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The '''Yalova Peninsula Massacres''' were a series of massacres during 1920–21, the majority of which during March – May 1921, committed by local [[Greek people|Greek]] and [[Armenians|Armenian]] gangs and the invading Greek army<ref name="Toynbee 1970 283-284">{{cite book|last=Toynbee|first=Arnold Joseph|title=The Western Question in Greece and Turkey:A Study in the Contact of Civilizations|year=1970|publisher=H. Fertig, originally: University of California|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=gTkbAAAAIAAJ&q=This+plan+is+being+carried+out+by+Greek+and+Armenian+bands,+++which+appear+to+operate+under+Greek+instructions+and+sometimes+++even+with+the+assistance+of+detachments+of+regular+troops.&dq=This+plan+is+being+carried+out+by+Greek+and+Armenian+bands,+++which+appear+to+operate+under+Greek+instructions+and+sometimes+++even+with+the+assistance+of+detachments+of+regular+troops.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WrCXUdrtMYTJOYa6gMgL&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAw|quote=The full version can be found [http://louisville.edu/a-s/history/turks/WesternQuestion.pdf here (Online reports of Arnold Toynbee)]|quote=‘The members of the Commission consider that, in the part of the kazas of Yalova and Guemlek occupied by the Greek army, there is a systematic plan of destruction of Turkish villages and extinction of the Moslem population. This plan is being carried out by Greek and Armenian bands, which appear to operate under Greek instructions and sometimes even with the assistance of detachments of regular troops|pages=283–284}}</ref> against the [[Turkish people|Turkish]] [[Muslim]] population of the [[Gemlik]]-[[Yalova]] peninsula.<ref name="Toynbee 1970 283-284"/> Almost all Muslim villages and towns were burned down. According to [[Maurice Gehri]], approximately 6,000 were killed<ref name="atauni307"/><ref name="McNeill 1989"/> or had disappeared.<ref name="Current history and forum" /> The Ottoman and Turkish documents on massacres indicate that at least 9,100 Muslim Turks were killed.<ref name=":0" /> In one Ottoman inquiry of 177 survivors, the number of victims reported was very low (35), which is in line with Toynbee's descriptions that villagers fled after one to two murders.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gingeras|first=Ryan|title=Sorrowful Shores:Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912-1923|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780191609794|page=28|url=http://books.google.gr/books?id=6DF4dNEjenIC&pg=PA28&dq=circassian+yalova&hl=el&sa=X&ei=-JOSUdeHJeyu4QTK4IDoCg&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22In%20total%20only%20thirty-five%20were%20reported%20to%20have%20been%20killed%2C%20wounded%2C%20beaten%2C%20or%20missing.%20This%20is%20in%20line%20with%20the%20observations%20of%20Arnold%20Toynbee%2C%20who%20declared%20that%20one%20to%20two%20murders%20were%20sufficient%20to%20drive%20away%20the%20population%20of%20a%20village.%22&f=false|quote=In total only thirty-five were reported to have been killed, wounded, beaten, or missing. This is in line with the observations of Arnold Toynbee, who declared that one to two murders were sufficient to drive away the population of a village.}}</ref> An Inter-Allied commission and the representative of the [[Geneva]] International [[Red Cross]], Maurice Gehri, and journalist [[Arnold J. Toynbee]] went to the region to investigate the atrocities; the result was that most of the remaining 20,000 refugees were saved and transported to [[Istanbul]] on ships.<ref |
The '''Yalova Peninsula Massacres''' were a series of massacres during 1920–21, the majority of which during March – May 1921, committed by local [[Greek people|Greek]] and [[Armenians|Armenian]] gangs and the invading Greek army<ref name="Toynbee 1970 283-284">{{cite book|last=Toynbee|first=Arnold Joseph|title=The Western Question in Greece and Turkey:A Study in the Contact of Civilizations|year=1970|publisher=H. Fertig, originally: University of California|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=gTkbAAAAIAAJ&q=This+plan+is+being+carried+out+by+Greek+and+Armenian+bands,+++which+appear+to+operate+under+Greek+instructions+and+sometimes+++even+with+the+assistance+of+detachments+of+regular+troops.&dq=This+plan+is+being+carried+out+by+Greek+and+Armenian+bands,+++which+appear+to+operate+under+Greek+instructions+and+sometimes+++even+with+the+assistance+of+detachments+of+regular+troops.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WrCXUdrtMYTJOYa6gMgL&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAw|quote=The full version can be found [http://louisville.edu/a-s/history/turks/WesternQuestion.pdf here (Online reports of Arnold Toynbee)]|quote=‘The members of the Commission consider that, in the part of the kazas of Yalova and Guemlek occupied by the Greek army, there is a systematic plan of destruction of Turkish villages and extinction of the Moslem population. This plan is being carried out by Greek and Armenian bands, which appear to operate under Greek instructions and sometimes even with the assistance of detachments of regular troops|pages=283–284}}</ref> against the [[Turkish people|Turkish]] [[Muslim]] population of the [[Gemlik]]-[[Yalova]] peninsula.<ref name="Toynbee 1970 283-284"/> Almost all Muslim villages and towns were burned down. According to [[Maurice Gehri]], approximately 6,000 were killed<ref name="atauni307"/><ref name="McNeill 1989"/> or had disappeared.<ref name="Current history and forum" /> The Ottoman and Turkish documents on massacres indicate that at least 9,100 Muslim Turks were killed.<ref name=":0" /> In one Ottoman inquiry of 177 survivors, the number of victims reported was very low (35), which is in line with Toynbee's descriptions that villagers fled after one to two murders.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gingeras|first=Ryan|title=Sorrowful Shores:Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912-1923|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780191609794|page=28|url=http://books.google.gr/books?id=6DF4dNEjenIC&pg=PA28&dq=circassian+yalova&hl=el&sa=X&ei=-JOSUdeHJeyu4QTK4IDoCg&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22In%20total%20only%20thirty-five%20were%20reported%20to%20have%20been%20killed%2C%20wounded%2C%20beaten%2C%20or%20missing.%20This%20is%20in%20line%20with%20the%20observations%20of%20Arnold%20Toynbee%2C%20who%20declared%20that%20one%20to%20two%20murders%20were%20sufficient%20to%20drive%20away%20the%20population%20of%20a%20village.%22&f=false|quote=In total only thirty-five were reported to have been killed, wounded, beaten, or missing. This is in line with the observations of Arnold Toynbee, who declared that one to two murders were sufficient to drive away the population of a village.}}</ref> An Inter-Allied commission and the representative of the [[Geneva]] International [[Red Cross]], Maurice Gehri, and journalist [[Arnold J. Toynbee]] went to the region to investigate the atrocities; the result was that most of the remaining 20,000 refugees were saved and transported to [[Istanbul]] on ships.<ref name=atauni307/> <br>Translation to English: "After the investigations by the Red Crescent and the Inter-Allied Commission, over 20,000 Turkish refugees from Samanlıdağ were brought to Istanbul.}}</ref> Michael Smith adds that [[Circassians in Turkey|Circassian]] irregulars also took part in the massacres.<ref name="Circassian" /> However, this is not mentioned in the report of the commission nor by Toynbee. |
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==Background== |
==Background== |
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{{see also|Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)#Atrocities and claims of ethnic cleansing by both sides}} |
{{see also|Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)#Atrocities and claims of ethnic cleansing by both sides}} |
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After [[World War I]], the [[Ottoman Empire]] [[Treaty of Sèvres|officially surrendered]] to the [[Entente Powers]] and it had to disband its army. At the peace conference the [[Great Britain|British]] and [[France|French]] [[Megali Idea|tried to secure territory]] for the [[Kingdom of Greece]] in [[Izmir|Smyrna]] and its surrounding regions.<ref name="Modern Turkey p.342">History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.342, 1977</ref> As a result, the [[Greek army]], with the support of the [[Entente Powers]], [[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)|invaded Anatolia]] and [[Occupation of Smyrna|occupied Smyrna]].<ref name="Modern Turkey p.342"/> |
After [[World War I]], the [[Ottoman Empire]] [[Treaty of Sèvres|officially surrendered]] to the [[Entente Powers]] and it had to disband its army. At the peace conference the [[Great Britain|British]] and [[France|French]] [[Megali Idea|tried to secure territory]] for the [[Kingdom of Greece]] in [[Izmir|Smyrna]] and its surrounding regions.<ref name="Modern Turkey p.342">History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.342, 1977</ref> As a result, the [[Greek army]], with the support of the [[Entente Powers]], [[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)|invaded Anatolia]] and [[Occupation of Smyrna|occupied Smyrna]].<ref name="Modern Turkey p.342"/> The Ottoman government<ref name="Modern Turkey p.342" /> and Turkish nationalists, which included people from all layers of Turkish society ranging from soldiers to civilians,<ref name="Modern Turkey p.342" /> under the command of [[Mustafa Kemal Pasha]], resisted against this decision. The latter formed a new [[Turkish National Movement]] based in central Anatolia, whose aim was to repel the foreign forces that remained in Anatolia. On the other hand, the Greek army was given the task by the allies to end the Turkish Nationalist government. Following the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)]] the Greek army was defeated and forced to retreat.During its retreat (August–September 1922) [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)#Greek scorched-earth policy|the Greek army carried out a scorched-earth policy]] and laid waste to many Turkish cities and villages and committed [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)#Greek massacres of Turks|massacres against its inhabitants]]. |
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The Ottoman government<ref name="Modern Turkey p.342" /> and Turkish nationalists, which included people from all layers of Turkish society ranging from soldiers to civilians,<ref>History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.340-341, 1977</ref><ref name="Modern Turkey p.342" /> under the command of [[Mustafa Kemal Pasha]], resisted against this decision. The latter formed a new [[Turkish National Movement]] based in central Anatolia, whose aim was to repel the foreign forces that remained in Anatolia. On the other hand, the Greek army was given the task by the allies to end the Turkish Nationalist government. |
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Following the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)]] the Greek army was defeated and forced to retreat. |
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During its retreat (August–September 1922) [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)#Greek scorched-earth policy|the Greek army carried out a scorched-earth policy]] and laid waste to many Turkish cities and villages and committed [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)#Greek massacres of Turks|massacres against its inhabitants]]. |
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===Population=== |
===Population=== |
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In the Yalova area, in the village of Çınarcık the population was beaten with whips and sticks then shut up in the mosque, their money was taken and some were killed.<ref name=atauni307 /> |
In the Yalova area, in the village of Çınarcık the population was beaten with whips and sticks then shut up in the mosque, their money was taken and some were killed.<ref name=atauni307 /> |
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The Greek army captured [[Orhangazi]] on 16 October 1921 after resistance by Turkish militias. The next day there was a massacre in the nearby Turkish village of Çakırlı, the men were locked in the local mosque where they were burned alive and shot.<ref name="Sofuoğlu" |
The Greek army captured [[Orhangazi]] on 16 October 1921 after resistance by Turkish militias. The next day there was a massacre in the nearby Turkish village of Çakırlı, the men were locked in the local mosque where they were burned alive and shot.<ref name="Sofuoğlu">{{cite book|last1=Sofuoğlu|first1=Adnan|title=KURTULUŞ SAVAŞI DÖNEMİNDE KOCAELİ - YALOVA – İZNİK|publisher=Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi Dergisi|quote=Bu esnada Orhangazi’den yedi, Çakırlı Köyünden yirmi kişi kurşuna dizilerek öldürüldü. Üreyil ve Çakırlı köyleri halkı feci bir şekilde toptan katl ve idam edildi. Malları ise yağmalandı...In the meantime, seven in Orhangazi, and twenty people in Çakırlı were shot dead. In Üreyil and the village of Çakırlı wholesale murder was executed in a catastrophic way. their goods had been looted...Orhangazi civarında (Ureyil ve Çakırlı) İslam karyelerindeki silahlar toplanarak ahalisi feci bir surette kâmilen katl ve idam edilerek malları yağma ve haneleri ihrak olunmuştur...Near Orhangazi (Üreğil and Çakırlı) Muslim villages collected weapons of the local people were collected, and tragic murders,executions, looting took place and their houses were burned. |pages=795-796-797-798-799-800-801-802-803-804-805-806-807-808-809-810-811-812-813-814|edition=XVIII, 54|url=http://www.ait.hacettepe.edu.tr/akademik/arsiv/adnan2.htm|accessdate=12 June 2014}}</ref> Two days later on 18 October 1921 the nearby Turkish village of Üreğil (consisted of 90 families) was burned down.<ref name="Sofuoğlu"/> On 16 April, the some 1,000 Turkish inhabitants of Orhangazi were sent to Gemlik by the Greek army while the town was burned down the same day by the Greeks. The refugees reached Gemlik under very difficult circumstances, most were robbed and some killed on the way.<ref name="Current history and forum" /> They were later evacuated by the Allied commission to Istanbul by boat. The next day on 17 April, there was a massacre<ref name="Sofuoğlu"/> in the village of Gedelek which was burned<ref name="Current history and forum" /> because the population could not pay the amount of 4,000 Lira as protection money, the men after they had been robbed of their money were stuffed into a house where they were killed.<ref name=atauni307 /> |
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===Investigation of the Allied commission (13–23 May 1921)=== |
===Investigation of the Allied commission (13–23 May 1921)=== |
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[[File:Gehry- Bonaccoroi- Lucas- Holland.png|thumbnail|The commission]] |
[[File:Gehry- Bonaccoroi- Lucas- Holland.png|thumbnail|The commission]] |
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Finally in May 1921, a Inter-Allied commission, consisting of British, French, American and Italian officers,<ref group = lower-alpha>General Hare, the British Delegate; General Bunoust, the French Delegate; General Dall'Olio, the Italian Delegate; Admiral Bristol, the American Delegate.</ref> and the representative of the [[Geneva]] International [[Red Cross]], Maurice Gehri, was set up to investigate the situation. They sailed with ship "Bryony" In 13 May 1921 the commission started on his investigation by visiting the burned villages of Çertekici, Çengiler and Gedik and then it returned to Gemlik. |
Finally in May 1921, a Inter-Allied commission, consisting of British, French, American and Italian officers,<ref group = lower-alpha>General Hare, the British Delegate; General Bunoust, the French Delegate; General Dall'Olio, the Italian Delegate; Admiral Bristol, the American Delegate.</ref> and the representative of the [[Geneva]] International [[Red Cross]], Maurice Gehri, was set up to investigate the situation. They sailed with ship "Bryony" In 13 May 1921 the commission started on his investigation by visiting the burned villages of Çertekici, Çengiler and Gedik and then it returned to Gemlik.<ref name="Current history and forum" /> Here they listened to the Turkish refugees who had gathered there, most of them were from Orhangazi which was burnt by the Greek army one month before, on 16 April.<ref name="Current history and forum" /> The majority of the refugees had been robbed on the way to Gemlik by Greeks, Armenians <ref name=atauni307 /><ref name="Current history and forum" /> The commission listened to various cases; including the rape of a sixty years old women by six soldiers.<ref name="Current history and forum" /> |
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The commission reported that the Turkish refugees lived in very crowded conditions, most of them slept in the courtyards of mosques and graveyards. In one room of six meter wide they counted sixty refugee women and children.<ref name=atauni307 /> On 14 May the commission listened to the cases of the Greek and Armenian refugees.<ref name="Current history and forum" /> On Sunday 15 May the commission found out that the Turkish villages of Kapaklı, Narlı and Karacaali where burning, the same evening they went by the boat ''Broyn'' to the shore of Karacaali and found on the beach the corpses of 11 Turks who had been killed several hours before with bayonets.<ref name="Current history and forum" /> The local population gathered around by the shore and asked for protection, they told the commission that Greek soldiers and local Greeks demanded a large amount of money after which they executed 15–20 civilians in the graveyard.<ref name=atauni307 />The next day they went to Kapaklı, where they found 8 bodies, 4 of them women, in Karacaali 40 women had been taken away by the Greeks.<ref name="Current history and forum" /> |
The commission reported that the Turkish refugees lived in very crowded conditions, most of them slept in the courtyards of mosques and graveyards. In one room of six meter wide they counted sixty refugee women and children.<ref name=atauni307 /> On 14 May the commission listened to the cases of the Greek and Armenian refugees.<ref name="Current history and forum" /> On Sunday 15 May the commission found out that the Turkish villages of Kapaklı, Narlı and Karacaali where burning, the same evening they went by the boat ''Broyn'' to the shore of Karacaali and found on the beach the corpses of 11 Turks who had been killed several hours before with bayonets.<ref name="Current history and forum" /> The local population gathered around by the shore and asked for protection, they told the commission that Greek soldiers and local Greeks demanded a large amount of money after which they executed 15–20 civilians in the graveyard.<ref name=atauni307 />The next day they went to Kapaklı, where they found 8 bodies, 4 of them women, in Karacaali 40 women had been taken away by the Greeks.<ref name="Current history and forum" /> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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;Notes |
;Notes |
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{{Reflist}} |
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{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}} |
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}} |
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Revision as of 11:20, 12 June 2014
Yalova Peninsula Massacres | |
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Part of Greco-Turkish War (1919–22) | |
Location | Ottoman Empire, present-day Yalova and Bursa Province, Turkey |
Date | 1920–1921 |
Target | Turkish Muslim population (Muslim Georgians and Laz people were also targeted.) |
Attack type | Ethnic cleansing, mass murder |
Deaths | various estimates: 5,500 to 9,100 killed[1][2] or disappeared[3][4] Ottoman inquiry of 177 survivors reported 35 as killed, wounded, beaten, or missing.[5] |
Perpetrators | Kingdom of Greece[6] Groups of local Greeks, Armenians and Circassians[6][7][8] |
The Yalova Peninsula Massacres were a series of massacres during 1920–21, the majority of which during March – May 1921, committed by local Greek and Armenian gangs and the invading Greek army[6] against the Turkish Muslim population of the Gemlik-Yalova peninsula.[6] Almost all Muslim villages and towns were burned down. According to Maurice Gehri, approximately 6,000 were killed[1][2] or had disappeared.[3] The Ottoman and Turkish documents on massacres indicate that at least 9,100 Muslim Turks were killed.[9] In one Ottoman inquiry of 177 survivors, the number of victims reported was very low (35), which is in line with Toynbee's descriptions that villagers fled after one to two murders.[10] An Inter-Allied commission and the representative of the Geneva International Red Cross, Maurice Gehri, and journalist Arnold J. Toynbee went to the region to investigate the atrocities; the result was that most of the remaining 20,000 refugees were saved and transported to Istanbul on ships.[1]
Translation to English: "After the investigations by the Red Crescent and the Inter-Allied Commission, over 20,000 Turkish refugees from Samanlıdağ were brought to Istanbul.}}</ref> Michael Smith adds that Circassian irregulars also took part in the massacres.[8] However, this is not mentioned in the report of the commission nor by Toynbee.
Background
Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)
After World War I, the Ottoman Empire officially surrendered to the Entente Powers and it had to disband its army. At the peace conference the British and French tried to secure territory for the Kingdom of Greece in Smyrna and its surrounding regions.[11] As a result, the Greek army, with the support of the Entente Powers, invaded Anatolia and occupied Smyrna.[11] The Ottoman government[11] and Turkish nationalists, which included people from all layers of Turkish society ranging from soldiers to civilians,[11] under the command of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, resisted against this decision. The latter formed a new Turkish National Movement based in central Anatolia, whose aim was to repel the foreign forces that remained in Anatolia. On the other hand, the Greek army was given the task by the allies to end the Turkish Nationalist government. Following the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) the Greek army was defeated and forced to retreat.During its retreat (August–September 1922) the Greek army carried out a scorched-earth policy and laid waste to many Turkish cities and villages and committed massacres against its inhabitants.
Population
After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the WWI the peninsula was occupied by Great Britain. At the end of 1920 control of the region was ceded to Greek troops. The peninsula's population at that moment included an ethnically diverse population including Muslims, Greeks and Armenians. The Kaza of Orhangazi was 34% Muslim in 1914, the rest were almost all Armenians.[5] The kaza of Yalova was only 36% Muslim in 1914, the rest were Greeks and Armenians. The Kaza of Gemlik was 57% Muslim but the town of Gemlik was almost entirely (90%) Greek by the time of the war.[5] Gemlik was surrounded by Greek, Armenian and Muslim Turkish villages.
Distribution of population in the region before World War I in 1914[5] | ||||||||
Religion | Gemlik | Yalova | Orhangazi | Izmit | Iznik | Karamürsel | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Muslims | 16,373 | 7,954 | 11,884 | 40,403 | 13,785 | 14,850 | 105,249 | |
Greeks | 8,568 | 10,274 | N/A | 5,226 | 1,632 | 6,047 | 31,747 | |
Armenians | 3,348 | 3,304 | 22,726 | 23,873 | 126 | 2,635 | 56,012 | |
Others | N/A | N/A | 157 | 1,833 | N/A | N/A | 1,990 | |
Total | 28,289 | 21,532 | 33,767 | 71,335 | 15,543 | 23,532 | 194,998 |
According to Smith an additional factor that lead to violence was the return of the Greek refugees to their homes, after being driven out from the area by the Ottoman authorities during World War I.[12] On the other hand, thousands of Turkish refugees from the Balkan wars, who had occupied their homes in the meantime, were expulsed. This turn of event created a rural proletariat apt for brigandage and violence by irregular groups.[12] However according to the report of the Allied commission the events during World War I and the problems of the refugees were not the primary reason of the thorough destruction of numerous Turkish villages and towns in the Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula. They stated that the massacres and destruction was carried out according to a plan by the Greek army who also encouraged the local Greek and Armenians to participate.[13]
Massacres in Izmit and Iznik (1920–1921)
The advance of the Greek forces in June–July 1920 eastwards, outside of the 'Smyrna zone', brought an inter ethnic conflict in the Izmit district[14] between Turkish and Greek regulars and some Circassian mercenaries,[15] the latter acting in a subordinate role according to Toynbee.[16] Turkish irregulars responded by excoriating Christian villages in the Iznik region, east of Yalova and outside the area controlled by the Greek forces.[14] In the nearby city of Iznik, some 539 Greeks, 20 Armenians and 18 Jews were killed on 15 August 1920.[17] During the battles in spring 1920 between Turkish and Greek forces, the Greek advance failed.[14]
Ever since in summer 1920 the Greek forces held an extensive and largely Muslim area, in which groups of nationalist Turks engaged in espionage along with the Turkish Kuvay-i Milliye bands operating against the Greek lines of communication.[14] In the aftermath of the Greek failure, Greek troops took vengeance on Turkish villages which they suspected of harboring anti-Greek activity and in search of hidden weapons. The local Turkish villages were disarmed and so became easy prey to the local Greek/Armenian gangs who often plundered them.[1]
Massacres in 1920–21 in Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula
Events between August 1920 and March 1921
Following the Greek occupation the local Turkish population complained against the Ottoman and Allied authorities against Greek atrocities but without much effect. In a report from the Ottoman gendarmerie of Balikesir region to the gendarmerie headquarters it was stated that since the Greek occupation (August 1920) the Turkish population was subjected to cases of killings, torture, rape and theft. The weapons of the Muslim population were collected and handed over to the local Greeks and Armenians. In the Orhangazi region the villages of Dutluca (7 September 1920), Bayırköy and Paşayayla were burned and the population was massacred.[18] In the Yalova area, in the village of Çınarcık the population was beaten with whips and sticks then shut up in the mosque, their money was taken and some were killed.[1]
The Greek army captured Orhangazi on 16 October 1921 after resistance by Turkish militias. The next day there was a massacre in the nearby Turkish village of Çakırlı, the men were locked in the local mosque where they were burned alive and shot.[19] Two days later on 18 October 1921 the nearby Turkish village of Üreğil (consisted of 90 families) was burned down.[19] On 16 April, the some 1,000 Turkish inhabitants of Orhangazi were sent to Gemlik by the Greek army while the town was burned down the same day by the Greeks. The refugees reached Gemlik under very difficult circumstances, most were robbed and some killed on the way.[3] They were later evacuated by the Allied commission to Istanbul by boat. The next day on 17 April, there was a massacre[19] in the village of Gedelek which was burned[3] because the population could not pay the amount of 4,000 Lira as protection money, the men after they had been robbed of their money were stuffed into a house where they were killed.[1]
Investigation of the Allied commission (13–23 May 1921)
Finally in May 1921, a Inter-Allied commission, consisting of British, French, American and Italian officers,[a] and the representative of the Geneva International Red Cross, Maurice Gehri, was set up to investigate the situation. They sailed with ship "Bryony" In 13 May 1921 the commission started on his investigation by visiting the burned villages of Çertekici, Çengiler and Gedik and then it returned to Gemlik.[3] Here they listened to the Turkish refugees who had gathered there, most of them were from Orhangazi which was burnt by the Greek army one month before, on 16 April.[3] The majority of the refugees had been robbed on the way to Gemlik by Greeks, Armenians [1][3] The commission listened to various cases; including the rape of a sixty years old women by six soldiers.[3]
The commission reported that the Turkish refugees lived in very crowded conditions, most of them slept in the courtyards of mosques and graveyards. In one room of six meter wide they counted sixty refugee women and children.[1] On 14 May the commission listened to the cases of the Greek and Armenian refugees.[3] On Sunday 15 May the commission found out that the Turkish villages of Kapaklı, Narlı and Karacaali where burning, the same evening they went by the boat Broyn to the shore of Karacaali and found on the beach the corpses of 11 Turks who had been killed several hours before with bayonets.[3] The local population gathered around by the shore and asked for protection, they told the commission that Greek soldiers and local Greeks demanded a large amount of money after which they executed 15–20 civilians in the graveyard.[1]The next day they went to Kapaklı, where they found 8 bodies, 4 of them women, in Karacaali 40 women had been taken away by the Greeks.[3]
On 16 May the commission went to the village of Küçük Kumela, the local Turkish population was hiding in their houses out of fear, but when they realized it was the Allied commission a group of 1,000 villagers gathered around them. They told that the situation was terrible since one month and that last Thursday a group of 60–65 Greek soldiers accompanied by 40 Greek civilians came to the village and killed three men and one woman.[3] [1] The day before another Greek group had killed 8–9 people.[3] Meanwhile a Greek officer pressured the villagers to return to their homes where he claimed that they would be safe, but the horrified villagers stayed with the commission.[1] Later that day the commission went to the village of Kapaklı which had been burning for three days. They found 8 bodies under the rubble, 4 of them women. [3]The survivors told the commission that Greek soldiers were responsible.[3] Then the commission investigated the village of Narlı, which had been completely burned down and was still burning.[1]
Conclusion of the Allied commission
It became clear that between March – May 1921 the population had been massacred or fled on a very large scale. Almost all villages and towns had been burned, while the survivors were crammed up in a few locations. First the villages were plundered and almost all of the villagers' livestock were taken away from them, then there was raping and killing and finally their houses were burned. To protect them the allied commission decided to transport all refugees with boats to Istanbul and in total 20,000 refugees were transported.
The Inter-Allied commission, consisting of British, French, American and Italian officers,[b] and the representative of the Geneva International Red Cross, Maurice Gehri, prepared two separate collaborative reports on their investigations in the Yalova-Gemlik Peninsula. These reports found that Greek forces committed systematic atrocities against the Turkish inhabitants.[20] And the commissioners mentioned the "burning and looting of Turkish villages", the "explosion of violence of Greeks and Armenians against the Turks", and "a systematic plan of destruction and extinction of the Moslem population".[21] In their report of the 23rd May 1921, the Inter-Allied commission stated as follows:[13]
A distinct and regular method appears to have been followed in the destruction of villages, group by group, for the last two months... there is a systematic plan of destruction of Turkish villages and extinction of the Muslim population. This plan is being carried out by Greek and Armenian bands, which appear to operate under Greek instructions and sometimes even with the assistance of detachments of regular troops.
According to Maurice Gehri the massacres in the Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula were a result of the defeat of the Greek army at the Battle of İnönü.[16]
"At the time of our investigation, the Peninsula of Samanli- Dagh [the Yalova-Gemlik Peninsula] was behind the Greek front, and it has never been a theatre of hostilities since the beginning of the Greek occupation. Until March last, the region was quiet. The crimes which have come to our knowledge fall within the last two months (end of March to the 15th May). They are subsequent to the retreat of the Greek army after the defeat of Eski Shehir [In Önü]. Possibly they are a consequence of it." – Maurice Gehri
The later famous historian Arnold J. Toynbee was active in the area as a war reporter, Toynbee stated that he and his wife were witnesses to the atrocities perpetrated by Greeks in the Yalova, Gemlik, and Izmit areas and they not only obtained abundant material evidence in the shape of "burnt and plundered houses, recent corpses, and terror stricken survivors" but also witnessed robbery by Greek civilians and arsons by Greek soldiers in uniform in the act of perpetration.[22]
Tables of burned villages
List of atrocities at the villages, according to Ottoman documents[9] page 234-235 | |||||||
Villages | Number of inhabitants | Notes | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teşvîkiye | 430 | Population was massacred, buildings were burned. | |||||
Kocadere-i Bâlâ | 350 | Population was massacred, buildings were burned. | |||||
Kocadere-i Zîr | 550 | Population was massacred, buildings were burned. | |||||
Çınarcık | 550 | Massacred and plundered, only 20 people survived. | |||||
Çalıca | 120 | Population was massacred, buildings were burned. | |||||
Kurdköy | 400 | Population was massacred, buildings were burned. | |||||
Ortaburun | 150 | Village founded and populated by Muslim Georgians and Lazes from Batumi (1893).[23][24] Population was massacred, buildings were burned. | |||||
Günlük[Güllük] | 200 | Burned, population fled, two people were killed. | |||||
Gökçedere | 100 | Majority of buildings were plundered and burned. | |||||
Üvezpınar | 150 | A Laz village.[23] Burned, population partly massacred, partly fled. | |||||
Paşaköy | 350 | Population was massacred, buildings were burned. | |||||
Solucak [Soğucak] | 200 | Population was massacred, buildings were burned. | |||||
Kirazlı | 250 | Population was massacred, buildings were burned. | |||||
Yortan | 250 | Population was massacred, buildings were burned. | |||||
Dereköy | 250 | Population was massacred, buildings were burned. | |||||
Akköy | 550 | Majority of the population was massacred. | |||||
Samanlı | 150 | Population was massacred, buildings were burned. | |||||
Resadiye | 1250 | Totally burned, population was massacred. | |||||
Esediye | 250 | Totally burned, population was massacred. | |||||
Çakırlı | 550 | Totally burned, population was massacred. | |||||
Üreğil | 700 | Totally burned, population was massacred. | |||||
Cihanköy | 250 | Population fled, village was plundered. | |||||
Dutluca | 850 | Large scale massacres, buildings were burned. | |||||
Fıstıklı | 550 | Population fled, village was plundered. | |||||
Karacaali | 650 | Population partly massacred, village plundered and burned. | |||||
Mecidiye | 200 | Village founded and populated by Muslim Georgians and Lazes.[23] Population partly massacred, village plundered and burned. | |||||
Selimiye | 700 | Totally burned, population was massacred. | |||||
Lütfiye | 100 | Population partly massacred, village plundered and burned. | |||||
Hayriye | 250 | Population partly massacred, village plundered and burned. | |||||
Haydariye | 250 | A Georgian village.[23] Population partly massacred, village plundered and burned. | |||||
Ihsâniye | 100 | Population partly massacred, village plundered and burned. | |||||
Küçükkumla | 150 | Population partly massacred, village plundered and burned. | |||||
Sultaniye | 100 | Population partly massacred, village plundered and burned. | |||||
Büyükkumla | 620 | Population partly massacred, village plundered and burned. | |||||
Total Population: | 12,430 | Total Massacred: >9,143 |
List of villages destroyed in the Yalova district during April and May 1921, according to Arnold Toynbee[16] | |||||||
Name of villages | Original number of houses | Number of houses burned | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Çalıca | 40–50 | all | |||||
Kurdköy | 100 | all | |||||
Ortaburun | 40 | all | |||||
Güllük | 50–60 | all | |||||
Gökçedere | 30–40 | all | |||||
Üvezpınar | 50–60 | all | |||||
Paşaköy | 80–90 | all | |||||
Sığırcık | 80 | all | |||||
Kirazlı | 60 | all | |||||
Yortan | 40–60 | all | |||||
Dereköy | 40–60 | all | |||||
Resadiye | 400 | all | |||||
Sultaniye | 10–40 | all | |||||
Gacık | 100 | half | |||||
Total | 1,160–1,300 | 14½ villages burned | |||||
A farm named Şükrü Efendi Çiftliği was also burned. NOTE.—The district covered by the above villages, together with Akköy and Samanlı, is less than a quarter of the total area of the Yalova–Gemlik peninsula, the boundaries of which, on the land side, roughly coincide with the road from Gemlik to Yalova via Pazarköy. |
References
- Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oran Arslan, Nebahat (2003). Yalova, Gemlik, Orhangazi ve İzmit(Samandağlı) Bölgesinde Yaşanan Yunan Mezalimi ve Bölgeye Gönderilen Uluslar arası Tahkik Heyetinin Çalışmaları. Türkiyat Araştırmaları Enstitüsü Dergisi, Sayı:22, Erzurum. p. 307.
Uluslararası Kızılhaç Örgütü temsilcisi Mr.Maurice Gehri, Yunan zulüm, yağma ve katliamlarını incelemek için Gemlik'e geldi. Daha sonra verdiği raporda 16 köyün imha edildiğini, 6.000–6.500 insanın öldürülmüş olduğunu bildirecektir. İsviçreli Gehri ile birlikte bir İngiliz Generalinin başkanlığında, İngiliz, Fransız, İtalyan, Türk askeri temsilcilerinden kurulu Araştırma Kurulu da İngiliz bayrağını taşıyan bir gemi ile İstanbul'dan Gemliğe geldi. Yunan zulümlerinden Gemlik'e kaçmış halkı dinlemeğe başladı." Zeki Sarıhan, Kurtuluş Savaşı Günlüğü III, Ankara 1995, s.528.
Translation to English: "Mr.Maurice Gehri the representative of the International Red Cross came to Gemlik to examine Greek oppression, looting and massacres. Later, in his report he stated that 16 villages had been destroyed, 6000–6500 people had been killed. Headed by a British General, the Swiss Gehri and military representatives of British, French, Italian and Turkish military came on board a ship flying the flag of the British came from Istanbul to Gemlik. Here they listened to Greek atrocities from refugees that had fled to Gemlik. - ^ a b McNeill, William H. (1989). Arnold J. Toynbee: A Life. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199923397.
To protect their flanks from harassment, Greek military authorities then encouraged irregular bands of armed men to attack and destroy Turkish populations of the region they proposed to abandon. By the time the Red Crescent vessel arrived at Yalova from Constantinople in the last week of May, fourteen out of sixteen villages in that town's immediate hinterland had been destroyed, and there were only 1500 survivors from the 7000 Moslems who had been living in these communities.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Current history and forum (16 ed.). April–September 1922. p. 478. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ "Publication - Turkey. Dahiliye vekâleti. Department of refugees - Google Books". Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
- ^ a b c d Gingeras, Ryan (2009). Sorrowful Shores:Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912-1923. Oxford University Press. p. 28. ISBN 9780191609794.
In total only thirty-five were reported to have been killed, wounded, beaten, or missing. This is in line with the observations of Arnold Toynbee, who declared that one to two murders were sufficient to drive away the population of a village.
Cite error: The named reference "Gingeras2009" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ a b c d Toynbee, Arnold Joseph (1970). The Western Question in Greece and Turkey:A Study in the Contact of Civilizations. H. Fertig, originally: University of California. pp. 283–284.
'The members of the Commission consider that, in the part of the kazas of Yalova and Guemlek occupied by the Greek army, there is a systematic plan of destruction of Turkish villages and extinction of the Moslem population. This plan is being carried out by Greek and Armenian bands, which appear to operate under Greek instructions and sometimes even with the assistance of detachments of regular troops
- ^ Toynbee, Arnold Joseph (1970). The Western Question in Greece and Turkey:A Study in the Contact of Civilizations. H. Fertig, originally: University of California. p. 286.
The full version can be found here (Online reports of Arnold Toynbee)
{{cite book}}
: External link in
(help)|quote=
- ^ a b Smith, 1999: 209: "At the same time bands of Christian irregulars, Greek Armenian, and Circassian, looted, burned and murdered in the Yalove-Gemlik peninsula."
- ^ a b "Arşiv Belgelerine Göre Balkanlar'da ve Anadolu'da Yunan Mezâlimi 2". Scribd.com. 2011-01-03. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
- ^ Gingeras, Ryan (2009). Sorrowful Shores:Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912-1923. Oxford University Press. p. 28. ISBN 9780191609794.
In total only thirty-five were reported to have been killed, wounded, beaten, or missing. This is in line with the observations of Arnold Toynbee, who declared that one to two murders were sufficient to drive away the population of a village.
- ^ a b c d History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.342, 1977
- ^ a b Smith, 1999: p. 210
- ^ a b Toynbee 1922, p. 284.
- ^ a b c d Smith, 1999: p. 209
- ^ Gingeras, Ryan. Sorrowful Shores:Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912–1923. Oxford Studies in Modern European History. pp. 118–125. ISBN 019160979X.
- ^ a b c "The Western Question in Greece and Turkey" (PDF). Louisville.edu. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
- ^ {{cite web=http://graduateinstitute.ch/webdav/site/alumni/shared/news/2011/2011_11_09_news/art_complement.pdf%7C D. Rodogno, Lat Cite, 28 October 2011]
- ^ Oran Arslan, Nebahat (2003). Yalova, Gemlik, Orhangazi ve İzmit(Samandağlı) Bölgesinde Yaşanan Yunan Mezalimi ve Bölgeye Gönderilen Uluslar arası Tahkik Heyetinin Çalışmaları. Türkiyat Araştırmaları Enstitüsü Dergisi, Sayı:22, Erzurum. pp. 305–306.
...Balıkesir Jandarma Alayı Kumandanlığından Umûm Jandarma Kumandanlığına Ekim 1920'de gönderilen bir yazıda şöyle özetleniyordu: "Müslümanları ticaret hayatından koparmak için ithalat ve ihracat yasağı koydukları, hükümet konaklarına Yunan bayrağı çekip Türk memurlara görevden el çektirdikleri, işkence, katliam, ırza tecavüz, mal gaspı olaylarının her an yaşandığı, hukuk davalarına papaz başkanlığında bir kilise heyetinin baktığı, Müslümanlardan toplanan silahların Ermeni ve Rumlara dağıtıldığı, Orhangazi'ye bağlı Tutluca, Paşa yaylası, Bayırköy köylerinin yakılıp ahalisinin öldürüldüğü...
Translation to English: "In a report that was sent in October 1920 from the Gendarmerie Regiment of Balıkesir to the General Gendarmerie Headquarters, the following was written: "In order to remove the Muslims from commercial life [the Greeks] banned import and export. They raised Greek flags on government buildings and dismissed Turkish officials. Cases of torture, murder, rape and usurpation of property have become everyday events. Civil cases are headed by a pastor and handled by a delegation from the church. The weapons of Muslims are collected and distributed to Armenians and Greeks. The villages of Tutluca, Paşayayla and Bayırköy, which are part of [the kaza of] Orhangazi, are burned down and the population has been massacred... - ^ a b c Sofuoğlu, Adnan. KURTULUŞ SAVAŞI DÖNEMİNDE KOCAELİ - YALOVA – İZNİK (XVIII, 54 ed.). Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi Dergisi. pp. 795-796-797-798-799-800-801-802-803-804-805-806-807-808-809-810-811-812-813-814. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
Bu esnada Orhangazi'den yedi, Çakırlı Köyünden yirmi kişi kurşuna dizilerek öldürüldü. Üreyil ve Çakırlı köyleri halkı feci bir şekilde toptan katl ve idam edildi. Malları ise yağmalandı...In the meantime, seven in Orhangazi, and twenty people in Çakırlı were shot dead. In Üreyil and the village of Çakırlı wholesale murder was executed in a catastrophic way. their goods had been looted...Orhangazi civarında (Ureyil ve Çakırlı) İslam karyelerindeki silahlar toplanarak ahalisi feci bir surette kâmilen katl ve idam edilerek malları yağma ve haneleri ihrak olunmuştur...Near Orhangazi (Üreğil and Çakırlı) Muslim villages collected weapons of the local people were collected, and tragic murders,executions, looting took place and their houses were burned.
- ^ Toynbee 1922, p. 285: ‘Maurice Gehri stated in his report that "...The Greek army of occupation have been employed in the extermination of the Muslim population of the Yalova-Gemlik peninsula."’
- ^ Naimark 2002, p. 45.
- ^ Toynbee 1922, p. 260.
- ^ a b c d Template:Tr icon Sevan Nisanyan. "Index Anatolicus" (Map). Türkiye yerleşim birimleriyle evanteri. Retrieved 29 May 2014. Cite error: The named reference "Index Anatolicus" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Template:Tr icon "Yalova Valiliği". İlçeler, Çınarcık, Köyler. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
- ^ General Hare, the British Delegate; General Bunoust, the French Delegate; General Dall'Olio, the Italian Delegate; Admiral Bristol, the American Delegate.
- ^ General Hare, the British Delegate; General Bunoust, the French Delegate; General Dall'Olio, the Italian Delegate; Admiral Bristol, the American Delegate.
- Sources
- Toynbee, Arnold Joseph (1970). The Western Question in Greece and Turkey:A Study in the Contact of Civilizations. H. Fertig, originally: University of California.
The full version can be found here (Online reports of Arnold Toynbee)
{{cite book}}
: External link in
(help)|quote=
- Toynbee, Arnold (6 April 1922) [9 March 1922], "Letter", The Times (Turkey)[full citation needed]
- Andros Odyssey: Liberation: (1900–1940), Stavros Boinodiris Phd
- Naimark, Norman M (2002), Fires of Hatred: Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth-Century Europe, Harvard University Press.
- Gingeras, Ryan (2009). Sorrowful Shores:Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912–1923. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191609794.
- Oran Arslan, Nebahat (2003). Yalova, Gemlik, Orhangazi ve İzmit(Samandağlı) Bölgesinde Yaşanan Yunan Mezalimi ve Bölgeye Gönderilen Uluslar arası Tahkik Heyetinin Çalışmaları (Online Turkish journal article with detailed information). Türkiyat Araştırmaları Enstitüsü Dergisi, Sayı:22, Erzurum. pp. 295–303.
- Smith, Michael Llewellyn (1999). Ionian vision : Greece in Asia Minor, 1919–1922 (New edition, 2nd impression ed.). London: C. Hurst. ISBN 9781850653684.
- Ottoman archive documents written in Turkish