History

2000 B.C.

Western Thrace is a region inhabited since 2000 B.C. The most ancient people in the region is Indo-European Thrāks (Thracians). This region is under the rule of Persians, Greeks and Macedonians respectively since 7th century B.C., then the Odrysian Kingdom of Thrace ruled the region until 335 B.C. Later, Western Thrace is ruled by the Roman Empire and the Byzantium Empire. The Ottoman Empire conquered the region in 1354 and rule the region for 559 years. However, it is known that the Turkish presence in the region started with the arrival of the Scythian Turks and the tribes which migrated from Central Asia to the west.

The Hun Turks settled in the region in the 4th century AD, the Avar Turks in the 5th century A.C., the Pechenegs in the 9th century, and the Cuman Turks in the 11th century. The Turkish tribes in Western Thrace helped during the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans. Even, the name "Pomak", which is derived from "Pomaga" or "Pomagadic" which means "servant" in Slavic language spoken in the Balkans, is the name given to the Cuman Turks by the Ottoman Turks during the conquest of the Balkans.

The Huns who migrated westward to leave their homelands conquested the Alans country in the middle of the 4th century AD and subdued the East Goths. Then they crossed the Danube River and marched towards Thrace. In the period of the Hun Emperor Rua, the Huns forced the East Roman Empire to pay protection money. The Huns conquered 70 Byzantium cities including Singidunum(Belgrade), Naisus (Niš), Philippopolis (Plovdiv) in wars of Attila against the Byzantium Empire. After the death of Attila in 453, some of the Huns in Europe joined the Avars, and some others are mixed with the Slavs and the Ancient Germans. It should be noted that the Celts, the Illyrians and the Thraks arrived and settled this region before the Huns. The Avar Turks, who followed the path of the Huns in the west, arrived the Balkans with the Slavs living in Western Russia, the Marshes of the Pripet, the Dineper and the Dniester of today's Poland, thus caused the Balkans to Slavinize at a great scale.

The region is invaded by Bulgarians and Hungarians of Turkish descendants, Bulgarians politically existed in Morava, Serbia in the west; in territories that extends to Macedonia in the south in the XX. Century. Hungarians settled in plains which the Danube and the Tisan River irrigate after the Pechenegs left the territory in 896 AD, and allied with the Byzans against other Turkish tribes.

The Pechenegs belonging to Oghuz Turks crossed the Danube Rives in several wars against the Byzantium Empire and reached Macedonia, even to Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, they started to lose their identities in 12th century and became Hungarians. In the same period, the Cumans established a state in Eastern Europe.

After Bulgarian Turks accepted Christianity and became subject to the Byzantine Orthodox Church, they became Slavinized and completely forgot their own language in the 10th century. The Hungarians did not follow tha path of the Bulgarian Turks and accepted the Catholic Church of Christianity, and they are mixed with the Cumans and other Turkish tribes. After the dissolution of the Cuman-Pecheneg Turkish Federation in 1091 AD, the Cumans living in Thrace and the Rhodope mountains and the mountainous regions of Macedonia and Bulgaria lived as Shamans until the Ottoman Turks conquered the Balkans. They accepted Islam with their own will after the First Kosovo War on 20 August 1389.

Conquest of Western Thrace by the Ottoman Turks

Even before the Ottomans, Aydınoğlu Umur Bey, who came with his navy to Rumelia to help the future emperor of the Byzantine Cantacuzenus started the first Turkish conquests of Western Thrace in the mid-1300s. Later on Süleyman Paşa, the son of Ottoman Sultan Orhan Gazi, conquered with his 20,000-men army the Çimpi Fortress in Gallipoli in 1352 and took the first step in Rumelia. Following the further conquests of Malkara, Tekirdağ and Bolayır by the Ottomans in Rumelia, Turkish and Arabic population from Anatolia came and settled in Gallipoli and along Marmara coasts.

After Orhan Gazi and Süleyman Paşa had died, Orhan Gazi’s son and new Sultan Murat I continued the Ottoman conquests in Rumelia. The developments in those days in the Balkans, in particular the controversies among the Balkan states also facilitated the Ottoman conquests in Rumelia. Under the sultanate of Murat I, the first regular army forces were formed, and as a result of this and owing to the valuable commanders like Lâla Şahin Paşa, Evranos Bey and Hayreddin Paşa, the Ottoman Empire, which was founded at first as a tip lordship, continued its expansion in Rumelia. Following the conquests of the towns starting from Ferecik to Komotini (Gümülcine), Xanthi (İskeçe), Drama, Kavala, Serres (Serez) and Karaferya, Western Thrace came completely under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire (1363-1374). Even before 1363, some Muslim Turkish tribes from Anatolia settled in Western Thrace. A gravestone dated to 1185 in the Kırmahalle Mosque in Komotini (Gümülcine) is a record of evidence of those migrations to Western Thrace, and that the Turks lived there even before the Ottoman conquest of the region. Afterwards, the whole Balkan peninsula was conquered gradually by the Ottomans till the 16th century.

The Ottoman Empire pursued big settlement policies in Rumelia. Following the conquests of cities and towns in the Balkans, the Ottomans were bringing the Muslim Turkish tribes from Anatolia and having them settle in those regions. The first settlement action was carried out under the Sultanate of Orhan Gazi, and in 1357, a nomadic group from the Karesi people first settled near to Gallipoli and then in Hayrabolu. After the conquest of Thessaly, big number of Turkish nomadic tribes settled there, and Larissa, which was called as Yenişehir by the Ottomans, was founded in that region. As a consequence of the increase of the population of those Muslim Turkish tribes and their expansion in Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire passed laws and regulations intended for the people living in that region. It tried to include the local aristocracy in its own military class, assigned timars (lands) to the Orthodox metropolitans and bishops, acknowledged the privileges of significant monasteries and continued the privileges and immunity from taxation of many cities. As a result of these policies, during the Ottoman conquests in the Balkans, the domestic people chose the Ottoman ruling, which in turn facilitated those conquests.

Decline of the Ottoman Power in Western Thrace

The Ottoman Empire, which reached its peak during the era of Kanûnî Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, started to decline at the end of 16th century, and although it made its last recovery move in the 17th century under the ruling of “Köprülü Family”, it was left no choice but to sign the Treaty of Karlowitz on 26 January 1699 after having been defeated by the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and its allies in the war which had begun in 1682. Under the said treaty regarded as a landmark for the Ottoman Empire, for the first time in its history, a huge piece of land was left to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Venice, Poland and Russia, and this defeat revealed the weakening of the Ottoman military power as against the enemy. Subsequently, Russia sought to utilize the decline of the Ottoman Empire and beginning with the ruling of the Peter the Great, it had started military operations in the Balkans in order to attain access to the warm seas. Under the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca signed in 1774, Russia was given the right to protect Christians in the Ottoman Empire and increased her power within the territories from the Black Sea till the Aegean. From this date on till the end of the 18th century, Russia increased her policy of suppression and threat against the Ottoman Empire. The Serbian (1804-1807) and Greek (1815-1830) uprisings as a result of the spreading of ideas of nationalism on the Ottoman territories which had become stronger following the French Revolution in 1789 and the Greek independence movement following the establishment of the Ethniki Eteria Association in 1814 speeded up all the declining process of the Ottoman Empire in the said regions. Russia supported Greece in her uprising from 1821 to 1829 against the Ottoman Empire, and France and Great Britain stood also by Greece in order to hinder Russia that she held the sole right over Greece. Russia occupied Wallachia, Moldovia and Bessarabia under the Treaty of Bucharest which ended the war from 1806 to 1812, and under the Treaty of Edirne signed on 14 September 1829 in consequence of the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire from 1928 to 1929, Serbia, Wallachia and Moldovia were granted with extensive autonomy. In the same year, the independence of Greece was stipulated through a protocol signed by Great Britain, France and Russia in London, and the regarding decision was again imposed on the Ottoman Empire under the Treaty of Edirne. The Treaty of Edirne assured Greece of her independence, but was not beneficial for Russia. Therefore, she rendered the enmity against Turks into a national policy, and did not avoid causing several troubles against the Ottoman Empire by provoking the Balkan nations. Due to these policies of her, Russia was disastrously defeated by England, France and the Ottoman Empire in the Crimean War broke out in 1853, and both Russia and the Ottoman Empire were forbidden to install shipyards and to have maritime power in the Black Sea under the Treaty of Paris signed in 1856. Beside these developments in the 19th century, the uprisings in Rumelia, interventions of Russia and the European states and decrease of loyalty of those nations in the region to the Ottoman administration were the main reasons which led to the 1877-78 war between the Ottoman Empire and Russia admitted as the turning point in the decline of the Turkish power in Rumelia and thereby in Western Thrace.

1877-78 Ottoman-Russian War

The defeat in the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War, also called as “93 War” could be seen as the starting point of a paintful fate full of conflicts, plunders, mass murders for the Turks living in the Balkans and event for the people of whole region. After this defeat, this region entered a period of collapse in desperation and relentless struggle under pressure and unrest with games being played by all powers claiming right in the Balkans, after the defeat of Russian soldiers and the Bulgarian partisans and the collapse of the Greeks, the Serbs and the Ottomans at a later date.

In consideration of the region’s historical and economic features and the different ethnic composition of the population as well as the region’s strategic importance, the Ottoman Empire had established Edirne province of wide geographical scope in view of the fact that 1828-1829 Ottoman-Russian expedition increased importance of the region in terms of the defense of Istanbul and the Straits. Edirne province with five flags located in the south of the Balkans and surrounded by the Black Sea, Istanbul province, Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, Aegean Sea and the Mesta Karasu(Nestos) River included all Thrace region. This political integrity is corrupted by the Treaty of San Stefano(Ayastefanos, 3 March 1878) and the Treaty of Berlin(13 July 1878). These treaties provided the seizure of politically and militarily controlled region by the Ottoman Empire, Eastern Rumelia by Bulgaria. Thus, the unity of Thrace is distorted. With the loss of Eastern Rumelia in 1886, Thrace became a region sorrounded by the Black Sea, Sea of Marmara in the east, the Aegean Sea in the south and the Mesta-Karasu river in the west.

After the retreat of Suleiman Pasha who made the last Ottoman military resistance in Plovdiv in the 1877-1878 Ottoman Russian War, the Russians invaded Edirne on 20 January 1878. The Ottoman forces had been defeated in the northeast of Anatolia when the war in the Balkans was in favor of the Russians and their allies. After many diplomatic problems, the Ottoman Empire tried to make a peace with Great Powers, but succeeded to make an agreement in the advantage of the Russians. With this truce signed on 31 January 1878 war ended, but the Russian troops had the right to invade the first line of Çatalca fortifications and moved near Istanbul, to Yeşilköy(San Stefanos). With its tired army and no more capability to resist the Russian troops, the Ottomans had no way other than making an agreement with the Russians and therefore signed the Treaty of San Stefanos on 3 March 1878. With this agreement, the Turkish population of 4 millions became under the hegemony of the Bulgarians and the Russians.

The provisions of the Treaty concerning the Balkans were as follows:

1. Bulgaria is constituted an autonomous tributary Principality, with a Christian Government and a national militia. The Prince of Bulgaria shall be freely elected by the population and confirmed by the Sublime Porte, with the assent of the Powers.

2. The Ottoman army will no longer remain in Bulgaria, and until the complete formation of a native militia, Russian troops will occupy Bulgaria limited to a term approximating to two years.

3. The extent of the Bulgarian territories follows until Aegean Sea. The Bulgarian frontier in the east will follow Midya and Loule-Bourgaz. The coasts between Proto Lagos Gulf located between Komotini and Xanthi and the Struma river is left to Bulgarias and the Port of Kavala is lefto to the Bulgarians. In the west, Skopje, Bitola, Debar and Ohrid Lake are included in the frontiers of Bulgaria. Therefore Thessaloniki, Ionniana and Albania are seperated from the Province of Edirne.

With the Treaty of San Stefano, Bulgaria which is autonomous from the Ottoman Empire is established. The territories transferred to Bulgaria follows from the Danube River to the Sea of Marmara and Aegean Sea, from the Black Sea to Ohrid Lake. 2.587.000 Bulgarians and 4.000.000 non-Bulgarians, most of whom are Turkish, were living on these territories. Although the Bulgarian Principality seems under hegemony of the Ottomans, Bulgaria will remain under occupation of the Russian Commissioner and the Russian troops for two years.

Since Bulgarian administration will be under the supervision of the Russians, Russia will in fact follow until Aegean Sea. This Bulgaria will be a threat for Istanbul. Ottoman Empire should ask Russia for a reform in Crete, Thessaly and Albania. Thus Russia could intervene in internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire. This treaty will accelerate the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.

The importance of the Treaty of San Stefano is that it constitutes the source of Western Thrace issue. In a source, this is noted as follows: „The problems emerged with 93 War remain important problems for the Turkish Republic which it has to deal with in its foreign policy. The three main issues which are on the top of Turkish Republic’s foreign policy agenda, Aegean issue, Cyprus issue and the Armenian issue, keep their importance as issues resulted from 93 War.“

The Treaty of San Stefano got reaction of the Turks living in the Rhodopes and other parts in Rumelia who very well knew Russian and Bulgarian persecution, upheavals emerged among the Turks. The Ottoman Empire, of which state mechanism, economy and financial sources have been wekaned and which laboured under the burden of the problems and loss of territories by consecutive defeats, had nothing to do in the face of the repercussions by the Russian occupy forces and the Bulgarian militia. Half-million people Turks who ran away from atrocities immigrated to Eastern Thrace, Istanbul and the Rhodope mountains. Some Turks struggled against the Russian forces in Rhodope mountains with the withdrawing Ottoman soldiers. Upheavals against the pressure and the atrocities showed European states that new Bulgaria did not give the right to life to the Turks and that the Treaty of San Stefano should be replaced. With this aim, the European states started to make pressure on Russia.

Provisional Government of Western Thrace

Establishment of the Provisional Government in Rhodope

Following the 1878 Treaty of San Stefano (Yeşilköy) which ended the war between the Ottoman Empire and Russia, the Turks living on the territories lost by the Ottoman Empire to Russia and Bulgaria started to rise against the said treaty that they did not recognize it. Forty days after the signing of the treaty, the first armed conflicts occurred between the Turks and Cossack cavaliers near to Çirmen in the north of the Rhodope mountain chain. After that, the revolts spread in many other places throughout the Eastern Rumelia and Rhodope. The Russian army forces together with the Bulgarian gangs tried to suppress those revolts, but did not succeed to the unfavourable state of the land. The revolts and struggles of the Turks turned into a great problem for the Russians. On the other hand, the Turkish notables appealed to Babıali (Ottoman Government) in order to get help for their battles against the Russians and Bulgarians. They stated the Rhodope Turks would never accept living under sovereignty of any state other than of the Ottomans and continue their struggle against the Russian and Bulgarian armed forces to the bitter end, and asked the Ottoman Sultan for armament which would help the Rhodope Turks win the war. Nevertheless, the Ottoman Sultan could not reply to this request of the Rhodope Turks and help them. However, the Rhodope Turks turned their struggle to a more coordinated pattern, and continued fighting within a political organization by establishing the first Turkish Provisional Government in the Ottoman history.

The regarding Government was established, according to one source, on 16 May 1878, and according to another one on 4 March 1878 in the village of Karatarla (Cerne Niva) of Sultanyeri town. The Government had a constitutive council consisting of four persons (Ahmet Ağa Timirski, Hacı İsmail Efendi, Hidayet Paşa ve Kara Yusuf Çavuş) and a house of representatives consisting of thirty persons. It was the Government of a region where about four million Turks were living.

The Turkish Provisional Government in Rhodope had fought arduously against the Bulgarian incursions for eight years. It is estimated that the number of the Turkish armed forces counted to between ten and twenty five thousand men. Following to the severe defeats at many fronts, the Ottoman Empire war not able to support the defence performed by the Turks in the Eastern Rumelia. Kara Yusuf Çavuş and Hidayet Paşa (originally an English man called Sinclair), who were the leaders of the Rhodope heros, harmonized very well during the first days of the struggle, but after Hidayet Paşa had left, the armed forces of Rhodope were divided into two groups, However, the Rhodope Turks coped successfully with this unexpected circumstance having occurred in a very critical stage of their struggle, and were able to unite again under a sole leader.

The Turks having emigrated from north Bulgaria and the regions under the Ottoman sovereignty in Romania took refuge in the Rhodope mountains and in Komotini (Gümülcine), Xanthi (İskeçe) and other provinces lying in the south of these mountains. While the armed forces of the Rhodope Turks were fighting, those migrations continued, too. Despite all the appeals of the Bulgarians and Russians, those who emigrated did not deliver their arms and joined to the armed forces of Rhodope Turks.

While the Turkish Provisional Government in Rhodope was continuing its struggle against the Bulgarians and Russians, it was also looking for the support of the Ottoman Empire. Nevertheless, as they could not receive support from the Ottoman Empire, the Rhodope Turks suffered defeat due to the running out of their strength. It shall be also considered that the epidemic cholera having come up in that period in the region made the situation for the Rhodope Turks worse, and contributed to the defeat, too. The ruins of the villages having been destroyed in those days can be seen today in Western Thrace.

The Congress of Berlin and the Treaty of Berlin

The Congress of Berlin was held on 13 June 1878 in order to discuss issues concerning Ottoman Empire and issue of Bulgaria. A new treaty was drafted and signed by seven European states. The main provisions of the Treaty of Berlin on 13 July 1878 concerning Bulgaria, Eastern Rumelia and Thrace are as follows: Big Bulgaria is divided into three regions. In the first region, Bulgaria is constituted a Principality, under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire between the Danube River and the Balkans. The prince of Bulgaria shall be elected by the population, and confirmed by the Sublime Porte, with the assent of the Powers. The provisional organization of Bulgaria shall be directed by an Imperial Russian Commissioner. The provisionary Government cannot be prolonged for more than nine months, then the election of the Prince of Bulgaria will follow. The second region is Eastern Rumelia, which remains directly under the rule of the Ottoman Empire in the south of the Balkans. This province which will take the name of Eastern Rumelia shall be autonomous, but shall pay annual tax to the Ottoman treasury, and shall be under the political and military rule of the Sultan, and the frontiers shall be defended by the Ottoman Empire. A European Commission shall be formed by the Powers and shall prepare a regulation. Eastern Rumelia will be governed by a Christian Governor General, appointed by the Sultan, with the assent of the Powers. Internal order shall be maintained by a native gendarmerie, assisted by a local militia. The composition whose officers of these two corpsshall be named by the Sultan. There shall not be Turkish troops in Bulgaria except in case of war, the Governor-General shall have the right to call for Turkish troops in case on any threat. The third region is Macedonia where Ottoman Empire shall assume the obligation to make reforms. As understood, the Ottoman Empire shall not have the right to intervene in internal affairs of Bulgaria, although it is bound to the Ottoman Empire. Although Eastern Rumelia is a province of the Ottoman Empire, it shall be governed by a regulation which shall be prepared by a European Commission.