MASSACRE IN THE YEMEN.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1100, 12 April 1911, Page 7

MASSACRE IN THE YEMEN.

SEVERE TURKISH REVERSE. FORCE OF EIGHTEEN HUNDRED MEN ANNIHILATED. ARAB STRATAGEM SUCCEEDS. By Tclecraph-Press Association- Oopyrisht (Rec. April 11, 10.10 p.m.) Ferinii April 11. Natives from the interior of the Arabian province of Yemen bring word of a severe reverse to the Turkish troops which are now engaged in suppressing the long-standing Arab revolt. They declare that a force of 1800 Turkish soldiers has been completely annihilated by means of a stratagem at Yerim, which lies about 100 miles inland, from the port of Hodeida. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ARABIA? AN UNKNOWN LAND. What is this land of Yeman which is once more in open rebellion against the Sultan of Turkey? ask# William liaswell in the "Daily Mail." He proceds:— Arabia is a peninsuja larger than India. It is a jean land among the most rainless and hottest countries in the world. Vast regions Of it have never been seen by Europeans, and no native is known to have crossed the great sandy desert of the south, which is a name of terror throughout Arabia. . • . . In the south-west corner of this strange land is the province of the Yemen. It formsa rough triangle of which the sides are the Red' Sea, "the Gulf of Aden, and the Sandy Desert. The province of Asir separates the Yemen from the Holy City of Mecca, and to the south of it is Aden, our Gibraltar of the Indian Oecan. The Yoman has natural advantages over other regions in Arabia. The range of mountains parallel with the coast gives rain when the monsoon strikes. This is the true Arabia Felix, where settled communities stretch from Hodeida on the Bed Sea to Sana, the oapital, 100 miles away on a plateau 7000 ft. above the sea. The fertility of the land has changed the 'character of the people. They have cease<l to be nomads and marauders, and, having something to lose, are jealous of their Turkish masters, who do not come to the Yemen for the good of their health and do not care to leave it emptyrhanded. Like all Arabs, the Yemenite his.a secret contempt'for "the Turk. Hβ looks upon him as a barbarian who has robbed Arabia of her civilisation. Behind the barred door of Yemen has been going on a struggle between Turk and Arab' that has lasted for more than two generations. Europe rarely hears a w.hisper of it. and pays no attention, even now when thirty battalions of Turkish soldiers are reported to be on the march to the Yemen and the Government in Constantinople is bargaining for German transports. The cause of this new outbreak is simple. , General von der Qoltz was not the first' Gorman to point out to the Turks that their strength lay in Asia Minor rather than in Europe. Here were vast resources of 'men and material upon which the Sultan had claims as temporal and spiritual chief. Abdul Hamid strove to make himself master of these elements of power. He poured wealth into Mecca and Medina, and won to his purpose, the guardians of the tomb of the Prophet. ButVthe tribal chiefs and the nomadic, tribes were jealous of their freedom and resisted every attempt to bring them into line. Rebellion became chronic, and Turkish soldiers marched through the deserts only to. die from hunger and thirst or at the hands of the warlike' Arabs. To overcome the irrcatdst obstacle to conquest the railway to Mecca was begun, and the subjection of Arabia semed only a question of time. The Parliamentary Government of Turkey has adopted the policy of the cxSull'sg. but has had recourse to other methods in the Yemen. The Governor of that province has been seeking to enlist the services of the sheikhs or tribal chieftains by proposing to enrol a native militia. His offer, has been rejected, and has roused once more. the. suspicion of the Yemen. From resentment to action is a short step in Arabia, and the Ottoman Government is threatened with a war that may satisfy the ambition of Chauvinists who believe that a war is necessary to cement the foundations of the new Turkish Parliament. . '"