The blight of Asia : $b An account of the systematic extermination of Christian populations by Mohammedans and of the culpability of certain great powers; with the true story of the burning of SmyrnaHorton, George
History
The blight of Asia : $b An account of the systematic extermination of Christian populations by Mohammedans and of the culpability of certain great powers; with the true story of the burning of Smyrna
Horton, George
Christians -- Turkey; Fires -- Turkey -- İzmir; Greeks -- Turkey; Turkey; İzmir (Turkey) -- History
The Greek subjects in Asia Minor were not disturbed for the reason,
as explained by Rahmi Bey, that King Constantine was in reality an
ally of Turkey and that he was preventing Greece from going into the
war. The Rayas, or Greek Ottoman subjects, of the Port were, on the
other hand, abominably treated. These people were the expert artisans,
principal merchants and professional men of the cities, and the skilled
and progressive farmers of the country. It was they who introduced the
cultivation of the famous Sultanina raisins, improved the curing and
culture of tobacco, and built modern houses and pretty towns. They were
rapidly developing a civilization that would ultimately have approached
the classic days of Ionia. A general boycott was declared against them,
for one thing, and posters calling on the Mussulmans to exterminate
them were posted in the schools and mosques. The Turkish newspapers
also published violent articles exciting their readers to persecution
and massacre. A meeting of the consular corps was held and the decision
was taken to visit the _vali_ and call the attention of His Excellency
to the danger that these articles and this agitation might disturb the
tranquillity of a peaceful province.
The consuls visited the _vali_, with the exception of the German
representative, who alleged that he could not join in such a move without
the express authorization of his government. This action of the German
official on the spot is another confirmation of the assertion that
Germany was to a large extent co-guilty with her Turkish allies in the
matter of the deportations and massacres of Christians. In fact, there is
little doubt that Germany inspired the expulsion of the Ottoman Greeks
of Asia Minor at that time, as one of the preliminary moves in the war,
which she was preparing.
The ferocious expulsion and terrorizing by murder and violence of
the Rayas along the Asia Minor littoral, which has not attracted the
attention it merits, has all the earmarks of a war measure, prompted
by alleged “military necessity,” and there is no doubt that Turks and
Germans were allies during the war and were in complete cooperation.
A study of this question may be found in Publication No. 3, of the
American Hellenic Society, 1918, in which the statement is made that one
million, five hundred thousand Greeks were driven from their homes in
Thrace and Asia Minor, and that half these populations had perished from
deportations, outrages and famine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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