The Massacre of Greeks at Fulacik, June 1920.

Fulacik (Gr: Φουλατζίκ) is located about 20km NW of Nicaea (İznik) in western Turkey in the historic region of Bithynia (Gr: Βιθυνία). Prior to the genocide, the village had a population of approximately 1,600, all Greeks. The Turks referred to the village as Kucuk Yunan, in other words Little Greece.

The massacre of Greeks at Fulacik began on the 23rd of June 1920 when a band of Kemalists raided the village and demanded money from the residents. All males over the age of 14 were made to assemble inside the church of Saint George where the commander of the Kemalist band, Kemal of Karamürsel tied a rope around the mouth of Father Phillipos Kalokidis and began riding him like a horse. Father Phillipos fainted and fell to the ground so Kemal cut one of his eyes out. The church was then doused with petrol and set alight with the men still inside. Meanwhile the Kemalists poured petrol inside homes in the village, setting them alight while residents were still inside. Pavlos Balidis witnessed the massacre and recounted:

 

The Turk that was setting all the houses on fire also came to my house, tied his horses at the door and poured petrol and then lit it. My house was soon engulfed in fire, so we quickly jumped out through the hole in the back wall. We ran through the path of gunfire. Houses were crackling and then exploding from the fire. Shooting was everywhere and the sound of shouting and swearing by the Turks filled the air.

He continued:

As I was descending into the ravine, I stumbled on corpses of our fellow villagers, and from the light coming from the houses of the upper mahala which by now were fully engulfed in flames, I noticed the dead bodies of Athanasis Tourounoglou, Sophia Tourounoglou, Anastasis Tourounoglou, Ioannis Dervet lis, Apostolos Dervetlis, Ilias Tsorikis, Petros Petridis and others.¹

Those who escaped the massacre hid on a nearby hill for 40 days without food, surviving on some wheat while parents smothered their children to death so their cries wouldn't be heard. The body of Father Phillipos was found laying in grass next to a river. His beard had been removed from his face, the bridle still in his mouth, his clothes in tatters torn by rocks and branches, his throat cut and only a flap of skin attaching his neck to his body.

The massacre of Greeks at Fulacik was one a series of massacres in the region of Nicomedia (Tr: Izmit) during the Greek Genocide commonly referred to as the Izmit massacres. An interallied commission of inquiry inspected the region in 1921 and concluded that 12,000 Greeks were massacred between 1920-1921.²

 

Many of the Greeks of Fulacik fled Turkey and settled in Evropos located in the Kilkis region of Greece. Others settled in Serres and Athens. In 1992, a monument was erected at Evropos to honour the victims of the massacre. The monument was built in 1992 but was redesigned and relocated in 2011 where it currently sits within the grounds of the church of Saint George. The original monument was designed by sculptor Efthimios Kalevras while the current monument was redesigned by Lazaros Tantis.

A large marble plate on the top part of the monument depicts the scene of the massacre while below are the names of those massacred. A bust of Father Phillipos Kalokidis appears to the right. The monument also honours those massacred at Tsanto (today Çantaköy) in Eastern Thrace with the names of those who perished there appearing under the Father's bust. Many Greeks from Tsanto also settled in Evropos after fleeing Turkey.

 The monument honouring the Fulacik and Çantaköy massacres. Kilkis, Greece.