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| type = ], ], etc. | type = ], ], etc.
| fatalities = 6,000 - 6,500 | fatalities = 6,000 - 6,500
| perps = ]{{Sfn | Toynbee |1922 | p= 284}}, local Greeks/Armenians{{Sfn | Toynbee |1922 | p= 284}} under ]{{Sfn | Toynbee |1922 | p= 284}}, ] gangs<ref name=Circassian>Smith, 1999: 209: "</ref><ref name=Gingeras/> local Greek bandit leader Yorgo of Gemlik{{Sfn | Toynbee |1922 | p= 284}}}} | perps = ]{{Sfn | Toynbee |1922 | p= 284}}, local Greeks/Armenians{{Sfn | Toynbee |1922 | p= 284}} under ]{{Sfn | Toynbee |1922 | p= 284}}, local Greek bandit leader Yorgo of Gemlik{{Sfn | Toynbee |1922 | p= 284}}}}


'''Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula Massacres''' were a series of massacres during 1920-21 the majority during March - May 1921, committed by the Greek army and local Greek, Armenian and ]<ref name=Circassian/> gangs against the Turkish population of the Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula. Almost all villages and towns were burned down, some 6,000-6,500 were massacred. An Inter-Allied commission 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 ] on ships.<ref>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434</ref> '''Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula Massacres''' were a series of massacres during 1920-21 the majority during March - May 1921, committed by the ] and local ] and ] gangs against the Turkish population of the Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula. Almost all villages and towns were burned down, some 6,000-6,500 were massacred. An Inter-Allied commission 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 ] on ships.<ref>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434</ref>


==Background== ==Background==
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Following the ] the Greek army was defeated and forced to retreat. During the battles in spring 1920 between Turkish and Greek forces, the Greek advance failed.<ref name=Smith209/> Following the ] the Greek army was defeated and forced to retreat. 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/Circassian gangs who often plundered them.<ref>*</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>*</ref>


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.<ref> name=Smith 215</ref> 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.<ref> name=Smith 215</ref>
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==Massacres in 1920-21 in Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula== ==Massacres in 1920-21 in Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula==


After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the ] the peninsula was occupied by ]. At the end of 1920 control of the region was ceded to Greek troops. The peninsula's population at that moment included a large Greek population. The kaza of Yalova was only 36% Muslim in 1914, while the town of Gemlik being almost entirely Greek by the time of the war.<ref name="Gingeras2009">{{cite book|author=Ryan Gingeras|title=Sorrowful Shores : Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912-1923: Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912-1923|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EeIunm2zH44C&pg=PA113|accessdate=13 May 2013|date=26 February 2009|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-956152-0|pages=113–}}</ref> After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the ] the peninsula was occupied by ]. At the end of 1920 control of the region was ceded to Greek troops. The peninsula's population at that moment included a large Greek population. The kaza of Yalova was only 36% Muslim in 1914, while the town of Gemlik being almost entirely Greek by the time of the war.<ref name="Gingeras2009">{{cite book|author=Ryan Gingeras|title=Sorrowful Shores : Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912-1923: Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912-1923|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EeIunm2zH44C&pg=PA113|accessdate=13 May 2013|date=26 February 2009|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-956152-0|pages=113–}}</ref>However Gemlik was surrounded by Muslim Turkish villages.


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 ] of ] 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, as well as Circasians.<ref name=Gingeras/> In the Orhangazi region the villages of Dutluca, Bayırköy and Paşayayla were burned and the population was massacred. 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>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434, page 306</ref> 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 ] of ] 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, Bayırköy and Paşayayla were burned and the population was massacred. 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>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434, page 306</ref>


Finally in May 1921, a commission 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.<ref>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 307</ref> 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.<ref>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 307</ref> The majority of the refugees had been robbed on the way to Gemlik by Greeks, Armenians<ref>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308</ref> The commission listened to various cases of rape; the ages of the victims varied from as low as twelve to sixty years old.<ref>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308</ref> and Circassians.<ref name=Gingeras/> Finally in May 1921, a commission 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.<ref>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 307</ref> 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.<ref>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 307</ref> The majority of the refugees had been robbed on the way to Gemlik by Greeks, Armenians<ref>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308</ref> The commission listened to various cases of rape; the ages of the victims varied from as low as twelve to sixty years old.<ref>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308</ref>
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>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308</ref> 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 Karacaali and found the corpses of 11 Turks who had been killed several hours before with bayonets.<ref>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308</ref> 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>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308</ref> 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 Karacaali and found the corpses of 11 Turks who had been killed several hours before with bayonets.<ref>http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308</ref>


Revision as of 07:45, 14 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 typeEthnic cleansing, mass murder, etc.
Deaths6,000 - 6,500
PerpetratorsKingdom of Greece, local Greeks/Armenians under General Leonardopoulos, local Greek bandit leader Yorgo of Gemlik

Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula Massacres were a series of massacres during 1920-21 the majority during March - May 1921, committed by the Greek army and local Greek and Armenian gangs against the Turkish population of the Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula. Almost all villages and towns were burned down, some 6,000-6,500 were massacred. An Inter-Allied commission 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.

Background

Main article: 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. As a result, the Greek army, with the support of the Entente Powers, invaded Anatolia and occupied Smyrna.

The Ottoman government and Turkish nationalists, which included people from all layers of Turkish society ranging from soldiers to civilians, 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 the battles in spring 1920 between Turkish and Greek forces, the Greek advance failed.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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

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 irregular Circassian groups in the Izmit district. Turkish bands savaged Christian villages in the Iznik region, east of Yalova and outside the area controlled by the Greek forces. 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. 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. However according to the allied commission this was not the primary reason of the thorough destruction of numerous Turkish villages and towns in the Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula.

Massacres in 1920-21 in Gemlik-Yalova Peninsula

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 large Greek population. The kaza of Yalova was only 36% Muslim in 1914, while the town of Gemlik being almost entirely Greek by the time of the war.However Gemlik was surrounded by Muslim Turkish villages.

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, Bayırköy and Paşayayla were burned and the population was massacred. 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.

Finally in May 1921, a commission 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. 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. The majority of the refugees had been robbed on the way to Gemlik by Greeks, Armenians The commission listened to various cases of rape; the ages of the victims varied from as low as twelve to sixty years old. 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. 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 Karacaali and found the corpses of 11 Turks who had been killed several hours before with bayonets.

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, 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. 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". In their report of the 23rd May 1921, the Inter-Allied commission stated as follows:

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.

"At the time of our investigation, the Peninsula of Samanli- Dagh 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 . 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.

Places which were burned and where massacres ocurred

There were 15-16 villages burned or according to another estimate 27.

  • 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. ^ Toynbee 1922, p. 284. sfn error: no target: CITEREFToynbee1922 (help)
  2. http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434
  3. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.342, 1977
  4. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.342, 1977
  5. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.340-372, 1977
  6. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.340-341, 1977
  7. ^ Smith, 1999: p. 209
  8. *Online Turkish document with detailed information
  9. name=Smith 215
  10. 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.
  11. ^ Smith, 1999: p. 210
  12. 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.
  13. http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434, page 306
  14. http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 307
  15. http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 307
  16. http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308
  17. http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308
  18. http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308
  19. http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434 page 308
  20. 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."’ sfn error: no target: CITEREFToynbee1922 (help)
  21. Naimark 2002, p. 45. sfn error: no target: CITEREFNaimark2002 (help)
  22. http://louisville.edu/a-s/history/turks/WesternQuestion.pdf
  23. Toynbee 1922, p. 260. sfn error: no target: CITEREFToynbee1922 (help)
  24. http://e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/index.php/taed/article/view/1438/1434
  25. 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.

Sources

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