Monday, May 21, 2007
TRABZON RUM VE LAZDIR
Trabzon İmparatorluğu tar. Trabzon ve civarında 1204-1461 yılları arasında varlığını sürdürmüş, Roma İmparatorluğu’nun miras-çısı bir Rum devletinin adı. Daha önce Ünye bölgesinde vali olan ve Bizans tahtını elinde tutan Komnenosların sonuncusu olan maceraperest Andronikos Komnenos'un (MS 1183-1185) ayaklanan Bizans halkı tarafindan tahtan indirilip ye-rine Angelos hanedanından birisinin geçiril-mesinin ardından, Andronikos ve kör olan oğlu Manuel vahşice öldürülmüştü. Manu-el'in hapsedilen Aleksius ve David adındaki iki küçük çocuğu halaları olan Gürcistan Kraliçesi Thamara tarafından hapisten kaçırtılmıştı. Thamara, çocuklarla birlikte Bizan-sın mücevher hazinesini de götürmeye mu-vaffak olmuştur. İstanbul, 17 Temmuz 1203 tarihinde Haçlılar tarafından işgal edilerek Aleksius IV. tahta geçirilmiş ama 1204 Ocak'ında İs-tanbul halkı isyan ederek Aleksius IV.'yu öl-dürmüş ve tahta babasının damadı V. Murtzuphlos'u geçirmiştir. Bu olaydan sonra kendi aralarında anlaşan Haçlılar 13 Nisan 1204'te şehre saldırarak, üç gün şehri yağ-malamış, İstanbul'da bir Latin devleti kur-muşlardı. Roma İmparatorluğu’nun başken-tinde bir Latin devleti kurulmasından sonra, Bizans tahtının varisleri ve asilzadeler İstan-bul'dan kaçarak sığındıkları bölgelerde yerli halkın desteği ile Bizans'ın devamı sayılan devletler kurmuştur. Bunların birisi Thedore Laskaris'ın (Deli Theodore) İznik'te (Nicea) kurduğu devletti. Komnenos hanedanının varisleri olan Aleksios ve David sığındıkları Gürcü Kraliçesi halaları Thamara'nın (1184-1212) sağladığı bir ordu ve yerli paralı askerler ile Doğu Ka-radeniz sahillerinde ortaya çıkmış ve 1204 Nisan'ında Trabzon'u ele geçirmiş, Alexios kendisini tüm Paflagonya'nın efendisi ilan ederek, Büyük Komnenoslar olarak 257 yıl sürecek en uzun ömürlü Rum hanedanını kurmalarını sağlamışlardır.Aleksios’un kardeşi David, sahil boyunca ilerleyerek Samsun ve Sinop'tan sonra Kara-deniz Ereğlisi’ni de ele geçirmiş, fakat İstan-bul'daki Latinlerin de desteğini alan Thedore Laskaris tarafından durdurulmuş, dahası Laskaris Amasra ve Ereğli'yi geri alarak Komnenoslar’ı Sinop'un batısından atmıştı. Bu dönemde Selçuklular, liderleri I. İzzeddin Key Kavus (ö.1220) önderliğinde, 1214 tari-hinde David'i Sinop önlerinde sağ ele geçirip şehri almışlar ve ancak yüksek bir fidye, yıl-lık vergi ödeme, sefer zamanı Selçuklu or-dusuna asker gönderme şartlarını içeren bir anlaşma karşılığı serbest bırakmışlardı (Pa-padopulos Kerameus, Fontes, i, 131; İbn-i Bibi, el- Evamirü’l Alaigye fi’l- umuri’l- Alaiyye, s.147).Aleksius’un ölümünün ardından, zama-nında Deli Thedore’un generallerinden biri olan, yeğeni I. Andronicus (Lakabı Gidon < gidos “gardiyan”) tahta geçer. Bu dönem vergi taşıyan bir Trabzon gemisi fırtına nedeniyle Sinop limanında Selçuklular’ın eli-ne düşer; Alaattin Keykubad'ın oğlu Melik gemiye ve paraya el koyup yolcu ve müret-tebatı esir edince, Selçuklular’ın hakimiye-tinden çıkmak için bu olayı fırsat olarak gören Andronikos donanmasını Sinop'a gön-derir, şehrin surlarına kadar olan bölgeyi yağmalatır. Müsadere edilen gemilere mu-kabil, Selçuklu donanmasını mağlup ve tay-falarını esir ettirip, gemiyi ve esirleri kur-tarır, parayı geri alır TLGİ 20-21, İSLM.
TRABZON
Dünyanın en eski şehirlerinden biri olan Trabzon şehri Eusebius'a (Chronica, apud Migne, P.L., XXVİİ,355) göre M.Ö. 756 yılında kurulmuştur ki bu tarih Roma'nın 3 yıl Byzantium'un bir asır önündedir. Roma İmparatorluğu’na M.Ö.63/64 yılında serbest şehir olarak, M.S. 64 yılında ise tam anlamıyla katılmıştır. 9.yüzyılda bir Ortodoks metropolit ve piskopos, 14.yüzyılda ise Katolik ve Gregoryen Ermeni piskoposları mevki sahibi olmuşlardır. 9.yüzyılda “Chaldia”nın merkezi, 1204 yılında “tüm Anadolu’nun, tüm İberya’nın ve denizaşırı toprakların” İmparatoru’nun başkenti, 1461’de Osmanlı’nın Trabzon Vilayetinin merkezi, 1918’de ise kısa bir süre için “ Karadeniz Rum Cumhuriyet’inin” illegal başkenti olmuştu. Xenophon (Anabasis, İV,8; V,3) On binlerle bölgeyi ziyaretinde, bize Trabzon'un Sinop'un bir kolonisi olduğunu söyler. Sinop, Milet'e göçen Atinalıların kolonisidir. Bessarion (Encomium,xiii,150)ve Kritoboulos (Pausanias, vii,27) da masa şeklindeki bu şehir halkının Attic orijinli olduğundan bahseder. Trabzon Sinop'a vergi veriyordu. Roma ile Mithridates'in mücadelesinde galip gelen tarafa yaklaşmış, Roma döneminde'de özgür ve ayrıcalıklı bir şehir olarak kalmıştı(Eugenikos, apud Tafel, Eustathii Opuscula, p.371; Pliny, Hist.Nat.,vi,4). Nero'nun Ermenistan seferinde Roma ordusu burada konaklamıştı. Hadrian zamanında Trabzon liman kenti haline getirilir (Arrian, Scripta Minora, 86,87,98) ve Roma ticari mallarının Asya'ya açıldığı bir kapı haline gelir. İki olay şehir ticaretini sekteye uğratır. Septimus Severus ile Pescennius Niger arasındaki iç savaş ve Valerian dönemindeki Goth istilası. Zosimus'a (i,33) göreTrabzon, iki tarafı surlarla çevrili büyük ve kalabalık bir şehirdir ve 10.000'in üzerinde savaşçıya sahip bir garnizon tarafından korunmaktadır. Buna rağmen Goth'lar tembel ve sarhoş savaşçıları aşıp şehri istila eder bir çok esir alırlar. Tapınakları, binaları şehri güzelleştiren herşeyi yıkarlar. Trabzon bir nesil boyunca yıkıntı halinde kalır. Şehir buna rağmen terkedilmez kendini toplar.Yarım yüzyıl sonra Ammianus Marcellinus (xxii, 8) şehrin pekde silik olmadığını bildirir. Bir süre sonra lokal otonimi kaybedilir. Buraya Constantine'in emrinde bir Roma prokonsülü atanır.( Zosimos,ii,33) Hristiyanlık Hellen dünyasına buradan yayılır. Söylentilere göre Diocletian zamanında zamanında Trabzonda Hristiyanlık ilk şeditlerini vermiştir: Eugenios, Canidius, Valrian ve Aquila.Bunlardan St. Eugenios şehrin koruyucu azizi ilan edilmiştir. Onun Trabzon'a hakim Boztepe'deki Mithra heykelini yıktığına zamanla hristiyanlaşan halk tarafından methiyeler düzülmüştür. Justinian'ın şehre su kemerileri inşa ettiği dönemlere adı büyük şehit olarak anılmaktaydı.(Procopios, De Edificiis, iii,7) Constantin'in bu bölgeyi sorumluluğuna verdiği yeğeni Hannibalianus m.s. 914 tarihinde "Altınbaş bakire" kilisesini yaptırır . Bir tarihsel yalnışlık yoksa St. Anna kilisesinin 20 yıl önce restore edildiği biliniyor (Bull. Corr.hell., xix,421, 433) Trabzon Justinian'ın İran savaşlarında doğal olarak stratejik pozisyondadır. St. Basil kilisesinde general Belisarius'un bir portresi vardır. Bu general Barnabas ve Sophoronios adlıiki Atinalı rahipin kurduğu Sümela manastırını retore ettirmiştir. Bizans İmparatoru Leo Isaurian zamanında, Bizans İmparatorluğu "thema" adı verilen yönetim birimlerine bölünmüş ve Trabzon Chaldia adlı 8.themanın merkezi olmuştu.( Constantine Porphyrogenitus, iii, 30, 208) Selçukların 1071 yılında ki zaferi ve Anadoluya yayılmaları üzerine şehrin surları güçlendirilmişti. Bu kritik dönemde Theodore Gabras adlı bir yerli lider şehri işgalden kurtardı. Gabras Trabzon tarihindeki karanlık noktalardan biridir. Birdenbire oratay çıkan ve yenilemeyen lidere Anna Comnena (Ed. Teubner ii, 23, 121,163) bile hayrandır. Onun İstanbuldaki etkisinden çekinen 1.Alexios onu hükümetine dahil eder ve Gabras'ın oğlu Gregory ile bir prensesi evlendirirerek kan bağı kurar. Bu arada Theodore Trabzon'a yönelik Gürcü akınlarını da karşı koyar. 1139'da Bizans İmparatoru 2. John, Theodore'nin haleflerinden Constantine Gabras'a Trabzon'u acımasızca yönettiği için askeri sefer düzenler. Nedendir bilinmez ama bu seferden vazgeçilir. İstanbul'un Latinler tarafından işgaline dek Gabras ailesinin Trabzonda hakimiyeti devam eder.
Trabzon Rumdur
Trabzon Antik Yunan döneminde, tahminen M.Ö. 700 yıllarında, Yunanlılar tarafından kurulmuş bir kent. Yunancadaki ilk adı Trapezus'tur ve bugünkü Trabzon adı da bu sözcükten türemiştir. Trabzon adının en az 2700 yıllık bir geçmişi var.Yunanlılardan önce bölgede Makronlar, Skitenler, Kolkler, Driller gibi Yunan olmayan bazı kültürler yaşadı. M.Ö. 400 yıllarında Trabzon'u ziyaret eden Sokrates'in öğrencisi Zenofon'un günlüklerinde bu halkların adı geçer. Ne yazık ki, akıbeti belirsiz bu kültürler hakkında, günümüze ulaşmış çok az bilgi bulunuyor.Trabzon kurulduktan bir süre sonra Perslerin, daha sonra da Romalıların egemenliğine girdi. Pers egemenliğinde Trabzon, Pers ve Yunan kültürlerinin ilginç bir kaynaşmasını yaşadı. Bölgenin "Pontus toprakları" olarak anılması da bu dönemde başladı.
Bizans döneminde de gariplikler sürdü. Çünkü Trabzon, önceleri Bizans İmparatorluğu'nun bir parçası gibi görünse de, Trabzon Rum İmparatorluğu adı altında özerk bir yapıya kavuştu. Hatta Bizans'la, savaşı bile göze alarak, ciddi bir rekabet içine girdi. Trabzon Rumları, hem coğrafi yakınlık hem de stratejik çıkar nedeniyle, doğudaki Gürcülerle ve güneydeki Türkmen beylikleriyle sık sık işbirliği yaptılar. Bu işbirliği, Trabzon İmparatoru Komnenos'un, kızlarını ve kız kardeşlerini, Türkmen olan Akkoyunluların liderleriyle evlendirmesi noktasına kadar vardı.Trabzon'un bir Laz kenti olduğunu sanan çoktur. Oysa Trabzon hiçbir zaman Laz kenti olmamıştır. Lazlar, yani, Rumca ve Türkçe ile ilgisi bulunmayan bir dil olan Lazcayı konuşanlar, bugünkü Rize ve Artvin bölgelerinde yaşadılar. Sonradan Trabzon'a göç edip yerleşen Lazlar olduysa da, hiçbir zaman, kent nüfusunun çoğunluğunu oluşturmadılar.
Bizans döneminde de gariplikler sürdü. Çünkü Trabzon, önceleri Bizans İmparatorluğu'nun bir parçası gibi görünse de, Trabzon Rum İmparatorluğu adı altında özerk bir yapıya kavuştu. Hatta Bizans'la, savaşı bile göze alarak, ciddi bir rekabet içine girdi. Trabzon Rumları, hem coğrafi yakınlık hem de stratejik çıkar nedeniyle, doğudaki Gürcülerle ve güneydeki Türkmen beylikleriyle sık sık işbirliği yaptılar. Bu işbirliği, Trabzon İmparatoru Komnenos'un, kızlarını ve kız kardeşlerini, Türkmen olan Akkoyunluların liderleriyle evlendirmesi noktasına kadar vardı.Trabzon'un bir Laz kenti olduğunu sanan çoktur. Oysa Trabzon hiçbir zaman Laz kenti olmamıştır. Lazlar, yani, Rumca ve Türkçe ile ilgisi bulunmayan bir dil olan Lazcayı konuşanlar, bugünkü Rize ve Artvin bölgelerinde yaşadılar. Sonradan Trabzon'a göç edip yerleşen Lazlar olduysa da, hiçbir zaman, kent nüfusunun çoğunluğunu oluşturmadılar.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Genocide on Pontians
Pontos is a region in the northeast of Asia Minor (today's Turkey) bordering on the Euxine (Black Sea), which was often called simply Pontos (the main), by the Greeks, after the colonisation of the Anatolian shores by the Ionian Greeks.
The exact signification of this purely territorial name varied greatly at different times. The Greeks used it loosely to denote various parts of the shores of the Euxine, and the term did not get a definite connotation of being a separate state until after the establishment of the kingdom of Pontus.
The presence of Greeks at the Euxeinus Pontos, the Black Sea, dates thousands years ago (about 1200 BC). Greek mythology refers to Jason and the Argonauts who passed Ellispontos and arrived to Kolchis (Georgia) to retake the golden hide that Frixos brother of Elli's had left there, the punishment of Prometheus by Zeus because he gave the fire to the man and the arresting of his body to the mountains of Caucasus. Xenofon and his men after their adventures in Persia, found refuge in greek cities of Pontus, (Thalatta-thalatta).
In the 8th century BC, many greek cities were created and the main occupation was sea trade. Sinope with its harbor which was founded by greek colonists from Miletos was a strong trade center with important cultural influence. The first cities preserved the same social and political organization as their colonial mother-towns.
In the period of Alexander the Great and his successors, the economic power of the Greek cities reached its zenith. Following the Anatolian conquests of Alexander the Great, local powers disintegrates, allowing the local ruler Mithridates I Ctistes (a Persian satrap) to establish an independent kingdom called Pontus.
Under the reign of king Mithridates VI Eupator (120-63 BC), the Greek language became official language of Asia Minor. From 110-100 BC, King Mithridates more than quadrupled its territory, expanding eastward, southward (temporarily conquering the Roman protectorates in central Anatolia), and northward (conquering the Bosporan Kingdom on the northern shore of the Black Sea).
In 86 BC southern Greece defected to Mithridates, and received a Pontic army which now threatened Rome in Greece. But the Pontic “Empire” had neither economic nor political stability, and Mithradates prospered only because Rome was preoccupied elsewhere. Pompey defeated him (65 BC), and when Pharnaces II tried to take advantage of the Roman civil war, Julius Caesar removed (47 BC) the threat at Zela. The Romans joined Pontus to the province of Galatia-Cappadocia. And later in the 4th century all of Pontus becomes a separate province. The principal Pontic cities where Amasia, Neocaesarea and Zela.
Even in Roman times, the Greek culture in the eastern part of the Black Sea retained its leading role in the economic and cultural life of that region. St. Andrew and St. Peter profited from the fact that the spoken language was Greek and spread Christianity to Pontos. Greek culture and Orthodoxy were united and formed a homogenous culture.
With the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, Pontus became part of the Eastern Roman Empire, later to become known as the Byzantine Empire. Pontus continued to be an autonomous state under the Imperial rule of Constantinople through much of the history of the Byzantine Empire.
During the rise of the Arabs, the empire eventually lost much of the old Roman territories and Asia Minor became the heartland of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire. During the Macedonian Emperors under the late 9th century to the 11th century the empire begun to expand and the control of Italy, the balkans, Asia Minor, and the Mediterranean Sea strengthen. The Byzantine Empire was now the most powerful force in the Middle East and Europe.
After the disastrous battle of Manzikert 1071 however, where the Byzantine armies where defeated by the Seljuk Turks, much of asia minor was permanently lost.
At the accession of Alexios I Komnenos (1081 AD), whole of Pontos & Cappadocia, including the rest of Asia minor was lost to the turks, with exception of a few coastal cities like Trebizond. Inflation was spiralling out of control, the coinage was heavily debased, the fiscal system was confused (there were six different nomismata in circulation), and the imperial treasury was empty.
Alexios and his successors suceeded, however, in reconquering great parts of Asia minor, stabilizing the economy and restore the empire to the position as the most powerful state in the Mediterranean. But after the death of the last Komnenian emperor, Andronikos I Komnenos 1185, the Angeloi dynasti took control of the empire and succeeded, in less than 20 years, to destroy the empire that at that time was a great power, economically prosperous and secure on its frontiers.
They consummated the financial ruin of the state, permitted the empire to be administered by unworthy favourites, and leaved the Empire practically defenceless. They had also a great part in the single biggest catastrophe of the Empire: the sack and capture of Constantinople 1204.
According to a prearranged treaty,what remained of the Byzantine empire was dissolved and its territories divided between Venice and the Latin Empire of Constantinople. The Greek Orthodox clergy were displaced by Latin Catholic clergy, while the nobility were displaced by Latin feudal barons. Byzantine exiles fled Constantinople, taking refuge in Nicaea, Trebizond, and Epirus.
Alexios, grandson of Byzantine emperor Andronikos I Komnenos founded in Pontos the Empire of Trebizond which had at that time great development.
The fall of Constantinople (1453) and, eight years later of Trebizond (1461) mark one of the greatest disasters in Greek history. Mehmet later murdered the emperor David and 5 of his children and forbade their bodies to be burried. But David's wife alone buried her husband and her children with her bare hands. She was imprisoned for that action.
Immediately after the seize of Trebizond by the Ottomans, many inhabitants of the rich coastal towns fled. Most of them escaped into the remote mountain regions of Pontos.
In keeping with Ottoman practice, twothirds of the Greek population of Trabzon were removed to other parts of the Empire at the time of the conquest. A majority were settled in Istanbul where they formed the core of the capital's "Phanariote" families of Christian Greeks, exercising immense influence in the 17th and 18th centuries. They included the Ypsilantis, whose descendants would eventually lead the Greek independence movement.
Other Pontians escaped into the remote mountain regions of Pontos. Here, out of the sight of the new rulers, they founded new villages and cities, a new and free Greek civilization, which lasted for 150 years. However, part of the refugees settled in central Russia, at the coasts of southern Russia, in the region of Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan, where they founded new Greek cities, cultural centers, to which persecuted Greeks were gracefully received also in later years.
This in turn resulted in the simultaneous existence of a second Pontian-Greek civilization, particularly in Russia, which through the whole period of Ottoman reign, grew by migration of refugees. Later, only in Russia, half a million Pontians existed. By the year 1918 the total population grew up to 650,000 people.
But for those who stayed, on Turkish territory, other things awaited. In the Ottoman Empire, Christians had to pay much higher taxes than the Muslims and where not allowed to be in the army, along with other things like they where not allowed to ride horses. Their sons where taken by the Turks who raised them to Islam and to enemies against their people (“Jannischaries”).
The Turks used forced Islamization (using a range of measures including wholesale massacres and as mentioned mass kidnappings of male children), and others converted, by "free will". Some converted to get rid of the high taxes, but only official, in secret, they practiced the Christian religion, but if they where caught, death awaited.
The situation worsened in the late 1800’s for all Christians in the Ottoman Empire, due to the rising influence of the Young Turks, and after killing millions of Armenians, the turn had came to the Pontians. Using forced labour camps and death marches, the Turks eliminated over 350 000 Pontians, in what is called the Pontian Genocide.
When the Turks was defeated in the first world war, it looked for a moment like the Pontians finally would become free. The soul of the rebellion in the Pontus had been was provided by the great national leader Germanos Caravangelis, Bishop of Castoria, leader in the Macedonian struggle and Chrissantos, Bishop of Trebizonda.
The bishoprics of the Pontus became centers of guidance and recruitement of rebels, whereas the mountains became centers of resistance against the Ottomans. In 1917, Greece and the allied powers began to work out a plan for the creation of an autonomous Hellenic state in the Pontus region, purely Hellenic or Hellenic and Armenian. After the unfortunate outcome of the campaign in Asia Minor, and the reversal of the allies interest and foreign policy against Hellenic interest and expectations, the plan for the creation of the autonomous state of Pontus collapsed.
After the Greco-turkish war, and the treaty of Lausanne, Greece and turkey made a population exchange and the remaining Pontians and other Greeks (1 500000) where expelled from their homeland, where their ancestors had lived for thousands of years, and Greek speaking muslims (500 000) where expelled from Greece to Turkey. So ended the History of Greek Pontians after 3000 years.
Only In Eastern Thrace and Constantinople, the Islands Imvros and Tenedos, the Greeks where allowed to stay. A treaty Turkey has broken several times.
300 000 Pontians of muslim faith (that had turned to Islam in the 17th century) where allowed to stay, but later even these where persecuted by the turks and forced to speak Turkish, almost destroying their national identity.
The Christian Pontians all over the world are counted to as many as 2 000 000, but and should have been much more if the genocide never happened. These Pontians are shattered over an enourmous territory and are going to loose their culture, identity and origin. For this reason, our case is urgent, and we must act now. The Pontians must get back their country!
When the Ottoman Empire dissolved, countries like Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and more got independence, at least eventually. Pontos did, as Armenia, not. We believe that all peoples need a homeland, especially when they have lived somewhere for 3000 years.
It is time to demand the recognization of the Genocide on Pontians, among with other Christians, by Turkey, and by the International Community, it is time to let the Pontians resettle to their homeland, to get Independence from turkey and to re-Hellenize Pontos with their special Pontian-Hellenic culture and allow them to speak their own Greek dialect.
And if the Pontian people decide that they want, to let them join the New East Roman (“Byzantine”) union/Empire of Christian Orthodox states, in order to strengthen the Byzantine fellowship between the brother peoples of the Christian east.
In the coming months we will actively be expanding our strategic alliances with content providers and Pontian Associations and organizations.
If you feel you have found information in this article that is not accurate, or maybe you want to improve it with new facts and information you have found, or why not help us so much that you change the whole article to make it better written, you are welcome to contact us here.
The exact signification of this purely territorial name varied greatly at different times. The Greeks used it loosely to denote various parts of the shores of the Euxine, and the term did not get a definite connotation of being a separate state until after the establishment of the kingdom of Pontus.
The presence of Greeks at the Euxeinus Pontos, the Black Sea, dates thousands years ago (about 1200 BC). Greek mythology refers to Jason and the Argonauts who passed Ellispontos and arrived to Kolchis (Georgia) to retake the golden hide that Frixos brother of Elli's had left there, the punishment of Prometheus by Zeus because he gave the fire to the man and the arresting of his body to the mountains of Caucasus. Xenofon and his men after their adventures in Persia, found refuge in greek cities of Pontus, (Thalatta-thalatta).
In the 8th century BC, many greek cities were created and the main occupation was sea trade. Sinope with its harbor which was founded by greek colonists from Miletos was a strong trade center with important cultural influence. The first cities preserved the same social and political organization as their colonial mother-towns.
In the period of Alexander the Great and his successors, the economic power of the Greek cities reached its zenith. Following the Anatolian conquests of Alexander the Great, local powers disintegrates, allowing the local ruler Mithridates I Ctistes (a Persian satrap) to establish an independent kingdom called Pontus.
Under the reign of king Mithridates VI Eupator (120-63 BC), the Greek language became official language of Asia Minor. From 110-100 BC, King Mithridates more than quadrupled its territory, expanding eastward, southward (temporarily conquering the Roman protectorates in central Anatolia), and northward (conquering the Bosporan Kingdom on the northern shore of the Black Sea).
In 86 BC southern Greece defected to Mithridates, and received a Pontic army which now threatened Rome in Greece. But the Pontic “Empire” had neither economic nor political stability, and Mithradates prospered only because Rome was preoccupied elsewhere. Pompey defeated him (65 BC), and when Pharnaces II tried to take advantage of the Roman civil war, Julius Caesar removed (47 BC) the threat at Zela. The Romans joined Pontus to the province of Galatia-Cappadocia. And later in the 4th century all of Pontus becomes a separate province. The principal Pontic cities where Amasia, Neocaesarea and Zela.
Even in Roman times, the Greek culture in the eastern part of the Black Sea retained its leading role in the economic and cultural life of that region. St. Andrew and St. Peter profited from the fact that the spoken language was Greek and spread Christianity to Pontos. Greek culture and Orthodoxy were united and formed a homogenous culture.
With the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, Pontus became part of the Eastern Roman Empire, later to become known as the Byzantine Empire. Pontus continued to be an autonomous state under the Imperial rule of Constantinople through much of the history of the Byzantine Empire.
During the rise of the Arabs, the empire eventually lost much of the old Roman territories and Asia Minor became the heartland of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire. During the Macedonian Emperors under the late 9th century to the 11th century the empire begun to expand and the control of Italy, the balkans, Asia Minor, and the Mediterranean Sea strengthen. The Byzantine Empire was now the most powerful force in the Middle East and Europe.
After the disastrous battle of Manzikert 1071 however, where the Byzantine armies where defeated by the Seljuk Turks, much of asia minor was permanently lost.
At the accession of Alexios I Komnenos (1081 AD), whole of Pontos & Cappadocia, including the rest of Asia minor was lost to the turks, with exception of a few coastal cities like Trebizond. Inflation was spiralling out of control, the coinage was heavily debased, the fiscal system was confused (there were six different nomismata in circulation), and the imperial treasury was empty.
Alexios and his successors suceeded, however, in reconquering great parts of Asia minor, stabilizing the economy and restore the empire to the position as the most powerful state in the Mediterranean. But after the death of the last Komnenian emperor, Andronikos I Komnenos 1185, the Angeloi dynasti took control of the empire and succeeded, in less than 20 years, to destroy the empire that at that time was a great power, economically prosperous and secure on its frontiers.
They consummated the financial ruin of the state, permitted the empire to be administered by unworthy favourites, and leaved the Empire practically defenceless. They had also a great part in the single biggest catastrophe of the Empire: the sack and capture of Constantinople 1204.
According to a prearranged treaty,what remained of the Byzantine empire was dissolved and its territories divided between Venice and the Latin Empire of Constantinople. The Greek Orthodox clergy were displaced by Latin Catholic clergy, while the nobility were displaced by Latin feudal barons. Byzantine exiles fled Constantinople, taking refuge in Nicaea, Trebizond, and Epirus.
Alexios, grandson of Byzantine emperor Andronikos I Komnenos founded in Pontos the Empire of Trebizond which had at that time great development.
The fall of Constantinople (1453) and, eight years later of Trebizond (1461) mark one of the greatest disasters in Greek history. Mehmet later murdered the emperor David and 5 of his children and forbade their bodies to be burried. But David's wife alone buried her husband and her children with her bare hands. She was imprisoned for that action.
Immediately after the seize of Trebizond by the Ottomans, many inhabitants of the rich coastal towns fled. Most of them escaped into the remote mountain regions of Pontos.
In keeping with Ottoman practice, twothirds of the Greek population of Trabzon were removed to other parts of the Empire at the time of the conquest. A majority were settled in Istanbul where they formed the core of the capital's "Phanariote" families of Christian Greeks, exercising immense influence in the 17th and 18th centuries. They included the Ypsilantis, whose descendants would eventually lead the Greek independence movement.
Other Pontians escaped into the remote mountain regions of Pontos. Here, out of the sight of the new rulers, they founded new villages and cities, a new and free Greek civilization, which lasted for 150 years. However, part of the refugees settled in central Russia, at the coasts of southern Russia, in the region of Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan, where they founded new Greek cities, cultural centers, to which persecuted Greeks were gracefully received also in later years.
This in turn resulted in the simultaneous existence of a second Pontian-Greek civilization, particularly in Russia, which through the whole period of Ottoman reign, grew by migration of refugees. Later, only in Russia, half a million Pontians existed. By the year 1918 the total population grew up to 650,000 people.
But for those who stayed, on Turkish territory, other things awaited. In the Ottoman Empire, Christians had to pay much higher taxes than the Muslims and where not allowed to be in the army, along with other things like they where not allowed to ride horses. Their sons where taken by the Turks who raised them to Islam and to enemies against their people (“Jannischaries”).
The Turks used forced Islamization (using a range of measures including wholesale massacres and as mentioned mass kidnappings of male children), and others converted, by "free will". Some converted to get rid of the high taxes, but only official, in secret, they practiced the Christian religion, but if they where caught, death awaited.
The situation worsened in the late 1800’s for all Christians in the Ottoman Empire, due to the rising influence of the Young Turks, and after killing millions of Armenians, the turn had came to the Pontians. Using forced labour camps and death marches, the Turks eliminated over 350 000 Pontians, in what is called the Pontian Genocide.
When the Turks was defeated in the first world war, it looked for a moment like the Pontians finally would become free. The soul of the rebellion in the Pontus had been was provided by the great national leader Germanos Caravangelis, Bishop of Castoria, leader in the Macedonian struggle and Chrissantos, Bishop of Trebizonda.
The bishoprics of the Pontus became centers of guidance and recruitement of rebels, whereas the mountains became centers of resistance against the Ottomans. In 1917, Greece and the allied powers began to work out a plan for the creation of an autonomous Hellenic state in the Pontus region, purely Hellenic or Hellenic and Armenian. After the unfortunate outcome of the campaign in Asia Minor, and the reversal of the allies interest and foreign policy against Hellenic interest and expectations, the plan for the creation of the autonomous state of Pontus collapsed.
After the Greco-turkish war, and the treaty of Lausanne, Greece and turkey made a population exchange and the remaining Pontians and other Greeks (1 500000) where expelled from their homeland, where their ancestors had lived for thousands of years, and Greek speaking muslims (500 000) where expelled from Greece to Turkey. So ended the History of Greek Pontians after 3000 years.
Only In Eastern Thrace and Constantinople, the Islands Imvros and Tenedos, the Greeks where allowed to stay. A treaty Turkey has broken several times.
300 000 Pontians of muslim faith (that had turned to Islam in the 17th century) where allowed to stay, but later even these where persecuted by the turks and forced to speak Turkish, almost destroying their national identity.
The Christian Pontians all over the world are counted to as many as 2 000 000, but and should have been much more if the genocide never happened. These Pontians are shattered over an enourmous territory and are going to loose their culture, identity and origin. For this reason, our case is urgent, and we must act now. The Pontians must get back their country!
When the Ottoman Empire dissolved, countries like Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and more got independence, at least eventually. Pontos did, as Armenia, not. We believe that all peoples need a homeland, especially when they have lived somewhere for 3000 years.
It is time to demand the recognization of the Genocide on Pontians, among with other Christians, by Turkey, and by the International Community, it is time to let the Pontians resettle to their homeland, to get Independence from turkey and to re-Hellenize Pontos with their special Pontian-Hellenic culture and allow them to speak their own Greek dialect.
And if the Pontian people decide that they want, to let them join the New East Roman (“Byzantine”) union/Empire of Christian Orthodox states, in order to strengthen the Byzantine fellowship between the brother peoples of the Christian east.
In the coming months we will actively be expanding our strategic alliances with content providers and Pontian Associations and organizations.
If you feel you have found information in this article that is not accurate, or maybe you want to improve it with new facts and information you have found, or why not help us so much that you change the whole article to make it better written, you are welcome to contact us here.
Trabzon (Trabezounta)
Originally the main body of Pontian Greeks were settled (in fairly broad terms) along the coastal belt of the Black Sea ranging from about Inebolu in the west to the Of valley in the east (east of Trabzon). From Rize eastwards was the main area of Laz population. The two main concentrations of Greeks in the region centred around Trabzon (Trabezounta) and Samsun (Amisos). The latter area included a good number of 'Turkish-speakers'. There was some extension of Pontians into the hinterland towards Amasya (Amaseia) in the east and in the area of Gumushane (Argyroupolis) in the west. The Argyroupolis area was also noted for its strong mining tradition and is know to have sent out numerous Pontian mining colonies to other regions of Anatolia and the Caucasus region - especially in the 1800s. The Pontians of the Kars region were actually immigrants to that area; they were not natives to an area which many Pontians mistakenly count as having been part of the 'Pontus'.With the exchange of populations in 1923, many Greek(Pontian)-speaking Muslims remained in Turkey. They were/are concentrated particulalry in the regions of Of and Tonia.The refugee Pontians were settled mainly in Macedonia (especially Thessaloniki and eastern Macedonia) - taking the place, along with Anatolian and Thracian Greek refugees, of the previous Muslim population there - as well as in the slum suburbs that sprung up around Athens with the influx of the refugees.I disagree with Red's deduction that the dialect has disappeared. It is very much alive - particularly in villages/suburbs in Greece that were almost exclusively settled with Pontians. Here in Australia it is alive and kicking and is the primary medium of communication between Pontians when they are in exclusivel Pontian company. However, this applies to Pontians in their late 50s or 60s and onwards. The younger generation will speak English if not standard modern Greek but would certainly possess a passive knowledge of the dialect. Although the dialect is definitely starting to break down in the face of modern Greek, and will inevitably disappear like all dialects, a perusal of Youtube etc will show that the Pontians - short of the assimilation Red mentions - are entirely aware of, and very proud of, their specific position with the Greek body.I have some personal knowledge of these people and I can assure you that if you know only conventional modern Greek it is unlikely that you will understand 'fully-blown' Pontian beyond getting the 'gist' within the context of the conversation. You might have greater hope of comprehension if the speed is reduced and explanations are offered along the way. It is quite remarkable how many 'old' Greek forms have been retained in the Pontian dialect and how often it has developed along separate, albeit unique Greek, lines. I remember my impression on reading G. P. Shipp's very large book "Modern Greek Evidence for the Ancient Greek Vocabulary (1979)" that Pontian was rather inordinately represented within.
Arméniens pontos
Arméniens aussi mais jamais considérés comme tels ni par les Arméniens de Turquie ou d'Arménie, ni par la diaspora, les Hémichis (Hemisi) sont musulmans. Ils vivent principalement dans l'Est de la Turquie, dans les régions de Diyarbakir, Van, Erzurum, Erzican, Harput, Mardin, Avanos et Malataya. Leur nombre est estimé à près de 3 millions dont une bonne partie parle encore l'arménien malgré une assimilation en voie d'achèvement.Les Hémichis, comme une partie des Slaves, Crétois, Romains et Caucasiens de Turquie, se sont convertis à l'islam au cours de la période ottomane. Sous l'Empire, ils faisaient partie de la Nation (Millet) musulmane, comme les autres ethnies islamisées, les alévis et les yézédis, contrairement aux grégoriens qui avaient leur propre Nation. Les Hémichis, malgré leur conversion, continuèrent à vivre côte à côte avec les grégoriens; sans problème majeur. C'est lors de l'annexion des royaumes caucasiens par la Russie, au début du XIXe siècle que commencèrent les ennuis pour les Arméniens musulmans installés dans les régions comprises entre la Géorgie actuelle et le l'Azerbaïdjan. Refoulés vers l'Empire ottoman en même temps que les Circassiens, les Ossètes, Tchétchènes, Abkhazes et Adjars, on retrouve des réfugiés dans une large bande allant de Trébizonde à l'ancienne Cilicie. 1914 fut l'année la plus noire de l'histoire des Hémichis. La Russie ayant promis l'indépendance aux Arméniens chrétiens de l'Arménie turque, encourageât ces derniers à créer un climat de terreur dans les villages musulmans de cette région peuplée à 25% d'Arméniens chrétiens (excepté la province de Van, où ils formaient la majorité).Ainsi, des massacres à grande échelle eurent lieu jusqu'au début de 1915, dont les victimes kurdes, circassiens, hémichis, turkmènes et autres caucasiens n'avaient que deux points communs, soit d'être ottomanes et musulmanes. On estime à 300 000 le nombres des victimes (massacre des musulmans d"Erzurum et de Van compris), oeuvre des milices indépendantistes arméniennes (chrétiennes). La République créa un climat favorable aux Hémichis non seulement de Turquie, mais aussi à ceux du Caucase soviétique qui trouvèrent une terre d'asile et s'installèrent dans les régions où les Arméniens grégoriens avaient été forcés de partir (déportation par l'armée ottomane et massacres de 1915).Aujourd'hui les Hémichis sont avant tout turcs et revendique leur appartenance à la Nation. La confiance entre Arméniens chrétiens et musulmans est toutefois limitée même si l'on n'assiste pas à un réel clivage.Cette communauté n'est pas considérée comme minoritaire, puisque la notion de "minorité" n'est pas ethnique ou linguistique en Europe orientale, mais uniquement religieuse
Papa
Under the Ottoman Empire and its millet system, nation and religion was one and the same. So the Hemshin Armenians though they are culturally more similar to Armenians no doubt, than other muslim populations living next to them are part of the same nation as them and not so with Christians who speak the same language as them. Now the Christians had different national churches when the Ottoman Empire collapsed but it is a shame the muslims did not have the same situation because modern Turkey would not have been possible. Ethnicity is not just about language. If this were so there would be no conflict between Bosnians, Serbs and Croats, but since they are different religions and Christian dominations they are hostile to each other and look to different foreign political entities.
PONTOS
pontos is a region in northen turkey (not sure about the turkish name). there used to be there a number of christians and muslims during the ottoman empire. the cristians despite assimilating a number of turkish words, they spoke a kind of greek dialect, which for us if not seen written its way difficult to understand. i dont know how close that was with the muslim dialect of the region, if there is one (that is if they just speak turkish like all the rest). i also dont know if there were for long period problem with the muslims in the region. they have for sure same music, dances and costumes...i mean they lived in the same region!! anyway, in the early 1900 with rise of nationalism everywhere, those people were either killed or forced to live..some came to greece and got asimilated, some escaped in russia, but didnot know that going there the would be found with a new soviet state. the system as far as i know was not kind to them or their culture either. afer the system broke down, a number of them came either to greece or to cyprus. the greeks as far as i know used the for political reasons, and did not really welcomed them as their brothers. the greekpontians like the armenians claim also that a genocide was undertaken against them. in a sense, there are none of them left there, of the couple of millions or more that used to be in northern turkey in the beggining of the last century. now, whether u want to call it a genoside or not, is not important as far as i am concerned. i also dont know the history that well since such discussions usually end up on who started first, or if the numbers are right... all i have to say is :its a pity. and it is sad
Monday, May 7, 2007
PONTUS LAZISTAN TRABZON
PontusAfter the colonisation of the Anatolian shores by the Ionia n Greeks , Pontus soon became a name which was applied, in ancient times, to extensive tracts of country in the northeast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey ) bordering on the Euxine ( Black Sea ), which was often called simply Pontos (the Main), by the Ancient Greece . The exact signification of this purely territorial name varied greatly at different times. The Greeks used it loosely to denote various parts of the shores of the Euxine, and the term did not get a definite connotation of being a separate state until after the establishment of the kingdom of Pontus, founded beyond the Halys during the troubled period following the death of Alexander the Great , shortly after 302 BC , by Mithridates I of Pontus , son of Mithridates II of Kios ( Mysia ) a Persian Empire n ruler in the service of Antigonus I Monophthalmus , one of Alexander's successors. The kingdom of Pontus was henceforth ruled by a succession of kings, mostly bearing the same name, till 64 BC . As the greater part of this kingdom lay within the immense region of Cappadocia , which in early ages extended from the borders of Cilicia to the Euxine, the kingdom as a whole was at first called "Cappadocia towards the Pontus", but afterwards simply "Pontus," the name Cappadocia being henceforth restricted to the southern half of the region previously included under that title. Under the last king, Mithradates Eupator , commonly called the Great, the realm of Pontus included not only Pontic Cappadocia but also the seaboard from the Bithynia n frontier to Colchis , part of inland Paphlagonia , and Cilicia#Armenian kingdom . With the subjection of this kingdom by Pompey in 64 BC , in which little changed in the structuring of life, neither for the oligarchies that controlled the cities nor for the common people in city or hinterland, the meaning of the name Pontus underwent a change. Part of the kingdom was now annexed to the Roman Empire , being united with Bithynia in a double province called Pontus and Bithynia: this part included only the seaboard between Heraclea Pontica ( Eregli ) and Amisus ( Samsun ), the ora Pontica. Hereafter the simple name Pontus without qualification was regularly employed to denote the half of this dual province, especially by Romans and people speaking from the Roman point of view; it is so used almost always in the New Testament . With the reorganization of the provincial system under Diocletian (about AD 295 ), the Pontic districts were divided up between four provinces of the Dioecesis Pontica: Pontus Polemoniacus, containing Comana, Polemonium, Cerasus and Trapezus with Neocaesarea as capital Diospontus, re-named Helenopontus by Constantine I of the Roman Empire , containing the rest of the province Pontus and the adjoining district, eight cities in all (including Sinope , Samsun and Zela ) with Amasya as capital Paphlagonia, to which was attached most of the old province Pontus Armenia Minor, five cities, with Sebasteia as capital. This rearrangement gave place in turn to the Byzantine Empire system of military districts ( thema ).
Byzantine, Ottoman, and modern history Pontus continued to be an autonomous state under the Imperial rule of Constantinople through most of the history of the Byzantine Empire . With the eclipse and fall of the Empire in the East, the name Pontus was preserved as a state within the Ottoman Empire . In the 20th century, the situation of Christian minorities in Pontus worsened with the increasing influence of the Young Turks , culminating in mass killings and deportations. The Blight of Asia, by G. Horton full E-text available The Hellenic Genocide Quotes from historical documents Home page of Pontus and Asia Minor Genocide The Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies The Greek parliament has declared 19th May as a memory date for the Pontus genocide. After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey , Pontus was not recognised as autonomous. In 1921, an independent Pontic state was proposed, but never realized. Under the Treaty of Lausanne , the borders of Turkey were renegotiated and in 1923, the Exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey required approximately 1.5 million Greeks living in Turkey to resettle in Greece , and approximately 500,000 Turks living in Greece to resettle in Turkey. Among the former were the remaining 300,000 Pontian Greeks , of an original population of more than 700,000. Article 1 of the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations, dated January 30, 1923, between the governments of Greece and Turkey reads as follows: "As from the 1st May, 1923, there shall take place a compulsory exchange of Turkish nationals of the Greek Orthodox religion established in Turkish territory, and of Greek nationals of the Muslim religion established in Greek territory. These persons shall not return to live in Turkey or Greece respectively without the authorization of the Turkish Government or of the Greek Government respectively." A number of Pontic Greeks moved from Turkey to countries in the Caucasus region, mainly Georgia and Russia. The majority of the Greek diaspora in the countries of the former USSR descends from these Pontic Greeks.
See also- Pontic Greek language - Pontian Greeks - Hayastan (Greater Armenia) tr:Pontus - Western Armenia (Ottoman Armenia) - Kurdistan - Lazistan - Cheveneburi - Ajarians - Greek Muslims de:Pontus es:Pontic eo:Ponto (geografio) it:Ponto (geografia) he:פונטוס nl:Pontus (gebied) no:Pontos (oldtidsrike) pl:Pont (Azja) pt:Ponto (província romana) ru:Понт fi:Pontos sv:Pontos - Cilicia (Lesser Armenia)
Byzantine, Ottoman, and modern history Pontus continued to be an autonomous state under the Imperial rule of Constantinople through most of the history of the Byzantine Empire . With the eclipse and fall of the Empire in the East, the name Pontus was preserved as a state within the Ottoman Empire . In the 20th century, the situation of Christian minorities in Pontus worsened with the increasing influence of the Young Turks , culminating in mass killings and deportations. The Blight of Asia, by G. Horton full E-text available The Hellenic Genocide Quotes from historical documents Home page of Pontus and Asia Minor Genocide The Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies The Greek parliament has declared 19th May as a memory date for the Pontus genocide. After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey , Pontus was not recognised as autonomous. In 1921, an independent Pontic state was proposed, but never realized. Under the Treaty of Lausanne , the borders of Turkey were renegotiated and in 1923, the Exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey required approximately 1.5 million Greeks living in Turkey to resettle in Greece , and approximately 500,000 Turks living in Greece to resettle in Turkey. Among the former were the remaining 300,000 Pontian Greeks , of an original population of more than 700,000. Article 1 of the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations, dated January 30, 1923, between the governments of Greece and Turkey reads as follows: "As from the 1st May, 1923, there shall take place a compulsory exchange of Turkish nationals of the Greek Orthodox religion established in Turkish territory, and of Greek nationals of the Muslim religion established in Greek territory. These persons shall not return to live in Turkey or Greece respectively without the authorization of the Turkish Government or of the Greek Government respectively." A number of Pontic Greeks moved from Turkey to countries in the Caucasus region, mainly Georgia and Russia. The majority of the Greek diaspora in the countries of the former USSR descends from these Pontic Greeks.
See also- Pontic Greek language - Pontian Greeks - Hayastan (Greater Armenia) tr:Pontus - Western Armenia (Ottoman Armenia) - Kurdistan - Lazistan - Cheveneburi - Ajarians - Greek Muslims de:Pontus es:Pontic eo:Ponto (geografio) it:Ponto (geografia) he:פונטוס nl:Pontus (gebied) no:Pontos (oldtidsrike) pl:Pont (Azja) pt:Ponto (província romana) ru:Понт fi:Pontos sv:Pontos - Cilicia (Lesser Armenia)
Pntian Laz
This is a passage from an article on this forum that details some populationstatistics.""Lord Curzon then said that he wished to give some statistics in order that there might be a clear idea what was at stake. He said that figures from Americansources showed that before 1914 there were 1,600,000 Greeks in Anatolia. Between 1914 and 1918. 300,000 died, left the country or otherwise disappeared.Between 1919 and 1922 another 200,000 left Anatolia or disappeared. In September and October of this year another reduction of 500,000 took place leaving now 500,000 or 600,000 Greeks in Anatolia, most of whom were males between 15 and 60, to whom the Turks had refused permission to leave."In other words" said the British Foreign Minister "a million Greeks have been killed, deported or have died."""
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