Matthaios Kofidis ( el, Ματθαίος Κωφίδης, 22 March 1855
[ – 1921) was an Ottoman Greek businessman, historian and a politician, who was a member of the ]Ottoman Parliament
The General Assembly ( tr, Meclis-i Umumî (French romanization: "Medjliss Oumoumi" ) or ''Genel Parlamento''; french: Assemblée Générale) was the first attempt at representative democracy by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire. Als ...
. He was elected in three successive periods from 1908 to 1918. In 1921 he was among the notables of the Greek community of the Pontus
Pontus or Pontos may refer to:
* Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea)
* Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology
* Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...
region who were hanged
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...
by the Turkish nationalists
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and ...
of Mustafa Kemal
Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى
, Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world.
Given name ...
.[
]
Early life and political career
Kofidis was born in the Çorum Province
Çorum ( tr, ) is a province in the Black Sea Region of Turkey, but lying inland and having more characteristics of Central Anatolia than the Black Sea coast. Its provincial capital is the city of Çorum, the traffic code is 19.
History
Exca ...
, today in modern Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.[Karachristos, 2002] He moved to Trebizond, northeastern Turkey, where he became a member of the local tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
monopoly.[
Kofidis was elected as a member of the Ottoman parliament for the Trebizond Vilayet in three successive election periods: 1908–1912, 1912–1914, and 1914–1918. Initially, he participated in the Young Turk movement. Kofidis, along with a number of Christian Orthodox citizens of the Ottoman Empire, hoped that this movement would favor the various local ethnoreligious groups. However, they soon realized that the ultimate goal of the Young Turks was the imposition of various policies of ethnic cleansing and genocide, which they launched during the following years.][
Kofidis represented a district that was severely affected by the ethnic cleansing policies. He became one of the Greek representatives in the Ottoman parliament who vigorously protested and demanded strict measures to stop the ongoing genocide. Under these circumstances, Kofidis tried to handle the situation carefully and negotiated with the Ottoman authorities whenever possible.][
In 1917 Kofidis replaced for a short period the Orthodox bishop of Trebizond, Chrysanthus, in his non-religious duties.][ In 1920, he refused to lead an armed guerrilla struggle in Pontus, in fear that this would cause the destruction of Trebizond by the ]Turkish national movement
The Turkish National Movement ( tr, Türk Ulusal Hareketi) encompasses the political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resulted in the creation and shaping of the modern Republic of Turkey, as a consequence of the def ...
.[Clark, 2006: 112]
Execution
In mid-1921 a large part of the local Orthodox Christian male population was deported and sent to labour battalions in Erzerum
Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010.
The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...
.[ Kofidis' son was killed during his deportation.][ During this time, an " Ad Hoc Court of Turkish Independence" in ]Amasya
Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey and is the capital of Amasya Province, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ...
, which was controlled by the Turkish nationalists of Mustafa Kemal (later Atatürk), sentenced Kofidis to death by hanging.[ Kofidis was hanged in Amasya.][ The same court sentenced to death several notable figures of the local Greek community,][ especially politicians, businessmen, and religious personalities.][Vergeti, 1993: 77] All were accused of participating in the establishment of the Republic of Pontus
The Republic of Pontus ( el, Δημοκρατία του Πόντου, ''Dimokratía tou Pódou'') was a proposed Pontic Greek state on the southern coast of the Black Sea. Its territory would have encompassed much of historical Pontus and today ...
.[
The execution of Kofidis angered even the Muslim population of Trebizond, who refused to hand over additional numbers of Pontic Greeks to the Turkish nationalists of Mustafa Kemal.][Clark, 2006: 114]
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kofidis, Matthaios
1855 births
1921 deaths
Executed politicians
People who died in the Greek genocide
People executed by the Ottoman Empire by hanging
Pontic Greeks
Members of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Greek politicians
People from Çorum