The Pontic Greek genocide, or the Pontic genocide (Greek: Γενοκτονία των Ελλήνων του Πόντου), was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the indigenous Greek community in the Pontus region (the northeast of modern Turkey) in the Ottoman Empire during World War I and its aftermath.
The Pontic Greeks held a continuous presence in the Pontus region since at least 700 BC, over 2,500 years ago. Since 1461 (Ottoman conquest of the Empire of Trebizond), the area was under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
The rise of Turkish nationalism at the beginning of 20th century dramatically increased anti-Greek sentiment within the Ottoman Empire. The genocide began in 1914 by the Young Turk regime, which was led by the Three Pashas, and, after short interwar pause in 1918–1919, continued until 1923 by the Kemalist regime which was led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Both nationalist dictatorships massacred the Pontians and deported them to the interior regions of Anatolia. This resulted in approximately 350,000 deaths–about half of Pontic pre-genocide population.
The genocide ended with the deportation of the survivors to Greece during the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923.
The Pontic genocide is part of the Greek genocide, but it is often covered separately because of the geographic isolation of Pontus and several political and historical features.
Background
Since 700 BC, Pontic Greeks lived close to the southern coast of the Black Sea in the Pontus region. They had a strong culture with many important Greek philosophers and authors. In the 11th century, the Turks started moving to central Anatolia, which is now Turkey, and to the Pontus region. Under the Byzantine Empire (395 CE-1453), the two groups coexisted peacefully with each other.
However, since the creation of the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922), the Pontic Greeks were treated unequally relative to other ethnic groups because they were a Christian minority. Many Christian Greeks had better education and higher economic positions in the empire, much to the dismay of Ottoman officials. Religion was viewed a sign of loyalty in the Ottoman Empire, but most Pontics refused to convert to Islam in spite of Ottoman pressure. Subsequently, they were consistently viewed as a threat to the nation.
The Young Turk Revolution greatly affected the Pontic Greeks living in Anatolia. One of the political goals of the Young Turk movement was to "Turkify" the Ottoman Empire. Their goal was to unite the Turkish people through language, history and culture; this came to the expense of the non-Turkish minorities in the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman officials feared that Christian minorities, like the Pontic Greeks, would cause instability in the empire. As a result, a violent campaign of genocide began in an attempt to remove non-Turkish minorities from the country, including Pontic Greeks.
In the time between 1914 and 1923, about 353,000 Pontic Greeks were killed and 1.5 million were expelled. Various methods of genocide were utilized and there were two main phases: Young Turk and Kemalist.
First phase (1914-1918) The first persecutions of Greeks in 1913-1915 barely reached the Pontus region, as they were mostly directed towards Western Anatolia. Mass deportations in the region began in 1916 in Western Pontus, when the Russian army captured Eastern Pontus.
The Ottoman government brutally suppressed the Pontic Greek community, but did not plan for an extermination similar to the Armenian genocide due to multiple factors. Unlike the Greek minority, it was possible to portray Armenians as "rebels". The Greeks also had a nation-state, unlike the Armenians, which could have prompted retaliation from the Greek government. Additionally, Greece had a Muslim minority and the Ottomans feared that Greek officials could start a similar campaign toward it.
With this in mind, Young Turks followed the tactic of "white massacres": deportations and forced labor.
Pontic Greek men between 20 and 50 were sent to do slave work in working groups and camps of the military (Amele Tabourou). They were supposed to free the ways and open roads for Turkish armies all over Turkey. Many men died because they had to work a lot and there was not enough water and food for everyone. Deported Pontians were joined by two violent groups: The Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa, which was a secret police of the Ministry of War under the Ottoman Empire, and Çetes, who were organized criminals. Both groups created even worse conditions for them.