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Pasha Kara-Ali

Nuayih Zaade Ali Pasha, better known as Kara-Ali, was a Turkish admiral during the Greek War of Independence.

Among Kara-Ali's activities during the War of Independence was the bombardment of Galaxidi on September 20, 1821, the attack on Samothrace and the holocaust of Chios.

The holocaust of Chios

Kara-Ali arrived in Chios on Orthodox Holy Thursday March 30, 1822 with 35 - 40 ships. He commenced his attack against the island by bombarding the Northern coast and proceeded to land his troops. In the following 60 days, an orgy of slaughter, rape and destruction took place. Tens of thousands were killed and many more were captured and sold into slavery. From a population of 140,000, barely 2,000 were left by the time the slaughter ended.

On the night of June 6, Konstantinos Kanaris and Andreas Pipinos entered the harbour of Chios where Kara-Ali's flagship, the "Mansuriye", was anchored. Kanaris placed a fire ship next to it and the flagship soon caught fire. Aboard the "Mansuriye" were 2,000 officers and men celebrating Ramadan. Most of them were killed including Kara-Ali himself.