Republic of Gumuljina
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The Provisional Government of Western Thrace (Ottoman Turkish: غربی تراقیا حكومت موقتهسی - Garbi Trakya Hükûmeti Muvakkatesi), later renamed to Independent Government of Western Thrace (Ottoman Turkish: Garbi Trakya Hükûmeti Müstakilesi), was a small, short-lived republic established in Western Thrace from August 31 to October 25, 1913. It encompassed the area surrounded the rivers Maritsa (Evros) in the east, Mesta (Nestos) in the west, the Rhodope Mountains in the north and the Aegean Sea in the south. Its total territory was c. 8.600 km².
The state was created during the Second Balkan War by a Turkish and Pomak rebellion against withdrawing occupying Bulgarian forces in that area. It existed for 3 months, between two Balkan treaties; between the May 1913 Treaty of London and the August 1913 Treaty of Bucharest that ended the Second Balkan War. It was founded as a provisional state, in order to be annexed by Ottoman Turkey again. Soon after, Greek forces occupied major cities (Porto Lagos, Komotini and Alexandroupolis) and handed them over to Bulgaria, according to the terms of the Treaty of Bucharest (1913). The area remained a part of Bulgaria until 1919, when it was transferred to Greece. Its capital was Gümülcine (Greek: Κομοτηνή, Komotini), now in Greece.
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[edit] Names
The Provisional Government of Western Thrace was also known as Republic of Gumuljina or Turkish Republic of Western Thrace (Turkish: Batı Trakya Türk Cumhuriyeti). Gumuljina (also spelled Gumuldjina or other variants) is an old rendering of Gümülcine, the Turkish name of Komotini.
[edit] Overview
President: Hoca Salih Efendi
Army: Standing force of 29,170, largely infantry. Commander of the Armed Forces was Süleyman Askerî
As soon as independence was declared the government of the Republic of Gumuljina determined the borders of the country, put up the new flags on the official buildings, commissioned a national anthem, raised an army, published its own stamps and passports. It also prepared the budget of the new country.
A Jewish citizen, Samuel Karaso, was tasked by the government with establishing an official press agency and to publish a newspaper named Müstakil (Independence) in Turkish and French. The Ottoman Laws and Regulations were adopted without any change and the cases started to be heard by the Court of Western Thrace.
Bulgaria, after a brief period of control over the area following the Istanbul Convention, passed the sovereighty of Western Thrace to Greece at the end of the World War I, when Greece entered the war against the Central Powers. The Muslim population of Western Thrace was excluded from the population exchange of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, and possesses a legal minority status in Greece.
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
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This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2009) |
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- AYDINLI Ahmet, Batı Trakya Faciasının İç Yüzü, Akın Yayınları, İst. 1971
- BATIBEY Kemal Şevket, Bati Trakya Türk Devleti, Boğaziçi Yayınları, İst. 1978
- Batı Trakya’nın Sesi, Sayı: 65, Ağustos 1988
- BIYIKLIOĞLU Tevfik, Trakya’da Milli Mücadele, Cilt I, II. Baskı, TTK Yay., Ank.1987
- GÜNDAĞ Nevzat, Garbi Trakya Hükümet-i Müstakilesi, Kültür ve Turizm Bak. Yay. Ank.1987
- ÖZKAN Tuncay, Mit’in Gizli Tarihi, Alfa Yay., İst.2003
- YALÇIN Soner, Teşkilatın İki Silahşörü, Doğan Kitap, İst. 2001
- Tahir Tamer Kumkale, Batı Trakya, Önce VATAN 17-20 MAYIS 2003
