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| Pontic Greek Genocide | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pontus Region - North of Anatolia |
| Date | 1914-1923 |
| Target | Pontic Greeks |
Attack type | Genocide, death marches |
| Victims | 350,000 Pontic Greeks |
The Pontic Greek genocide was the mass killing of Greek people who lived in the Pontus region in the northeast of Turkey. Between 1914 and 1923, about 350.000 Pontic Greeks died. The genocide happened because of the the Young Turks, a political and revolutionary movement from Anatolia. They forced the Pontics to go on death marches through the Syrian desert, where many lost their life.[1]
The genocide ended with the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, which was signed after the Second Greco-Turkish War.[2]
Background[change | change source]
Since 700 BC, Pontic Greeks lived close to the southern coast of the Black Sea in the Pontus region. They had a strong culture with many important Greek philosophers and authors. In the 11th century, the Turks started moving to central Anatolia, which is now Turkey, and to the Pontus region.[3] Under the Byzantine Empire (395 CE-1453), the two groups got along well with each other.[4]
However, from the start of the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922), the Pontic Greeks were not equal to the rest of the population because they were a Christian minority in a Muslim Empire. Many Christian Greeks had better education and a higher economic position in the empire. This made many Muslims angry. Religion was a sign of loyalty in the Ottoman Empire. But most Pontics did not want to change their religion to Islam. That is why they were seen as a danger to the empire.[2]
The Young Turk Revolution was the event that changed the lives of Pontic Greeks in Anatolia. The political idea of the Young Turks movement was to "turkify" the Ottoman Empire. They wanted to bring together everyone who shared the same language, history and culture. This also meant that everyone who was not part of this group would have to leave. The people in the Ottoman Empire were scared that Christian groups like the Pontic Greeks would try to separate the Muslim Empire. This would mean that they would lose control and power over their areas.[5] Because of this they started the genocide - to remove everyone who was not Turkish from Anatolia.[6]
Events[change | change source]
In the time between 1914-1923, about 353,000 Pontic Greeks were killed and 1.5 million were send into exile, meaning they were forced to leave their homes.[7] The genocide came in different forms and had two main phases: The slave work and death marches and the Second Greco-Turkish War.[2]
Slave Workers and Death Marches (1914-1918)[change | change source]
Pontic Greek men between 20 and 50 were sent to do slave work in working groups and camps of the military (Amele Tabourou). They were supposed to free the ways and open roads for Turkish armies all over Turkey. Many Pontic men died because they had to work a lot and there was not enough water and food for everyone. In the time between 1914-1918, 88 Pontic Greek villages were burnt down, women and girls were raped, houses were robbed and people murdered. 100,000 Pontic Greeks were killed and about 255.000 were forced to leave.[7][8]
When other countries started to notice what was happening to the Greeks, the Turkish Minister of Internal Affairs Talaat Pasha visited the Pontus region. He wanted everyone to see that he was trying to calm the situation in the region. However, he told the army to make their violent measures less obvious because he wanted to keep the genocide going.[6]
Under the order of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Pontic Greeks were forced to leave their homes and had to go onto death marches through the Syrian desert. The Greeks walked for weeks, even months and many lost their lives because there was not enough food, water or protection.[7] They were joined by two violent groups: The Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa, which was a secret police of the Ministry of War under the Ottoman Empire, and Çetes, who were organized criminals. Both groups created even worse conditions for the Pontic Greeks.[4]
Atatürk's tactics in the Pontic genocide were so structured, organized and effective, that Adolf Hitler later got inspired by his actions for the Jewish Holocaust and the labor camps.[6]
The Second Greco-Turkish War and the End of the Genocide (1919-1923)[change | change source]
The second phase of the Pontic Greek Genocide was the Second Greco-Turkish War. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain signed the Armistice of Mudros. This agreement allowed Greek survivors of the War to go back to their homes in Anatolia. However, most of their homes were destroyed and it was not safe for them to stay there. The armistice also allowed Greece to invade in Turkey if they felt like they needed to protect the Greeks in Anatolia. This is why Greece came to the city of Smyrna on May 15, 1919 and started the Second Greco-Turkish War.[8]
A few days after the war started, on May 19, M. Kemal Atatürk was ordered to go to Samsun, which is a city in the Pontus region, to create order there. Instead, he brought more Turkish nationalists together and strengthened his tactics against the Pontic Greeks. Even more Greeks were kidnapped, killed, and tortured. Three hundred villages were destroyed and people were burnt alive in their homes.[8]
On May 25, 1922, the military base in Constantinople reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Greece. They informed them about what was happening in the Pontus region. By that time, there were almost no Pontic Greeks left in that area.[8]
On September 9, 1922, a fire broke out in Smyrna. It was reported that the Turks set the fire on purpose. Only the Greek and Armenian areas were burned down, while the Turkish parts of the city stayed undamaged. With the fire of Smyrna, Greece had lost the war.[8]
The genocide ended with the the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. It was signed by Greece and Tukey and led to a trade of people between these two countries. Almost 190.000 Greeks were send from the Ottoman Empire to Greece and about 350.000 Muslims were brought from Greece to the Ottoman Empire. With that, no more Christian Greeks were left in the Ottoman Empire.[2]
Recognition of the Genocide[change | change source]
On December 16th, 2007, the Pontic Greek Genocide was officially recognized by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS).[9] Not many people know and talk about the Genocide on Pontic Greeks. This is because of the Armenian Genocide, which happened around the same time. On February 24th, 1994 the Greek parliament officially recognized the Genocide and declared the 19th of May as the national day of remembrance.[10] Until now, Turkey has not recognized the Genocide and did not make a statement about what happened 100 years ago in Anatolia. Many pro-Turkish scholars even say that there is not enough proof that the Young Turks wanted to start a genocide in the first place.[2]
The Genocide was recognized by Sweden in 2010 and the Netherlands and Armenia in 2015.[11]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Bartrop, Paul (2017). "Considering Genocide Testimony - Three Case Studies from the Armenian, Pontic, and Assyrian genocides". In Shirinian, George (ed.). Genocide in the Ottoman Empire : Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks, 1913-1923 (First edition, ed.). New York. pp. 135–158. ISBN 978-1-78533-433-7. OCLC 964661324.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Shirinian, George (2017). "The Background to the Late Ottoman Genocides". In Shirinian, George (ed.). Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. New York: Berghahn Books. pp. 19–81. ISBN 978-1-78533-432-0.
- ↑ Wood, Michael (2005). In search of myths & heroes : exploring four epic legends of the world. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 109. ISBN 0520247248.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Basso, Andrew (June 3, 2016). "Towards a Theory of Displacement Atrocities: The Cherokee Trail of Tears, The Herero Genocide, and The Pontic Greek Genocide". Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal. 10: 5–29.
- ↑ Team, G. C. T. (2021-05-19). "10 Facts: Greek Genocide In Pontus". Retrieved 2023-04-29.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Whistler, Simon (December 15, 2022). "The Greek Genocide: The Blueprint for the Holocaust". Youtube.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Halo, Thea (2000). Not Even My Name. New York: Picador. pp. 77–127.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Vardanyan, Gevorg (2017). "The Greek Genocide in The Ottoman Empire - Parallels With the Armenian Genocide". In Shirinian, George (ed.). Genocide in the Ottoman Empire - Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks 1913-1923. New York: Berghahn Books. pp. 274–299. ISBN 978-1-78533-432-0.
- ↑ "IAGS Resolution on Assyrian and Greek Genocide, 2007" (PDF). International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS). 2007.
- ↑ Sjöberg, Erik (2017). The Making of the Greek Genocide - Contested Memories of the Ottoman Greek Catastrophe. Berghahn Books. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-78533-325-5.
- ↑ Markis (April 11, 2015). "Dutch Parliament Recognizes Greek, Assyrian and Armenian Genocide".