Turkish Prision Camps

CONSTANTINOPLE (ISTANBUL): The capital of the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople was the largest and most important city in Turkey. Constantinople was the center of military activity for the empire: the I and III Army Corps headquarters were located in European Thrace outside the city while the V Army Corps headquarters conducted operations west of the capital in Asia Minor. The city was located in the Vilayet of Constantinople on both sides of the Bosporus and controlled the entrance to the Black Sea. It also served as the gateway from Europe to Asia Minor. The Turks maintained a small labor detachment of British and Indian POW's in a work camp just outside of the city. The Turks sent sick Allied prisoners to a military hospital in Stamboul. In addition, the Turks incarcerated General Charles Townshend, the British commander at Kut al-Amara, in Constantinople until the end of the war. The YMCA building in the capital became a warehouse during World War I for Allied POW relief operations, providing Entente soldiers with critical supplies.