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Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire, 1912–1923 PDF

271 Pages·2009·1.78 MB·English
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Preview Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire, 1912–1923

OXFORD STUDIES IN MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY GeneralEditors simon dixon, mark mazower, and james retallack ‘AViewoftheMarmara’sSorrowfulShore,’fromTasvir-iEfkar,5June1921. Sorrowful Shores Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire, 1912–1923 RYAN GINGERAS 1 1 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwidein Oxford NewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto Withofficesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress intheUKandincertainothercountries PublishedintheUnitedStates byOxfordUniversityPressInc.,NewYork ©RyanGingeras2009 Themoralrightsoftheauthorshavebeenasserted DatabaserightOxfordUniversityPress(maker) Firstpublished2009 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, withoutthepriorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress, orasexpresslypermittedbylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriate reprographicsrightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction outsidethescopeoftheaboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment, OxfordUniversityPress,attheaddressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover andyoumustimposethesameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Gingeras,Ryan. Sorrowfulshores:violence,ethnicity,andtheendoftheOttoman Empire,1912–1923/RyanGingeras. p.cm.—(Oxfordstudiesinmoderneuropeanhistory) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978–0–19–956152–0 1. Turkey—History—MehmedV,1909–1918.2. Turkey—History—Revolution, 1918–1923.3. Ethnicconflict—Turkey—History—20thcentury. 4. Turkey—Ethnicrelations—History—20thcentury. I.Title. DR584.G562009 956’.02—dc22 2008049481 TypesetbyLaserwordsPrivateLimited,Chennai,India PrintedinGreatBritain onacid-freepaperby MPGBooksGroup ISBN978–0–19–956152–0 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Thisbookisdedicatedtotwopeople: mywife,MarianaChavezVazquez, andmygrandfather,CharlesFitzpatrick This page intentionally left blank Preface Ifthetruthbetold,thisworkwasbornoutofanactofcowardice.Myambitions leading up to my comprehensive exams tended towards some kind of radical, challengingproject.TherewaslittlequestioninmymindthatIwantedtowrite mydissertationonsomecornerofAnatoliaduringtheFirstWorldWarand/or the early Turkish Republic. Going for the jugular, I turned towards eastern Anatolia.Acoupleofideascametome:perhapsastudyofhowthesmalltown of Naxc¸ıvan became a part of Azerbaijan; better yet, the reconstructionof Kars followingtheestablishmentoftheTurkishRepublic. Either, I thought, would serve wonderfully. I was told otherwise. Friends and colleagues with years of experience in Ottoman studies warned me that I was essentially contemplating professional suicide. First there was the question of sources. Where would I get them? Do such documents even exist? More importantly, would Turkish archivists even allow me to see the records (a question followed by anecdotal horror stories about scholars denied access to statearchivesinTurkey)?Thentherewerethepoliticalconsequencestoconsider. AdissertationdealingwithKurds,Armenians,orothertaboosubjectsinTurkey wasboundtobringtroublesdownaroundme.NomatterwhatIdid,Iwastold, someone would be very unhappy with my work. Someone, be it a member of theTurkishgovernment,membersoftheArmeniandiaspora,orotherOttoman scholars, would eat me alive for having challenged, upheld, or ignored some aspect of eastern Anatolia’s recent history. In short, the advice I had was: don’t doit.Dropit.Don’tkillyourcareerbeforeitbegins. The dissertation that I wrote ultimately was founded upon this advice. My time in the archives instead led me to focus on western Anatolia and drew my attention to the roles of Albanian and North Caucasian immigrants during theTurkish War of Independence.The research for this project generally went swimmingly. None of the nightmare scenarios I was forewarned of came to fruition.Nolifetimebans.Nohatemail.Nothing. Still, I cannot say for sure that my friends and colleagues, people whom I believe genuinely had my best interests at heart, were wrong. Yes, archivists, scholars,andstaffImetinIstanbulandAnkarawereindeedhelpful,courteous, and,attimes,arealpleasuretobearound.Thesheermentionofmyinterestin MuslimimmigrantsinAnatoliawasgreetedwithsincereenthusiasmandsupport by the archivists who helped make my research possible. More often than not, though,IrarelybroachedthetopicofArmeniansandGreekswitharchivalstaff. Sinceitwasnotthecentralfocusofmywork,theparallelfateofnon-Muslimsin westernAnatoliaduringthewaryearswasasubjectIkeptundermyhat.Earlier admonitionscontinuedtoplayinmyhead. viii Preface This roundabout preface is meant as both an apology and an explanation for the continuitiesand discontinuities between my dissertation and this book. The question of what happened to Anatolian Greeks and Armenians (as well as other criminalized groups) between the years 1912 and 1923 lingers on like some proverbial 500-pound gorilla in the room. Recent events such as the murder of Hrant Dink confirm this. Yet I do not believe that the wartime persecution of Ottoman Christians should be approached in isolation. More to the point, it is quite clear to me that there is a more universal story to be told of the level and significance of human suffering in Anatolia during this period of time. As will become clearer through the coming pages, similar patternsofreasoningandbehaviouronthepartoftheOttomangovernment,as well as the occupational forces of Greece and others, led to the mass removal, extermination,and suppression ofChristiansand Muslims alike. The degreeto whichvariouscommunitieswerevictimizedbycompetingstatistforcescertainly differedtremendously(ifIwasforcedtocompare,clearlyArmeniansandGreeks collectivelysharedamoreunenviablepositionby1923thanMuslimimmigrants). Whetheronecancomparelevelsofhardship,however,isnotthepoint.Rather, thisbooktakesupthequestionofpreciselyhowandwhylargegroupsofpeople livingaroundthesoutherncoastoftheMarmaraSeaweresubjectedtoaseriesof deliberatecampaignstodothemharm. In order better to highlight the unanimity of suffering found among various communities living around the southern shores of the Sea of Marmara, I have put greater emphasis on Armenian and Greek affairs. Although by no means absolutely comprehensive, I believe these steps help better to bridge the historical gap between Christian natives and immigrant Muslims than my previousattempt. Although the text that follows is not in execution a comparative work, it must be said that the history of Anatolia during this period of time is not uniqueinaglobalsense.Themassdisenfranchisementandliquidationofhome populations is a phenomenon that can be found the world over. State terror of thissortisamodernphenomenon,andispartandparcelofthelogicofmodern state building. In situating this study within a finite region and approaching a fairly finite collection of peoples, I take up several critical, but admittedly dense, historical concepts: state modernization, organized violence, identity formation, immigration, and network politics. By placing both geographic and socialrestrictionsuponmyresearch,itwasmyhopetomakeadiscussionofthese varioushistoricalthreadsmorewieldy,andthenarrativemoreseamless. Looking back, I do not regret following the advice of my trusted peers. Ultimately I feel that it has led me back to addressing my original goals. I do hope,however, thatothers(withthickerskin thanmyself) takeonthehistories ofKarsandNaxc¸ıvan,andothervitalstoriesyettobetold. Acknowledgements During the course of my doctoral research and the follow-up research for this monograph,Ifoundmyselftravelling,attimesregularly,betweenToronto,San Diego, New York, London, Istanbul, Ankara, Skopje, and Mexico City. Yet, beforeIextendmygratitudetothoseImetalongtheway,Imustfirstthankmy family and close friends. Above all, I want to thank my wife, Mariana Chavez Vazquez,whohasgivensomuchofherselfandhashadtoenduretoomanylong absences in exchange. Te quiero mucho, Marianita. Gracias por todo.Without myparents,TomandDedeeGingeras,Idoubtthatmanyofmydreamswould have become realities. My incredible sister Alison and my loving grandparents Dot and Charlie Fitzpatrick each played vital roles in inspiring and supporting me.Myfamily’sloveandencouragementhavemademewhoIamtoday.Iwant to thank Metin Bezikog˘lu, Shane Cotter, Kevin Franks, Steve Maddox, Mike Mastroeni, William Silverman, and Mark Tkach for their genuine friendship, encouragement, and criticisms over the years. You have each been a wonderful friendtome. I have been a beneficiary of outstanding teachers and colleagues both at the University of California, San Diego, and at the University of Toronto. I will for-everbeindebtedtoVirginiaAksanandHasanKayalı.OvertheyearsIhave come to see both as wonderful friends, trusted advisers, and consistent models for how to conduct myself as a scholar and a human being. I would especially like to thank Robert Edelman. Doctor Bob, who has been my rabbi and my friend for many years, has long counselled me on how to become the historian I am today. I would like to thank my colleagues at Long Island University for theirsupportandguidanceasmycareertakesitsnextstep. Agreatdealoftheresearchthatwentintothecreationofthisbookwasmade possible by the support of the American Research Institute in Turkey and the InternationalResearch and Exchange Board. Specifically, I would like to thank Michelle Duplissis, Tony Greenwood, Pelin Gurol, Gülden Günleri, Nancy Leinwand, and Tova Pertman for all of their assistance during my times (and ordeals) away from home. I have nothing but thanks and kind words for the staff of the Ottoman and Republican archives in Istanbul and Ankara. I would specifically like to thank Yıldırım Ag˘anog˘lu, Noray Bozbora, Thomas Goltz, AyhanKaya,NurcanÖzgür-Baklacıog˘lu,StanfordShaw,NicolevanderOs,and members of the Türk-Arnavut Karde¸slig˘i Derneg˘i for their help in my research inTurkey.Icannotforgetthekindnessandgenerosityshowntomebythestaff andstudentsofSabancıUniversity.IwouldliketothankHalilBerktay,Hakan Erdem, Rossitsa Gradeva, Peter Holt, Kerimcan Kavaklı, Cemil Koçak, Metin Kunt, S¸erif Mardin, Ak¸sin Somel, and Mary Wynn for making my stay there

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This official narrative not only signifies the triumph of Turkish Anatolia over both foreign and domestic challengers, but signals the emergence of a
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