Finally, after
a lot of wrangling, the international customs post in the harbour of Petra has
been opened. The only remaining question is: for whom? Is it for sailing boats
from Turkey? The post has been created for an excursion boat, which however has
not yet shown up and probably will not arrive this year. So now we have a
custom post with officials who have nothing to do and it is still impossible to
go to Turkey from Petra.
If
you want to visit our neighbouring land from the north or south of the island,
you still have to travel very early in the morning to Mytilini to take a ferry
to Dikili or Ayvalik. Although it still is worth going, especially to Ayvalik
which is a nice place with historical interest to visit.
Once
Ayvalik, also called Kydonies, was even pretty famous in Greece. In 1773 this
little Ottoman city, with a majority of Greek citizens, had so many privileges
that it could operate like a free city. This came about because a Greek priest
saved the life of a Grand Vizier. Hospitals and all kind of schools were built.
Education was taken so seriously that Ayvalik soon became the Greek literature
centre of the whole of Asia Minor. The Greek Language School was reknowned for
its number of well known Greeks teachers, like Benjamin of Lesvos.
In those
times there was also plenty of commerce between Lesvos and the Anatolian coast.
On both sides people lived from trade in oliveoil, soap, leather, fruit and
fish and many boats sailed between both sides of the Aegean. There were no
customs barriers and the only obstacle was the possibility that you had to pay
a small harbour fee.
In
1821 the Greeks started their revolt against the Ottoman occupation. Many pockets
of resistance sprung into life, amongst them one in Ayvalik with about 600
members. However the Greek fleet did not succeed in liberating the eastern
islands and the coast of Asia Minor, where many Greeks lived. Only part of
central Greece managed to shake off the Turks. After some attempts Ayvalik was
besieged by the Sultan’s army and put on fire. Most of the inhabitants fled the
city (it was estimated to have a population of 40,000) to find security on the
nearby islands (one of which, I guess, was Lesvos). However in 1832 the Sultan allowed
the citizens of Ayvalik to return to their city and they started to rebuild the
town and their fields.
Soon
Ayvalik flourished again thanks to its commercial and cultural life. But at the
beginning of the 20th century Turkish nationalism arose, which caused Ayvalik
to begin to lose its privileges. When the Ottoman Empire choose the side of
Germany in the First World War, lots of Greek Ayvaliotes were conscripted into
the army and priests and wealthy civilians were accused of being spies and
executed. According to Wikipedia there were so many men taken that the
production of oliveoil came to a stop. Because the Greek oil from Ayvalik and
Edremit was so famous, some 4500 Greek families were ‘imported’ to ensure the
continuation of the production of this quality oil.
Turkish Nationalism
grew even more after the loss of the war, partly because of the humiliating Treaty of Sevres.
The Greek – Turkish war of 1919-1922 (in which both parties were guilty of
massacres) ended with a large population exchange (exodos) between Greece and the new state of Turkey. More than a
million Greeks, whose families had lived for centuries in Asia Minor, were
forced to move to Greece. The majority left for the Greek mainland, but some
sixty thousand of them ended up in the North Aegean islands (amongst them
Lesvos). In Mytilini there is a commemorative
statue of a refugee mother and children and in Skala Loutron there is a small museum displaying
all kind of artefacts brought by the refugees.
Some
40% of the Greeks now claim that their ancestors came from Asia Minor. The
Greek inhabitants of Ayvalik were sent to different parts of Greece, while the
Turks from Lesvos (and from Crete and Macedonia) settled in Ayvalik.
From
most parts of the island (excepting the south-west) one has a view over Turkey.
It is strange to realise that the far side of that country is now overrun with hundreds
of thousands of refugees. For years now smaller numbers of refugees enter
Greece (including Lesvos). But what’s happening now at the Turkish-Syrian
border resembles a biblical catastrophe and reminds me of the masses of
refugees during and after the Greek-Turkish war, when warmongering produced
such fear that large groups of people fled their homes and lands.
Now, not
even a century later, the old world is again on the move and conflicts flare up
everywhere. Even though for some people the conflict seems to be far away, it
has reached the Turkish borders. And soon enough the whole of Europe will be
involved, just like in the times of
the first World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
I
have just been reading a novel that takes place in that time when the
nationalists led by Kemal Atatürk were fighting the Treaty of Sevres and did
not listen to any of the Allies who occupied Istanbul: L’autre Rive du Bosphore
(as far as I know not yet translated in English) from the French writer Theresa
Révay. Historically, it is reasonably well researched and gives a good
opportunity to learn about that frightening time. A book, praised by everybody, that describes the international politics of that time even
better is from the American journalist Giles Milton: Paradise Lost:
Smyrna 1922.
It’s a bloodcurdling report about the heartbreaking fall of a beautiful city,
not a century ago. If we may believe the report of an Ottoman doctor in Tracing
the memoir of dr. Şerafeddin Magmumi for the urban memory of Ayvalik, then Ayvalik once was a little
Smyrna (now Izmir): with colourful inhabitants, a lively nightlife and a big
cultural life. The above mentioned document shows that there remains plenty of
the old Ayvalik, so it is still worthwhile travelling to Mytilini and boarding
a boat to a part of Turkey that for such a long time was so Greek.
(with
thanks to Mary Staples)
© Smitaki
2014
