30 Mayıs 2019 Perşembe

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

//Ed. Note: This POW was captured by the Greeks near 
Eskişehir about a month before the start of the Battle of
Sakarya (23 August - 12 September 1921).

sakarya savaşı haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu

Officer Candidate Mehmet Rıfat Efendi, from Yenice in Niğde, the son 
of Ahmed Ağa, and a member of Company 2 of the Attack Battalion of 
the 23rd Division, who was taken prisoner by the Greeks on 21 July 337 
(1921) during the attack at Akpınar, Eskişehir, made the following 
statements about the cruelties visited upon him and his fellow soldiers 
by the Greeks during his 1.5 years in captivity.

The first day of my captivity was the day I fell prisoner to the Greeks at 
Akpınar, along with 15 officers and 1,400 soldiers.  Many of these 
soldiers and officers were killed by bayonet by enemy cavalrymen at the 
point of capture in front of our eyes.  In fact, İzzet Efendi, an officer of 
the team of Attack Battalion 1st Company  and Lieutenant Said Efendi 
of the 69th Regiment were among these murdered officers.  Officer 
Candidate Hacı Mehmed Efendi, from Kayseri and the 172nd Regiment,
and Officer Candidate Ahmed Efendi, of Sezer and the same regiment,  
suffered many bayonet wounds at the hands of the Greek cavalrymen 
and were left for dead.  Somehow, though, a couple of days later they 
were transported to the Eskişehir hospital.

From the time they fell captive to the Greeks to their arrival at Athens 
and then the prison camp on Lefkada Island, officers and soldiers, even
the sick and wounded, walked everywhere, with the exception of the 
time spent at sea.  When they passed through towns they were pelted with 
rocks and tomatos by the local Greeks and the Greek soldiers, who all 
spat in their faces and subjected them to unimaginable insults and 
degradations.   While going from İnegöl plain to Bursa two Turkish 
soldiers were shot by the Greek guard company commander for no 
reason and they were both seriously injured.  These wounded men were 
carried on the backs of Turkish soldiers to Bursa, where all soldiers and 
officers were imprisoned in the Yıldırım Mosque, without any food and 
denied permission to go out to relieve themselves.  Consequently, out of 
necessity they relieved themselves inside the mosque.  

eskişehir bursa haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu
The POWs were marched from Eskişehir to Bursa via İnegöl
and then transported by ship from Mudanya to Izmir and from
Izmir to Athens.

While going from Bursa to Izmir and from Izmir to Athens the captive 
prisoners were stuffed into the holds of cargo ships and given  a can of 
water and an empty can to use as a toilet.  Similarly, they were given no 
food and were, in fact, deprived of vital water, besides being given no 
air nor food.   Six or seven people died and many suffered from a 
number of illnesses.

When we arrived in Athens (Parenig Mata) we found Cafer Tayyar Bey.  
We stayed there for 14 days and during that time no bread or anything 
else was given to the officers by the Greeks.  It was only thanks to Cafer 
Tayyar Bey, who obtained some bread and tobacco for us, that our lives 
were saved.  After many and continuous appeals, we were given 100 
drahmas and finally we were transported to Agia Mavra Fortress on 
Lefkada Island, where we 30 officers and 100 soldiers were imprisoned. 

 cafer tayyar bey ile ilgili görsel sonucu
Cafer Tayyar was the commander of the  Turkish 
1st Army in Thrace. He was captured by the 
invading Greeks in 1920 and  imprisoned in Athens. 
After Turkish forces took Izmir in September 1922, 
Cafer Tayyar was exchanged for Greek commander 
Nikolaos Trikopis, who surrendered to Mustafa
Kemal (later Atatürk) at Uşak on 2 September
1922.

The Greeks claimed that our identity papers had not come so they 
wouldn’t give us any portion of 5 months salary.   Within a period of 
time, without clothing and food, and because of the stifling air, the 
oppression reached its zenith.  We were only able to buy bread and 
tobacco from the store opened by the Greek garrison commander on 
credit and even when we got our salaries we still could only buy 
from the garrison commander’s overpriced store, although it would 
have been possible to get cheaper things from outside. The 170 
officers and 100 soldiers in the fortress were under the supervision 
of a Greek sergeant, who subjected us to all kinds of inhumane 
treatment.  This sergeant would call the roll every morning and 
evening for officers and soldiers and turn off the lights at 1 o’clock 
to compel everyone forceably to go to bed.

I was told by an officer who was captured before I was that when 
General Galadis was the commander at Perveze, he wanted to execute 
all the prisoners for no reason and even gave the Gendarmerie orders 
to shoot all of our soldiers and officers in the fortress.  In fact, for a 
trivial reason, Major Ali Bey and Gendarmerie Lieutenant Cemal and 
Officer Candidate Ali Efendi of İşleme village in Niğde, together with 
many other officers and doctors, were confined in the cellers of the 
fortress, deprived of fresh air and any kind of food, for months.  Since 
the late Captain İbrahim Efendi suffered from hemorrhoids, he died 
from a lack of a doctor’s care and medicine, but even more to the 
point, because of the Greeks’ destructive policy of providing no 
treatment. 

lefkada island preveze map ile ilgili görsel sonucu
         Preveze is just north of Lefkada Island.

For months the Greek commanders sold 100 soldiers they had within 
the fortress  to rich families for money, on an alternating basis.  These 
soldiers received only enough food to keep them alive and worked 
under conditions of misery and degradation.  Our civilian prisoners 
lived in fear and were given no care at all so each day 8-10 of them died.  
We know from a reliable source that women and children held in prison 
in Athens suffered similar horrific treatment.  It would be impossible to 
count the incidents the terror and cruelty the Greeks inflicted on all the 
military and civilian prisoners, who, upon their return, provided 
information about their captivity to officials at Izmir and other ports 
about their captivity.

13 June 39 (1923) Officer Candidate Mehmed Rifat

//END of PART V//
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