Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. MONDAY, AUGUST 16th. 192O. THE FRENCH IE SYRIA

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 August 1920, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. MONDAY, AUGUST 16th. 1920. THE FRENCH IE SYRIA

The opposition to the Eronch occupation of towns in Syria, especially in Cilicia, which resulted ulti-

mately in the massacred at Marasii and the driving of the French force from that town was of a twofold nature. Ever since Emir Faisal’s return from Paris in January, hearing' what was erroneously to be an understandingon’the question of boundaries between the Arab State and French territory, events had shown that tiie views of the French on this question differed fundamentally from those held by the Arab nationalists, supported .tacitly, if not officially, by Emir Faisal himself. But though Faisal and bis father, King- of the Iledjaz, made no attempt to use the Arab regular army, numbering- some 10,000 troops, to attain their national aspirations by force of arms, a great reorganisation of so-called Arab Nationalists was created throughout Syria to resist the encroachment of the French at every cost, and a volunteer army was created, said to he able to muster , from 30,000 to 40,000 men. The menace created by this army and the hostility of the Arabs throughout Syria were so great that the French force, which had originally consisted only of some 15,000 to 20,000 men, were hastily rein-' forced until they reached a total I of 30,000, mostly Singalese and iMoroccans. Clashes between the I French and the Arab volunteers | first arose over the French occnpajlion of the Bekaa: Plain, which the Arabs pointed out had been I neutralised by the French agreement with Emir Faisal. Severe fighting took place in which the French met with serious losses. The report of this caused considerable excitement throughout Syria and strengthened the influence of the Arab 'movement. | The French had also to face dis-

Uirbancss in other disiricts. They found themselves faced' by Turkish -Nationalist hostility in Cilicia, which included the muchhated and unfortunate Armenians within its scope. Massacres of these unfortunates began, and more than two- weeks of horror followed. .Might thousand Armenians, however, still remained within the ruins of Marash. To defend these victims of Turkish fanaticism, General Gouraud, the Trench commander in Syr;a, sent a a expedition under General A oral and and Colonel Bremond. This force was outnumbered and compelled to retire from Marash, accompanied r.y a t hvong of harmless Armenians. The massacre at Marash was a terrible business, and in it. the French lost heavily. The Allied warning to Turkey on the subject brought belated action by the Ottoman Minister of the Interior toward the end of February last. Tie ordered that attacks on non-Moslem people should be avoided as “prejudicial to the good opinion of the Powers towards Turkey.” The massacres at Marash showed the! Allied Governments the necessity of taking stronger measures, especially in view of the defiant attitude adopted by the Nationalist majority in the Turkish Chamber. The Arabs operated more or less cuenly with the Turkish Nationalists in Cilicia and Anatolia while preparing plans for a coup. This came nu March 11th, when Prince Faisal was proclaimed King* Hussein of the Hecljaz. At too same time an assembly of twenty-nine Mesopotamian notables sitting in Damascus was preparing to proclaim Mesopotamia a State under the regency of Prince Zeid, a brother of Faisal. Thus it will be seen that the position in Asia Minor continues to increase in complexity as the days go by. When in May, 1919, Hussein proclaimed himself “Commander of the Faithful,” that is Khalif, the high religious leader of Islam, Ibu el Seond swore that he himself and his two brothers “in God” would' never cease their struggle against the usurper. All the Sultans of A jabs are lords and sbeieefs.” be observed, “whose noble origin is more authentic than those of tiie Emir of Mecca.” All this goes to show that the boasted unity of the religion of Islam is an illusion. The interest in Syria itself requires France to save her from the dangers that threaten her, and compels the*Allies to enforce the superior rights of humanity as against the unjustified and vain ambition of a son of the desert. The Arabs seem to be filled with -.n over-weening pride, and are disposed to throw down the gauntlet to the Allies. Probably they anticipate a vast Mohammedan that will result in the sweeping of the hated Christians from Asia. The -European Powers appear to be taking the danger far too- lightly, and it will be a miracle if they do not have a rude awakening. Nn ore is* PHired to- put much faith in the Kaiser's prophecies, but when lie warned the people of Europe of the great Asiatic .peril that was steadily looming ahead lie spoke words of sound common sense.