28 Mayıs 2019 Salı

TNT POW Reports: Turks in Greek Hands (1920-1923)/Part IV

//Ed. Note: In this POW report, the writer first details his
capture by the Greeks near Gediz in the south of today's
Kütahya province (about where the 'T' is in the word 
'Kütahya' on the map below.)  After detention in Gediz,
he was marched from there to Uşak (middle of the map).

He was transported to Izmir and ultimately spent his
captivity on Lefkada Island.  See Part II of this series
for more on Lefkada.//

gediz uşak haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu

In response to the general message number 13241-869 of the Interior
Ministry, dated 18 April 339 (1923), which was received from the 
Ministry for National Defense, herewith the statement of Second 
Lieutenant Osman Efendi:

On 24 October 336 (1920) at the place called Yongalı Pass where the 
road to Gediz runs through steep slopes on the right and left, we were 
attacked by the Greeks and a battle ensued in which we had the chance 
to respond but I was taken prisoner as the result of a bayonet charge.  
There were about 10 soldiers with me and a few of them were slightly
wounded.  One of my soldiers named İsmail from Mudurnu town was 
wounded in his foot and killed with a bayonet by a Greek guard during 
our transport.  I was transported to Gediz town, where I was made a 
prisoner.  

After staying in the local jail, hungry and uncared for, for about 10 days 
I was made to march to Uşak on foot in a desperate condition.  At Uşak, 
I remained confined for 30 days in a room in a grape juice factory the 
Greeks had turned into a Gendarmerie post,  barefoot and without a cover 
or a bed.  Because when I was taken prisoner they stole all of my clothes.  
I had nothing.  Later, I was transported in a sickly condition to Izmir, 
where I stayed in Balçova for 18 days, sick, uncared for and desperate.  
Next, I was transported to Piraeus, where I stayed in a Number 26 
Hospital for 6 days, after which I was transported with 10 other officers, 
who were in the hospital with me, to Lefkada Island opposite Preveze.  

lefkada corfu map ile ilgili görsel sonucu
The writer's repatriation from Lefkada Island coincided with
the repatriation of POWs from Corfu Island, both of which
are off Greece's west coast. A few of the Turkish POWs 
decided to stay in Greece, surprising the writer and his 
friends.

My life as a  prisoner passed in the fortress on Lefkada Island, otherwise 
known as Agia Mavra.  In the time of Sultan Beyazid, this island was 
taken under our control.  The camp at the fortress, which is known for its 
massive high walls, was allocated for captive officers and soldiers.  There
were 180 officers at the camp. Today, among our prisoners still remaining 
in Greece are Cavalry Second Lieutenant İsmail Hakkı of Dayı village in 
Afyonkarahisar, Bağdadlı Abdüllatif and customs & dues official and 
officer candidate Burhan of Kadıköy, Istanbul, who is the son of Fars Bey.  

They remained in Greece at their own request.   At the beginning of our 
repatriation when we were boarding the ship at Lefkada Island, the neutral 
Swiss officials asked them to board the ship Espriya with us.  But when 
we arrived in Pire, all of a sudden a Greek Gendarmerie motorboat came 
to our ship with a Gendarmerie officer and some soldiers who then took 
the three ashore at Piraeus.  All of us young and honorable fellows were 
outraged that these three had been taken away but subsequently Colonel 
İsmail Hakkı Bey, the senior-ranking officer at the Corfu camp and Major 
Ali Rıza Bey, the Lefkada camp commander, told us not to interfere and 
that the (Turkish) government would punish them appropriately.  So off 
they went and there was no protest or initiative filed about their departure.  

Nevertheless, this matter is well known by all the officers who returned 
from captivity.

During our prison life in the camp on Lefkada Island only Pharmacist 
Captain İbrahim Efendi of Keşan Hospital died.  The reason for his death 
was lack of care and treatment, which was confirmed with a report by a 
Turkish delegation of doctors.

lefkada island fortress map ile ilgili görsel sonucu
The writer was held at the fortress of  Agia Mavra (top of
map) on Lefkada Island.

The entirety of mankind knows that our prisoners were confined under 
conditions of terror and cruelty unrecognized by any civilization.   
Whether at the camp in Athens, the dungeons at Hania, within the high 
walls on Lefkada Island, in the sweltering summer heat at Perveze and 
the equally biting cold of winter locations, where our soldiers were 
sentenced to breaking rocks under dry tents – in short, all of these were 
testimony to the destructive program the Greeks followed.  All of the 
cruelties mentioned above were meted out to all of our countrymen and 
fellow soldiers.

As I mentioned previously, our prison life was spent in the Lefkada 
fortress, which is situated at the end of a canal which connects the Adriatic 
Sea to the Greek Sea, so the fortress is surrounded on three sides by water.  
We had no contact with the outside world.  We lived in desperation one on 
top of another in unhealthy shacks within the fortress, whose size was 
insufficient to hold us.  Every month we were given 440 drahmas, whose 
value is equal to 6-7 banknotes at the market, to take care of all our needs.  
With this money all we could buy was dry bread and cheese.  We never 
saw anything resembling grain.  The fact that all we had were these 440 
drahmas to get everything we needed is the best testimony of our privation.   
Our letters were ripped up at the post office by camp officials and thrown 
into the sea.   We saw them do this despicable thing many times with our 
own eyes.

All of the tragedies and cruelties we were subjected to during our life in 
captivity have been partially presented above.  At the same time, our 
friends have written their own memorandums and these are being 
presented one by one.  When I landed at Izmir, I submitted information 
and details to the proper authorities.

11th Division 127th Regiment 10th Company Second Lieutenant 
Osman Fahri

//END of PART IV//

Hiç yorum yok:

Yorum Gönder