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Prisoners of the Turks (First World War)

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Officers were not required to work, but other soldiers were. The horrible truth appears to have been that only those men fit enough to work survived. Those who were unfit to work died due many reasons, but including the policy that only working prisoners were provided with food.
Afyonkarahisar was used as a prison camp from early 1915 both officers and men being kept in houses, rather than in a proper camp with barbed wire around it. The first prisoners there were Russians, joined in early 1915 by officers and men from the French navy. From late April onwards, there was a small but steady flow of sailors and soldiers captured during the Gallipoli Campaign. Later, there were some prisoner captured at Kut in Iraq sent to the camp and other officers captured in Egypt, Syria and Jordan.<ref>Eceabat [Bill Sellars] [httphttps://1914-1918www.invisionzonegreatwarforum.com/forums/index.php?org/topic/89524-turkish-pows-and-pows-in-afyonkarahisar/&?do=findComment&comment=841330 Turkish POW's and POW's in AfyonKarahisar] ''Great War Forum'' 19 January , 2008. Retrieved 16 October 201619 June 2018.</ref>
Most subsequent camps were associated with the construction, or running, of the Baghdad Railway, including related roadworks.
There were camps in Kastamonu, Eskisehir, Capadoccia, Cankiri, Afion, Sivas, Yozgat, Hacikiri, Belemedik.<ref>Dogan Sahin [httphttps://1914-1918www.invisionzonegreatwarforum.comorg/topic/forums1226-kut-pow/index.php?showtopicdo=1226findComment&pcomment=847997 Kut POW] ''Great War Forum'' 28 January 2008. Retrieved 20 April 201519 June 2018..</ref>
A listing <ref>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/50074978@N06/8368013255/in/album-72157626048387648/ Image: “Internment Camps in Turkey”], from an unknown source, perhaps French, from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/50074978@N06/albums/72157626048387648/with/8374464884/ Photograph Collection: Researche about WW1-Eastern Front]</ref> provides the following work camps in the Amanus (now Nur) and Taurus Mountains:
These railway work camps were under control of the German construction company.
A map additionally mentions camps in the Taurus Mountains at Tchekerdere, Iola and Karapunar.<ref>michaldr. [https://web.archive.org/web/20170610062418/http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/238776-kut-surrender/&dopage=findComment&2#comment=-2434850 Kut Surrender] ''Great War Forum'' 17 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 201619 June 2018. The source of the map is given as index30.jpg from Gallipoli – DVD from ''Mapping the Front'' Great War Map DVD Collection by The Western Front Association (in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum}</ref> The railway line extended to Karapunar before the war. Karapunar appears to be near to Belemedik, or one source advises it was the earlier name for Belemedik.<ref>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/39631091@N03/6786473244 Photograph and text: Belemedik, Ruins of the "German city"] by Gunter Hartnagel flickr.com. The railway station Karapınar was opened in 1912. Even by then, the site was called Belemedik.</ref>
The section between Bagtsche and Airan –Entilli was at kilometres “485,800-502,800”<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/geologiekleinasi00frec#page/50/mode/2up/search/Bagtsche Page 50] ''Geologie Kleinasiens im Bereich der Bagdadbahn'' by Fritz Frech 1916 Archive.org</ref>. William Fratel of the Indian Subordinate Medical Department, who had been captured at Kut, was court-martialled in England in 1919 for his actions at Bagtsche.<ref>IPT [httphttps://1914-1918www.invisionzonegreatwarforum.comorg/forumstopic/index.php?showtopic=233239&hl= -kut-cruelty-william-fratel/ Kut Cruelty - William Fratel] ''Great War Forum'' 5 November 2015. Retrieved 6 November 201519 June 2018.</ref>
In 1917 Angora (Ankara) became the centre of the working groups engaged in laying the narrow-gauge line towards Yozgad. <ref> [https://archive.org/stream/prisonerinturkey00stiluoft#page/xiv/mode/2up/search/Angora Page xv] ''A Prisoner in Turkey'' by John Still 1920 Archive.org.</ref>
Gedos was a parole camp on the shore of the Black Sea established late in 1917, where officers who gave their word that they would not escape were well treated.<ref>
Timbob1001 [Tim] [httphttps://1914-1918www.invisionzonegreatwarforum.comorg/forumstopic/219723-bombardier-a-n-christison-indian-volunteer-artillery/index.php?showtopicdo=219723findComment&pcomment=2322783 Bombardier A N Christison Indian Volunteer Artillery] ''Great War Forum'' 26 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 201519 June 2018.</ref> Eskichehir and Konia were camps for Indian officers only. <ref> [https://archive.org/stream/prisonerinturkey00stiluoft#page/xx/mode/2up/search/Indian Page xx] ''A Prisoner in Turkey'' by John Still 1920 Archive.org.</ref>
There was a camp at Smyrna, which was used as an repatriation camp c September-October 1918.<ref>JoMH et al. [httphttps://1914-1918www.invisionzonegreatwarforum.comorg/topic/forums149375-smyrna/index.php?showtopicdo=149375findComment&pcomment=1447757 Smyrna] ''Great War Forum'' 26 27 July 2010. Retrieved 27 February 201619 June 2018.</ref>
Transfers between different camps were common.<ref>[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=RA-JBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA150 page 150] “Australian Prisoners of the Turks: Negotiating Culture Clash in Captivity” by Kate Ariotti, ‪Other Fronts, Other Wars?: First World War Studies on the Eve of the Centennial‬. 2014 Google Books</ref>
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