Greek diplomatic sources accused Turkey on Wednesday of “systematic distortion of history,” after the Turkish foreign ministry marked the anniversary of the siege of Tripolitsa with a social media post describing “systematic massacres” of the Muslim population of the Peloponnese between 1821 and 1830.

The Turkish ministry’s post came on the 205th anniversary of the fall of Tripolitsa, the then Ottoman administrative capital of the Peloponnese, which was captured by revolutionary forces in 1821 during the opening months of the Greek War of Independence.

The siege and its aftermath, in which large numbers of the town’s Muslim inhabitants were killed, remain one of the more contested episodes of the uprising, cited by Turkish officials in past years as evidence of atrocities against muslim communities and by Greek historians as an isolated episode within a war marked by atrocities on both sides.

Responding to the post, Greek diplomatic sources told the Cyprus News Agency that “the systematic distortion and instrumentalisation of history and the selective invocation of historical memory do not change historical events”.

The sources went further, arguing that such positions “are in contradiction with recorded historical events” and “do not contribute to the formation of a climate of trust, mutual understanding and substantive dialogue,” nor were they consistent with the approach required by good neighbourly relations.

“Historical memory cannot be turned into a foreign policy tool,” the statement said.

“History is not written down, distorted or erased by postings on social media. It has the annoying characteristic of surviving propaganda.”