TURKEY MAY EVACUATE THE DARDANELLES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 62, 13 March 1915, Page 5

TURKEY MAY EVACUATE THE DARDANELLES.

TERRIFIC CANNONADE MAINTAINED BY ALLIED FLEET. TITRKS MUTINY AGAINST GERMAN OFFICERS. T . T■ . . LONDON, March 12. The Turkish authorities have posted notices in Syria, stating that Turkey may have to evacuate the Dardanelles for strategical reasons • K.r I, P !* ha hM bee " awardedia medal for his services in Egypt. It L te nXdl;i: hj : has *-■*- with a to «*r m -* - Twenty thousand Bedouins and others deserted the expedition, carrying away their arms. ,Most of the German officers of the expedition are returning to Germany. . - ° Refugees arriving at Bucharest declare that the Turks are dismounting the.r guns ,n order that upon the Allies entering they will regard Constantinople as an open city. • ; A message from Petrograd says that the operations of the Black Sea fleet will matenmUy weaken the small fleet of Turkish transports, without which it is impossible to rapidly convey troops to and from the Bla.k Sea coast of Asia Minor. The destruction of the port buildings at Zuuguldak deprives Constantinople of an important coal supply, end a coal famine is threatened. reports from the Turkish seaport of Dede-Agach say that there is a terrific- cannonade proceeding in the DardaneUes and the Gulf of Saros. Aiolent esplos.ons, exceeding, anything yet heard, are audible for miles inland. The exodus of foreigners from Constantinople continues. The families I , * be J* e ™ a " and Ambassadors have gone'to Philippopolis, which Iβ Crowded with' refugees: ■■•-' h«J fT**™? &%& the Y ° Ung Turk *"* was Covered. Two hundred Armenians were arrested, and a depot of bombs was seized. The ''Chronicled corresJKmdent, Mr. Martin Donohoe, reporting from ? %&*-* ™«ng in Stamboul. The sho V s in Galata and Pera have been closed, and the owners have fled. Soldiers are guarding Pera against looting: The coal supply is.barely, adequate for naval needs. Wealthy residents are taking refuge in Therapia and Scutari. ♦„ ♦ Th Y™r h i£ **r^' * g Stripped and disabled ' and » " impossible to tow her to the dockyard at the Golden Horn, owing to her draughV ThGerman commander declares that he will-blow her up if the Dardanelles-are forced. • -^ ; - ■-. -• Two Turkish regiments commanded by Germans mutinied, and the leaders were executed. The mutineers have been imprisoned at Scutari. The seeds of an anti-German revolution are fructifying. GERMAIK-STORY OF THE FIGHTING. ALLEGED THAT THE QUEEN ELIZABETH WAS DAMAGED. ; {Times *nd Sydney Sun Services.) ' ■ . ' LONDON, March 12,t7 An official announcement made in Berlin says that the result olKtha bombardment of the Dardanelles are negligible, and several warships lJave teen damaged, the Queen Elizabeth. A French cruiser Was put out J of action, and two mine-sweepers were sunk. It is claimed that the British were defeated in Mestopotamia, losinnumerous prisoners and three guns. . '-'~; ; , The resignation b> M; VenSelos of the Greek Premiership i 8 regarded as a hopeful sign. ' - . •• re ■