Mark H. Ward was a Near East Relief physician who witnessed the deportation of Greeks during the Greek Genocide. He and other relief workers were expelled by the Kemalists for keeping notes on the deportations. Between May 1921 and February 1922, while working at the American Hospital in Elazığ, Ward witnessed 38 groups of deportees who were sent through the town in the Harput province.
Ward stated in his testimony that out of a total of 20,378 that reached Elazığ, 18,000 or 88% were Ottoman Greeks and the remainder Armenians. He estimated that 30,000 were sent from Sivas to Elazığ and that 5,000 of those escaped from the convoys while another 5,000 died along the road. During the fall and winter months there were 4,000 deportees in Malatya alone. 2,000 of those at Malatya died of starvation or typhus. During the 7 months he was working in the American Hospital at Elazığ, 25% of the 1,300 refugees he cared for died. Of the 15,000 refugees who were sent south to Diyarbakir only 12,000 arrived safely, the remaining 3,000 died in the snow covered mountains. 2,000 refugees stayed at Diyarbakir during winter and half of them died from starvation, disease or exposure. Of the 30,000 who left Sivas only 10,000 arrived at Bitlis.
Note: Deportation lines on the map are a guide and may differ slightly. Deportations often intersected neighbouring towns and villages before reaching destination. Deportations from regions whose current place names couldn't be verified such as Koppy, Hadign and Endemish are not shown.
A list of the deportations witnessed by Mark H. Ward.
|
DATE |
NUMBER |
FROM |
SENT TO |
|
26 May 1921 |
10 Greeks, 6 Armenians |
Konya, Kayseri, Amasya (via Sivas) |
Elazig then Diyarbakir and Bitlis |
|
29 May 1921 |
100 Greeks, 30 Armenians (originally 300) |
Bilecik |
Elazig |
|
3 Jun 1921 |
125 Greeks, 187 Armenians |
Eskisehir, Kutahya (via Sivrihisar) |
Elazig |
|
13 Jun 1921 |
200 Greeks, 374 Armenians |
Eskisehir, Bilecek, Sivrihisar, Kutahya, Afyonkarahisar |
Elazig |
|
20 Jun 1921 |
10 men |
Konya |
Elazig |
|
27 Jun 1921 |
50 Greeks, 300 Armenians |
Konya (via Malatya and Sivas) |
Elazig |
|
4 Jul 1921 |
170 Greeks, 280 Armenians |
Aksehir |
Elazig |
|
17 Jul 1921 |
456 Greeks, 204 Armenians |
Konya |
Elazig |
|
19 Jul 1921 |
302 Greeks, 300 Armenians |
Afyonkarahisar, Aksehir, Karaman, Eregli, Haymans, Kutahya, Eskisehir, Konya |
Elazig |
|
18 Jul 1921 |
722 Greeks |
Ordu, Giresun |
Elazig then Bitlis and Van. |
|
25 Jul 1921 |
496 Greek men |
Ordu, Giresun |
Elazig |
|
28 Jul 1921 |
161 Greeks |
Giresun |
Elazig |
|
4 Aug 1921 |
64 Greeks |
Ordu |
Elazig then Bitlis |
|
4 Aug 1921 |
2000 mostly women and children |
Zara (Vilayet of Sivas) |
Elazig |
|
21 Aug 1921 |
22 men |
Ordu, Giresun |
Elazig |
|
27 Aug 1921 |
80 people |
Tepecik (near Samsun) |
Elazig |
|
27 Aug 1921 |
1230 mostly women and children |
Amasya, Havza, Iledig, Merzifon, Torpojuk and villages of Samsun |
Elazig then Bitlis or Van |
|
30 Aug 1921 |
1650 Greeks (women and children) |
Merzifon and villages between there and Samsun |
Elazig then Bitlis |
|
31 Aug 1921 |
1284 people |
Merzifon, Havza, Amasya, Koppy, Hadign |
Elazig the Bitlis |
|
9 Sep 1921 |
200 people |
Eskisehir, Kutahya |
Elazig |
|
21 Sep 1921 |
48 Greeks, 4 Armenians |
Konya |
Elazig then sent south |
|
24 Sep 1921 |
169 Greeks |
Samsun, Vezirkopru etc |
Elazig |
|
26 Sep 1921 |
385 men and women |
Konya |
Elazig then sent south |
|
28 Sep 1921 |
125 men |
Konya, Karaman, Eregli, Nigde, Kayseri |
Elazig then Bitlis |
|
4 Oct 1921 |
160 men |
Samsun |
Elazig then Diyarbakir |
|
4 Oct 1921 |
136 men |
Konya |
Elazig |
|
9 Oct 1921 |
43 men |
Ordu |
Elazig |
|
16 Oct 1921 |
600 people |
Unknown |
Elazig then Diyarbakir |
|
23 Oct 1921 |
77 people |
Unknown |
Elazig then Osmaniye |
|
6 Nov 1921 |
68 men |
Konya |
Elazig |
|
6 Nov 1921 |
Group |
Gumushacikoy |
Elazig then Osmaniye |
|
10 Nov 1921 |
1700 (originally 2000) |
Arabkir road |
Elazig then Bitlis |
|
11 Nov 1921 |
154 men |
Eregli, Karaman |
Elazig |
|
15 Nov 1921 |
1500 men, women and children |
Unknown |
Elazig |
|
18 Nov 1921 |
850 women and children |
Sivas Vilayet |
Elazig |
|
18 Nov 1921 |
30 men |
Gumushacikoy |
Elazig |
|
19 Nov 1921 |
350 women and children |
Malatya |
Elazig then Bitlis |
|
24 Nov 1921 |
700 women and children |
Ordu, Sivas |
Elazig then Bitlis |
|
8 Dec 1921 |
80 men |
Osmaniye |
Elazig |
|
13 Dec 1921 |
1400 (originally 2,500 when they left Kayseri) |
Ordu, Giresun, Amasya, Isparta, Burdur, Endemish |
Elazig. Twice deported to Bitlis |
|
15 Dec 1921 |
600 Greeks |
Sivas |
Elazig then Diyarbakir |
|
31 Dec 1921 |
300 men and women |
Konya |
Elazig then Bitlis |
|
15 Feb 1922 |
100 people |
Malatya |
Elazig then Bitlis |
Mark H. Ward M.D, The Deportations in Asia Minor, 1921-1922. London 1922.
Further Reading:
The Deportations in Asia Minor, 1921-1922. Mark H. Ward.
Mark H. Ward (Near East Relief)
21 Jun 1922: Nations of World Urged to Declare Turkey an Outlaw, Christian Science Monitor
16 May 1922: Turkish Atrocities Stir Britain to Act, New York Times
