Kaymakam Kemal Bey

Kaymakam Kemal Bey (? – 17 June 1919) was the Ottoman kaymakam (district governor) of the town of Menemen, and is known for his assassination during the Menemen Massacre in 1919.[1] He was among the notables of the Ottoman Muslim community of Menemen, who were killed by the Greek army during the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22). He is commemorated by a monument in the town.

Kemal Bey
Born
Istanbul, Turkey
Died17 June 1919
Menemen, Turkey
NationalityTurkish
OccupationKaymakam (provincial governor)
Known forMurdered in the Menemen massacre

Life and political career

Kemal was born in Istanbul, modern Turkey. He fırst became the kaymakam of Bergama and was later transferred to the nearby town of Menemen during the World War I.[1] While serving there he was bethrothed to a girl in Istanbul.[1]

The town of Menemen had some 20.000[2] inhabitants, including a mixed population of Turks and Greeks. Some of the local Greeks in the town and region were persecuted and fled to Greece during the war. When the war ended Greece invaded western Anatolia during the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22). Menemen was occupied on 22 May 1919 by the Greeks.[3] Kemal was opposed to their occupation. Some months later, the battle of Bergama took place, after which some retreating Greek soldiers initiated a massacre in Menemen. On 17 June 1922 the massacre took place and Kemal was murdered.[1] This massacre was later investigated by an allied commission led by 4 generals who found the Greeks solely responsible.[4] The Turks complained that his body was not allowed to be buried according to Islamic procedures.[1]

The town of Menemen was retaken by the Turkish army on 9 September 1922, this event is annually commemorated along with the death of Kemal Bey. In 1932 a memorial to Kaymakam Kemal Bey was erected in the town and here he is annually commemorated.[1]

References
  1. Oktay, Özengin. "Şehit Kaymakam Kemal Bey". menementarihi.com. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  2. Bjornlund, Matthias (2013). The 1914 Cleansing of Aegean Greeks. Routledge. pp. 40–41. ISBN 9781317990451. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  3. Solomonidis, Victoria (1984). "Greece in Asia Minor: The Greek Administration in the Vilayet of Aydin" (PDF). University of London, King's College. p. 117. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  4. "The Council of Heads of Delegations: minutes of meetings November 6, 1919, to January 10, 1920". Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States: 55–56, 70. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.