TNT History Archives: Greek Occupation Spreads; Turks Resist (June-July 1919)/Part I

//Ed. note: As the Greek army expanded it 

occupation from Izmir in June and July 1919,

the nascent Turkish nationalist resistance 

began to emerge and attempt to counter the 

Greek advance.  

These telegrams and reports from Ottoman

Turkish officials in the area were sent to 

Istanbul and compiled and published in 1919 

by the Ottoman Army.//

                   Turkish resistance fighters in Akhisar.

1) Enciphered telegraph dated 24 June 1919 from the Kula Site 

Command:

Since 22 June 1919, the Greeks have been conducting weapons 

searches in Manisa and Kasaba (Turgutlu) and arresting intellectual 

youths and leaders.   Manisa 'müftü' (Moslem religious official) was 

badly beaten and during a search in Ödemiş on 23 June 1919 the 

municipal secretary was hung by his feet.  The Moslem populace, 

cowed by this terror and cruelty, fled in droves by train and on foot 

to Salihli.  

Kula Site Commander Nedim  

2) Report of the Kula Site Command dated 26 June 1919: 

According to the report of the Salihli Site Command, more local Greeks 

than Greek soldiers participated in the raid on Ahmetli. Depredations 

and terror were inflicted by the gangs beyond the occupation zone.  

A French sergeant who traveled from Salihli today to Ahmetli said 

upon his return that he had personally seen the bodies of Moslems still 

lying on the streets of Ahmetli and he noted that the bodies need to be 

buried.  Villagers' animals have been stolen, people arrested and beaten 

during so-called arms searches, and women have been forced to take 

off their veils.  All of the young intellectuals and local leaders in Manisa 

and Kasaba (Turgutlu) have been arrested and hung by their legs. 

Kula Site Commander Nedim.

3) Enciphered telegram dated 8 July 1919 from the 61st Division 

Command:  

Early in the morning on 7 July 1919, thirty Greek cavalry and a number 

of  infantrymen, together with a 200-man contingent of armed Greek 

'committee' members from Papasköy and other villages, stormed the 

farm of Mirmiran  Halid Paşa, a well-known farm owner and leader of 

Manisa, southeast of  Mihailli village.  

The attackers killed Halid Paşa and five of his men, burned the farm 

and looted the site.  Halid Paşa's head was severed but members of the 

'Kuva-i Milliye' (Turkish Independence Army) arrived at the site in 

time  to rout the Greek attackers and inflict heavy losses, pursuing the 

remaining Greek forces to the Gediz River.  Halid Paşa's head and body 

were retrieved and sent to Akhisar. 

As the Greek soldiers and gangs came and went they killed many of the 

Moslem people they encountered along the way and burned their 

villages.   As the result of these incidents, the Moslem population is 

quite downhearted, so to bolster their peace-of-mind and steady them, 

the local (Ottoman) commander there has been directed to take the 

necessary measures. 

61st Division (in Balıkesir) Commander Colonel Kâzım

//END of PART ONE//