Tweet
Pontian genocide: righteous muslims who wouldn't kill
Dean Kalimniou looks at the the genocide of the Pontian people by the Ottoman Government
8 Jun 2011
Dean Kalimniou
Part 1
May marks the anniversary of one of the most heinous crimes of human history - the genocide of the Pontian people by the by the Ottoman Government, directed by a group of leaders known as the Young Turks.
It is well established that in the carnage, in which approximately 350,000 Pontic Greeks, 700,000 Assyrians and 1.5 million Armenians were killed, simply because they happened to be of the 'wrong' race, ordinary Ottoman Muslims participated in the loot and tacitly or actively supported the slaughter.
Today, an apology or even an acknowledgment of the genocide of the Christian peoples of Anatolia by the Turkish government is not forthcoming, pouring salt into the wounds of the few survivors and their descendants, who, dislocated from their ancestral lands, have had to save their culture piecemeal, as well as deal with inherited traumas induced by the memory of brutality. Modern day Greek historiography of the event, patchy as it is, tends to focus on the enormity of the crime. However, while it cannot be doubted that there was mass participation in the genocide, with eyewitness and contemporary accounts attesting to hapless Christians being harassed and killed by their Muslim neighbours, it has to be remembered that many ordinary Muslims actually helped Christians and many Ottoman administrators refused to follow orders.
Mass participation does not necessarily signify universal participation. Many Muslim groups and individuals including army officers and high ranking public officials either refused to participate, refused to carry out orders and/or assisted any Christians to escape certain death. Most sources on the genocide readily identify Turks, Kurds, Lazes and Circassians as participants to the massacres of the Christians. To this, the Persians, who attacked Armenians and Assyrians in Salmas and Ourmiah, should be added, as well as the Georgian Muslims who were also privy to mass killing of Armenians and Greeks in Ottoman Empire.
Taner Akcam's narrative concerning Hadji Halil of Urfa who housed seven people of the same family in his attic to save them from the massacres illustrates the humanity of many Ottoman Muslims. Hadji Halil promised his Armenian friend that he would protect his family in the event of calamity. Hadji Halil kept his promise and housed the family for months. Hadji Halil had to overcome logistical problems including how to buy food for seven extra people without raising suspicion. There exist many other similar stories.
Many unnamed individuals helped their neighbours to escape. For instance, one Pontian genocide survivor would show interested parties 'scars' he carried from that period of his life. Tattoos on his right arm depicted an Arab knife and the Islamic crescent. There were done by local Muslims to disguise Christians as Muslims in order to save them. There were also such groups as the Mevlevi order in Konya and the people of Dersim, who helped Christians and while many Kurdish tribes carried out the Pontian genocide, others helped Christians by hiding them. For example, in Dersim 20,000 Armenians and Greeks were saved because of Kurdish efforts.
In Ras-ul-Ain, while some Chechens attacked Christians, other Chechens "saved around 400 to 500" deportees and the Jabbur Arabs sheltered many of these. Professor Selim Deringil in his research mentions situations where Christian children were adopted into Muslim families in order to save them, despite the government issuing an order against this. He has also compiled evidence of functionaries who did not obey orders and who for obvious reasons are overlooked in the official narrative in Turkey. For instance, the governor of Konya, Celal Bey, did not permit the Konya Christians to be deported because he knew what would have happened to them if they were sent to the deserts of Deir Zor. Where possible he also tried to prevent Christians from other places being sent to the deserts. He was removed from his post in October 1915 but he had already saved many lives. He remained unemployed until 1919.
Other examples include, the Governor of Ankara Hasan Mazhar, who was removed from his post for refusing to deport Christians in the August of 1915, the Mutasarrif of Kutahya Faik Ali Bey, who refused to deport about 2,000 Christians, (later he became permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic) and the mayor of Malatya Mustafa Aga Azizoglu. Malatya was a transit place for those who were deported from the Eastern provinces.
The mayor did not have authority to prevent deportation but saved people in his house by providing refuge. A true humanitarian, he was tragically killed by his son, a member of Union and Progress, for "looking after infidels". To this list Resit, Vali of Kastamonu in Pontus, who was also dismissed for not complying with the extermination campaign and the Mutassarif of Yozgat, Cemal Bey, should also be added. Last, but not least, Tahsin Bey, Vali of Erzurum should also be remembered as one of the heroes who defied orders, thus saving hundreds of Pontians and Armenians.
In refusing to follow orders, the governor of Ankara, Hasan Mazhar Bey, had reportedly said "I am a Vali not a bandit. I cannot do this. Another person may come and sit in my chair. They can do it". Accordingly, he was removed from office in the August of 1915. When the tehcir (deportation) orders were issued in Kutahya, Faik Ali Bey refused to implement them; Because of his insubordination, he was summoned to Istanbul.
The Kutahya Police Chief, taking advantage of Faik Ali Bey's absence, called Christian notables of the city to a meeting in which he asked them to convert to Islam, or else, face deportation. The Kutahya Christians decided to apply for conversion to Islam en masse. When Faik Ali Bey returned from Istanbul, he was enraged. He removed the police chief from his post and asked the Christians to tear apart the collective application for conversion to Islam, saying: "till today Kutahya Turks have never participated in any atrocities against the Christians, and will not participate tomorrow either."
Link
Comment