in his beloved Cappadocia. The young men go off to Constantinople for a few years, and then return to marry and build a house; a couple of years of married life sees the end of their savings, and they have to revisit the capital, sometimes remaining there ten or fifteen years, to earn sufficient to support themselves and their wives for the remainder of their lives…The people have no marked political aspirations such as those which prevail amongst the Greeks of the west coast; they dream, it is true, of a new Byzantine Empire, but any sympathies they can spare from an all-absorbing love of money and gain are devoted to the Russian. The south Cappadocian district, in which St. Gregory of Nazianzus once ministered, shows many signs of growing prosperity ; building is going on, and the people are vacating, for houses above ground, the subterranean villages, to which they owe the preservation of their faith and language. These villages are known by Greek as well as by Turkish names; in some Greek is spoken by Moslem and Christian, in others a Graeco-Turk jargon, and in others Turkish only; and this mixture is found even in the churches, where the descriptive remarks on the holy pictures are often in Turkish written in Greek characters.
Cappadocian Greeks