The Blockade of the Dardanelles Strait and the Occupation of Bozcaada During the Tripoli and Balkan Wars, Through the Eyes of Telegrapher Ihsan (Pere) Bey

Abstract

Tripoli and Balkan Wars accelerated the process leading to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. In these wars, the Dardanelles Strait and the islands near the strait were the common target chosen by Italy and Greece for the surrender of the Ottoman Empire. In both wars, Ihsan (Pere) Bey served as the telegraph officer of the British Eastern Cable Company in Bozcaada. The Tripoli War was continuing when Ihsan Bey, who had started his civil service as an officer of the Istanbul Beyoglu British Cable Company, was appointed as officer to Bozcaada for the second time. Ihsan Bey's witnessing in Bozcaada to the hot war of the Italian Navy and the Turkish Redoubts on April 18, 1912 and the detailed information he has given are important. In addition, the occupation of Bozcaada by Greece during the Balkan War is also included in detail in Ihsan Bey's memoirs. The originality of this study results from the fact that Ihsan Bey's memoirs when Italians reached to the entrance of the Dardanelles and regarding the occupation of Bozcaada are evaluated scientifically and published for the first time.