Birinci Dünya Savaşı’nda Fransa’nın Cezayir'de Hapsettiği Osmanlı Esirleri

Abstract

The Ottoman Empire's participation in World War I on the side of Germany led to conflicts and critical fightings in different regions of the world. The conflicts in which the Ottoman Empire entered on different fronts during the war took place between 1914 and 1918, caused serious human and material losses. The Allied Forces arrested and took prisoners Ottoman civilians and soldiers in various regions, including their colonies under the control of the Allied Powers. In this context, the issue of Ottoman prisoners in Algeria presents an interesting case. As England used India, Burma, Egypt, and other colonies to detain Ottoman prisoners; France also sent a large number of prisoners of war -Ottoman civilian and military citizens- to North Africa, especially to Algeria as one of the most important French colonies. French government used these prisoners for different purposes during the World War I as forced labor and logistical services to the French army. This article focuses on a not much known subject: Ottoman prisoners held by France in Algeria during the First World War. This paper is based on important Ottoman archival documents such as the correspondence made by the US Embassy in Paris to the Ottoman Empire on the subject of Ottoman prisoners in Algeria and North Africa and Turkish Red Crescent Society reports that shed light on their life conditions. This article aims to examine how and why Ottoman prisoners captured by France were sent to Algeria. It also explores the conditions they lived and the treatment they received in French prisons in Algeria. Additionally, the articles also sheds light on the nature of Ottoman-Algerian relations during that period.