THE GREEK MIGRATION DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR PERIOD AND A NULL AND VOID AGREEMENT INITIATIVE

BİRİNCİ DÜNYA SAVAŞI DÖNEMİNDE YAŞANAN RUM GÖÇÜ VE KADÜK BİR MÜBADELE GİRİŞİMİ

Abstract

Ottoman Empire had followed a policy away from the war in the period of Abdulhamid II except the 93 War. Diplomacy had come to the fore and the empire had followed a balance policy successfully in this process. In the years following the declaration of the second constitutional monarchy, after the dethroned of Abdulhamid II, the Empire was again faced with a series of wars after a period of more than forty years without war. Ottoman Empire had experienced serious crisis during the periods of the Tripoli War erupted in 1911, the Balkan Wars and the Great War in the following years. After these wars the Empire was collapsed in a short time. The aim of this study is to examine the migration of the Greeks and Turks one of the measures taken to prevent the collapse of the Empire and a failed exchange agreement initiative between Ottoman Empire and Greece. Mass emigration or forced emigration cause serious socioeconomic problems, turmoil and even major traumas on people. But some state of emergency cases may make them essential as a measure. These measures had been taken from time to time in the past. The Ottoman Empire and Greece had also resorted to such measures during the Balkan Wars and the First World War periods. The Ottoman Empire had experienced a significant event in the early twentieth century. Abdulhamid II holding power thirty-three year, dethroned the following year of the re-Constitution and the power passed into the hands of the Committee of Union and Progress Party. This government changeover led to changes in government policies. Unlike the previous governance approach, CUP adopting a Turkic conception on the state administration had tried controlled approach to the non-Muslim elements who want to leave the state. Balkan Wars of the early 20th century, were very critical battles for the Balkan states, Ottoman Empire and also European states. Balkan Wars as the practice of the First World War, had yielded significant results in terms of people living in the Balkans. One of these results was the population exchange. Muslim population living in the territories lost to Greece during the Balkan Wars, had been exposed to oppressions by the Greek government and they obliged to take refuge in the Ottoman lands by leaving all their assets behind. Compared to the other Balkan states, mass emigrations experienced since the beginning of the war was more burdensome and troubled for the Ottoman Empire sustaining a heavy defeat in the war. As a matter of fact, the Balkan Muslims, who have a demographic advantage in the Balkan region were the most important community subjected to the forced migration. Ottoman territories emerged as the only safe port for these Muslims and so the demographic structure of Anatolia had been affected from this emigration significantly. Ottoman government tried to make population exchange agreements with the Balkan states after the Balkan Wars. The first step in this direction was taken in 1913 between the Ottoman and Bulgarian governments. The CUP government wanted to make a similar agreement with the Greek state regarding to exchange the Greeks living in Anatolia and Muslims in Thrace in the eve of the First World War. Although the progress of negotiations between the two governments, the outbreak of the First World War led to the interruption of the negotiations and postponed the exchange until the Lausanne Peace Treaty. Despite the Great War made the exchange agreement obsolete, many Greeks and Armenians were subjected to migration because of different reasons in this period. Ottoman government took decisions of deportation as a precaution against to the Armenian and Greek threats during the Great War. There were various reasons for these decisions. First of all, the strategic vulnerability of the regions inhabited by Greeks and Armenians should be considered at a time of war atmosphere. Eastern Anatolia, inhabited by Armenians, had been a strategic region for Russian expansion policy. Hence, a state of war appeared against Armenians in the eastern provinces while the Great War continued. There was a similar danger from the Greeks living in the western coast of Anatolia because of its close to Greece’s domain. From this perspective, subjecting to deportation of these two nations have a critical importance for Ottoman military objectives. Thus, the deportation of Greeks should be evaluated in light of these facts. The government changeover after the defeat of the World War, opened a new page for Armenians and Greeks to return back. The new Ottoman government sent encrypted texts and instructions to the provinces and Sanjaks to take essential measures for relocation and removal of obstacles to return back of these elements. Thus, the government also aimed to strengthen its hand against possible pressure in the international arena.

Özet

II. Abdülhamid yönetimindeki Osmanlı İmparatorluğu, 93 Harbi haricinde, savaştan uzak bir dış politika izleme gayretinde olmuştur. Bu süreçte daha ziyade diplomasi ön plana çıkmış ve başarılı bir denge siyaseti takip edilmiştir. II. Meşrutiyet'in ilanını takip eden sene, Abdülhamid'in hal edilmesiyle beraber, kırk seneyi aşkın bir süre savaş tecrübesi yaşamayan imparatorluk, yeniden bir savaşlar silsilesi ile karşı karşıya kalmıştır. 1911'de patlak veren Trablusgarp Savaşı, takip eden senelerde yaşanan Balkan Savaşları ve nihayet 1914'deki Büyük Savaş Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun âdeta kâbus dolu bir dönem yaşamasına vesile olmuştur. Balkan Savaşları, Balkanlarda yaşayan halklar açısından yıkıcı sonuçlar doğurmuştur. Bu sonuçlardan biri de büyük çaplı nüfus hareketlilikleridir. Balkan Savaşlarında Yunanistan'a kaybedilen topraklarda yaşayan Müslüman nüfus, Yunan hükümetinin baskılarına maruz kalmış ve maddî ve manevî tüm varlıklarını terk ederek Osmanlı topraklarına sığınmak mecburiyetinde kalmıştır. Savaşın başlarından itibaren yaşanan toplu göçler, diğer Balkan devletlerine kıyasla, savaştan ağır bir yenilgiyle ayrılan Osmanlı İmparatorluğu için daha külfetli ve sıkıntılı olmuştur. Zira Osmanlı coğrafyası Balkanlardan ayrılmak zorunda kalan Müslümanlar için biricik güvenli liman olarak öne çıkmış ve Anadolu'nun demografik yapısı bundan önemli oranda etkilenmiştir. Osmanlı hükümeti Balkan Savaşları sonrasında, bu bölgede yaşanan olayların ardından Balkan devletleri ile nüfus mübadelesi anlaşmaları yapma yolunu gitmiştir. Bu doğrultuda atılan ilk nüfus değişimi adımı 1913 sonunda Osmanlı İmparatorluğu ve Bulgaristan arasında olmuştur. İttihat Terakki yönetimi Yunanistan devletiyle anlaşmak suretiyle, Trakya'da yaşayan Müslümanlarla Anadolu'daki Rumları mübadeleye tabi tutma politikasına yöneldi. İki ülke arasında yapılan görüşmelerde belli bir yol kat edilmişse de Birinci Dünya Savaşı'nın patlak vermesi, görüşmelerin kesilmesine ve bu yöndeki girişimlerin Lozan Barış Anlaşmasına kadar rafa kaldırılmasına sebep olmuştur. Bu çalışmada Yunanistan ile Osmanlı hükümeti arasında sonuca ulaşamayan bu mübadele anlaşması girişimi süreci ele alınmıştır