Tarlis incident
Encyclopedia
The Tarlis incident is the name given to the killing of 17 ethnic-Bulgarian peasants by a Greek officer on July 27, 1924 at Tarlis (present-day Vathitopos), a mountainous village in the Drama region near the Greco-Bulgarian border.
Out of a total population of 800, only 50 persons were ethnic Greeks - recently settled refugees from the Ottoman empire
.
Martial law had been imposed in Greece by the Themistoklis Sophoulis
government that took office three days earlier, on July 24, 1924.
, which provided for the voluntary exchange of populations between Greece and Bulgaria. The deadline for issuing resettlement admissions was five days later, July 31, 1924.
Suddenly some shots and explosions were heard from a nearby gorge. Major Kalabalikis, the Greek officer in charge of the region, ordered the arrest of 70 ethnic-Bulgarian peasants from the three villages, suspected as being responsible.
The next day, Sunday July 27, 1924, Kalabalikis ordered his military aide lieutenant Doxakis, a Greek officer from Crete, to transport 27 of the captured villagers to the district administration in Serres for interrogation, via the village of Gorno Brodi.
Doxakis, in charge of 10 Greek soldiers, led the bound captives via a mountain path, bypassing the usually-used road between Tarlis and Gorno Brodi. He returned five hours later to announce that his squad was attacked by Bulgarian guerilas, and that when the prisoners tried to escape he was forced to kill 17 of them.
As a result, upon the League of Nations
' demand, a bilateral Bulgarian-Greek agreement was signed in Geneva on September 29, 1925, known as the Politis-Kalfov protocol, recognizing the "Greek slavophones" as ethnic Bulgarians and guaranteeing their protection. Next month, a primer textbook for the ethnic-Bulgarian population (in a newly-invented Latin-based alphabet and not mentioning the name "Bulgarian"), known as Abecedar, was published by the Greek authorities and introduced to schools of Greek Macedonia.
On February 2, 1925, the Greek parliament, claiming pressure from Serbia
(who allegedly threatened to renounce the 1913 Greco-Serbian Coalition Treaty), refused to ratify the agreement, which lasted 9 months until June 10, 1925, when the League of Nations annulled it.
Background
Tarlis (Τърлис), Loftsa (Ловча) and Karakioi (Каракьой) were three ethnic-Bulgarian villages that had remained inside Greek territory after the Greco-Bulgarian border had been drawn in accordance with the Treaty of Bucharest (1913).Out of a total population of 800, only 50 persons were ethnic Greeks - recently settled refugees from the Ottoman empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
.
Martial law had been imposed in Greece by the Themistoklis Sophoulis
Themistoklis Sophoulis
Themistoklis Sofoulis or Sophoulis was a prominent centrist Greek politician from Samos Island, belonging to the centre-left wing of the Liberal Party, which he led for many years.-Early life:...
government that took office three days earlier, on July 24, 1924.
Incident
Official Greek reports stated that in the evening of Saturday, July 26, 1924, residents of Tarlis had gathered in the village’s square discussing the issue of repatriation between Greece and Bulgaria according the 1919 Treaty of NeuillyTreaty of Neuilly
The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine, dealing with Bulgaria for its role as one of the Central Powers in World War I, was signed on 27 November 1919 at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France....
, which provided for the voluntary exchange of populations between Greece and Bulgaria. The deadline for issuing resettlement admissions was five days later, July 31, 1924.
Suddenly some shots and explosions were heard from a nearby gorge. Major Kalabalikis, the Greek officer in charge of the region, ordered the arrest of 70 ethnic-Bulgarian peasants from the three villages, suspected as being responsible.
The next day, Sunday July 27, 1924, Kalabalikis ordered his military aide lieutenant Doxakis, a Greek officer from Crete, to transport 27 of the captured villagers to the district administration in Serres for interrogation, via the village of Gorno Brodi.
Doxakis, in charge of 10 Greek soldiers, led the bound captives via a mountain path, bypassing the usually-used road between Tarlis and Gorno Brodi. He returned five hours later to announce that his squad was attacked by Bulgarian guerilas, and that when the prisoners tried to escape he was forced to kill 17 of them.
Reaction
The Tarlis incident triggered heavy protests in Bulgaria and an international outcry against Greece. The Common Greco-Bulgarian committee for emigration investigated the incident and presented its conclusions to the League of Nations in Geneva.As a result, upon the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
' demand, a bilateral Bulgarian-Greek agreement was signed in Geneva on September 29, 1925, known as the Politis-Kalfov protocol, recognizing the "Greek slavophones" as ethnic Bulgarians and guaranteeing their protection. Next month, a primer textbook for the ethnic-Bulgarian population (in a newly-invented Latin-based alphabet and not mentioning the name "Bulgarian"), known as Abecedar, was published by the Greek authorities and introduced to schools of Greek Macedonia.
On February 2, 1925, the Greek parliament, claiming pressure from Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
(who allegedly threatened to renounce the 1913 Greco-Serbian Coalition Treaty), refused to ratify the agreement, which lasted 9 months until June 10, 1925, when the League of Nations annulled it.