Liman Von Sanders, Mustafa Kemal and Asia Minor--Page Six



	Liman Von Sanders, Mustafa Kemal and Asia Minor Page 6 By Stavros T. Stavridis
nation in the Entente nations. Newspapers in allied nations could publish news articles that portrayed both Germany and Ottoman Empire in adverse terms. ¹⁹ In his book , The Blight of Asia, George Horton accused Germany of being co-responsible with the Turks for the deportation of the Armenians. Liman Von Sanders name does not appear in Horton’s book. It may be inferred that the German General’s name would have been among those accused of complicity in the genocide of the Greeks and Armenians of Asia Minor.²⁰ There is another incident showing Liman Von Sanders threat to resign his commission in the Ottoman Army in December 1917 over Ottoman War Minister Enver Pasha’s decision to order “the deportation of virtually all Greeks of the coast to inland areas.” His action was supported by the German foreign office who made it known that it “advised strongly against the deportations.”²¹ However this didn’t stop the Turks with “ the plundering and burning of a large number of Greek villages… and the forcible relocation in the interior of Turkey of 70,000 Greeks from the Littoral, stretching from Bafra to Tirebolu [on the Black Sea] continued; many of the victims in all likelihood died due to privations they incurred.”²² In early 1918 Von Sanders was appointed commander of the Ottoman army in the Syrian theatre.²³ If Von Sanders was a principled individual, he should have immediately resigned his commission in the Ottoman Army and returned to Germany in disgust regarding the deportation and massacres of both Greeks and Armenians. After the First World War, Liman Von Sanders was arrested by British military authorities in Constantinople and exiled to Malta accused of the deportation and massacre of the Greeks in Asia Minor in 1917. After investigation there wasn’t sufficient evidence to establish his complicity and responsibility for the deaths of Greeks and Armenians. He was released in late 1919 and returned to Germany. Tsirkinidis believes that Von Sanders was one of the main instigators of the genocide of the Greeks and Armenians in Asia Minor.²⁴ There is a strong possibility that Tsirkinidis is correct in his assessment of Liman Von Sanders and such a proposition is worthy of further research. In conclusion, Liman Von Sanders was very praiseworthy of Kemal whom he came to admire and respect as a military officer. On the other hand, the future Turkish President did not have good relations with the German officers commanding the Ottoman army. The German General’s attitude towards the Greeks and Armenians was based on political and military exigencies rather than out of humanitarian concern. He lacked the moral conviction to resign his commission from the Ottoman Army during the time of the Armenian and Hellenic genocides. ¹⁹www.armenocide.net Wolfgang and Sigrid Gust (ed) A Documentation of the Armenian Genocide in World War 1 – From Charge d’Affaires at the German Embassy in Constantinople (Radowitz) to Reichskanzler (Bethman Hollweg), report, Pera, 13 November 1916, A-31127; George Horton, The Blight of Asia, The Bobbs-Merrill Co, Indianapolis, 1926, p.42 ²⁰Horton, op cit., p.42 ²¹Vahakn N.Dadrian, German responsibility in the Armenian Genocide, Blue Crane Books, Watertown, MA, 1996, p.230 ²²ibid., p.231 ²³Mango, op cit., p.174 ²⁴X. Tsirkinidis, The Genocide of the Greeks of Pontus, Thrace and Asia Minor as revealed in the French Archives, Thessaloniki, 1993, pp.119, 126 (translated from the Greek by the author) Stavros T.Stavridis, Historian/Researcher, National Center for Hellenic Studies and Research, Latrobe University, Bundoora, Australia © Copyright 2005
Return to Previous Page
About the Author Stavros Terry Stavridis was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1949 of Greek parents. He migrated to Australia with his parents in September 1952. Stavros has a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) in Political Science/Economic History and B.A (Hons) in European History from Deakin University and M.A in Greek/Australian History from RMIT University. His MA thesis is titled "The Greek-Turkish War 1919-23: an Australian Press Perspective." Stavros has nearly 20 years of teaching experience, lecturing at University and TAFE (Technical and Further Education, the equivalent of Community College in the US) levels. He has presented papers at international conferences in Australia and USA and has also given public lectures both in Australia and on the West Coast of the US. Many of his articles have appeared in the Greek-American press. He currently works as a historical researcher at the National Center for Hellenic Studies and Research, Latrobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia. Stavros' research interests are the Asia Minor campaign and disaster, Middle Eastern history, the Assyrian and Armenian genocides, Greece in the Balkan Wars 1912-13 and the First World War and history in general. HCS maintains a large selection of fine pieces written by Mr. Stavridis which viewers are invited to view at the URL http://www.helleniccomserve.com/stavridisone.html Read More About the Greeks of Asia Minor HCS readers who enjoyed this article may wish to view others about Smyrna and Asia Minor in our section specially created for these topics at the URL http://www.helleniccomserve.com/smyrnaopener.html. We also maintain a permanent, extensive archives of articles which readers are invited to browse at the URL http://www.helleniccomserve.com/archivesmyrnaasiaminor.html .

2000 © Hellenic Communication Service, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved. http://www.HellenicComServe.com