Boatmen of Thessaloniki

The Boatmen of Thessaloniki (Bulgarian: Гемиджиите, romanized: Gemidzhiite; Macedonian: Гемиџиите, romanized: Gemidžiite) was a Bulgarian anarchist group, active in the Ottoman Empire in the years between 1898 and 1903. The members of the group were predominantly from Veles and most of them − young graduates from the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki. The group was radicalized by the Bulgarian anarchist Slavi Merdzhanov, whose initial target was the capital Istanbul, and subsequently Adrianople, but after his execution by the Ottomans in 1901, the group's attention shifted to Thessaloniki. From April 28 until May 1, 1903, the group led a campaign of terror bombing in Thessaloniki. Their aim was to attract the attention of the Great Powers to Ottoman oppression in Macedonia and Thrace. The group's roots can be traced to 1898 in Geneva, and nearly all of its founders were natives from Bulgaria. It was associated with the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization, but also had close ties with the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee. The result of the bombings was disastrous for the Bulgarian community in Thessaloniki.