Siege of Elmalıca

Siege of Elmalıca
Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
Date December 1916 Location Elmalıca, Havza, Samsun Result Greek victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Greek rebels
Commanders and leaders
Unidentified Ottoman sergeant †	Eleni Çavuş Miltiyadis †
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown (1 Ottoman sergeant killed)	All killed (except Eleni Çavuş)

Siege of Elmalıca was a part of the Pontus Uprising when a large number of Turkish soldiers besieged the village.

Background

Since the late Ottoman period, policies targeting non-Muslim ethnic groups intensified, especially under the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). Many Ottoman Christians, seen as threats due to their prominence in trade, were subjected to violent repression. This began with the Armenian Genocide, during which over one million Armenians were massacred.

The siege of Elmalıca, like other operations targeting Greek villages, was part of the broader campaign to expel or eliminate the Greek population in Pontus. Villages like Elmalıca, where resistance emerged, became focal points for Ottoman military action.

Siege

In December 1916, Elmalıca village in Havza, Samsun, was surrounded by Ottoman forces under an order to enforce "forced migration." Male residents over the age of 15 were required to join the forced marches. Among them was Eleni Çavuş's 18-year-old son, Miltiyadis, who chose to resist rather than submit to relocation.

Miltiyadis, along with his peers, armed themselves and resisted, leading to a confrontation in which the entire group, except for Eleni Çavuş, was killed. Following her son's death, Eleni donned a military uniform after killing the Ottoman sergeant responsible and fled to join the partisans in the Nebyan mountains of Bafra, where she became known as "Sergeant Eleni."

Aftermath

The partisans continued to resist until May 1923, when the Greco-Turkish Population Exchange weakened the remaining Greek resistance. Many partisans left for Greece or other countries, while some stayed, facing forced assimilation. However, Eleni Çavuş famously refused to abandon her homeland, stating, “I am Greek; I will neither deny my origin nor leave my homeland.”

In December 1924, after resisting alone in the mountains for nearly a year, Eleni Çavuş was located and besieged by Ottoman soldiers in a cave in the Nebyan mountains. Refusing to surrender, she fought until her death.

Legacy

Eleni Çavuş's legacy endures in the Black Sea region, with many Pontic Greeks naming their children after her to honor her bravery and steadfastness. Her story remains a symbol of resistance and survival, particularly commemorated among the Pontic Greek diaspora.