TURKS AND GREEKS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue LXXXVIII, 10 September 1914, Page 4

TURKS AND GREEKS

PSIRSECUriON BY MOSLEMS THE IMMINENCE OF WAR. The unstable, moody mind of Young Turkey, the p&ity which sent Abdul llamid into exile, is giving some concern to the Entente at pres»nt. In fact, sections of tho Turks have been a menace to peace in South-East Europe ever since the close of the Balkan War. The possibility of a definite outbreak of hostilities between Turkey and Greece has been mentioned in several recent cable messages. The reasons have been well set out in an article by Dr. Dillon in the London Telegraph of 28th July. TURKS 1 HATRED OF THE GREEKS. "Among the many peoples who make up the populations of the Sultan's dominions there are about two and a-half millions of Greek nationality," wrote tho well-known reviewer- "These Hellenes, who are in close and perfect sympathy with those of their brethren in lace, religion, language, and culture, who reside in the kingdom, constitute the most important economic force of the Empire. Hard-working, thrifty, and enterprising, they have for ages had the lion's share of trade and commerce m their hands. They supply the be&t tillers of the soil, and the most skilful seamen, crews of merchant and war ships, and in the villages on the coast almoat every . male is at once a skilful seaman and an experienced husbandman. The part they play in the economic mechanism of tho Ottoman Empire is far nioio important than that which tho Jews once played in that of Spain. In Smyrna, for exifmple, whero fully four* sevenths of the population are Hellenes, public Jife would be paralyse^ if tho Greeks were to strike work ; banks, restaurants, chemists, cafes, places of amusement, shops — large and small — would have to close, trains and tramcars would cease to run, steamers could neither load nor discharge their cargoes. Tho economic worth to the Empire, therefore, of these two and a-half millions, and the loss that would accrue to it if they were driven elsewhither can hardly be exaggerated. OTTOMAN BITTERNESS. "Now, this population of the Ottoman Empire, at the head of which stands the venerable Oecumenical Patriarch, is united with the inhabitants of King Constantine's realm as one man in f tidings, ideals, and when occasion serves in, strivings. And herein lies the main ground of the bitterness of the Turks. It became painfully concrete during the Balkan campaign, when this influential population translated its sympathy for Turkey's enemies, who were the allies of Greece, into overt acts of hostility. Responsible Ottoman statesmen felt that tho Empire could not be guaranteed against treachery so long as this danger endured. For-, all the coast of Asia Minor, besides various other important places, was inhabited by Hellenes, the direct descendants of the colonists who were settled there before Pericles was born. And in the hearts of these men the fire of patriotism burns even more fiercely than in those of their brethren of tho kingdom "The cup of Turkish indignation overflowed when Greece, having wrested from Turkey tho islands of Samos, Chios, and Mitylene, which command the coast of Asia- Minor, had he)- claim to keep them formally allowed by Europe. Naval and military experts had declared the possession of these islands by Turkey absolutely indispensable to the effective defence of the coast of the mainland. At some places the steaming distance between them is hardly more than half an hour. And as the inhabitants of both the coast and islands were exclusively Hellenic, Turkey's plight was truly pitiable. The most formidable enemies a, State can have are those of its own household. ASSIMILATION" OR EXTIRPATION? "The statesmen who at present preside over the de&tmies of the Moslem Empire are convinced that the new lease of life accorded to their country after the Balkan war is conditioned by the consolidation of the ethnic elements of which it fs composed, by the assimilation or national isation of the Christians and the welding of them into one solid mass. Now the assimilation by Turkey of tho Greeks, whose culture is sc greatly superior to her own, is a sheer impossibility. Even the simpler process of nationalising them is beset with difficulties, and might become a disturbing factor in homo affaiis. "The alternative to this method is itie extirpation ot the Hellenes of the Empire, their bjection from the land by open violence or petty persecution without regard for international usage, in the assumption that Europe— whose ardent desire 't is that Turkey should hold together and thrive — will not budge to stop tho experiment. That assumption was based on the quiescence of the Powers when Adrianople 1 was' retaken by Turkey and their own solemn decree was summarily quashed by my friend Talaat Bey. ANTI-GREEK BOYCOTT. "This process of eviction had already been inaugurated, and one of its results was to embitter both peoples, to estrange both Governments, and to render an amicable settlement of their differences more arduous than before. It was preceded by an organised boycott of tho Greeks in the Empire, such as had been employed four years previously against the Austrians. Hellenes were avoided as lepers, whose touch carried contagion. Clerks were dismissed by their employersj navvies were deterred from working under pain of death by an organisation which laughed at law and eluded the police.. Christian landowners could not find harvesters or ploughmen, and their crops had to be sold for a song or left to rot. Customers were warned not to deal with tradesmen or merchants of Hellenic extraction. PRESS CAMPAIGN. "Simultaneously with this drastic action went forward an anti-Hellenic campaign in the Turkish press, of which the principal object was to encourage the movement by furnishing grounds for its continuance. And it is fair to say that these alleged giounds were not all flimsy pretexts. Turkish publicists pointed out that at the end of the war was the beginning of real hostilities. Ottoman Greeks, it was contended, looked with wistful eyes upon Smyrna, Aivali, and other Turkish provinces. Constantinople itself no longer appeared to their more ambitious dreams to lie beyond their reach. As a. free-port town Europe might reconcile herself to see it annexed to Greece. Those, schemes, however wild they may seem to statesmen, are, it was further argued, living realities to those Hellenes of whose hopes and fears public opinion and sentiment in the Hellenic world are largely made up. "Exhortations and arguments of this character could not fail of their purpose. Turkish Orthodoxy, ever disposed to fall foul of the Christians, boiled with, rage : against the Hellenic foe within th&gates. The boycott was envenomed -with religious fanaticism and individual hate, and whs accompanied by occasional acts of lawless violence. Thousands of Greeks, financially ruined, quitted the country. .Their Moslem neighbours were impoverished, the StAte coffers bade- fair to become tfeplcted,and the ta&k of reorganisation eeriaualy retarded and jeopardised. "ALeauwhJlg teiia of tliouaaudt of 2tlo :

hammedan refugees were arriving in Constantinople from the provinces newly acquired by C4reecc. Thpy had forsaken the land ot their fathers in order to live and dio under the nile of the Caliph, among men of their own faith."' Tho Greeks assert that this emigration was voluntary, but the Moslems alleged that they had been obliged to trek, and their charges of cruelty against Greeks were readily believed in Constantinople.