Army of Asia Minor Greece's allies, and the Ankara government. Although it became clear that Greece would, in all likelihood, be obliged to evacuate Anatolia, stalemate reigned on the Greek side, with quixotic attempts by some to salvage the situation by declaring the Greek-occupied parts of Anatolia to become an international protectorate as the "State of Asia Minor" (Μικρασιατικό Κράτος). The first Greek aircraft landed on Smyrna at the first day of the landing operations. In December 20, 1919, the "Aviation Service Directorate of the Asia Minor Army" () was founded, as a branch of the Army of Asia Minor. The Greek forces initially
Asia word "asa" meaning east. This may be contrasted to a similar etymology proposed for "Europe", as being from Akkadian "erēbu(m)" 'to enter' or 'set' (of the sun). T.R. Reid supports this alternative etymology, noting that the ancient Greek name must have derived from "asu", meaning 'east' in Assyrian ("ereb" for "Europe" meaning 'west'). The ideas of "Occidental" (form Latin "Occidens" 'setting') and "Oriental" (from Latin "Oriens" for 'rising') are also European invention, synonymous with "Western" and "Eastern". Reid further emphasizes that it explains the Western point of view of placing all the peoples and cultures of Asia into a single