MAHOMED VI.

Evening Star, Issue 16837, 12 September 1918, Page 1

MAHOMED VI.

TURKEY'S NEW SULTAN, ONLY A PAWN OP THE KATfi^fo [By F. Ct-xuffb-Owen, in the New York 'Sun.'] Inasmuch as the Kaiser and his tw> wholly subservient took, Enver Pasha, tha of War, and Tslnat Pasha, fl» Grand Vizier, are still in absolute control at Constantinople, it may safely he assumed that the new Sultan of Turkey, who has been proclaimed under tlio name of Mohammed VI., is no other than the prince hitherto known as Mohammed Buiv han-Eddino, who until the downfall of Sultan Abdul Hamid was tbe tatter's favt»ite son. Now in his 33rd year, Btrrhan-Eddlrta has ever since his boyhood been groomed by Emperor William for the eventual ooc&. pancy of the Ottoman throne. Abdul Hamid loved Mm above all his other children, and made no secret of his desire to alter the order of succession in such ik manner aa to make Mm his next heir. But to change tie order of succession he needed the sanction, not alono of the Sheik-Ul-Tslarn, tho head of the clergy, but also of a dignitary -who from Ms point of vie* j was even still more important—j the F-?tva Bmini. For tie latter is thd [ arch-interpreter and expounder of thq | sacred scriptures, and of what ia even stilj | more important, the so-called Sheri&tj j which is the code of religious and secnlal ! law, both based on the Koran. ! FETYA EMINI HAS A LIFE JOB. I The Sheik-Ul-Islam holds his office &i !the pleasure of the but th< iFetva Emini is appointed for hie, and k I much more independent. Sultan Abdn] j ECamid owed the possession of his thronfi j to the deposition of his elderbrother Mtirad i by virtue of a f etva tinned by the Fetv? | Eniini and counter-signed by the Sh,eik-01« ! Islam, depriving Murad of_ hia sovereignty 'on tho ground of his insanity. As long H Murad lived Abdul Hamid tras in constant dread of the issue of a, f-etya. <leala» ■ inp that Murad had recovered his reascn, I and was therefore entitled to resume post j session oi the throne. In view of tha W- ! security of his position he bad not tbl ■courage to venture upon anything so revo> lutionary as a change in the order of th< succession, or even to approach the Fetv4 Emini about the matter. To-day botls Sultan Abdul Hamid and the former Fetv* 1 lie in their graves. There is a new FetY* ! Emini of the name of Haidar M&Uah, -wh4 owed his appointment to insidious Teutcflj influences. In entire sympathy with th( existing regime at Stamboui, he could W I trusted to offer no objection whatsoever W ; the candidate of the Kaiser. A fetya vest ! ing the succession in Burban-Eddine waj ! all that was necessary to do the trick. Am ! thai is whv it may safely be assumed thai ! Mohammed VI., the new Sultan of Tn» ; kev, is no other than Burhan-Bddinie, wna» • both as a boy and as a young roan, wsi ; until the beginning of tho, present war | j frequent guest at Potsdam,"treated by fcbi | Emperor and Empress as e. member o| their family and aa an iirtirnate chnm ol their sons. HAS WHOLLY UP-TO-DATE" IDEAS. Burhan-Eddine has been carefulij brought up by the beet GermaJd| French, and even English tutors, is thaw ougbly up to date and very modern in hi( ideas," and aa a boy had charming man* ners. He is by profession a sailor rathe! j than a military man, and holds a commift ! don of captain of the Ottoman navy. Thf ; 1 main shadow on Buxhan-Eddine'e reccroj apart, from his pro-Germanism and his evft; associations with that unsavory producejof an Imperial scullery—namely, Envef Pasha—in his attitude towards his lat^ father. Burhan-Eddine never raised q finger in defence of his father, either of j the 3 occasion of the first military pronun* j cinmento in 1908 or at the time of his flail i deposition and imprisonment in 1909. 1^ j fact, he joined forces, presumably at tkj | instance of the Kaiser, with Enver, wbi j had been primarily responsible for AbdnJ ! Hamid* downfall," and one of the ring* j leaders in the risings against hirn. INTIMATE FRIEND OF ENVEB, Burhan-Eddine became, in fact, i3i| most intimate friend of Enver, and cow tributed in no small degree to bring abonl the hitter's marriage to the Imperial Prin< cess Nadjie Sultana, a messallianceagainsj which the 20-vear-old girl bitterly rebelled bv res.son of her personal aversion to En,< ! vc-r, and also because he was the son oi one of the sculierymen of her father, thtf kte Prince Suleiman. It was largely bj( reason of the close and intimate relation* existing between Burhan-Eddine and En« ver that the latter, in January and February of 1916, made a trip to Medina and to i Mecca for the purpose of securing the api i proval and powerful backing of the Grand ' Shereef of Mecca, the guardian-in-dbief oj i the holv places of Islam, for the movement : in favor of the proclamation of Burhani Eddine as nest heir to the Ottoman throne, ! Enver is too arrogant and too extrava- ■ fantly conceited to be successful in any diplomatic undertaking. Instead of pro • pitiating the Grand Shereef, he antagonist! him, and failed so signally in his mis< ■ ir,n ti:;'T. not long; after his departure the Grand Shereef proclaimed the independ" : ence, not alone of the holy places of Islam, but of all Arabia, and their emancipation from the oppressive and extortionate nils :of the Sublime Porto. To-day the Grand ■ Shereef ha-s been recognised by all the Powers of the Entente as the sovereign ol the independent State and nation of Ara» '■ hia, all the great tribal chieftains of which have ,-ccr.rded t'i him their temporal aa i well as spiritual allegiance. ' AN ACCOMPLISHED MURICTA.N. ' As everytbiiig relating to Barbs* (•bldine must necessarily be of interest just at this time, it aviv bo as well to add that he is an accomp'ifihed in the WeFtern sense of the word. That Burhan* ; Eddine Fhould hare committed his fatnra to the Kaiser, and have thus himself with what is. bound to profft Foonc.r or Iftter a disastrous cause, is, oi course, attributable to his early training and to his longstanding intimacy with the members of the Hohensollern family at Potsdam. Or. the other hand, it is less" pardonable in him than it would be in ths ' ca'se of most of the other members of the sovereign house of Othman, for BnrhanEddlne" unlike mopt of his predecessors on the throne, has travelled extensively, ha 4 spent much of his time abroad, and haa had advantages in this respect that have not been within the reach of other rulers : of the Ottoman Empire. i m M i im_