HUMANITAS - International Journal of Social Sciences

Abstract

Immediately after the signing of the Armistice of Mudros, the Allied Powers started invasions in the Eastern Thrace region based on the fifteenth article of the armistice, “All railways will be under the control of the Allied Powers on the condition that they are open to the public.” On 4 November 1918, French regiment occupied the railway station between Uzunköprü and Sirkeci. Shortly afterwards, towards the middle of January 1919, the French handed over the protection of the Thrace railway to a Greek battalion. This occupation was the first Greek occupation in our country before the War of Independence. By organizing a series of congresses with the Trakya Paşaeli Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti, which they had established against these invasions, the Thracians declared that Eastern Thrace was a Turkish homeland and they decided to engage in an armed struggle against the Greek military units invading Thrace. The armed struggle in Thrace was carried out by the national platoons established under the leadership of the Thrace Paşaeli Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti. These platoons, by keeping the Greek troops busy in Thrace, struggled to prevent them from making military shipments to Anatolia and to protect the Turkish people in this region from the persecution of the Greek gangs and soldiers. Under the leadership of Mürefteli Şakir Bey, “Trakya Fedaileri” was one of the most effective platoons. Şakir Bey and his platoon raided the Greek military units, their support units in Eastern Thrace, battled with the Greeks and Greek gangs who tortured the Turks in the region, and carried out sabotage actions against the Greek soldiers in the region thanks to the sappers in the platoon.