On February 21, 2026, it marked 113 years since the liberation of Ioannina. Many may have expected an article from us, but having written twice before on the subject, we had nothing to add. However, since the liberation of Ioannina has been of particular interest to us, we thought to write something related to the last Pasha of the city, the one who “surrendered Ioannina to us,” Esat.
He was an exceptional military officer, with Greek “roots,” who came to Athens as a prisoner after the surrender of Ioannina, where, as we will see, the reception he received and his nearly nine-month stay resembled that of a high guest, not a prisoner. Even the Turkish prisoners during the Balkan Wars, departing for their homeland, were in very good condition, based on the standards of the time, and were paid their salaries! In 1922, Kemal and the others showed disgraceful behavior toward Greek officers and soldiers who had been captured.
It is certain that some Greek prisoners were not killed in Asia Minor but were “used” by the Turks in forced labor and other harsh tasks. There are reports of some of them still alive in 1936 and others, Greek prisoners living in Turkey around 1950!
Who was Ioannina-born Esat Pasha?
Mehmet Esat Rasha, known as Esat Pasha in Greece, was born in Ioannina on October 19, 1862. His parents were Islamized Greeks, from the Glykidis family. According to written and oral sources, his father was from Elati of Zagori, and his mother from Souli. As mentioned, Esat was born in Ioannina, where his father had served as mayor for several years.
His brother, who also participated in the months-long siege of Ioannina as the commander of the Bizani fortifications designed with the guidance of German General Colmar von der Goltz, was Vehhip Bey (1877–1940). Esat’s mother tongue, like Vehhip’s, was Greek. He also spoke French, German, and Turkish fluently. He studied at the Zosimaia School of Ioannina and later at the Military Academy of Constantinople.
He then received further training in Berlin, where he was classmates for some years with Crown Prince Constantine. He was considered the most capable Ottoman officer for the defense of Ioannina, his birthplace and the capital of Epirus.
The Liberation of Ioannina (February 21, 1913)
The siege of Ioannina was lengthy, lasting about 87 days. Initially, the Army of Epirus was commanded by Lieutenant General Konstantinos Sapountzakis (1846–1931), a man of the palace and “teacher” of Constantine at the Evelpidon Military Academy. Starting from Arta, the Army of Epirus liberated Preveza, Filippiada—which became the base of further operations—Metsovo, and others. Ioannina, however, remained impregnable, mainly due to the Bizani fortifications. One of these, “Scylla,” was a nightmare for Greek forces.
Venizelos pressured Commander Constantine to liberate Ioannina. The press and public opinion in Athens and other cities were constantly focused on the issue. Thus, the heir, with two divisions from Macedonia and other reinforcements, arrived in Epirus in early 1913. Sapountzakis made last desperate attempts to capture the capital of Epirus but failed. Discreetly sidelining Sapountzakis, Constantine took command of the reinforced Army of Epirus. He initially sent a letter to his old acquaintance Esat, asking him to surrender the city to avoid bloodshed, but he refused.
Thus, the siege of Ioannina entered its final phase. All sources report that Constantine gave new energy to the troops. He improved soldiers’ supplies and care, tightened security, as many secrets leaked from careless civilians in Filippiada and reached the ears of spies, cleverly sent there by Esat. He also frequently visited the front to encourage the soldiers fighting there. Indeed, when Eleftherios Venizelos arrived in Epirus one day and insisted on visiting the front with Constantine, they nearly came under Turkish artillery fire. Paradoxically, Venizelos and Constantine remained calm and took cover, while many officers crawled terrified on the ground. Then Constantine said to the Chief of Artillery Leonidas Paraskevopoulos:
“Do you see all these people?” he said, pointing at them contemptuously. A few days later, Constantine realized that without taking Bizani, Ioannina would not be captured. A plan was set in motion to obtain intelligence about the fortifications. Athanasios Tsekouras approached Nikolakēs Efendi, a Greek-origin civil engineer from Smyrna and collaborator of von Goltz. Efendi, an expert on the layout of Bizani forts, having replaced the German in their supervision, agreed and copied the plans, giving them to Tsekouras. This was how “Scylla” and the other forts were neutralized.
Significant contributions also came from Ioannis Velissarios and Georgios Iatridis, who cleverly tricked the Turks into thinking they were facing thousands of Greek soldiers. It is known that Velissarios, with a committee including the Metropolitan of Ioannina Gervasios—who greatly contributed to the city’s liberation—the 2nd Lieutenant Raouf, and the 2nd Lieutenant Talaat, with a letter signed by the consuls of Russia, Austro-Hungary, France, and Romania in Ioannina, which included Esat’s proposal for the immediate and unconditional surrender of Ioannina, reached the Greek headquarters in the early hours of February 21, 1913. Constantine realized what had happened. He said to Velissarios: “You are worthy of both a slap and a kiss. I am content with the kiss.” The next morning, the Greek Army triumphantly entered Ioannina. Unfortunately, Nikolakēs Efendi had to return to Smyrna. His action had been discovered. The Turks tortured and killed him. The same fate befell his parents and five sisters. According to one account, a Greek newspaper published the story due to the excessive enthusiasm of journalists, but this is not certain…
Velissarios and Esat later met in Athens, in a mansion in Kifisia where prisoner (!) Esat lived. The Greek-born capable officer told Velissarios:
“Your bravery made a great impression on me,” said the Turkish general in perfect Greek. “However, you could have been killed or captured in that daring attempt to infiltrate behind Turkish lines.” To which Velissarios replied: “To be killed, yes, but to be captured, never. That would never happen.” Velissarios was killed a few months later in the Second Balkan War, in a battle against Bulgarians. These heroes do not live long, as Constantine wrote in a telegram to Velissarios’ widow…
Esat Applauded by Greeks at the Port of Piraeus!
Esat was undoubtedly an exceptional officer. Paradoxically, not only were flattering words written about him in Athenian newspapers, especially by prominent Epirotes like writer Christos Christovasilis (1862–1937), but the reception he received in Piraeus from hundreds of Greeks was more than celebratory. If one did not know he was the Ottoman Pasha who surrendered Ioannina, one would believe he was a Greek general returning triumphantly from a campaign! Christovasilis wrote about him on February 22, 1913, a day after Ioannina’s liberation, in the newspaper Akropolis:
“He is a straightforward, honest, merciful, philanthropic, noble, and thoroughly military-educated man, very handsome and most likable. […] After eight years of residence in Berlin [at the Military Academy], where he studied alongside H.R.H. Crown Prince Constantine, Esat returned to Constantinople as a major of higher military studies in the same Military School. […] Esat Pasha was rightly considered the crown of the Turkish army, entrusted with defending his special homeland, Ioannina, which he honored both as an officer and as an Ioannina native.”
Flattering reports also appeared repeatedly in the newspaper Skrip. Esat, his brother Vehhip, and 20 other Ottoman officers boarded the requisitioned steamer Pylaros in Preveza, accompanied by Greek officers and soldiers. Pylaros arrived in Piraeus on March 9, 1913. The image described by the newspaper Skrip on March 10, 1913, is incredible. The arrival of Esat and the others in Piraeus was met by representatives of the Ministry of Military Affairs, Police, Port Authority, and military personnel. Esat was informed that he, his brother Vehhip, and four staff officers would stay in Kifisia, while the remaining 16 officers would stay at the Hermes Hotel in Piraeus.
(Colman Freiherr von der Goltz)
Upon disembarkation, the entire coastal road was filled with crowds waiting to see “the heroic defender of Epirus, the Turkish general, whom, when he appeared at the port authority door, was received with the liveliest applause.” Surprised, Esat asked his companions, “Why is the crowd applauding him?” They explained that “the crowd salutes a brave general.” Esat was moved by the incredible demonstrations of the Greek people. “So they even salute the defeated?” he said in fluent Greek. When Esat, Vehhip, and their four officers reached Kifisia, they settled at the Grand Hotel, and later he was hosted at the estate of Theodoros Pangalos.
This is the greatness of the Greeks, no matter what some may accuse us of, especially those who exploit our history and others who have contributed nothing to humanity except massacres, looting, torture, rape, and related atrocities. Reading the stories of Greek officers and soldiers captured in Asia Minor, just a few years after 1913, by the Turks (as we have covered in two articles and will revisit), will fully vindicate us…
(Ioannis Velissarios)
Returning to Esat, he was visited in Athens by the heir to the Serbian throne, his acquaintance from Ioannina, Metropolitan Gervasios, and others. Esat remained in Greece until early December 1913 as head of the Committee coordinating the repatriation of Turkish prisoners. Remarkably, before leaving Greece, the Turkish prisoners received their salaries. Their transportation to Turkey was free, provided by Greek shipowners, and supervised by Esat.
(Esat Pasha with Mustafa Kemal. in the Dardanelles, 1915)
Esat Pasha after 1913 – Return to Ioannina
Esat was an excellent military officer. Without Nikolakēs Efendi and the daring action of Velissarios–Iatridis, the outcome would have been uncertain. Returning to Turkey, he successfully commanded the Third Corps of the Ottoman Army against the Anglo-French forces at Gallipoli in 1915. Mustafa Kemal, the later Atatürk, served under him. Their relations were not good. In 1919, he retired. He returned to Ioannina in 1928 to settle some property matters, but his hometown had changed greatly since 1913. He did, however, meet classmates from the Zosimaia School and old friends. In general, Esat received a warm welcome in Ioannina. Christos Christovasilis, in Eleftheria, praised him and reproached municipal authorities for not naming a street after him.
Georgios Chatzis–Pellerin, in an article for the newspaper Epirus, which he directed, mentioned Esat saving his life when he had been sentenced to death under Ottoman rule. Chatzis, father of writer and resistance member Dimitris Chatzis, wrote:
“The one who writes these lines, director of Epirus, journalist then, and convicted for political crimes against the Turkish regime, sentenced to death by the Ioannina Military Court, owes his life to the civilized general hosted yesterday, who refused to carry out the death sentence. We remember this with delicate emotion linked to so many great moments and memories!”
Esat and Vehhip had significant property in Ioannina and surrounding villages, such as Koutselio. However, due to the Treaty of Lausanne and the 1925 Greek-Turkish agreement, these likely remained with the Greek state. This is also indicated in a letter from Vehhip to Eleftherios Venizelos in 1929, seeking intervention to return their property, presumably to sell it. This did not happen. Christovasilis accused the Greek state of depriving Esat and Vehhip of their property.
Epilogue
This was the little-known story of the last Pasha of Ioannina, Esat. His mother tongue was Greek. Contrary to some readers’ comments, Esat stated that “it was as if almost no Muslim in Ioannina knew Turkish.” At the Military School in Monastir (today Bitola), he took special lessons to learn Turkish! According to military protocol, after the surrender of Ioannina, Esat gave his sword to Constantine, who, due to their friendship and recognition of his value, did not accept it. Esat later sent it to his admirer, Theodoros Pangalos. Today, Esat’s sword is prominently displayed in the Epirus Struggle exhibition at the Its Kale (the acropolis) of Ioannina Castle, donated by Pangalos’ descendants in 2015.
P.S. Esat Pasha (Mehmet Esat Bulkat, his name after Kemal’s decree requiring all Turks to have surnames) should not be confused with Albanian-born Esat Pasha Toptani (1863–1920).
– Most of the information about Esat comes from Alexandros Moisis’ article in the newspaper Epirotikos Agon, September 23, 2023.
– Regarding the liberation of Ioannina, we also refer to “History of the Greek Army, 1833–1949” by Dr. Ioannis S. Papafloratos, Sakkoula Publications, 2014.
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