5 Ağustos 2019 Pazartesi

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

//Ed. Note: Graphic details of torture inflicted by the Greek
occupation force in Edremit during Muzaffer Akpınar's 43-
day incarceration, followed by his transport to Izmir, just 
days before the Turkish Army arrived there.//

muzaffer akpınar edremit ile ilgili görsel sonucu
    Health center in Edremit named for Muzaffer Akpınar.



"May God Protect He Who Falls Into My Hands"

When they realized that this situation would not bear any fruit, an 
Armenian officer named Hayik Kerabe, together with four or five 
bayonet-wielding soldiers, came for me.  They took me to the top 
floor of a warehouse building they had turned into a barracks, outside 
of town.  Right away, around 30 soldiers surrounded me, waiting for 
a signal.  The  Armenian officer then said in fluent Turkish: “Hey 
Muzaffer, you have no doubt heard my name as the officer who breaks 
arms and legs and kills men.  Whoever falls into my hands, may God 
have mercy on him.  You will either confess everything here or depart 
this world.” 
 
In response, I said that whatever happens it will only be the same as 
the death I’ve been threatened with so far by each of my horrific 
experiences.  I added that although I thought that my honorable, 
serious and genuine responses were being heard, in fact, the examples 
of your cruelty have persuaded me to remain silent henceforth.  The 
officer became angry and right away he ordered 8 or 10 soldiers to 
randomly cut branches in the garden about 5 centimeters thick to beat 
me with.  Then they had me sit cross-legged and commenced the 
bullying in the warehouse building.  I could no longer hear or see 
anything.   

They left me to my misery for a while but assembled once again to 
press me with the same old questions, to which I gave the same old 
responses.   Herewith I write in brief some of the incidents I witnessed 
during my 43 days in the occupation bureau:

A young teacher from Balıkesir named Mehmet Necati Efendi, who 
came to Edremit for a visit, and a senior bureaucrat named Hasan 
Efendi from Midilli Island, were falsely accused of having contacts 
with others outside of Edremit and brought to a place outside of town 
where they were made to dig their own graves and were buried up to 
their chests;

A good friend of mine named Cevdet Ma’mur Bey was beaten and 
horribly tortured.  They pressed hot iron on his feet and poured hot 
olive oil on his stomach;

Kasap Salim of Midilli Island was accused of distributing weapons to 
gangs so they poured more than 650 grams of boiling olive oil on his 
stomach and roasted him;

Many villagers were subjected to similar tortures to confess that there 
were secret organizations in their villages near to Edremit. As I noted 
above, it is impossible to record all the incidents.  I was able to write 
down a few that I recorded with some circuitous markings in my 
notebook but  the fiends found it and ripped it  up in my house.  

turks enter izmir 1922 ile ilgili görsel sonucu

Our incarceration in Edremit lasted for 140 days and each one was a 
horror.  In light of the approaching Turkish offensive in Anatolia, it 
was decided to move us to Izmir, on the pretext that we would be tried.  
20 of us were transported in handcuffs to the General Staff HQS in 
Izmir on 2 September 1922.  From the General Staff HQS, they took 
us to the Occupation Bureau, the Gendarmerie Bureau, the Tepecik 
Prison Camp and the prison, before we reached the prisoners ferry at 
Punta Station (Alsancak).    Their aim was to display us all over Izmir 
and the local Greeks lining the streets of the city chided our captors 
for still not having killed us already.  

Yet, the scent of the fast approaching heroic Turkish Army was in the 
air those days and neither a Greek officer nor other senior officials 
remained in Izmir.   It was a mass exodus, with ships continually taking 
away those fleeing the city.  Groups from areas surrounding Izmir 
flooded into the city seeking reguge.  None of the Greek bureaus in 
Izmir wanted to deal with us so in the end we were held at the 
Gendarmerie transport office.  Finally, the decision was made to send 
us to Athens.  On the evening of Wednesday, 6 September 1922 – just 
48 hours before  the Turkish Army liberated Izmir -  we were put on 
the Japanese ship ‘Namuza’ and transported to Piraeus.  

greeks flee izmir 1922 ile ilgili görsel sonucu

//END of PART XXVIII-D//

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