7 Mayıs 2019 Salı

TNT POW Reports: Greeks Captured Ottoman Scion Running Guns (1922)

//Ed. Note:  Herewith a report about a Turk named Ali Sami,
evidently from a famous Ottoman family, who was captured
by the Greeks in the Gulf of  Izmit while running guns to
Turkish nationalist forces, probably in 1922 or earlier.

These POW reports relate to both military and civilian Turks
and were written and compiled in June 1923, after the POWs
had (somehow!) endured captivity and returned to Turkey.
TNT has transcribed/translated the reports and will be 
presenting them all in the near future.//

kocaeli mudanya bursa haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu
Ali Sami Bey was captured off Darıca, at the western end of 
the Gulf of Izmit and jailed in both Mudanya and Bursa, 
lower left for 5.5 months.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Smuggling Ammunition
What Happened to a Young Turk:

Herewith the statement of Ali Sami, 31 years old, the son of the late 
Şahabuddin and the grandson of the late Ottoman Secretary Mustafa Nuri 
Pasha,  residing at villa number 8 on the avenue in Vaniköy:

Question: Please tell us where and in what manner were you captured by 
the Greeks?  Were there others besides you who were captured?  Where 
were you taken, what are the names of the camps you were held in and 
how many people were there?

Answer:  I was in a boat off Darıca taking war materials to Izmit when 
I was captured by Greek warships.  First, I was beaten and degraded for 
5 days on a military ship named ‘Dafni’.  After that, I was delivered to 
the battleship ‘Averof’.  I suffered the most extreme torture for 13 days 
before being taken to the command at Mudanya.  There were 5 others 
with me when I was captured and we were all thrown into the Mudanya 
prison.  The number of prisoners in a small, filthy room was 10 or 20 
times its capacity. Each day, hungry and thirsty, we were made to work at 
forced labor for the army in work that wasn’t fit for animals, under the 
whip of the vicious Greeks.  The local Greeks, although they  are Turkish 
citizens, would harass us in the camps and on the streets.  The stories of 
the Inquisition could not compete with the treatment we suffered.

Question:  Are you aware of anyone of our prisoners who has not 
returned and is still in Greece?  Might you know their addresses?

Answer:   I saw with my own eyes that quite a few of my compatriots in
the camps died because of hunger and illness.   Unfortunately, since we 
could not even greet each other, there was no way I could have learned 
their addresses.  Perhaps when the statistics are prepared I can take some 
measures to find out about them.

mustafa nuri paşa ile ilgili görsel sonucu
            Mustafa Nuri Pasha

Question:  Don’t you know anything about those of our prisoners who 
died there?   If you do know, what are their particulars and the causes of 
their deaths?   Was it from  illness and if so, what kind of illness, or was 
it from physical privation?  Do you have any information about this? 

Answer:  Although I know about the deaths of many of our prisoners, I 
do not know their personal particulars.  But none of them died from 
hunger and filth - I assert and accept that they were essentially murdered 
in this way.   Every prisoner was hungry and consequently a candidate for 
death.  It would have been a miracle for a Turkish prisoner to have been 
able to call for a doctor.

Question:  Under what reasons and factors were our prisoners jailed, who 
were they, how many of them died, where were they imprisoned, what are 
their identities?  Do you have any information about this?

Answer:    It is certain that the civilian prisoners were all taken prisoner 
because of the Greeks’ vile and vicious actions.  The dishonorable Greek 
fiends took children 7 and 8-years old, stole oxen from the fields, grabbed 
young girls from their homes.  Poor old women who appealed to the 
despicable occupation command at Mudanya for their loved ones were 
subjected to similar treatment.  As for myself,  after being held at the 
Mudanya prison for 2.5 months without trial, I was transported to the  
Greek General Staff prison at Bursa.  I don’t know if my fellow prisoners 
were tried but none of us prisoners were given a hearing or a court 
appearance, being treated like a herd of animals despite our complaints.  
With regard to deaths, I can say most emphatically that while I was held 
in the Mudanya prison 15 to 20 of my fellow prisoners were killed and 
there was no health care whatsoever,  such as a doctor or a hospital.  
Other than having seen the bodies taken to filthy carts on the street,  I 
have no information about them, nor do I know their families or 
addresses.

Question:  What kind of treatment were you and your friends subjected to 
during your captivity? What did you eat and how was your clothing and 
lodgings? What kinds of deprivation did you suffer or what did you 
complain about?

Answer:  The number of atrocities that I and my brothers suffered during  
5 months of captivity cannot be counted.  The involvement of the local 
Greeks and Armenians who volunteered to the Greek army exacerbated 
our situation and made our torture routine.  With regard to food, at the 
Mudanya prison they would slip a few broken and dried bisquits through 
the window in the morning – enough for 5 or 6 people, yet there were 
70 or 80 of us.  I can say truthfully that 2 or 4 times each week we got no 
water and I defy anyone to say otherwise.  As for international norms and 
laws, as opposed to the honorable Turkish army, the Greek gangs were 
clearly in contravention of these so I see no need to say anything further 
on this matter. 

Question:  Is it possible for you or your fellow prisoners  to substantiate 
your experiences in captivity and the related information?

Answer:   Our experiences in captivity were quite grave.  There wouldn’t 
be enough books to hold the details.  I only wish that God will allow our 
great justice-loving government to uphold the rights of, and take revenge 
for, us poor souls and that our martyrs,  who gave their lives for their 
country, will never be absent from our hearts. 

Question: Will you sign your statement?

Answer: Yes, I sign it.

Police Officer Number 2702 Sufut (statement-taker)
Ali Sami, grandson of the late Mustafa Nuri Pasha, in Vaniköy, Istanbul

vaniköy haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu

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