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The growth of nationalism in the 19’ teen century, influenced as all other cases also the Christian populations of the Ottoman Empire. Under the influence of their bourgeoisie leadership, the ideology of all Orthodox Greeks scattered throughout Balkans and Anatolia belongs to the Greek nation started to spread.  In fact the Greeks living in the distant Black Sea shores of Anatolia had little contact with the free Greek state, which gained independence after 1821. The process of identity crisis of the 19’ th and 20’th century, was also a period of formation of modern Hellenism. The main reasons of these are the prevailing new political and international conditions in the region. The main result of this crisis is the transformation of the cultural identity into a political identity.

 Black Sea and the Revolutionary Movement

The Pontos issue is directly related to the international revolutionary movement. Lenin, as a leader of the Communist movement, was proposing the liberation of nations on one hand, but on the other side he was saying: "I and the Bolsheviks are the Young Turks of the Soviet Revolution”. In fact one can easily sees a contradiction in this two statements.  Contrary to this, Rosa Luxemburg while being captive in Berlin prison, called for full support towards the Christian communities of the Ottoman Empire, by saying: "A country has no hope to progress if it remains under Turkish domination. Concerning the Eastern issue, it is our duty to accept the fragmentation of Turkey and show unconditional solidarity to the Christian people". Rosa Luxemburg[1] in her work: "The activities of German imperialism in Turkey” wrote about the supreme economic and military interests of Germans in Turkey. The Ottoman lands were the main aims of the German imperialists. In this issue an important role was played by German banks.  Along this line many propaganda instruments were devised such as the organization on November 8, 1898 a ceremony in Damascus by the German Kaiser and his delegation, declaring that they are walking on the footsteps of Salahettin Eyubbi under the green flag of the Prophet to defend the Muslim community and gave an oath for this.  As Rosa Luxemburg said the role undertaken by Germans to resurrect the Ottoman Empire, is nothing than more to paint with a make-up a dead man. The disclosure by Rosa Luxemburg the fact that, the construction of Baghdad railway line during the First World War was based on massacres of people masses is an important remark to be emphasized.  The role of Deutsche Bank has been crucial. The German officials have made great efforts to fanaticize the Muslims and Turks against the non-Muslim communities of the Empire after the Balkan Wars.  The testimony of Dido Sotiriou[2] on the role of the Deutsche Palestinian Bank is significant. This Bank printed brochures in Turkish saying that: "If we Turks are poor and suffering, the causes of this are the infidels (gavurs) who grasped the wealth from our hands. How long we will afford this? Do not buy their products and do not have any dealing with them.  What do you expect from the friendship with them? Why you are offering to them so much love and brotherhood ".

In this context, the German Field Marshal Liman von Sanders in 1916 had ordered the deportation of Greeks from the coastal areas o Anatolia.  Realizing Liman von Sandres that despite all the exiling operations, the Greeks of Ayvalik were staying in their homes, he ordered on the Easter day of 1917 the deportation of them, saying: "Did not yet kicked out these infidels!".  The German imperialism wanted Anatolia to be cleaned from the Christian elements. The same can be said for the other western powers:  England, France, USA and Italy if one studies their behavior during the World War I and after. It is not a wrong statement to say that, these countries were indifferent to the annihilation of the ancient peoples of the Anatolia.

  The Political Organization in Pontos.

All the state influenced Turkish publications on the Pontos issue are almost identical because they use as reference the very same source. All these publications are based on propaganda book printed in 1922 by the Information and Printing Establishment (Matbuat ve İstihbarat Matbaası) under the title "The Pontos Affair” (Pontos Meselesi) which is a purely propaganda text.  In all the mentioned publications the same arguments were stated ... In this  propaganda book of 1922,  it is mentioned that the Greeks of  Black Sea shore were aiming to establish  an independent republic of the Pontos  with its capital city at Trabzon or Samsun and   its territories to extend from Batumi up to  Sinope. These writings are far from to explain what really happened in Pontos. Mustapha Kemal uses the same argumentations in his Speech (Nutuk).

At the commencement   of the First World War, the Greeks of Pontos, which until that time have served only to drudgery duties in the Ottoman Navy, like the other peoples of the Empire called to join the Ottoman armed forces.   It is a historical fact that during the course of World War I, many peasants deserted the army and returned to areas near their home villages, with their weapons or not and kept living in rural areas.  This way they begin to set up armed irregular guerrilla groups in various parts of mountainous regions of Anatolia as in Black Sea zone.

The effort of the Ottoman government to settle Muslim refugees, coming from Balkan countries, to the Greek villages in Black Sea shore, was the cause of the second phase of the trouble leading to ethnic clashes. The decision of the Pontian Greeks to refuse to accept refugees to their villages,  has been the beginning of the resistance against the state authorities.  Faced with this situation, the Government in autumn of 1915, started military operations against the villages Okse, Tsichman and Tefkeris. These places were the focus of resistance against the establishment of Balkan refugees. The villages started to be burned, the populations dispersed and   fighting men, among the most popular being Vasilis Anthopoulos  - Vasil Usta,  started  and formed  armed resistance groups. Many armed groups were concentrated in the Nebian town of Bafra region.

Until the Balkan Wars, the prevailing view among the Pontian Greek scholars, was that it would be possible to create a Turkish-Pontian  Union in peace and cooperation with the Turks in  the wider region of the Black Sea shore. The role of the Bishop of Trabzon Chrysanthos in the dissemination of this view and his role through the “Eastern Party" is of paramount importance.

The Young Turks after the Balkan wars and before the First World War they start the implementation of a "solution plan" of ethnic problems by the extermination of other nations as this was decided in 1911 at a Conference held in Thessaloniki.  The extermination operations started at beginning of the War by the practice of deportations. The fact that the idea of ​​establishing an independent Republic Pontian finds easily supporters is because of the reaction to the acts of Young Turks.

Then during this period, throughout of all the Black Sea shores, the development of self defense organizations aimed to defend the political rights of the Greeks of Pontos which started  to spread.  K. Konstantinidis, the son of the former mayor of Giresun Captain George,  being  influenced by the proclamation of the Soviets on  the right of “self  determination of peoples” of the Bolsheviks, organized on  February 4, 1918 in Marseille a  Conference with the participation of Pontian Greek representatives  from various  European Countries,  USA and elsewhere. The Conference members, seeking to get the support Soviets, sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Soviets Leon Trotsky.  In this letter it is stated that,  it will be a big mistake to return   the city and the region of Trabzon to  Turkish rule again   and support is asked from Soviets to achieve the establishment of an independent Pontos Republic.

East and West Pontos

After the occupation of the Eastern Black-Sea shore, in the summer of 1916, the Pontos region was divided into two parts and as a result of this the course of the events changed in the two regions.  When the Russian Army stopped in Gemoura, the fall of Trebizond to Russians was inevitable. The Turkish administration  seeing  the inevitability of the fall of Trebizond,  called  Bishop Chrysanthos and Greek notables to  hand  over the fate of the city to them and asked from them the protection of  the civilian Muslim population.  After a short ceremony, Governor Azmi speaking to Chrysanthos said: “we took this country from the Greeks and now give back to Greeks”. When on August 16, 1916 the Russians entered Trebizond they found a Greek administration in the city. The reception of the Pontian Greeks to the Russians was warm.  Chrysanthos established a Council of Christian and Muslim members, which  under his leadership ruled the region until the return of the Turkish army. The Bishop Chrysanthos protected the families of Muslims whose man had fled because of the fear of Russians.  He also tried to introduce a new spirit of equality among nations. The independent administration of Trebizond participated to the Soviets during 1917 by sending representatives.

The situation in the Western Pontos was very different. The armed rebels, who had fled to the mountains and consisted by independent non-coordinated guerilla groups, started accepting more men in their ranks, when deportations of the Greeks populations started  by the Turkish forces towards the end of 1916.  Vasil Anthopoulos established on July 3, 1916 an armed resistance group in Sivas, with the hope that when the Russian forces move to the Western Pontos will start a general revolution. But the stopping of the Russian advance changed the plans Anthopoulos. Believing that Russians are playing games with him, Anthopoulos  decided to create new conditions in the region. Then, with his armed group of 80 irregulars, attacked Turkish villages,  killed and burned homes of those he thought have harmed Christians.  In Ordu (Kotiyora) clashed with Turkish military forces and losing the battle took refuge to Trabzon, where he lived until the end of the war. The reaction of the Turks concerning these two events was twofold: (a) counter attacks to  Greek guerillas and (b) exiling of the Greeks in western Pontos (Black Sea shore) towards the inner regions of Anatolia. Regarding the first reaction seems to be of more local type response. Both Christians and Muslims were army deserters while the Muslim ones were ready to implement the nationalist policies of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). The most active irregular guerilla group was of the Topal Osman Agha from Giresun. He and his followers were army deserters and fugitives which were acting freely without any control.  Topal Osman has been a source of an utmost terror and horror. Even the local Muslim population was asking his removal from the region.

Among the armed rebels of the Pontian Greeks, the most known guerilla leader was Anton Pasha. While defending with his wife Pelagia,  Pontian Greek   villages becomes the main source of fear to Turkish administration and the Muslim irregular forces. He was killed in 1917 while his wife Pelagia continued the struggle until 1923. In the same area, among the Muslim armed groups, were also Circasians.

The Exiles

In a document prepared to be sent by the Austrian Foreign Ministry to Berlin the followings were stated: "The Turkish policy has the nature of a complete expulsion of the Greeks of their region, aiming their total extinction by using the excuse the Greeks of the region pose a risk against the State, an argument used in past against the Armenians. The Turks not discern any difference among the population, leaving no chances their survival under the pretext of moving all the Greeks to other regions as deportations of the population from the shores towards the interior, leaving them in appalling, inhumane conditions so the hunger will lead them to death.  Their homes after being occupied by the Muslim irregular forces (tsetes) are looted, burned  and demolished. Similar measures used against the Armenians are being also used in the region of Pontos "[3].

The Greek Pontian guerilla forces, although are not able to prevent the deportation of Greek populations, they establish “liberated zones" in mountainous areas,   where refugee is provided to the Greeks escaping from  their ruined villages.  The appearing of new Pontian rebel groups and the because of the weakness   of the Turkish army to destroy them leads to a regional compromise with the Turkish village populations which provide to  Pontian guerilla  groups  food and supplies.

After the defeat of the Ottoman State in the First World War, in the Black Sea shore region of Anatolia British forces (Indian soldiers with British officers) were installed and in order Britain to ensure its future interests required the Greek Pontian guerilla forces to surrender their weapons to the Turkish army. The guerillas did not fall to this trap and  not hand their weapons. The Pontian Greeks embrace the establishing a Pontos Republic. Meanwhile about 100.000 Pontian Greeks return home from Russia.

Because of the Pontos movement comes into a dangerous state concerning the Ottoman State, the Istanbul Ottoman government decides to send to Black Sea region Mustapha Kemal Pasha.  M. Kemal begins his efforts to quell the Pontos movement after the request of British and the moral and material support of Sultan Mehmet Vahdetin. M.Kemal Pasha arriving in Samsun meets with British Major Hurst and invites representatives the various communities to the local command garrison. The leader local Greeks,  Bishop Germanos,  has not responded to this  invitation. The report sent by Mustapha Kemal  to Sultan Government says that Pontos  guerrilla forces led by Bishop Germanos  didn’t come to the invitation. Meanwhile Mustapha Kemal on his arrival to Samsun on May 19, 1919 immediately begins to organize the Turkish irregular groups to act against the Greek Pontian guerrillas  who are seeking independence. It is mentioned that Topal Osman was one of the first leader of irregular (testes) M. Kemal met.  As shown in public records, Mustapha Kemal puts more importance to Pontian guerrilla movement rather than to the Greek State armed forces which have landed forces to western Anatolia.

The End of the Movement and Ethnic Cleansing

The situation after the first successes of the Pontian guerilla forces and despite their efforts to unite their forces leads to a decline of their strength because of the absence of any coordination center. The decline of morale among the Pontian rebels is fast. The Turkish army with the  significant help of the Bolsheviks is being reorganized and because also of the support help of Italian and French strengthens its position. These developments are discouraging the intention of the Pontian Greek guerilla forces to form a common command centre and they start to become completely independent and even there has been  clashes between various guerilla groups. The end is tragic. Despite the distant attitude   of the Greek State to Pontos movement, the Greeks of Pontos  always shows a trend of identity with themselves with the Greek state.

The government in Ankara in order to compete the action of the Greek guerillas in the region begins the deportation and exile of the Greek village populations providing support to the guerillas. Ankara is determined to enlist everyone Pontian Greek who could endanger the stability in the region. All non-Muslims sent to labor battalions. Although a part of the Pontians does not obey, a significant part of Greeks were sent to Work Battalions, known as Amele Taburlari, and through this measure  these men were  inactivated.

After this, obligatory collection of arms was initiated in the region, starting from non-Muslims.  Resistance was raised against the army units coming to collect the arms in the region of Samsun and in other areas. The most severe clashes takes place in areas such as in Tokat, Carshamba and  in Nebian of Bafra. This effort of the Turkish army, which begins April 6, 1921, despite the implementation of extensive violence by the Turkish army units, does not give any result. The Turkish army units were strengthened with the Giresun Divison fail in their objectives in Carshamba and  Nebian-Bafra. Then Ankara government declares the region of ​​the Black Sea as a war zone and decides on June 21, 1921,  to exile all the Greeks of Pontos. Furthermore, most of the rural regions have been cleared from Greeks and the Greek villages were burned. After the decision on June 16, 1921 the Executive Government Committee in Ankara because of the fear of a Greek landing in Samsun,  the deportation of all the Greek men in the region  being  of 16 to 50 years old is decided. Then, arrests of Greeks starts in the areas of  Samsun and Bafra- Alatsam area.  Next day, the first group of deportees leave towards the south which while passing near the town Kavak, gets under fire of Turks or Greek guerillas according to the Greek or Turkish information sources respectively. Also several guards, accompanying the exiled Greeks, were also killed. Similar events occur during the deportation marches during the month June 1921. The attacks are caused by irregular Turkish forces (tsetes) with the cooperation of the guards escorting  the exiled Greeks. In these attacks an important role is played by the irregular armed groups of Topal Osman Agha and Saki Ali from Tokat. The reactions to the events in a letter sent by the Ministry of Interior on June 25, 1921 indicates that displacement of the Greeks is being carried out because of military reasons, not being an act of a deportation,   while it is mentioned that the life of the exiled Greeks should be protected and also the lives, fortunes and honors of the Greek woman and children remaining at their home should be protected. In this order severe punishments are sought to those state officials attack to woman and children and also to the exiled men.

However we learn from the Minister of Health of the time Riza Nur that in practice things were not over the whole way.  Riza Nur[4] who was latter the chief negotiator in Lausanne negotiations, writes in his memoirs about the talks he had with Topal Osman:  “I said him, Aga clear the Black Sea well. Do not let stone - on a stone in Greek villages in Black Sea". He replied to me: "I do exactly so, but I protect and don’t destroy their churches and buildings because might be useful in the future".  I said him:  "Demolish the buildings and churches as well and scatter their stones away. You never know what happens in future. Nobody should be able come in future and say ‘there was a church here’ ".  The answer given by Topal Osman was:  "I will do that way, I didn’t thought correctly".  Then Riza Nur writes that Topal Osman was a new Kioroglu making a reference to a legendary Turkish public hero of past centuries revolting against Sultan.

When the government in Ankara forced to send troops from the region of Black Sea to the western front this reduced the flow of exiling.  After the failure of the Greek army in Sakarya, the exiling receives a massive scale operation dimension in the Black Sea region.  During this period, the cleansing operations against the Greek guerillas in the mountains are intensified and the exiles continue to increase. After the order of Nurettin Pasha  women were also deported, despite the initial orders not include them. There has not been any reaction on this by his superiors in Ankara. According to Nurettin Pasha: "Greeks are snakes and their women are the poison of them.  These women support physically, morally and materially their men who are fascinated with the dream of the Pontos”.  In addition to these, in the notorious Independence Courts (Istiklal Mahkemeleri) in Amasya,  women were also  tried,  being accused of spying, fomenting crimes and helping criminals to hide.

During these operations in Black Sea, after discussions held in the Parliament in Ankara, the commander of the Central Army Nurettin  Pasha  was  dismissed on the ground of  his illegal activities  and incompetence on November 8, 1921 while  on February  8, 1922 the  administration of the Central Army was abolished. Then the responsibility of the operations against the Greeks of Pontos was assigned to the 10th Brigade operating under the orders of the Ministry of Interior. As a commander of this Brigade Cemil Cahit bey was appointed. The Turkish armed forces enhanced in terms of men and arms ends the Pontos issue in February 1923 which has been continuing for many years.  

Conclusion

In fact the beginning of the end to the Black Sea Greeks begins in December 1920, after the whole scale defeat of the Armenians, at the end of 1920 by the Kemalist army coming into direct contact with the Bolsheviks. The Soviet support flowing to Kemalists  and on the other side through  the agreements signed between the Soviets - British, Soviets- Turkish Ankara administration  and British  with the Minister of Exterior Affairs of Ankara administration Bekir Sami on March 16, 1921 set the fate of the Pontos  movement.  After this date British declare their neutrality. The Greek state left the Greeks of Pontos to their fate. The British supports Turkey thinking that will serve as a buffer intermediate state with the Soviet Union. The "real politik" of time - say the detant - is the reason that determines the end of Pontos movement. The last guerilla forces that remain in Black Sea, after the signing of the Lausanne Treaty,  escape from the shores of the Black Sea to Greece by ships  or to Russia

Biography of the Author

Sait Çetinoglu born in Trabzon he is an activist of human rights and member of the Free University An­kara Independent Initiative. He has been staying out of any political organization after the military takeover of 1980 he has been pursuing is work as an independent political researcher.  His works on human right issues has been carried out under the Free University, Human Rights Association (IHD) of Turkey, Amnesty International and Ankara Freedom to Throughout Initiative. He has been member of the Administrative Board of the IHD and among the first members of the Amnesty International in  Turkey  serving also  as coordinator.

He has been editor of the Human Rights Publications and Humanite Journal. He also worked as editor in the publications of the Free University, Belge and Peri publishing houses in Turkey concerning the publications on “minority issues”.

He authored the book on “Varlik Vergisi 1942-1944- Ekonomik ve Kültürel Jenocid (Capital Tax 1942-1944- an Economic and Cultural Genocide)” based on his research and published by Belge International Publishing House. He also coauthored with Fikret Bashkaya the research books :  “İttihatçılıktan Kemalizme (From Unionists to Kemalists) and  Türkiye’de “Azınlıklar” (The “Minorities” in Turkey)  both published by Free University.  He authored the publications: “The ‘turkification’  of the Capital” and the Secret Agenda of the Union and Progress (İttihat ve Terakki'nin Gizli Ajandası) published in the series “Discussions on the Official History” and authored also lemmas in the Concepts Dictionary  and Official Ideology on the topics official ideology/official history, genocide, issues related to Turkish economic history, etc.

His works on “The 20 years Conscription to Work Battalions”- A Terror Act  against the Minorities, The Assassination of Justice in 1909 at Cilicia and on various other topics will be published by Belge International Publishing House in the series Myths of Official History- Sayings and Truth.

Presently is working on the research topic of the Development of the Turkish-Muslim wealth after the looting of the Greek and Armenian fortunes to be published in a book entitled “The Turkish Bourgoise and the Dark side of the Turkish Economy”.  He has published articles on the Committee Union and Progress, Kemalism, The Nature of the Kemalist Regime, Armenian, Pontos Greek and Assyrian Genocides, The Turkish Economic Histiryand “Minorites” at various newspapers in Turkey as well as in the journals Yevrobatsi, Collectifvan, Le monde, Nouvelles d’Armenie Magazine, Keghart, Pontos World, Deutsch-Armenische Gesellschaft (DAG), Agos, Marmara, Zartong, Özgür Üniversite, Birikim, Yaba, Atılım, Devrimci Demokrasi, Devrimci Halkın Günlüğü, Newroz, Gündem, Birgün, Evrensel ve Radikal... including newspapers and internet sites.