London Yunus Emre Institute hosted the promotional event of Kemal Giray's new book about war prisoners on the Ottoman fronts. 

As the first event of the new year on 3 February Thursday 2022, London Yunus Emre Institute hosted a very valuable writer once again. A book signing and an interview which brought together the readers of the famous collector and researcher author Kemal Giray's new book titled “War Prisoners on the Ottoman Fronts in the First World War" were held. Giray met his readers at the London Yunus Emre Institute with his work that includes letters, postcards, original photographs and documents.

Although the war prisoners, numbering in the millions, were the people most affected by the war during and after the war, they were among the least talked about elements of the war. Being imprisoned, forgotten and used as strategic pawns in the war brought together the prisoners of war who were members of many different nationalities such as New Zealand, India, Africa and Australia.  Kemal Giray also documented little-known details about the life of war prisoners, who have many things in common. 

THE DOCUMENTS OF THE RED CRESCENT IN TURKEY AND THE RED CROSS ORGANIZATIONS HAVE PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE

Giray started his speech with a general statement about the War Prisoners in the First World War, drawing attention to the hundreds of thousands of people who were captured on the Ottoman front, and underlined the important role played by the Red Crescent and the Red Cross organizations in general maintenance and documentation in the war camps.  

Philatelist Kemal Giray, who first examined the Ottoman captives taken hostage by Britain, France and Russia, then gave the participants an engaging and at times heartbreaking camping tour at prisoner amps in Europe, South Asia and Egypt. 

IMPORTANT DETAILS REGARDING THE PRISONER CAMPS

Giray, who included various images on the subject, mentioned the camps in the Ottoman Empire in the following moments of his speech. 

The author touched upon the many surprising aspects of the prison camps, such as the fact that prisoners of war formed football teams in the camps, acted out plays inspired by their memories, exchanged assets among themselves, and were allowed to leave on parole with the promise of return. 

While examining large areas of history and geography, Giray took care not to generalize the experiences of war prisoners. Fathers celebrating their daughters' birthdays highlighted the poignant stories they learned through this research, such as brothers resentful for not writing to each other often enough.  

He also elaborated on issues such as inmates' humiliation, hunger, and the hardships they face in unfamiliar climates and inhumane labor camps.  Giray shared examples of postcards and photographs of war prisoners held in camps in Gallipoli, Galicia, France, Sarıkamış, Romania, Baghdad, Mosul, Yemen and the Balkans.

Giray, who stated that he also presented examples of prisoners' escape from the camps in the book, also included documents showing how 27 British soldiers escaped from the camp in Yozgat to Egypt.

STORIES OF LIFE THAT HAS NOT SEEN THE LIGHT OF DAY

Author Giray's book, prepared in the light of letters, postcards, original photographs and other documents belonging to those who were captured on the Ottoman fronts in the First World War, which he meticulously added to his private collection for more than 25 years, impressively reveals how the war prisoners on the Ottoman fronts cling to life. Presenting sections from the daily lives of prisoners of war and tracing the deep effects of the war on the human spirit, Kemal Giray told the readers that he narrated the undiscovered human stories of the First World War with his documents.

LONDON YUNUS EMRE INSTITUE’S EXHIBIT OF WAR PROSONERS INSPIRED THE BOOK

The exhibition titled “Passed by Censor: PoWs in the Great War on the Ottoman Front”, organized by the London Yunus Emre Institute in the UK House of Commons in 2015, received great interest and inspired the author for this book.   

The participants, who listened to this painful and sad story of the First World War from the writer Kemal Giray, accompanied by an exhibition of personal documents that did not come to light, and they also appreciated the life stories of the prisoners of war and left with the desire to learn their stories in more detail. 

THE MOST POWERFULL MESSAGE: THE IMPORTANCE AND SACRED NATURE OF PEACE

The event was also broadcast live on the London Yunus Emre Institute's Facebook and YouTube accounts.   

Giray concluded his speech by stating that all these stories, prepared with the letters, postcards and pictures he presented, came together in one powerful message that can be summarized as "the importance and sacred nature of peace".  Giray signed his books for his readers after the question-answer session after the pleasant conversation.