The Greek Population of the Province of Alexandropol during the Turkish Invasions of 1918-1920: An Analysis based on Oral History

Abstract

The restoration of the popular perceptions of an episode of history, of the event, prepares a favorable base for a complete historical and ethnographic study, as it gives an opportunity to understand “from within” and represent numerous topics that are rarely mentioned in official historiography. The Greeks settled in Shirak province of the Republic of Armenia in the 30s of the 19th century, which mainly corresponds to the territory of the former Alexandrapol, after the adoption of the Treaty of Adrianapole in 1830. The invasion of Armenia by the Ottoman in 1918 and Kemalist armies in 1920, the atrocities committed by them were a direct continuation not only of the Armenian Genocide, but also the extermination of other Christian nations, the Greeks of Pontus and Assyrians. In 1918 and 1920 the Greeks of the villages of Baytar, Kaps, and Bayandur were completely massacred. Information about these events in historiography is scarce, but they are preserved in folk memory, which has been recorded by us and is presented in the article in combination with archival materials.