Turkish Prision Camps

AFION KARAHISSAR: This large prison camp was located in the city of Afion Karahissar, in the Vilayet of Brusa in Anatolia. The city was located in west central Asia Minor, 128 miles northwest of Konia, on the Constantinople-Baghdad Railway line. The Turks incarcerated Allied officers, primarily Russian, British, and French POW's, in two separate camps in the city. Russian, British, and French officers lived in houses in the Upper Camp, at the base of the mountain, while British and Australian officers and enlisted men lived in the Armenian Quarter in the Lower Camp in the city. At least one-hundred British officers lived in Afion Karahissar, with forty living in the Lower Camp. Allied officers had access to a wide range of sports, including cricket, badminton, gymnastics, boxing, and soccer and could take a range of courses, especially foreign languages such as French, Arabic, Turkish, Russian, Hindustani, and Norwegian. Officers could spend time painting, wood-working, drawing, carpentry, and playing chess and bridge. They had access to an organ and three mandolins. The officers also formed a debating society, organized dance classes, and performed theatricals in captivity. The Turks incarcerated Allied enlisted men in Afion Karahissar during the war. The British POW's formed a soccer league composed of sixty-four teams in April 1917. The Turks also interned Armenian civilians in this camp. In September 1915, the Turks incarcerated approximately 10,000 Armenians in Afion Karahissar.