İkinci Dünya Savaşı Sırasında Alman Denizaltılarının Karadeniz’de Batırılmaları ve Askerî Personelin Türkiye’de Zorunlu Misafirliği
Umut Cafer KaradoğanII. Dünya Savaşı sırasında Türkiye’nin yerleşik olduğu stratejik coğrafya etrafında yaşanan hadiseler neticesinde başta İngiltere ile Amerika Birleşik Devletleri ve zaman zaman da Almanya, Türkiye’ye karşı sert politikalar uygulamaya çalışmıştır. Almanya’nın Sovyetler Birliği’ni yok etme planının bir parçası olarak kurguladığı Barbarossa Harekâtı çerçevesinde denizaltılarını Karadeniz’e kara ve nehir yoluyla ulaştırma çabası, ardından burada yaşadıkları başarısızlıkların neticesinde Ruslara teslim olmamak için denizaltılarını batırmaları, sözü edilen denizaltı askerî personelin karaya çıktıkları sırada yakalanmaları, enterne edilip daha sonra Türkiye’nin farklı kamplarında zorunlu misafirliğe tabi tutulmaları, dönemin Türk hükûmetinin takip ettiği hukuki süreç, Alman askerlerine karşı takındıkları tavır, bu askerlerinin mübadele biçimleri, Türkiye’nin savaşa ve savaşın taraflarına bakış açısı bu çalışmanın konusunu oluşturmuştur.
The Sinking of German Submarines in the Black Sea During World War II and the Mandatory Accommodation of Military Personnel in Turkey
Umut Cafer KaradoğanDuring the Second World War, as a result of the events that took place around the strategic geography of Turkey, the United Kingdom; the United States of America, and, from time to time, Germany tried to implement harsh policies against Turkey. This study focuses on the following themes: Germany’s efforts to transport its submarines to the Black Sea by land and river within the framework of Operation Barbarossa, which was designed as a part of its plan to destroy the Soviet Union; Germany’s sinking of its submarines in order not to surrender to the Russians as a result of the failures it experienced there; the capture of the aforementioned submarines’ military personnel when they landed, were interned, and then subjected to compulsory stay in different camps in Turkey; the legal process followed by the Turkish government of the period; the attitude of the Turkish government toward German soldiers; the exchange method of these soldiers; and Turkey’s viewpoint regarding the war and parties of the war.
The parties of the second-largest war on Earth were spread across three continents. The Republic of Turkey, which was not a party to this war, did not have the military, social, or economic ability to keep the war going. Therefore, it chose to pursue a policy of impartiality toward the Allied and Axis states.
The warring states were following new strategies to use the straits that belonged to Turkey, and they organized conferences to attract the Turkish government to the war. Despite these pressures, up until the last three months of the war, the Turkish government managed to maintain its neutrality.
Germany’s invasion policy against Soviet Russia, with the increase in the violence of the war, turned to primary and secondary areas. At the breaking point of the war, the German military authorities determined the Black Sea and Crimea to be their strategic fronts. They started activities in line with the increase in the number of fronts throughout the region and the determination of different strategies.
There were two main reasons why Hitler attached special importance to the Black Sea and Crimea. The first of these was to reach the oil fields in the Caucasus, and the second was to prevent the Russians from dominating the Black Sea. Germany had to bring Turkey under its control to exert political, social, and military pressure. For this reason, the Germans started an operation aiming for the domination of the area.
Germany, which was unable to use the straits under Turkish sovereignty during the war years, and the Axis powers, which were being influenced by it, implemented the Barbarossa Plan that they had developed against the Soviet Union. The Germans required to use the Turkish straits to implement this plan, and they were unlikely to follow the Montreux Convention on the Straits.
The Germans first landed six U-boats in the 30th Fleet on a land route, and then took to the Black Sea to envelop the Soviets stationed there. After delivering major losses to the Soviets in the Black Sea, six German U-boats were sunk toward the end of the war. Meanwhile, Romania was separated from the Axis powers under Soviet pressure, making the Black Sea a center of action with significant losses for the Germans.
Following successive attempts to defeat the Russians, German officers in the stationary sea planned to sink their submarines in Turkish territorial waters and reach into their country from the Aegean coasts under a decree from their headquarters. German soldiers who landed were soon after arrested by Turkish military authorities, interned, and hosted in the camps in the country. The military and civilian refugees of different countries were also collected in these camps. The Germans were first held in Beyşehir and then in Isparta after 1944.
German soldiers had the opportunity to survive after being interned in Turkish camps. Although the Turkish government had endeavored to provide camps with military-level conditions for visiting soldiers, some setbacks were experienced because of the economic, social, and political conditions of the period. Military personnel from different countries, especially German Navy personnel, also tried to reduce the negative impact of war by reaching out to the people in their camps.
During their stay in Anatolia, German soldiers lived not as refugees but as guests. The Turkish government, which did not go to war until 1944, tried not to change the status and conditions of the soldiers in the camps even after they were officially involved in the war. However, the Allies divided Germany into occupation zones, and it surrendered to the United States, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. As a result of these developments, the status of the international organizations in Turkey had to change.
