17 Oct 1917: Turks Turned Against Greek. 700,000 Suffer. The Evening Independent

eveningindependent17oct1917

TURKS TURNED AGAINST GREEK; 700,000 SUFFER
THE SAME TREATMENT THAT THE ARMENIANS RECEIVED IS METED OUT TO THE GREEKS.
GREEKS ARE LAW-ABIDING AND LOYAL TO GOVERNMENT
Stories of Greek Deportation Just beginning to Leak Out, Says Frank W. Jackson.

The Evening Independent
17 October 1917.

NEW YORK, OCT 17. - Not satisfied
by the slaughter of hundreds of thous-
ands of Americans[Armenians] and Syrians, the
Turk has also turned against the Greek
Christians in his dominions and more
than 700,000 have fallen victim to
a persecution in the form of death, suf-
fering or deportation, it was declared
here today by Frank W. Jackson, of
this city, chairman of the Relief Com-
mittee for Greeks of Asia Minor. He
said the real details of these new
Turkish atrocities were just beginning
to leak out.
"The story of the Greek deporta-
tion is not yet generally known," said
Mr. Jackson. "Quietly and gradually
the same treatment is being meted
out to the Greeks as to the Americans[Armenians].
Although closely guarded, certain
echoes of these horrors come out from
time to time.
"There were some two to three
million Greeks in Asia Minor at the
outbreak of the war in 1914, subject
to Turkish rule. According to the
latest reliable and authorative ac-
counts some seven to eight hundred
thousand have been deported, mainly
from the coast regions into the inte-
rior of Asia Minor.
"The Greeks of Asia Minor have
always been law-abiding and perfectly
loyal to the Turkish government. Un-
der Abdul Hamid they were well treat-
ed, but his successors adopted a pro-
gram to crush them.
"At the declaration of the present
war all persecutions were stopped but
the Spring of 1915 brought to the
stage a tragic, novel drama unique in
the history of the world as to its
horrors and destructiveness, that is
the Armenian deportation; under that
innocent name the extermination of a
Christian race was started.
"Along with the Americans[?] most
of the Greeks of the Marmora regions
and Thrace have been deported on
the pretext that they gave information
to the enemy. Along the Aegean
Coast Aivalik stands out as the worst
sufferer. According to one report
some 70,000 Greeks there have been
deported toward Koria [Konya] and beyond.
At least 7,000 have been slaughtered.
The Greek Bishop of Aivalik co-
mmitted suicide in despair.
"The latest account from Trebizond
shows the towns along the Black sea
are being emptied of their Greek po-
pulation. From Trebizond we have
a letter dated July 24, 1917, in which
he says the following order came from
Turkish Army Headquarters at Sheis-
hehie: 'By 12:25 July let no Greek
man over 16 and under 50 be found in
Ordou. Send all such on into the
interior. As for the families, we will
send further orders later.
"Mr. Crawford also wrote: 'First
let us express once more our thank-
fulness to God for the deliverance. He
has sent us by the great grand Rus-
sian army and people. We are more
and more appreciating what the Rus-
sians have done for this region. Im-
mediately after the Russian occupa-
tion of this province in April 1916,
hundreds of Armenians began to come
out of their hiding places."
"From the Greek Minister to the
United States, George Rousses, I have
a letter September 21, 1917, in which
he says:
"Backed by the Germans, the Turks
have put into execution and even or-
ganized their wildness. They have
decided to exterminate the Greek ele-
ment which is the most important and
numerous in Asia Minor.
"Under pretext of necessities of war
entire populations have been deported.
Members of Families have been sepa-
rated. The old, the men unfit for mili-
tary service and the women, were sent
into the interior of the country, aban-
doned without the slightest help and
exposed to all sorts of deprivations.
The men fit for military service were
taken by force into the army despite
the fact of having paid for exemption:
some of the wealthiest have even been
called on to pay this exemption fee
three times over."
The Relief Committee for Greeks of
Asia Minor, Mr. Jackson said, has been
organized for non-politic and purely
humanitarian purposes and aims at
securing means to aid these Greeks
reduced by sudden persecutions to a
state of want.