[ATTACKS ON OTTOMAN HOSPITAL SHIPS IN WORLD WAR I]

During World War I, hospital ships were used in order to efficiently treat wounded and sick soldiers and to transport them to hospitals on land. With the La Haye Conventions of 1899 and 1907, hospital ships were accepted as immune, and on an international level it was guaranteed that they could serve wounded and sick soldiers throughout the entire war. Although most of the involved states had signed the conventions before the war, after the battles began the -conventions were repeatedly violated and thus rendered ineffectual. Regardless of being painted in the colors specified by the convention and/or carrying the Red Cross or Red Crescent emblem and flag, many ships were bombed, confiscated or damaged with the intent to harass, or they were misused for military purposes that did n6t conform to their actual mission. This article discusses the Entente Powers' attacks on Ottoman hospital ships, examining the protests and warnings of the Ottoman state against them, as recorded in documents kept in the Prime Ministry's Ottoman Archives and the Turkish Red Crescent Archive. The relevant sources show that accusations concerning the attacks on or misuse of hospital ships were mutual. However, both sides generally either dismissed these accusations, or claimed that the incident could not be verified, or indirectly admitted to the attacks being made by mistake. The Ottoman state generally sent its correspondence about the Entente Powers' attacks on its hospital ships with the International Red Cross Committee and the neutral US embassy. The documents under study are particularly important for understanding the reasons behind the breaches to the convention, as well as for investigating the diplomatic language used in.this context. When examining from a human rights perspective the violations concerning the hospital ships and the terminology used in the protests and warning against these violations, these sources carry even greater significance.