On May 19, 1919, a young serviceman of the Ottoman army, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, landed successful Samsun accompanied by 21 trusted associates. At the aforesaid time, helium came into interaction with the remnants of the Young Turks successful the area. His accomplishment marks the opening of the last signifier of the Genocide of the Pontic Greeks, which was completed successful 1923 and near down a full of 353,000 dead.
In 1913, conscionable earlier the First World War, it is estimated that 600,000–700,000 Greeks lived successful Pontus, portion of the Ottoman Empire. The Young Turk Movement (1909) and the outbreak of the warfare people a broader displacement successful Ottoman argumentation aimed astatine the extermination oregon expulsion of Christian populations and the demographic homogenization of the state, a determination which, arsenic is claimed, was taken nether German influence, peculiarly by Liman von Sanders, who had been appointed subject advisor and ultimate commandant of the Ottoman service during the First World War.
Given this decision, the Genocide of the Greeks of Pontus begins successful 1914, unfolding successful 2 phases, with immoderate dividing the archetypal signifier into two: from 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War, until the seizure of Trebizond by the Russians (5/18 April 1916), and from 1916 until the extremity of the First World War successful 1918. Finally, the 2nd (or third) signifier begins fundamentally with the accomplishment of Mustafa Kemal successful Pontus (May 1919) and is completed successful 1923.
The First Phase
According to Dr. Ioannis S. Papafloratos, during the First World War (1914–1918), astir 250,000 Pontic Greeks were exterminated. The caput of the alleviation ngo successful Pontus, the Caucasus, and confederate Russia, Ioannis Zervos, wrote that earlier the First World War, 600,000 Greeks lived successful Pontus. Of these, 235,000 were killed by the Turks and 80,000 fled to the Caucasus. In confederate Russia, 515,000 Pontic Greeks were living. In occidental Pontus, Argyroupolis and Trebizond suffered the top destruction, portion the economical harm amounted to millions of Ottoman pounds. (Ioannis Zervos, “The Hellenism of Pontus”, lecture delivered astatine the Philological Association “Parnassos” connected September 27, 1919.)
British archives besides state, among different things, the following:
“The accomplishment of an armistice with the Ottoman Empire connected October 30, 1918 (note: the Armistice of Mudros connected the land of Lemnos, October 17/30, 1918, which ended hostilities betwixt the Entente powers and the Ottoman Empire, efficaciously marking its collapse) appeared to bring a impermanent cessation of the persecutions of minorities by the Turks, which were carried retired passim the war.
In pursuit of these persecutions, it is mostly accepted that astir 1,500,000 Armenians perished nether conditions of utmost brutality, and that much than 500,000 Greeks were deported, of whom comparatively fewer survived.” (Foreign Office, 371/7876, XC 145767)
(Greek rebels of Pontus)
Operation “Extermination”
The last enactment of the Genocide, however, begins connected 6/19 May 1919, erstwhile Mustafa Kemal, who had been actively progressive with the Young Turks and had taken portion successful the First World War—participating successful the Battle of Gallipoli, the Russian front, and Syria—landed successful Samsun. Until then, helium had been inspector of the eastbound provinces. The Grand Vizier Damat Ferid Pasha informed the British High Commission that the Sultan had received accusation that Mustafa Kemal was going to the eastbound to incite the colonisation and requested that his departure beryllium prevented. This bid was not carried out…
Kemal arrived successful Samsun accompanied by 21 trusted associates. He instantly began organizing scattered and tiny guerrilla groups. In a telegram to the commandant of the 15th Corps successful Erzurum, helium noted: “The concern successful Samsun is truthful alarming that it whitethorn person tragic consequences. Therefore, I americium forced to stay here.” At the aforesaid time, helium came into interaction with the remnants of the Young Turks successful the region. During his travel inland, an assassination effort was made against him by a Pontic guerrilla named Kosmidis. He killed the advancing Turks, and Kemal escaped…
Meanwhile, the Sultan realized that it had been a mistake to nonstop Kemal to Anatolia, arsenic the Entente Powers would beryllium displeased and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire would beryllium accelerated. Therefore, helium recalled him by telegraph to Constantinople. Kemal went to the Erzurum telegraph bureau and sent an urgent telegram to the Sultan requesting to stay successful Anatolia and pb the resistance. He waited each nighttime for a response. It arrived astatine 6:00 a.m. and was little but clear: “His Majesty orders you to instrumentality instantly to Constantinople.”
Kemal did not obey and replied that helium would stay successful Anatolia “until the federation attains its afloat independence.” The Sultan was taken aback, arsenic helium was not accustomed to specified behavior! He removed Kemal from office, stripped him of his rank, and declared him and his supporters outlaws. Since, owed to the Armistice of Mudros, the Sultan’s authorities had nary close to support equipped forces, helium ordered the Muslim clergy to impulse the faithful to instrumentality up arms against Kemal.
(Topal Osman)
The Lame Executioner
On May 28, 1919, Kemal met with Osman Feroudoun Zanteler (or Feritinoglu), amended known arsenic Topal (Lame) Osman, İsmail Ağa, Darkaoglu Bilal and Kara Ahmet successful Havza. Topal Osman, who was calved successful Giresun successful 1883 oregon 1884, had begun his actions against the Greeks of Pontus from 1914 arsenic the person of a set of irregulars of 250 men: 150 prisoners helium had freed from Turkish prisons and 100 men from the underworld.
At this meeting, Kemal congratulated them for their actions up to that point. He promised that helium would enactment them with officers and assigned them responsibilities for the extermination of the Greeks of Pontus and the remainder of Asia Minor. Kemal went to Erzurum, wherever helium convened a legislature with representatives from Van, Erzurum, Bitlis, Sivas and Kerasunda. There, helium was elected caput of a committee of nationalist salvation and utilized the operation “Turkey for the Turks.” From September 4 to 11, 1919, helium organized a caller legislature successful Sivas.
Representatives of the Bolsheviks from Georgia and Azerbaijan besides took portion successful it. Kemal had begun contacts with the Bolsheviks from June 1919. They supplied him with weapons and ammunition, portion promising assistance successful preventing the instauration of Armenian, Pontic, and Kurdish states. At the aforesaid time, Dr. Fuat Sabit was sent to Moscow for on-site contacts with the Bolsheviks.
In Sivas, the decisions of Erzurum were confirmed and the Pontic contented was a cardinal taxable of discussion. It was initially decided to signifier a committee of Turks successful Trebizond to forestall the constitution of a Greek Empire of Pontus.
According to Udo Steinbach, successful Die Türkei im 20. Jahrhundert. Schwieriger Partner Europas (1986), the landing of Greek troops successful Smyrna successful May 1919 encouraged the Greeks of Pontus to proceed with the proclamation of the Republic of Pontus, which would dwell of the regions of Trebizond, Samsun, Sinope and Amasya. This was declared connected May 20, 1919 successful Trebizond.
However, Kemal began gathering a important fig of troops. Soon helium reached 16,000–17,000 men and by the extremity of 1920 up to 30,000 men. His archetypal people was the Greeks. At the aforesaid time, Topal Osman, with the criminals helium commanded, dispersed fearfulness and panic among the Greeks of Pontus.
In July 1919, the president of the Permanent Congress successful Batumi, Vasilis Ioannidis, drafted 2 letters asking Venizelos to intervene with the Allies truthful that they would instrumentality power of Pontus successful bid to forestall the massacre of the Greeks there. Unfortunately, Venizelos did not respond positively to this request, nor to a consequent 1 sent by Pontic fighters successful August 1919 requesting weapons, ammunition, blankets, medicines, bandages, etc. According to Ioannis Papafloratos, if the Greek authorities had sent aid, a 2nd beforehand would person been opened down the Kemalist forces. Since August 1919, a vessel carrying subject supplies and destined for Samsun was successful Piraeus. This vessel ne'er departed. However, Venizelos had sent his trusted colonel D. Katheniotis to Pontus to signifier the fighters militarily and to compile a elaborate study connected the concern successful the region.
Horrific details
It is intolerable to people each the crimes committed by the Turks against the Greeks of Pontus betwixt 1919–1923. We volition bounds ourselves to immoderate diagnostic events. Topal Osman was receiving orders from the “Union and Progress” Committee astatine the time. Rıza Nur, past Minister of Health, met him and the pursuing dialog took place:
“R.N.: Chief, cleanse Pontus thoroughly!
T.O.: I americium cleansing it well.
R.N.: In the Greek villages, bash not permission 1 chromatic upon another.
T.O.: That is what I americium doing, but I permission lone a fewer bully buildings and churches successful lawsuit we request them.
R.N.: Even those destroy, and scatter their stones truthful nary 1 tin accidental a religion ever stood there.
T.O.: Alright, I had not thought of that; I volition bash so.”
On 9/2/1920, British Sub-Lieutenant S. J. Perring, whose vessel was anchored successful Trebizond, wrote successful a study astir massacres of Greek civilians successful the metropolis and its surroundings by the men of Ali Riza. In the aforesaid month, Topal Osman’s men sent the inhabitants of Kotioura and Oinoe connected decease marches, portion successful Merzifounta they exterminated each the inhabitants. In Bafra, the Turks locked each women and children (about 6,000 people) wrong churches. They acceptable the churches connected occurrence and astir of them were burned alive. In Bafra and Atsam they executed 90% of the Greeks surviving there, numbering 25,000. The survivors were sent connected decease marches. In April 1920, Çetes led by the notorious transgression Karamistich, a life-sentence captive successful Tokat situation who was released by bid of Kemal, looted the colony of Köseli successful Tokat and, aft raping the priest’s daughters, demanded ransom from the villagers truthful arsenic not to execute them. Although the villagers gave each the wealth they had, the Turks locked astir of them successful a church, acceptable it connected fire, and burned them (30/4/1920).
(Pontic rebels successful beforehand of their dormant comrades)
At the larboard of Kerasous
The remainder were massacred, portion lone 30 girls survived, who were sold arsenic slaves to section aghas. In June 1920, the Greek vessel “Filia” docked astatine the larboard of Kerasous owed to a method failure. A ample fig of equipped Turks boarded the ship, arrested the 7 unarmed Greek sailors, and imprisoned them. After torturing them, they executed them. On October 7, 1920, the commandant of the British Naval Squadron successful the Black Sea sent a revealing study to his government. After stating that each Greeks of Nicaea were massacred, helium continued: “Personally, I myself saw places wherever determination were dozens of corpses. The victims’ hands and feet were chopped off. They were tortured. First their limbs were chopped disconnected and past their heads. Among the bodies I intelligibly recognized women and children.”
Amasya was attacked by the Turks connected 26/10/1920. A full of 1,140 men, young and old, were arrested, and different 180 from neighboring villages. Nine groups were organized for deportation to the east. Out of the 1,320 men, 280 implicit the property of 18 were selected arsenic soldiers. The remainder were led aft an exhausting 46-kilometer march to the determination of Kavak (Lefkes). There, portion they were resting, they were ambushed and 701 of them were killed.
In Merzifounta, successful 1903, the “Pontus” relation was founded by graduates of the city’s Anatolia College. By 1913 it had 180 members. In February 1921, members of the association’s shot squad were arrested connected the accusation that their jerseys (with achromatic and bluish stripes) resembled the Greek flag. Six months later, each of them were executed successful Amasya.
Çetes attacked the Greek villages of Kountzilar, Martar, Ekiz Tepe, Karasein and Muamli.
The Çete leaders Arnaut Hussein and Mehmet Tiliroglu ordered the burning of the villages and the gathering of those who could not flight (at slightest 350 people) successful the mansion of the section notable Savvas Tsigaloglou successful Muamli. There, they acceptable occurrence to the location and burned them alive. On 5/6/1921, 600 Greeks from villages successful the Bafra portion were led to 1 of these villages. They were locked successful the religion of Saint Charalambos and burned alive…
In the colony of Alatsam successful Bafra, an bonzer lawsuit occurred that aforesaid day. Çetes nether Duran Bey and the gendarmerie serviceman İhsan Bey entered the colony and gathered its inhabitants successful the square. From there, they took them to the Turhan forest. Just earlier executing them, a beardown earthquake shook the ground. The Turks considered it a divine motion and canceled the execution. The would-be victims were taken to the situation of Elbistan (ancient Elpinikion).
(Mustafa Kemal Ataturk)
International reactions
Gradually, the atrocities of the Turks began to go known internationally and provoked beardown reactions. On 20/11/1921, a ample rally was organized by American senators and academics successful New York. There were galore eyewitnesses of the massacres successful Pontus, specified arsenic Dr. Nosto, who described what they had witnessed successful horrifying detail. That period alone, successful the Samsun region, 58 villages were burned. The assembled participants approved a solution addressed to the President of the United States, Warren G. Harding.
A fewer days earlier, the British MP T. O’Connor asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Hamshworth, what enactment his state would instrumentality regarding the hangings of Greeks and Armenians by the Turks, and however it would enactment if the French near Cilicia. Hamshworth replied that the Turkish property had acknowledged the hangings of Greeks and Armenians successful Bafra and Amisos, and that helium himself was alert of the sidesplitting of 950 Greeks and Armenians nether barbaric conditions.
On 22/11/1921, astir 40 Greek writers and artists issued a protestation to European intellectuals. From it, it is learned that galore infants died aft being thrown against walls. In the United States, beardown pro-Greek enactment was developed by Senator King, who besides referred to the assistance provided to Kemal by the USSR, which sought the annulment of the Treaty of Sèvres, portion calling connected the President of the United States to take, unneurotic with the Europeans, an inaugural to notation the substance to the League of Nations.
Clemenceau was among the archetypal to predict, arsenic aboriginal arsenic 1919, what would hap successful Pontus, portion Lloyd George referred to 500,000 victims. Churchill besides made statements against the Turks. However, determination were besides astatine slightest 3 Turkish MPs who distanced themselves from the atrocities against the Greeks: “This convulsive colonisation transportation is going to be, successful the future, an indelible stain of shame connected our forehead” (Hakki Hami Bey, MP for Sinop).
The fig of victims
On 1/12/1922, ecclesiastical sources referred to 303,327 victims of the Turks successful Pontus. The fig accepted contiguous by each is 353,000 dead. Hundreds of thousands of Pontic Greeks were deported. 815 prosperous communities were wholly destroyed. 1,174 churches and 960 schools were looted and burned.
Dr. I. S. Papafloratos considers the fig of 353,000 to beryllium excessively low. Lloyd George himself, connected 14/10/1922, stated that from 1914 until past the Turks had cold-bloodedly killed astatine slightest 500,000 men, women, and children. “The Turkish service has, successful summation to the enthusiasm of victory, humor connected its hands,” helium concluded.
In 1994, the Greek Parliament, pursuing a connection by then-Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, recognized the Genocide of the Pontic Greeks and voted to state 19 May arsenic a Day of Remembrance for the Genocide of the Greeks successful the Pontic portion of Asia Minor.
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