Doksanüç Muhaceretinde Gümülcine

93 Harbi olarak nitelenen 1877-1878 Osmanlı-Rus Savaşıbüyük kayıpların yanısıra önemli bir göç sorununu da beraberinde getirmiştir. Rus ilerleyişi ve istilâsıkarşısında binlerce insan yerini yurdunu bırakarak göç etmek zorunda kalmışbu da yeni bir felâkete yol açmıştır. Açlık, soğuk ve hastalık gibi faktörler sefaletin boyutlarınıiyice arttırmıştır. Rus ve Bulgar saldırılarının halen devam ettiği bu ortamda OsmanlıDevleti elindeki sınırlıimkânlarla muhacirlere destek olmaya çalışmıştır. Ekmek, giysi gibi temel ihtiyaçlardan bile yoksun olan bu insanların her şeyden önce hayatta kalabilmeleri için yardımlar yapılmıştır. Çalışmamıza konu olan Gümülcine de, bu dönemde muhacirlerin sığındıklarıgeçici iskân bölgelerinden birisi olmuştur. Burada muhacirlerin temel ihtiyaçlarıkarşılanmaya çalışılırken hastane, yetimhane gibi ihtiyaç duyulan bazıdüzenlemeler de yapılmıştır. Ancak sayının çokluğu, salgın hastalıklar, mevsim şartlarıve yokluk gibi faktörler onlarıfazlasıyla etkilemişve kalıcıçare olarak iskân sorunlarınıçözmek için yeni yollar aranmaya başlanmıştır.

The Russo-Ottoman war of 1877-78, called 93 war in Turkish historical literature, gave rise to a gigantic wave of migration in addition to losses of different kinds. In the face of Russian advance and occupation lots of settlements were evacuated and the inhabitants living there in were obliged to immigrate. The number of the immigrants who were compelled to leave their soil during the war reached about 1.250.000 soul. Mc.Carthy, 1998, 105 The majority of the immigrants were from the regions in the neighborhood of the Danube and the Adrianople province, for the fightings had concentrated on these two regions. Situated in the hinterland of Constantinople, the Danubian and Adrianople provinces had a substantial Muslim population. But from the very early days, war policies against the Turkish side had developed so as to target the annihilation of the Muslim Turkish population in the region. As the first step the Muslim population was disarmed and reduced to an unguarded state. Next, Bulgarian bands were formed and Bulgarian people were armed. The security of the immigrants, on the other hand, failed to be assured and the immigrants faced various difficulties in the process of migrating. Attempts of some of the immigrants to use railway routes in escaping gave rise to further disturbances. Filled up with immigrants, trains were unsuccessful in carrying soldiers, munitions, provisions etc. to the military front, which led to the growth of other problems. Having heard the atrocities carried out by the Russians in the region, Muslims leaving their homlands in masses sought for safe places to take shelter in and, however temporarily, settled in places they found secure enough. Various measures were taken and various services were offered to meet the needs of the immigrants settling in new towns temporarily. And one of these towns was Gumurdjina, the very subject matter of the article. The very topic of our article, Gumurdjina, within the province of Adrianople at that time, like many other places within the same province, came to be a place of temporary settlement. It was predicted that not less than 80.000 immigrants were settled in Gumurdjina within two months January and February in 1878. At that time the Ottoman official institution responsible for the services to the immigrants settling within the Adrianople province was “the Commission for the Settlement of Immigrants”. Headed by Hacı Şerif Bey, this commission was supposed to mediate in settling the immigrants in convenient places, while the essential needs of the immigrants were tried to be met by native wealthy people as well as by the British Help Committee and the French Protestant Committee. But all the measures fell short and as the winter of 1878 approached, the number of the diseased and dead increased. Between February and June, 1878, in Adrianople for example, 16.000 out of 45.000 immigrants caught typhus and 10.000 of them lost their lives. Most of the deaths were due to malnourishment and exposure to hard winter conditions. Epidemics spread more easily and swiftly in barracks, cottages and other deserted places as spots hosting the immigrants and causing their lives. Limited aid available along the frontiers were distributed first among the widows, orphans and disabled, while the healty were excluded and thus aggravating the conditions of the jobless in the countryside. It was predicted that the number of the deaths among the immigrants rose to 20.000 in Gumurdjina between August and December, 1878. Şimşir, I, 742 . The European Commission founded to investigate the condition of the Muslim immigrants settling around Gumurdjina and Drama, together with Ottoman representative Naşid Pasha, came to the region and conducted explorations therein. The investigations and explorations in the region revealed that the reason behind the withdrawal of the local people against the mountains was the oppression by the Bulgarians and the Russian soldiers, which also brought about the pillaging of their animals, produces and properties. BOA, Y.E.E., 43/105 . Thousands of diseased, widow and children as well as their need to be examined medically, called for the decision to construct a few hospitals and orphanage in the region and the 5.000 gold coins necessary for this entreprise, upon the approval of European Commissars and under the cognizance of European consulates, asked from the capital. The urgency of the situtation was also confirmed by the telegraphs of Naşid and Riza Pashas from the region. Thereupon a new hospital, like their counterparts in Edirne and Tekfurdağı, was decided to be opened in Gumurdjina. The supply of doctors, drugs and other medical materials were among the overriding duties of the Commission for the Settlement of Immigrants. BOA, İrade/Dahiliye, 62544 , 62545 . In order to meet these needs the Ottoman administration either made use of state stocks or tried to obtain them from market by payment. But the excess and the increase in the numbers of the diseased in addition to the lack of doctors, pharmacists/chemists and medicines rendered the state in despair. In the course of time the disturbances of the immigrants increased. Reports from July, 1878, verify that the immigrants in Gumurdjina had been exposed to grievous conditions. They were beeing fed by the wheat brought from Salonica and their garments looked deplorable. Majority of the immigrants consisted of elderly, women and children exposed to harsh heavy conditions and in need of medicine. It was also stated that the corridor from Kırkova to Gumurdjina was full of immigrants and only few of them managed to get governental provision although in urgent need of food and dress Between July 17 and August 25, 1878, the European Commission renewing its explorations in the region heard the immigrants and witnessed the situtation. Deciphering the Bulgarian and Russian persecutions, the Commission fell into conflict with and was exposed to the protests of Russia and Bulgaria. The situtation for a while looked hopeless and the execution of the decisions taken by the Commission with regard to 150.000 immigrants seemed unlikely. Thereupon, part of the immigrants in Xanthi and Gumurdjina was decided to be shipped to Anatolia. Until January 1879 30.000 Circassians and Nogai Tartars came to Anatolia. İpek, 1999, 54 Some others were either settled around the vicinity of Xanthi and Gumurdjina or sent to Salonica and Constantinople, thus ending the problem of overcrowding. For the immigrants first the waste lands, and next the abandoned military zones or grasslands were assigned. One of villages of this kind settled by the immigrants in Gumurdjina, Selimiye, for instance, was set up on the military quarter of Kanolculu, not to mention the other village, Selimiye, settled down by the immigrants. Ottoman State tried to solve this migration problem it faced after 93 war by its limited means as in the case of Gumurdjina, but recorded little succes. The gravity of the wheather conditions of the season, the excessively high number of the immigrants, diseases and the danger of starvation caused the losses to rise. Apart from thousands of losses, those managing to survive faced hard conditions. After the immigrants began to be settled in places of temporary settlement, problems continued to arise increasingly. Another decision taken on settling the immigrants was to forward them to Anatolia via seaway. The immigrants who landed in Constantinople, Dardanalles and Smyrna were further forwarded to other convenient parts of the country and the state kept on supporting them until they could shape their own future