Malta exiles
The Malta exiles (Turkish: Malta sürgünleri) were the exile to Malta that occurred between March 1919 and October 1920 of politicians, high ranking soldiers (mainly), administrators and intellectuals of the Ottoman Empire after the armistice of Mudros during the Occupation of Istanbul by the Allied forces. The Malta exiles became inmates in a British prison where various Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) officials were held in the hopes that trials will be held at the Malta Tribunals at a future date.
Background[]
In late January 1919, the Allied forces began to arrest CUP leaders and military commanders they accused of war crimes.[1] On 120 leaders of the Ottoman Empire were issued arrest warrants.[1] These included several high ranking CUP notables such as Tevfik Rüştü Aras, Mithat Şükrü Bleda, Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın or Mustafa Rahmi Arslan and military commanders such as the Generals of the Islamic Army of the Caucasus Nuri Killigil and Mürsel Pasha and Halil Kut a military officer of the Ottoman Army in the Eastern front.[1] Following the occupation of Smyrna by the Greek forces in May 1919, large manifestations in protest occurred on the Anatolian mainland raising pressure upon the courts martial. The judges then ordered the release of 41 suspects in order to calm down the situation. The release was not what the allied forces had in mind, and caused them to consider a better detention facility than the , well aware that the prison might be captured by the protestors and its prisoners released.[2] After this release the prisoners deported to Malta[3] The prisoners were deported to Malta on board of SS Princess Ena Malta and HMS Benbow starting in 1919, where they were believed to be held for some three years while searches were made in the archives of Constantinople, London, Paris and Washington to find a way to prosecute them.[4] Most of the prisoners where held for some three years on Malta.
Initially the Allied Government sent sixty seven war criminals to Malta in a prosecution attempt coordinated by the British forces.[5] Later more suspects were to follow. The prisoners were secluded in three different groups.[6]
- A: for people suspected of having taken part in massacres
- B: for people suspected of having tolerated massacres
- C: for people who were not suspected of having taken direct action in massacres
Turkish approach to the trials against the Malta Exiles[]
At that time Turkey had two competing governments in Istanbul and Ankara.The government in Istanbul supported the inquiries with more or less seriousness depending on the current government. While grand vizir Damad Ferid Pasha (4 March - 2 October 1919 and again 5 April - 21 October 1920) stood behind the prosecuting body, the government of grand vizir Ali Riza Pasha (2 October 1919 - 2 March 1920) barely mentioned legal proceedings against the war criminals.[7] The trials enabled the Liberal Union party to expel the Committee of Union and Progress from the political arena.[8]
The Kemalist Ankara Government was strictly opposed to trials against war criminals. Mustafa Kemal reasoned about the detainees in Malta on the occasion of the congress in Sivas on the 4 September 1919: "...should any of the detainees either already brought or yet to be brought to Istanbul be executed, even at the order of the vile Istanbul government, we would seriously consider executing all British prisoners in our custody." From February 1921 the military court in Istanbul begun releasing prisoners without trials.[9]
Release[]
The exiled later returned to Turkey in stages during 1921–1922. The release of the Turkish detainees in Malta was accomplished in exchange for 22 British prisoners held by Mustafa Kemal [10][11] amongst which figured Alfred Rawlinson, a relative of the British General Henry Rawlinson.[12] Several of the Malta Exiles then joined the Turkish Nationalist Movement around Mustafa Kemal in Ankara.[13]
Prisoners[]
Number | Name | Date of arrest | Arrest ID | Function in the Ottoman Empire |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ali İhsan Sabis Pasha | 29 March 1919 | 26 67 | Mirliva, former Sixth Army (Ottoman Empire) commander. |
2 | 29 March 1919 | 26 68 | Ali İhsan Pasha's order corporal | |
3 | 28 May 1919 | 26 95 | Lieutenant colonel Binbashi | |
4 | 28 May 1919 | 27 24 | Former Sivas Governor | |
5 | 28 May 1919 | 27 24 | Kaymakam, İstanbul Position commander | |
6 | 28 May 1919 | 27 08 | Kolağası | |
7 | 28 May 1919 | 27 19 | Former Ministry of the Interior (Ottoman Empire) , Sofia Ambassador, Istanbul MP | |
8 | 28 May 1919 | 27 19 | former Foreign minister | |
9 | 28 May 1919 | 26 80 | Kaymakam | |
10 | Ali Fethi Okyar | 28 May 1919 | 26 80 | Former Committee of Union and Progress secretary general. |
11 | Atıf Kamçıl | 28 May 1919 | 27 02 | Chamber of Deputies (Ottoman Empire) I., II. Period Kala-i Sultânîye |
12 | 28 May 1919 | 26 76 | Kaymakam | |
13 | 28 May 1919 | 26 94 | Mülâzım-ı evvel | |
14 | Ahmet Faik Erner | 28 May 1919 | 27 37 | |
15 | 28 May 1919 | 26 98 | ||
16 | 28 May 1919 | 27 03 | Secretary of Committee of Union and Progress | |
17 | 28 May 1919 | 27 23 | Member of Committee of Union and Progress | |
18 | 28 May 1919 | 26 85 | Bolu deputy | |
19 | 28 May 1919 | 27 39 | Enver Pasha's father | |
20 | 28 May 1919 | 26 99 | Mülâzım-ı Evvel | |
21 | Hasan Fehmi Bey | 28 May 1919 | 26 88 | Sinop deputy |
22 | 28 May 1919 | 27 34 | Sheikh ul-Islam | |
23 | 28 May 1919 | 26 78 | Kolağası | |
24 | 28 May 1919 | 27 89 | Kırklareli Mutasarrıfı | |
25 | 28 May 1919 | 27 06 | Representative of Committee of Union and Progress | |
26 | Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın | 28 May 1919 | 26 75 | İstanbul deputy, Journalist |
27 | 28 May 1919 | 27 05 | Karesi deputy | |
28 | 28 May 1919 | 27 01 | Diyarbakır Governor | |
29 | 28 May 1919 | 27 10 | Kolağası | |
30 | 28 May 1919 | 26 92 | Former Ministry of the Interior (Ottoman Empire) | |
31 | 28 May 1919 | Unknown | Unknown | |
32 | 28 May 1919 | 27 04 | The Bookkeeper of Ottoman Divan (parlement) | |
33 | 28 May 1919 | 27 07 | Binbashi | |
34 | 28 May 1919 | 26 86 | Former Sivas Governor | |
35 | Mehmet Sabri Toprak | 28 May 1919 | 27 29 | Saruhan MP |
36 | Mehmet Tevfik Biren | 28 May 1919 | 26 79 | Kaymakam, |
37 | 28 May 1919 | 27 33 | Musul Governor | |
38 | 28 May 1919 | 26 93 | Member of Committee of Union and Progress | |
39 | 28 May 1919 | 27 11 | former Of Mutasarrıfı | |
40 | 28 May 1919 | 26 97 | Retired Yarbay | |
41 | 28 May 1919 | 26 96 | Mülâzım-ı Evvel | |
42 | Ömer Bey | 28 May 1919 | 26 81 | Kolağası |
43 | Rahmi Arslan | 28 May 1919 | 26 91 | former İzmir Governor |
44 | 28 May 1919 | 27 40 | Bursa deputy | |
45 | 28 May 1919 | 27 35 | Old Council of State (Ottoman Empire) secretary general. | |
46 | 28 May 1919 | 27 28 | İstanbul deputy | |
47 | 28 May 1919 | 27 09 | Kaymakam | |
48 | Doktor | 28 May 1919 | 27 32 | Army Medical Inspector |
49 | 28 May 1919 | 27 30 | Tokat MP | |
50 | 28 May 1919 | 26 77 | Mülâzım-ı Evvel | |
51 | Şükrü Kaya | 28 May 1919 | 27 38 | Civil Inspector |
52 | 28 May 1919 | 26 90 | Former Ankara Governor | |
53 | 28 May 1919 | 26 82 | Political Police Director | |
54 | 28 May 1919 | 27 31 | İzmir deputy | |
55 | 28 May 1919 | 26 87 | Undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior (Ottoman Empire) | |
56 | 28 May 1919 | 26 84 | Retired Kolağası, member of Committee of Union and Progress | |
57 | 28 May 1919 | 27 18 | Edirne MP | |
58 | 2 June 1919 | |||
59 | 2 June 1919 | 27 16 | ||
60 | 2 June 1919 | |||
61 | 2 June 1919 | 27 17 | ||
62 | 2 June 1919 | 27 27 | ||
63 | 2 June 1919 | 27 25 | ||
64 | 2 June 1919 | 27 20 | Former Minister of Nafia (Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation (Ottoman Empire)), Governor of Bursa, brother of Grand Vizier Said Halim Pasha. | |
65 | 2 June 1919 | 27 14 | ||
66 | 2 June 1919 | 27 22 | ||
67 | 2 June 1919 | 27 26 | ||
68 | 2 June 1919 | 27 21 | ||
69 | 21 September 1919 | 27 54 | ||
70 | Ahmet Ağaoğlu | 21 September 1919 | 27 64 | Afyonkarahisar deputy, lecturer of Darülfünün , author |
71 | 21 September 1919 | 27 62 | former Nafia Nazırı | |
72 | 21 September 1919 | 27 57 | deputy | |
73 | Halil Menteşe | 21 September 1919 | 27 60 | member of Committee of Union and Progress |
74 | Bey | 21 September 1919 | 27 65 | owner of |
75 | Bey | 21 September 1919 | 27 61 | Old ministry of savings and investment |
76 | Mahmut Kamil Pasha | 21 September 1919 | 27 58 | former 5th army commander |
77 | Mithat Şükrü Bleda | 21 September 1919 | 27 56 | CUP leader |
78 | Said Halim Pasha | 21 September 1919 | 27 55 | Prince, former grand vizier. |
79 | Ziya Gökalp | 21 September 1919 | 27 59 | CUP leader and writer |
80 | Mehmet Arif Bey | 28 January 1920 | Kolağası | |
81 | 28 January 1920 | Sergeant | ||
82 | Faik Kaltakkıran | 22 March 1920 | 27 80 | Old Edirne MP |
83 | 22 March 1920 | 27 80 | Istanbul Fortified Area Commander | |
84 | Pasha | 22 March 1920 | 27 72 | Mirliva, Former 2nd Army Commander |
85 | 22 March 1920 | 27 71 | Mirliva | |
86 | Hasan Tahsin Uzer | 22 March 1920 | 27 71 | Old Damascus and Erzurum MP |
87 | Hüseyin Rauf Orbay | 22 March 1920 | 27 76 | Former , Sivas Deputy |
88 | İsmail Cevat Çobanlı Pasha | 22 March 1920 | 27 73 | Member of the Supreme Military Council |
89 | Mehmet Esat Işık Pasha | 22 March 1920 | 27 75 | Doctor |
90 | Bey | 22 March 1920 | 27 79 | |
91 | (Mustafa Vasıf Karakol) | 22 March 1920 | 27 78 | Founder of Karakol Society |
92 | 22 March 1920 | 27 81 | Lawyer, Journalist, Edirne MP. | |
93 | Ahmet Emin Yalman | 27 March 1920 | 27 87 | Journalist |
94 | Ali Çetinkaya | 27 March 1920 | 27 87 | former Afyon deputy |
95 | 27 March 1920 | 27 82 | Mirliva | |
96 | 27 March 1920 | 27 94 | Tribal Chief | |
97 | Celal Nuri İleri | 27 March 1920 | 27 85 | Journalist |
98 | 27 March 1920 | 27 83 | ||
99 | (Aka Gündüz) | 27 March 1920 | 27 91 | Writer |
100 | 27 March 1920 | 27 89 | ||
101 | 27 March 1920 | 27 86 | ||
102 | 27 March 1920 | 27 90 | Pharmacist | |
103 | 27 March 1920 | 27 88 | Istanbul Police Director of the Political Section | |
104 | Rafet Pasha (Bele) | 27 March 1920 | 27 92 | Gendarmerie General Commander |
105 | Süleyman Nazif | 27 March 1920 | 27 84 | former Musul and Governor |
106 | 20 May 1920 | 27 86 | Merchant | |
107 | 20 May 1920 | Retired General, former Yemen commander | ||
108 | 20 May 1920 | Musullu Journalist | ||
109 | 20 May 1920 | Sivas delegate of Committee of Union and Progress | ||
110 | 31 May 1920 | İstanbul Siyasi Polis Müdürü | ||
111 | 7 June 1920 | 27 86 | ||
112 | 7 June 1920 | Lieutenant Colonel Binbaşı, Cevat Pasha's Groom | ||
113 | Mustafa Abdülhalik Renda | 7 June 1920 | Former Bitlis Governor | |
114 | Ali Cenani | 7 June 1920 | Former Aleppo and Antep deputy | |
115 | 7 June 1920 | |||
116 | 13 June 1920 | |||
117 | 13 June 1920 | |||
118 | Pasha | 13 June 1920 | Former Commander of 9th army | |
119 | 6 August 1920 | |||
120 | Hoca | 19 August 1920 | Muş MP | |
121 | 19 August 1920 | |||
122 | Mehmet Nazım Bey | 19 August 1920 | Commander of the Ottoman Rumelia Detachment (reinforced 177th Regiment) | |
123 | 19 August 1920 | |||
124 | 12 September 1920 | |||
125 | 20 September 1920 | |||
126 | 20 September 1920 | Old Elazığ MP | ||
127 | 20 September 1920 | |||
128 | 5 October 1920 | |||
129 | Mehmet Ali Bey | 5 October 1920 | Last former Minister of the Interior of the Ottoman Empire | |
130 | 27 63 | Former Minister of Education, Former Deputy of Kastamonu | ||
131 | ||||
132 | Special Organization | |||
133 | Author, Deputy | |||
134 | Kazım Bey | Miralay, Enver Pasha's brother-in-law | ||
135 | Mürsel Bakü | Military officer in the eastern front.[1] | ||
136 | former Sivas Governor | |||
137 | Miralay | |||
138 | Miralay, Head of Police Station Association | |||
139 | Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu | Journalist, owner of Yeni Gün Newspaper | ||
140 | 23 March 1920[16] | Journalist of Tasvîr-i Efkâr Newspaper |
Further reading[]
- Simsir, B. Malta Surgunleri (The Malta Exiles). Istanbul, 1976.
Footnotes[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Dadrian, Vahakn N.; Akçam, Taner (2011). Judgment at Istanbul: The Armenian Genocide Trials. Berghahn Books. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-85745-251-1.
- ^ Dadrian, Vahakn N. (1991). "The Documentation of the World War I Armenian Massacres in the Proceedings of the Turkish Military Tribunal". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 23 (4): 554–555. doi:10.1017/S0020743800023412. ISSN 0020-7438. JSTOR 163884.
- ^ Klaus-Detlev Grothusen:"Türkei", Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1985
- ^ (197). Die Türkei in Europa: Beiträge des Südosteuropa-arbeitskreises der… (in German). Berghahn Books. p. 35.
- ^ Dadrian, Vahakn N. (1991). "The Documentation of the World War I Armenian Massacres in the Proceedings of the Turkish Military Tribunal". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 23 (4): 554–555. doi:10.1017/S0020743800023412. ISSN 0020-7438. JSTOR 163884.
- ^ Üngör, Uğur Ümit; Polatel, Mehmet (2011-08-11). Confiscation and Destruction: The Young Turk Seizure of Armenian Property. A&C Black. p. 153. ISBN 978-1-4411-3578-0.
- ^ Taner Akçam: A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility, Metropolitan Books, New York 2006 ISBN 978-0-8050-7932-6, p. 296
- ^ Klaus-Detlev Grothusen:"Türkei", Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1985, page 35
- ^ Taner Akçam: A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility, Metropolitan Books, New York 2006 ISBN 978-0-8050-7932-6, p. 354
- ^ Bonello 2008.
- ^ Turkey’s EU Minister, Judge Giovanni Bonello And the Armenian Genocide - ‘Claim about Malta Trials is nonsense’. The Malta Independent. 19 April 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2013
- ^ Zürcher, Erik J. (2017-12-21). Turkey: A Modern History. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 379. ISBN 978-1-78673-183-8.
- ^ Göçek, Fatma Müge (2015). Denial of Violence: Ottoman Past, Turkish Present, and Collective Violence Against the Armenians, 1789-2009. Oxford University Press. p. 364. ISBN 978-0-19-933420-9.
- ^ "'Malta Sürgünleri' kimdir? | GAZETE VATAN". www.gazetevatan.com. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
- ^ "TBMM Albümü". tbmm.gov.tr. 31 October 2012. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ "EBÜZZİYA, Velid - TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi". 2019-07-17. Archived from the original on 2019-07-17. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
See also[]
- Turkish War of Independence
- Islam in Malta
- Malta exiles