TNT Matchbox Diary: A Turkish POW in Russian Prison Camp (1915-1918)/Part LXX

//Ed. Note:  News of hunger affecting the Russians reaches
Fuad Bey, as he and his fellow inmates do their best to
cope.// 

13 ((sic, 3 March)) March 1917 Saturday

The weather is clear, the cold has eased. News (Tercüman, lead story): 

it is written that these Allied Powers, in light of the battle victories of 

Turkey and its allies, will not achieve their aim by deceiving other 

nations hither and yon into joining the war. They can only do this 

themselves. But really, up to now they haven’t been able to 

accomplish anything and, by implication, won’t be able to do so in the 

future.  It is written additionally that they should sue for peace soon. To

support this idea the current situations of Romania, Belgium, Serbia and 

Montenegro, which have all been deceived into joining the war, are 

given. There are a few other observations, as well…again,Talat Paşa’s 

statements are written about. It is written that up to now Turkey has

gotten 79 million liras from Germany and together with 42 million of a

 future loan to be secured, the words of Cavit Bey (who said that if 

Germany lends another 150 million Turkey will remain its long-term 

friend) have been met with satisfaction. There is also mention of the 

hunger in Russia. Today we toured around the perimeter of the city for 

quite a while. Day by day, everything here is getting more expensive. 

Potatos, which were 60 kopeks per pud a week ago have jumped

Up to a ruble and a half. The same is true for other things.

4 March 1917 Sunday

The weather is clear, sunny. The cold is rather mild. News (Tercüman): 

it is written that English radicals have appealed to the government for 

a quick peace; a commission has been established for the liberation of

 the Tatars who are the same as Ottoman Turks; the Turkistan Turks 

don’t accept it when the Russians say they’re from Iran. On the contrary, 

they take it as an insult and insist that they are absolutely pure Turks; 

a late Armenian millionaire has donated 300,000 rubles to Turkish and

Islamic welfare organizations. According to Russian newspapers, the 

English have taken Kutülamare. Today Muştak and Hüseyin Efendiler 

came. They say that bread is up to 40 kopeks and sugar up to five 

rubles. This expense is that much more of a burden for us prisoners. 

We went out for a walk in the afternoon and made a few tours around 

the city. In the evening I got a funt of potatos from/for  table d’hote for 

four kopeks per funt. I roasted them in ashes. They taste good with salt. 

When necessary, one can eat them instead of bread. We didn’t have a 

lesson at night. I passed the time reviewing my diary.

5 March 1917 Monday

The weather is a bit cold, some snow fell. These days everyone’s 

talking about hunger. We’re willing to eat potatos, in fact we really 

want them, but we don’t have any…I don’t know. What will happen? 

Again, they came fromt the other houses to visit. Saffet’s dear friend 

Salah, who moved to Malaşova house a few days ago, came too. The 

two friends were reunited, ha!...this eveningthere was a strange 

incident. While Halis and I were playing a game Halis yelled something

and Süleyman intervened. I didn’t notice. After the game I asked Halis 

why he had the sad look on his face. He responded tht he got mad when 

Süleyman intervened. I got agitated as well, took the mandolin in hand 

,and started to make noise…anyway, after some time passed we spoke 

directly with Süleyman. First, he took a threatening tone, saying very 

freely ‘if you cross me you’ll be crushed.’ We responded in the same 

fashion and then I said to him in the appropriate way that he was

absolutely in the wrong.  He said a few things to prove himself right 

but he was unsuccessful. Although he didn’t admit verbally that he was 

wrong, his face showed that in his heart he knew he was. 

6 March 1917 Tuesday

The weather is still cloudy. There were some snow flurries. News: 

supposedly, the Germans are in retreat on the French front. The 

English and the French are giving this great importance, wondering

whether it’s a trick or a plan. In the morning Trabzonlu Hasan moved 

to Malaşova and Erzurumlu Hasan came here from there…we went to 

the Kazarma (main barracks) in the afternoon. Again, we each got 50 

rubles. So far I’ve received 640.5 rubles. We chatted with our fellow 

townsmen and friends over there. Upon our return we each gave 27 

rubles for table d’hote, along with four rubles for last month. The table 

d’hote and bread problems have now been solved. Temel and Hurşid 

were insisting that bread go to the other houses. I countered that I 

wasn’t willing for this to happen and most of the others didn’t agree 

either. But even though I proposed that the majority should be

polled on this subject no one else backed me up with their voice so the 

matter remained unsettled. I don’t understand how they can say at other 

times ‘this should be done this way or that way’ and yet when the 

problem comes out in the open nothing serious happens. Really, 

disunity is not good at all. This really bothers me, all this grumbling 

is quite aggravating. They don’t want anything agreed to or even 

discussed. But the gossip goes on for days. Damn this situation!...I 

had a dream last night where it seemed that I had stopped somewhere 

in an automobile. My father passed by and I said hello. Then, with 

permission, I ran toward my father and cried ‘father!’. But when my 

father saw me he began to move away immediately. I woke up 

astonished.

//END of PART LXX//

Architect in Exile

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 3 June 2019)


                           The coffee break that never ends.

Landscape architect Azat Yalçın began working for the Fatih
municipality in Istanbul in 2013 and he has been fired and
returned to work 8 times with court decisions in that period.

In the latest turn of events, Yalçin returned to work but this
time as the lone worker assigned to a municipal living center
that has been evacuated because it is in danger of collapsing. (!)
So Yalçın sits in a chair at a table in the otherwise vacant
building attending to his 'duties', although the toilet facilities
and fire equipment have been removed from the facility.


                         Exiled to a dead living center.

To ensure that Yalçın is 'on the job', a security guard has been
posted at the building's entrance and a camera has been trained
on the table where he sits.  From time to time municipal officials
drop by to see whether or not Yalçın is 'working' and make a
record of their findings. (!)


                                Fatih district of Istanbul.

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

//Ed. Note: This POW spent the bulk of his captivity on
Lefkada Island and his report tracks with that of the 
writer in Part IV of this TNT series, including the 
decision of some Turkish POWs to remain in Greece.//


                         The Second Battle of İnönü

Herewith the statement of Ali Efendi, born 310 (1894), son of Salah 

from Niğde’s İslama village, who has returned from captivity:   

22 May 339 (1923)

                              

Question: Where were you taken prisoner by the Greeks and who else 

was taken prisoner?

Answer:  On 20 March, at Zebura Hill during the Second Battle of İnönü, 

I was taken prisoner with Second Lieutenant  Yusuf Kemal of Aydın and 

another injured officer, whose name and hometown I don’t know, along 

with 30 soldiers.

Q: After you were taken prisoner where were you transported to?

A. With our arms tied, we were transported to Bursa, where we stayed 

for 15 days. From other fronts, officer prisoners who came to Bursa were 

First Lieutenant Halis of Istanbul, Lieutenant Bakî of Istanbul, 

Lieutenant Mahmud Necib of Aydın, Lieutenant Fazıl of Aksaray, 

Lieutenant  Yusuf  Kenan of Aydın, Lieutenant Raif of Ankara, 

Lieutenant Tevfik from ?Elmalı? and another 11 officers whose names 

I cannot remember.  We were all transported together from Mudanya 

to Izmir.

Q: How long were you in Izmir and where were you transported from 

there?

      

A: After staying in Izmir for 24 hours, we went to Athens

Q: When you were transported from Izmir how many of you were there?

A: There were 300 civilians and soldiers.  I didn’t know their names or 

hometowns.

Q: What kind of cruelty and torture did you experience from the Greeks

from the point of capture to Athens?

A: We were transported with all the officers’ arms tied and the soldiers 

given no bread or water.  In fact, a few civilians and soldiers died along 

the way from hunger and beatings. The cruelty they meted out wouldn’t 

even be done by animals, let alone humans.


Lefkada Island and Preveze are located at the green arrow, left.

Q: How long were you in Athens and how did the Greeks treat you 

there? Where exactly were you and how many of you were there?

A: We 12 officers were held in a building named ‘Esperya’ and then 

transported to Perveze.  The soldiers and civilians remained in Athens.  

We were confined on Lefkada Island for 24 months.  There were 150 

officers there.  In a year, the 12 of us were given no salary  and we were 

subjected to various forms of cruelty and torture that defy description.  

In fact, the family of one of us, Gendarmerie Lieutenant Cemal, came to 

the fortress but they were denied access to him.  Myself, Cemal, Major 

Ali Rıza, who was a school teacher in Bursa, Major Muhlis, Major Said, 

Lieutenant Suad and Police Superintendant Hacı were all thrown in the 

dungeon for 3 months because the Greeks said we rebelled.  Before we 

were thrown in the dungeon, a colonel named Kelatsi came with a 

company of soldiers and told the 7 of us that we be shot by firing squad, 

the pretext being that we were a cell of the Kemalist Government.  The 

order to fire was rescinded at the last moment and they changed our 

punishment to 3 months in the dungeon.  After those 3 months we were 

returned to the fortress.

Q: Were there illnesses and deaths among you and if so, what kinds of 

,sicknesses and modes of death?

A: One of us officers died during this time.  There were no other deaths, 

either natural or from illness.

Q: During this period of time were you transported anywhere else and 

how were you discharged?  Did any of you remain there?

A: We were discharged as part of the exchange process at that time.  We 

were not sent anywhere else.  From among us, Lieutenant İsmail Hakkı of 

Afyonkarahisar,  Bağdatlı Lieutenant Abdüllatif and Officer Candidate 

Burhanuddin of Istanbul chose to remain there.  The international 

committee took them to Perveze, where the Greeks removed them from 

our ship.  We came back to Turkey but I don’t know what happened to 

them.

Q: On your return trip how were you and you companions treated?

A: Three or four officers and civilians who were on the deck with us 

during the return died from hunger and torture.  I don’t know about 

anyone else.  This is my statement.

Q: Do you confirm your statement?

A: My statement is true and I stand by it.

Acting First Sergeant, Enehil Acting Team Commander, from 

Aşlama village, Niğde

İzzet Ali


                   Niğde province, the home of İzzet Ali.

Underwater Cave Discovered Under Inactive Volcano

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 1 June 2019)


                              Looks kinda spooky!

Diving instructor Mahmut İğde and Dr. Cihan Öztürk have discovered
a cave under Kel Dağı (mountain), a 1736-meter high  inactive volcano
in Hatay province's Yayladağ district.  The cave is entered by diving
19 meters under water and opens up 120 meters further on.


                                             Kel Dağı

Kel Dağı's mythological name was Casius and local people know it as
Cebel-i Akra.  İğde explained that "the mountain is known by names
such as Hazzi Dağı, Şapon Dağı, Fırtına Toplayan Dağ and Zeus
Kasios.  I was returning from a dive with Dr. Öztürk when we noticed
a depression in the wall to our right.  So we turned on our flash lights
and went in.  The cave had a big entrance and a larger area than other
caves.  40-50 meters ahead there was a second entrance 2-meters wide
and 3-meters high."


                                 Coming up for air.


"We realized that this was quite a big cave so we planned a second
dive to explore it.  Since then we've made nearly 200 more dives and
we keep on finding new aspects of the cave. The cave's furthest
point is 120 meters from the entrance and the entire cave is about
300 meters, comprised of 2 big and 2 smaller galleries, 2 tunnels
and 5 air pockets.  We saw many sea creatures living in the cave,
too."   


Kel Dağı is in Yayladğı district on Turkey's
border with Syria.