describes the horrors of his 43 days of interrogation in
the basement of the Greek occupation forces in the city.//
"Greek Atrocities" English 1921 This booklet was published
by the Turkish government in English in 1921 to document
Greek transgressions for the international audience. But,
as always, there is this competing Greek narrative from
the same time frame:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The questions posed to me, in order: my particulars, my
reason for
being in Edremit and my occupation.
Arrests in Edremit:
I was questioned about a secret and armed organization
operating in
Edremit for a long time; about its members and volunteers; about a
plot in which I would massacre all the Christians and soldiers on
Easter; about
my pharmacy being the organization’s meeting place;
about our contacts with
raiders who would conduct attacks in
Anatolia; about our ongoing contacts with
Çanakkale; and the
existence of this same organization in villages.
As evidence of this they said they had two
letters. They asked other
incredible
questions to which I responded, in order, with incredulity.
I said that everyone was too scared by the
military presence to have
outside contacts and that to do so would be an act of
insanity. I
also explained in sensible
terms that, in particular, those of us with
educations and able to discern
right from wrong would never engage
in such dangerous activities and that doing
so would only invite
calamaties.
However, since what I said flew in the face of their long-
held beliefs
they did not accept my defense and rejected it with
unrestrained violence,
throwing me into the cellar of the building
they had made their occupation
headquarters.
Interrogation by Bastinado:
They had me lie down on the ground with the strap of a
Mauser rifle
passed over my legs and tied around my neck. An officer, assisted
by an interpreter and a
Gendarmerie soldier, who assumed the duty
of the interrogation and who was
determined to expose the supposed
secret organization, gave the soldier a whip
woven of 15, 20 thin
wires and abour a yard long. They began to beat me with it and I
repeated
my defence again in a loud voice, asserting that I was
innocent and that the
accusations against me were ficticious.
But the blows from the whip only increased in violence. My strength
gave
out and I fainted. I couldn’t see the
area around me, nor could
I feel the pain.
There was a brief pause but then I saw three
bloodthirsty characters
with eyes like hyenas in front of me. I
sank
to the bottom of the wall, with all parts of me lying on wet ground.
I realized that I had passed out from the
violent blows and that they
had thrown water on me to revive me.
These moments of calm were quite brief,
though, and they began to
ask the same questions all over again. I said that a government that
claimed to have
come to Anatolia to spread rights and justice would
not engage in atrocities
such as this but that by doing so they had
created an atmosphere of
terror. I asserted that, in short, their
approach
was wrong and that I had no information whatsoever about the
questions
they were asking me. The officer became
angry and spouted
filthy curses at me, ordering that I be beaten almost to the
death.
So this iteration of the
interrogation was worse than the initial one.
When I opened my eyes in the damp, fetid darkness of the cellar, the
only thing I saw was a soldier of the despicable and vile country of
snakes
roaming around in his dirty boots. My
feet had swelled so
badly from the blows that my socks were ready to explode. I was
exhausted and every part of me
hurt. There was no help, though.
Only this terror and calamity. In the horrific darkness of the night,
with
no sense of well-being, I fell into a deep sleep.
The next day the same questions were posed
and the torture continued.
This is just
the account of one of the 43 days I spent in this chamber of
horrors. I had no contact with anyone on the outside
and was not
allowed to speak with anyone.
I gave up any hope of rescue from this
hell hole but I made up my mind
to record these crimes for posterity
after my death, pulling a calling card
from my pocket on which I
preserved the following words:
“I am exhausted from Greek tyranny and torture inflicted on
me as
the slanderous target of an honorless .... Since they gave me no chance
to make
statements I will soon expire. But I
will die with the honor
that befits a Turkish youth and maintain my strength
until my last
breath. Farewell.
3 May 1922
In the cellar of the Greek Occupation Bureau in Edremit”
//END of PART XXVIII-C//
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder