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{{quotation|"''At the end of June 1921, a few weeks after that report was written, some of these Circassian mercenaries assisted the Greek chettés and regular troops at Ismid in the massacre of Turkish civilians, on the eve of the Greek evacuation of the town. But so far as I could discover, they played a subordinate part, and there is no warrant for making them the scape-goats for either this or any other Greek atrocity.''"<ref>http://louisville.edu/a-s/history/turks/WesternQuestion.pdf</ref>}}
{{quotation|"''At the end of June 1921, a few weeks after that report was written, some of these Circassian mercenaries assisted the Greek chettés and regular troops at Ismid in the massacre of Turkish civilians, on the eve of the Greek evacuation of the town. But so far as I could discover, they played a subordinate part, and there is no warrant for making them the scape-goats for either this or any other Greek atrocity.''"<ref>http://louisville.edu/a-s/history/turks/WesternQuestion.pdf</ref>}}


Turkish bands savaged Christian villages in the [[Iznik]] region, east of Yalova and outside the area controlled by the Greek forces.<ref name=Smith209/>
Turkish bands savaged Christian villages in the [[Iznik]] region, east of Yalova and outside the area controlled by the Greek forces.<ref name=Smith209/> In the nearby city of Iznik, some 500 Greeks, 20 Armenians and 18 Jews were killed on 15 August 1920.<ref>D. Rodogno, Lat Cite, 28 October 2011. [http://graduateinstitute.ch/webdav/site/alumni/shared/news/2011/2011_11_09_news/art_complement.pdf]</ref>
During the battles in spring 1920 between Turkish and Greek forces, the Greek advance failed.<ref name=Smith209/>
During the battles in spring 1920 between Turkish and Greek forces, the Greek advance failed.<ref name=Smith209/>
Ever since in summer 1920 the Greek forces held an extensive and largely Muslim area, in which groups of nationalist Turks engaged in espionage on behalf of their government as well as Turkish guerrilla bands were operating against the Greek lines of communication.<ref name=Smith209/> 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.<ref>*[http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 Online Turkish document with detailed information]</ref>
Ever since in summer 1920 the Greek forces held an extensive and largely Muslim area, in which groups of nationalist Turks engaged in espionage on behalf of their government as well as Turkish guerrilla bands were operating against the Greek lines of communication.<ref name=Smith209/> 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.<ref>*[http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 Online Turkish document with detailed information]</ref>

Revision as of 05:27, 15 May 2013

Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula massacres
Map of the destruction in the peninsula
Location Ottoman Empire, Yalova Province, Turkey
Date1920–1921
TargetTurks and Muslim population
Attack type
Ethnic cleansing, mass murder, etc.
Deaths6,000-6,500 killed[1][dubious – discuss]
PerpetratorsKingdom of Greece[2], local Greeks/Armenians[2] under General Leonardopoulos[2], local Greek bandit leader Yorgo of Gemlik[2], Circassian gangs[3]

Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula Massacres were a series of massacres during 1920-21 the majority during March - May 1921, committed by the Greek army[4] and local Greek[4]and Armenian[4] gangs against the Turkish population of the Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula. Almost all Muslim villages and towns were burned down. According to M. Gehri some 6,000-6,500 were killed.[5][dubious – discuss] An Inter-Allied commission[a] and the representative of the Geneva International Red Cross, M. Gehri, was sent 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.[6] Michael Smith adds that Circassian irregulars also took part in the massacres[3]

Background

World War I (1914-1918)

See also: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) § Atrocities and claims of ethnic cleansing by both sides

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.[7] As a result, the Greek army, with the support of the Entente Powers, invaded Anatolia and occupied Smyrna.[8]

The Ottoman government[9] and Turkish nationalists, which included people from all layers of Turkish society ranging from soldiers to civilians,[10] 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, while the Turkish army perpetrated also similar actions against the civilian population culminating during the Fire of Smyrna.

Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)

Main article: Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)

The advance of the Greek forces in June-July 1920 eastwards, outside of the 'Smyrna zone', brought a inter ethnic conflict between Turkish and Greek regular and some Circassian mercenaries[11] groups in the Izmit district.[12] The Greek army occupied Izmit and later retreated in January 1921. Toynbee saw the retreating Greek army setting fire to the surrounding villages while evacuating Izmit and three days later when he landed at Izmit, the town was plundered and in ruins, at the last moment the Greek army shot more than 300 Turks dead.[13]

Arnold J. Toynbee wrote the following about Circassian involvement in Greek atrocities in Izmit and elsewhere:

"At the end of June 1921, a few weeks after that report was written, some of these Circassian mercenaries assisted the Greek chettés and regular troops at Ismid in the massacre of Turkish civilians, on the eve of the Greek evacuation of the town. But so far as I could discover, they played a subordinate part, and there is no warrant for making them the scape-goats for either this or any other Greek atrocity."[14]

Turkish bands savaged Christian villages in the Iznik region, east of Yalova and outside the area controlled by the Greek forces.[12] In the nearby city of Iznik, some 500 Greeks, 20 Armenians and 18 Jews were killed on 15 August 1920.[15] During the battles in spring 1920 between Turkish and Greek forces, the Greek advance failed.[12] Ever since in summer 1920 the Greek forces held an extensive and largely Muslim area, in which groups of nationalist Turks engaged in espionage on behalf of their government as well as Turkish guerrilla bands were operating against the Greek lines of communication.[12] 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.[16]

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.[17] 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.[17] 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.[2]

Massacres in 1920-21 in Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula

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 a ethnically diverse population including Muslims, Greeks and Armenians. The Kaza of Orhangazi was 34% Muslim in 1914, the rest were Greeks and Armenians.[18] The kaza of Yalova was only 36% Muslim in 1914, the rest Greek and Armenian. The Kaza of Gemlik was 57% Muslim but the town of Gemlik was almost entirely (90%) Greek by the time of the war.[18] Gemlik was surrounded by Greek, Armenian and Muslim Turkish villages.[18]

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.[19] The weapons of the Muslim population were collected and handed over to the local Greeks and Armenians.[20] In the Orhangazi region the villages of Dutluca, Bayırköy and Paşayayla were burned and the population was massacred.[21] 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.[22]

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.[23] Two days later on 18 October 1921 the nearby Turkish village of Üreğil (consisted of 90 families) was burned down.[24] 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.[25]They were later evacuated by the Allied commission to Istanbul by boat. The next day on 17 April, there was a massacre in the village of Gedelek, 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..[26]

Investigation of the Allied commission

Finally in May 1921, a Inter-Allied commission, consisting of British, French, American and Italian officers,[b] and the representative of the Geneva International Red Cross, M. Gehri, was set up to investigate the situation. 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.[27] 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.[28] The majority of the refugees had been robbed on the way to Gemlik by Greeks, Armenians[29] The commission listened to various cases of rape; the ages of the victims varied from as low as twelve to sixty years old.[30]

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.[31] On 14 May the commission listened to the cases of the Greek and Armenian refugees. On 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.[32] 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..[33]

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..[34] The day before another Greek group had killed 8-9 people..[35] 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..[36] 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..[37] The survivors told the commission that Greek soldiers were responsible..[38] Then the commission investigated the village of Narlı, which had been completely burned down and was still burning..[39]

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,[c] and the representative of the Geneva International Red Cross, M. 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.[40] 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".[4] In their report of the 23rd May 1921, the Inter-Allied commission stated as follows:[2]

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 M. Gehri the massacres in the Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula were a result of the defeat of the Greek army at the Battle of İnönü.[41]

"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." - M.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.[42]

Places which were burned and where massacres ocurred

There were 15-16 villages burned[43] or according to another estimate 27.[44]

  • Çertekici
  • Çengiler (today Sugören)
  • Gedik
  • Kadıköy
  • Zağferan
  • Hacı Mehmed
  • Kavri
  • Çınarcık
  • Elmalı
  • Narlı
  • Kırcaali (today Karacaali)
  • Kapaklı
  • Büyük Kumela (today probably Büyük Kumlu)
  • Küçük Kumela (today probably Küçük Kumlu)
  • Bahçecik
  • Badaengir
  • Yüksek Kocadere
  • Alçak Kocadere
  • Kaçık (today Gacık)
  • Yortan (today Kazimiye)
  • Kirazlı
  • Akköy
  • Armutlu
  • Sultaniye
  • Selimiye
  • Hayriye
  • Ereğli
  • Fıstıklı
  • Reşadiye
  • Dereköy
  • Karakilise
  • Sığırcık
  • Uvezpınar
  • Paşaköy
  • Kürdköy (today probably Kurtköy)
  • Gökçedere
  • Ortaburun
  • Güllük
  • Çalıca
  • Değirmendere
  • Teşvikiye
  • Samanlı
  • Esediye
  • Çakırlı
  • Üreğil
  • Fıstıklı
  • Mecidiye
  • Haydariye
  • Lütfiye
  • Ihsaniye
  • Cihanköy

Notes

  1. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434, page 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."
  2. ^ a b c d e f Toynbee 1922, p. 284.
  3. ^ 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."
  4. ^ a b c d Naimark 2002, p. 45.
  5. ^ *[http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 Online Turkish document with detailed information, page 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."
  6. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434
  7. ^ History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.342, 1977
  8. ^ History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.342, 1977
  9. ^ History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.340-372, 1977
  10. ^ History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.340-341, 1977
  11. ^ Gingeras, Ryan. Sorrowful Shores:Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912-1923. Oxford Studies in Modern European History. p. 118-125. ISBN 019160979X.
  12. ^ a b c d Smith, 1999: p. 209
  13. ^ name=Smith 215
  14. ^ http://louisville.edu/a-s/history/turks/WesternQuestion.pdf
  15. ^ D. Rodogno, Lat Cite, 28 October 2011. [1]
  16. ^ *Online Turkish document with detailed information
  17. ^ a b Smith, 1999: p. 210
  18. ^ a b c Ryan Gingeras (26 February 2009). Sorrowful Shores : Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912-1923: Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912-1923. OUP Oxford. pp. 113–. ISBN 978-0-19-956152-0. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  19. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434, page 306
  20. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434, page 306
  21. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434, page 306
  22. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434, page 306
  23. ^ http://www.orhangazi.bel.tr/site/index.php?modul=5_7&menu1=on&catID=33&lkey=1&catname=ORHANGAZ%DD%20ARA%DETIRMA%20VE%20YAZILAR',%20'firmalistesi');
  24. ^ http://www.orhangazi.bel.tr/site/index.php?modul=5_7&menu1=on&catID=33&lkey=1&catname=ORHANGAZ%DD%20ARA%DETIRMA%20VE%20YAZILAR',%20'firmalistesi');
  25. ^ http://www.orhangazi.bel.tr/site/index.php?modul=5_7&menu1=on&catID=33&lkey=1&catname=ORHANGAZ%DD%20ARA%DETIRMA%20VE%20YAZILAR',%20'firmalistesi');
  26. ^ http://www.orhangazi.bel.tr/site/index.php?modul=5_7&menu1=on&catID=33&lkey=1&catname=ORHANGAZ%DD%20ARA%DETIRMA%20VE%20YAZILAR',%20'firmalistesi');
  27. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 307
  28. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 307
  29. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308
  30. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308
  31. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308
  32. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308
  33. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308
  34. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 309
  35. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 309
  36. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 309
  37. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 309
  38. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 309
  39. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 309
  40. ^ Toynbee 1922, p. 285: ‘M. 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."’
  41. ^ http://louisville.edu/a-s/history/turks/WesternQuestion.pdf
  42. ^ Toynbee 1922, p. 260.
  43. ^ http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434
  44. ^ Sorrowful Shores, Ryan Gingeras, page 111-112, 2009
  1. ^ General Hare, the British Delegate; General Bunoust, the French Delegate; General Dall'Olio, the Italian Delegate; Admiral Bristol, the American Delegate.
  2. ^ General Hare, the British Delegate; General Bunoust, the French Delegate; General Dall'Olio, the Italian Delegate; Admiral Bristol, the American Delegate.
  3. ^ General Hare, the British Delegate; General Bunoust, the French Delegate; General Dall'Olio, the Italian Delegate; Admiral Bristol, the American Delegate.

Sources

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