Heimei Maru Japanese Ship in the Light of Archival Documents: Diplomatic Activities Conducted for Captive Turks

Abstract

In this study, the events concerning the Japanese ship Heimei Maru, which sailed from Siberia during the Turkish War of Independence and carried more than 1.000 Turkish prisoners, are analyzed in the light of archival documents. The individuals aboard the Heimei Maru were Turkish prisoners captured after the end of World War I. Efforts to rescue these prisoners were undertaken primarily by the Ottoman State, alongside other states and international organizations. This study reveals that Greece kept the captives under extremely poor conditions and resorted to various means to gain diplomatic leverage through the captives during the occupation of Anatolia. However, after increasing pressure, Greece was compelled to send a group of 400 individuals, mostly elderly people, women, and children, to Istanbul. The remaining captives were transferred to Italy and continued to be held in a prisoner camp on Asinara Island. The article emphasizes the harsh conditions in the Asinara Island camp and underlines the Italian Government’s lack of adequate attention to the needs of the prisoners. Attention was drawn to the efforts of the Turkish Government, which was in economic collapse, to meet the expenses of the captive Turks even under these difficult conditions. Despite every diplomatic effort made to bring the captives to Istanbul, the firm stance of the Greek administration resulted in the captives remaining in detention for an extended period. As a result of the intensive efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Ottoman Red Crescent Society and the League of Nations officials, the captive Turks were able to return to Istanbul in June 1922.