Forest D. Yowell, Report on conditions and NER expulsion, Harpout, May 1922
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Location

Harpoot (Kharpert), Turkey

Year

1922

Item Detail

Report on conditions in interior Anatolia and the forcible expulsion of NER workers from Harpout, by Major F.D. Yowell, May 2, 1922

Context

Major Forrest Delacey Yowell (1882–1970) of Washington, D.C., a former U.S. Army officer and Red Cross worker, served as Director of the Near East Relief Harpout Unit from October 1921 until his forcible expulsion in March 1922. This report, addressed to Secretary of State Charles E. Hughes on May 2, 1922, and transmitted by NER General Secretary Charles V. Vickrey as “strictly confidential,” documents the progressive obstruction and dismantling of NER operations by Turkish Nationalist authorities in the Vilayet of Mamuret-ul-Aziz: the seizure of 15 NER buildings, the arrest and deportation of local staff, the forced labor of Greek deportees, the rescue of Armenian girls from Turkish harems, and the government’s demand that NER surrender Greek refugees sheltering in its institutions.

Yowell’s report narrates in detail his own expulsion — ordered by the Minister of Interior through Fehty Bey, carried out under armed cavalry escort from Harpout to Diarbekir to Urfa, and finally across the Syrian border at Seruj, where he and Dr. Ward eluded their guards and escaped to Aleppo. Appended documents include Annie T. Allen’s letter defending Yowell to the Governor General; Ward’s itemized schedule of seized NER buildings; the Angora government’s December 1920 restrictions on NER operations; and two anti-American newspaper articles from the local Mamouret-Ul-Aziz press. Allen died of typhus en route to Sivas in February 1922. NARA Decimal File 867.4016/554, page stamps 0485–0516.

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  • Holding Institution

    US National Archives and Records Administration

  • Attribution

    Turkey/Social Matters/Race Problems/867.4016; National Archives Microfilm Publication M353, Records of the Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs of Turkey, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

  • Rights

    No known copyright restrictions. Based on available information, NERHS is not aware of copyright restrictions on this material. Items are presented for non-commercial research and educational use. Users are responsible for determining rights status and compliance with applicable law.

  • Notes

    NARA Decimal File 867.4016/554. Transmitted by NER General Secretary Charles V. Vickrey with cover note marked “Strictly Confidential Not for Publication.” NARA page stamps 0485–0516. NARA reference: 4-II-G.O.-1330. Includes appended documents: Annie T. Allen letter to Governor General (January 2, 1922); Ward’s schedule of seized NER buildings (February 22, 1922); Angora government restrictions (December 1920); Arabkir commissary order; Exhibits A and B (anti-American newspaper articles, May 1921). Classification canceled January 8, 1958.

  • Document Contents

    Yowell’s account of his tenure as NER Harpout Unit director (October 1921–March 1922); government obstruction and seizure of NER buildings and property; Greek deportation convoys through Harpout; forcible expulsion of NER workers including Yowell, Ward, Parmelee, and Harley; detailed narrative of Yowell’s expulsion journey from Harpout to Diarbekir to Urfa to Syria under armed guard; telegram exchanges with Miss Billings and Miss Allen regarding his removal; Hamdi Bey’s role as government commissar; conditions of Armenian and Greek deportees and orphans; government seizure of 15 NER buildings; forced labor of Christian men and women; rescue of Armenian girls from Turkish harems; death of Miss Annie T. Allen from typhus (February 1922); anti-American press campaign.

Forest D. Yowell, Report on conditions and NER expulsion, Harpout, May 1922