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Malta exiles

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The Malta exiles (Turkish: Malta sürgünleri) were the purges of Ottoman intellectuals by the Allied forces.[1] The exile to Malta 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

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In late January 1919, the Allied forces began to arrest CUP leaders and military commanders accusing them of war crimes.[2] On 120 leaders of the Ottoman Empire were issued arrest warrants.[2] 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.[2] 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 the situation. The release was not what the allied forces had in mind, causing them to consider a better detention facility than the Bekirağa military prison, well aware that the prison might be captured by the protestors and its prisoners released.[3] After this release the prisoners deported to Malta[4] 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.[5] Most of the prisoners were held for three years on Malta.

Initially, the Allied Government sent sixty-seven war criminals to Malta in a prosecution attempt coordinated by the British forces.[3] Later, more suspects followed. 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

Those exiled included people unrelated to war crimes such as historian Adnan Adıvar, pharmacist Mehmet Eczacıbaşı, journalists Velid Ebüziyya, Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu, Minister of Education Ahmet Sükrü Bey and Ziya Gökalp, showing the Malta Exiles were focused on purging Turkish intellectuals who would support the Kemalist forces in spite of the Ottoman cooperation with the Allied Government.[7][8][9]

Turkish approach to the trials against the Malta exiles

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At that time, the Turks had two competing governments, one based in Constantinople, the ancient capital of the Ottoman Empire now under Allied (mostly British) occupation, the other was based in Ankara, deep in the interior and away from Allied forces. The Constantinople government supported the inquiries with more or less seriousness depending on the current government. Nominally headed by the Sultan, the Turkish government based in Constantinople was politically the same state that had surrendered to the Allies at the end of WWI, accepting humiliating terms that included ceding or accepting the occupation of most of what had been the Ottoman Empire, including western Anatolia and complying with the exile of Turkish intellectuals to Malta. These circumstances sparked a nationalist backlash, leading a clique of Army officers commanding the remnants the Ottoman Army to form a rival independent government based in Ankara. This Kemalist Government was pro-western in overall outlook and did not seek to re-establish the Ottoman Empire but rejected the humiliating terms of surrender agreed too by Constantinople, including the surrender of the Malta exiles.[10] 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.[11] The trials enabled the Freedom and Accord Party to expel the Committee of Union and Progress from the political arena.[12]

The Kemalist Ankara Government was strictly opposed to trials against the Malta exiles and their portrayal as criminals for opposing the occupation of Anatolia. 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.[13][14][15]

Release

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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[16][17] amongst which figured Alfred Rawlinson, a relative of the British General Henry Rawlinson.[18] Several of the Malta Exiles then joined the Turkish Nationalist Movement around Mustafa Kemal in Ankara.[19]

Prisoners

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Malta Exiles[20]
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 İbrahim Ahmet 29 March 1919 26 68 Ali İhsan Pasha's order corporal
3 Abdülgani Bey 28 May 1919 26 95 Lieutenant colonel Binbashi
4 Ahmet Bey 28 May 1919 27 24 Former Sivas Governor
5 Ahmet Cevat Bey 28 May 1919 27 24 Kaymakam, Istanbul Position commander
6 Ahmet Haydar Bey 28 May 1919 27 08 Kolağası
7 Ahmet Muammer [tr] 28 May 1919 27 19 Former Ministry of the Interior (Ottoman Empire), Sofia Ambassador, Istanbul MP
8 Ahmet Nesimi Sayman [az] 28 May 1919 27 19 former Foreign minister
9 Ahmet Tevfik Bey 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

(Çanakkale-Biga) and III. Period Ankara MP[21]

12 Celal Bey 28 May 1919 26 76 Kaymakam
13 Cemal Efendi 28 May 1919 26 94 Mülâzım-ı evvel
14 Ahmet Faik Erner 28 May 1919 27 37
15 Fazıl Berki Tümtürk 28 May 1919 26 98
16 Ferit Bey 28 May 1919 27 03 Secretary of Committee of Union and Progress
17 Gani Bey 28 May 1919 27 23 Member of Committee of Union and Progress
18 Habip Bey 28 May 1919 26 85 Bolu deputy
19 Hacı Ahmet Pasha 28 May 1919 27 39 Enver Pasha's father
20 Halil Bey 28 May 1919 26 99 Mülâzım-ı Evvel
21 Hasan Fehmi Tumerkan 28 May 1919 26 88 Sinop deputy
22 Ürgüplü Mustafa Hayri Efendi [tr] 28 May 1919 27 34 Sheikh ul-Islam
23 Hazım Bey 28 May 1919 26 78 Kolağası
24 Hilmi Bey 28 May 1919 27 89 Kırklareli Mutasarrıfı
25 Hoca Rıfat Efendi 28 May 1919 27 06 Representative of Committee of Union and Progress
26 Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın 28 May 1919 26 75 Istanbul deputy, Journalist
27 Hüseyin Kadri Bey 28 May 1919 27 05 Karesi deputy
28 İbrahim Bedrettin Bey 28 May 1919 27 01 Diyarbakır Governor
29 İbrahim Hakkı Bey 28 May 1919 27 10 Kolağası
30 İsmail Canbulat [tr] 28 May 1919 26 92 Former Ministry of the Interior (Ottoman Empire)
31 Kemal Bey 28 May 1919 Unknown Unknown
32 Macit Bey 28 May 1919 27 04 The Bookkeeper of Ottoman Divan (parlement)
33 Mazlum Bey 28 May 1919 27 07 Binbashi
34 Mehmet Sabit Sağıroğlu [tr] 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 Memduh Bey 28 May 1919 27 33 Musul Governor
38 Mithat Sükrü Bey 28 May 1919 26 93 Member of Committee of Union and Progress
39 Mustafa Asım bey 28 May 1919 27 11 former Of Mutasarrıfı
40 Mümtaz Bey 28 May 1919 26 97 Retired Yarbay
41 Nevzat Bey 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 Rıza Hamit Bey 28 May 1919 27 40 Bursa deputy
45 Pirizade İbrahim Hayrullah Bey [tr] 28 May 1919 27 35 Old Council of State (Ottoman Empire) secretary general.
46 Salah Cimcoz [tr] 28 May 1919 27 28 Istanbul deputy
47 Sami Bey 28 May 1919 27 09 Kaymakam
48 Süleyman Numan Pasha 28 May 1919 27 32 Army Medical Inspector
49 Süleyman Sudi Acarbay [tr] 28 May 1919 27 30 Tokat MP
50 Serafettin Efendi 28 May 1919 26 77 Mülâzım-ı Evvel
51 Şükrü Kaya 28 May 1919 27 38 Civil Inspector
52 Tahir Cevdet Bey 28 May 1919 26 90 Former Ankara Governor
53 Tevfik Hadi Bey 28 May 1919 26 82 Political Police Director
54 Mehmet Ubeydullah Hatipoğlu [tr] 28 May 1919 27 31 İzmir deputy
55 Veli Necdet Sünkitay [tr] 28 May 1919 26 87 Undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior (Ottoman Empire)
56 Yusuf Ziya Bey [tr] 28 May 1919 26 84 Retired Kolağası, member of Committee of Union and Progress
57 Zekeriya Zihni Bey 28 May 1919 27 18 Edirne MP
58 Aziz Cihangiroğlu 2 June 1919
59 Alibeyzade Mehmet Bey 2 June 1919 27 16
60 Hasan Han Cihangiroğlu 2 June 1919
61 İbrahim Cihangiroğlu 2 June 1919 27 17
62 Mehmetoğlu Muhlis Bey 2 June 1919 27 27
63 Matroi Radjinski 2 June 1919 27 25
64 Musa Salah Bey 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 Pavlo Camızev 2 June 1919 27 14
66 Tauchitgin Memlejeff 2 June 1919 27 22
67 Stefani Vafiades 2 June 1919 27 26
68 Yusufoğlu Yusuf Bey 2 June 1919 27 21
69 Abbas Halim Pasha 21 September 1919 27 54
70 Ahmet Ağaoğlu 21 September 1919 27 64 Afyonkarahisar deputy, lecturer of Darülfünün, author
71 Ali Münif Bey 21 September 1919 27 62 former Nafia Nazırı
72 Hacı Adil Bey 21 September 1919 27 57 deputy
73 Halil Menteşe 21 September 1919 27 60 member of Committee of Union and Progress
74 Hüseyin Tosun Bey 21 September 1919 27 65 owner of Milli Telgraf Ajansı
75 Kara Kemal 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 Nuri Bitlisi 28 January 1920 Sergeant
82 Faik Kaltakkıran 22 March 1920 27 80 Old Edirne MP
83 Ahmet Sevket Bey 22 March 1920 27 80 Istanbul Fortified Area Commander
84 Mehmet Cemal Mersinli Pasha 22 March 1920 27 72 Mirliva, Former 2nd Army Commander
85 Çürüksulu Mahmut Pasha 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 Minister of the Navy, 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 Mehmet Seref Aykut Bey 22 March 1920 27 79
91 Mustafa Vasıf Karakol 22 March 1920 27 78 Founder of Karakol Society
92 Köstenceli Numan Usta 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 Ali Sait Pasha 27 March 1920 27 82 Mirliva
96 Ali Seyyit Bey 27 March 1920 27 94 Tribal Chief
97 Celal Nuri İleri 27 March 1920 27 85 Journalist
98 Ebüzziyazade Velit Pasha 27 March 1920 27 83
99 Enis Avni (Aka Gündüz) 27 March 1920 27 91 Writer
100 Hilmi Abdülkadir 27 March 1920 27 89
101 İslam Ali 27 March 1920 27 86
102 Mehmet Eczacıbaşı 27 March 1920 27 90 Pharmacist
103 Mehmet Muammer Ira 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 Bağdat Governor
106 Acenta Mustafa Kırzade 20 May 1920 27 86 Merchant
107 Abdüsselami Pasha 20 May 1920 Retired General, former Yemen commander
108 Mehmet Kamil Bey 20 May 1920 Musullu Journalist
109 Hacı Ahmet Bey 20 May 1920 Sivas delegate of Committee of Union and Progress
110 Mustafa Reshat Bey 31 May 1920 Istanbul Siyasi Polis Müdürü
111 Agah Bey 7 June 1920 27 86
112 Basri Bey 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 Andavallı Mehmet Ağa 7 June 1920
116 Murat Bey 13 June 1920
117 Süleyman Faik Pasha 13 June 1920
118 Yakup Sevki Subaşı Pasha 13 June 1920 Former Commander of 9th army
119 Ali Nazmi Bey 6 August 1920
120 Hoca İlyas Sami Muş 19 August 1920 Muş MP
121 Mehmet Atıf Bey 19 August 1920
122 Mehmet Nazım Bey 19 August 1920 Commander of the Ottoman Rumelia Detachment (reinforced 177th Regiment)
123 Süleyman Necmi Bey 19 August 1920
124 Sefer Bey 12 September 1920
125 Burhanettin Hakkı Bey 20 September 1920
126 Mehmet Nuri Bey 20 September 1920 Old Elazığ MP
127 Mehmet Rıfat Bey 20 September 1920
128 Cemal Oğuz Bey 5 October 1920
129 Mehmet Ali Bey 5 October 1920 Last former Minister of the Interior of the Ottoman Empire
130 Ahmet Sükrü Bey 27 63 Former Minister of Education, Former Deputy of Kastamonu
131 Cevat Bey
132 Eşref Sencer Kuşçubaşı Special Organization
133 İsmail Müştak Mayokan Author, Deputy
134 Kazım Bey Miralay, Enver Pasha's brother-in-law
135 Mürsel Bakü Military officer in the eastern front.[2]
136 Sabit Bey former Sivas Governor
137 Sükrü Bey Miralay
138 Galatalı Sevki Bey Miralay, Head of Police Station Association
139 Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu Journalist, owner of Yeni Gün Newspaper
140 Velid Ebüzziya [tr] 23 March 1920[22] Journalist of Tasvîr-i Efkâr Newspaper

Further reading

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  • Simsir, B. Malta Surgunleri (The Malta Exiles). Istanbul, 1976.
  • Ata, Ferudun (2018). The Relocation Trials in Occupied Istanbul. Offenbach am Main: Manzara Verlag. p. 357. ISBN 9783939795926.
  • Uluç, Gürkan (2024). Understanding the Armenian Question: Malta Tribunal (1919-1921). Offenbach am Main: Manzara Verlag. p. 304. ISBN 9783911130004.

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Shaw, Stanford, and Shaw, Ezel Kural. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Vol. 2: Reform, Revolution, and Republic: The Rise of Modern Turkey, 1808 - 1975. Cambridge, U.K., and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1977.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ a b 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.
  4. ^ Klaus-Detlev Grothusen:"Türkei", Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1985
  5. ^ Detlev Grothusen, Klaus (197). Die Türkei in Europa: Beiträge des Südosteuropa-arbeitskreises der… (in German). Berghahn Books. p. 35.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Grassi, Fabio L. (2015-01-01). "The Turkish Intellectuals and the Great War". Antonello Biagini / Giovanna Motta (Eds.), the Great War. Analysis and Interpretation, Newcastle, Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
  8. ^ Criss, N. B. (1999-01-01). Istanbul Under Allied Occupation, 1918-1923. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-11259-9.
  9. ^ Parla, Taha (1985-01-01). The Social and Political Thought of Ziya Gökalp: 1876-1924. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-07229-9.
  10. ^ Sancaktar, Mehmet Fatih (2014). "Milli Mücadele'nin Farklı Bir Yüzü: Malta Sürgünleri (Ocak 1919 – Ekim 1921)". Asia Minor Studies (3): 63–81. doi:10.17067/ams.20224. ISSN 2147-1673.
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ Klaus-Detlev Grothusen:"Türkei", Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1985, page 35
  13. ^ Spencer, Robert F. "Culture Process and Intellectual Current: Durkheim and Atatürk 1." American Anthropologist 60.4 (1958): 640-657.
  14. ^ Teti̇k, Ahmet (2004-03-01). "Exiled Letters from Malta". Ataturk Research Center Magazine (in Turkish). 20 (58): 83–104. doi:10.33419/aamd.703396. ISSN 1011-727X. S2CID 216163775.
  15. ^ 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
  16. ^ Bonello, Giovanni (2008). Histories of Malta - Confessions and Transgressions, Vol.9. Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti. ISBN 978-99932-7-224-3. Archived from the original on 2018-07-10. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  17. ^ 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
  18. ^ Zürcher, Erik J. (2017-12-21). Turkey: A Modern History. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 379. ISBN 978-1-78673-183-8.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ "'Malta Sürgünleri' kimdir?". gazetevatan.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  21. ^ "TBMM Albümü". tbmm.gov.tr. 31 October 2012. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  22. ^ "EBÜZZİYA, Velid - TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi". 2019-07-17. Archived from the original on 2019-07-17. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
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