Those Arrested for Alleged Mistreatment of British Prisoners during the Armistice Period and Deported to Malta

After the Armistice of Mondros, Allied Powers, especially England, began to interfere in all kinds of business and functioning of the Ottoman Empire under the pretext of monitoring whether the Armistice was fully implemented or not. In this context, the British High Commissioner demanded the surrender of a large number of Ottoman officials to them, whom they considered guilty, for allegedly ill-treating the British prisoners during the World War I. The British Government wanted to prosecute people to be delivered in this way in their own courts. The Government of Tevfik Pasha initially rejected this request, claiming that it was against the sovereign rights of the Ottoman Empire and international law. However, as a result of the pressures of England, arrests were made within the framework of the lists given by the British both during this government period and during the following Damat Ferit Governments. The arrested Ottoman officials were taken to Malta by the British, along with many other political prisoners, where they were held as prisoners for about two and a half years. These officers, whose petitions to the Ottoman government were unsuccessful both for themselves and for the families they left behind, faced serious financial and moral problems during their stay in Malta. With the establishment of the Grand National Assembly government and its assumption of authority, it became the interlocutor in thismatter, as in many others. Although some Turkish exiles were released within the framework of an agreement made at the 1921 London Conference, the deportations of those imprisoned for alleged ill-treatment of prisoners continued. Finally, in an agreement signed with Britain after the victory of the Battle of Sakarya, it was decided that the British prisoners held by the government of the Grand National Assembly and the Turkish exiles in Malta would be mutually released. Thus, the officers who were arrested for allegedly mistreating the British prisoners were also released and returned to their homeland.

Dergi

CTAD-CUMHURIYET TARIHI ARASTIRMALARI DERGISI

Yıl

2023

Cilt

19

Sayı

39

Sayfa

1231-1261

ISSN

1305-1458

eISSN

2147-1592

WoS UID

WOS:001167420000008