CENSUS IN TURKEY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19833, 31 December 1927, Page 10

CENSUS IN TURKEY.

WHOLE NATJON INDOORS. " A CITY OF THE DEAD." The first census eve;: held in Turkey began at eight o'clock on the morning of October 28. - The entire nation is being kept indoors for the best part of 24 lioura. The Constantinople correspondent of the Times said:—"lmagine London without a pedestrian, a motor-omni-bus, a tramcar, a taxicab, a car—in fact, a city of the dead—and you can imagine what Constantinople and the rest of Turkey aro liko to-day. Equipped with a special pass granted by courtesy of the authorities, I motored and walked through most of tho principal streets at an early hour this morning and visited many outlying quarters of the town. Only thrice in two hours did I meet a car and they contained doctors. "Every few minutes one saw a censustaker, wearing his white armlet. At the windows of every house men, women and children were crowded, watching for one knows not what. A few policemen were in evidence to arrest anyone who dared to come out of doors. Every shop was shuttered, every restaurant, hotel, school and public building closed. Tho Bosporus presented an even more extraordinary sight. Not one craft of any description could be seen moving. Scores of ships lay at anchor in the Golden Horn and hundreds of fishing boats lay idle on both sides of the Bosporus. Ferry boats, yachts and other smaller craft lay motionless at their moorings. "The Bekjis (night watchmen) ushered in .wxisus day by vigorously banging their dauols (staves) on the pavements through the struts, but it is not expected that the welcome sound of th% guns announcing tho end of the census will be heard before evening -t the earliest. Zia Bey, the head of the Cenri'i Bureau in Constantinople, said that everything was going according to plan, but isevex-al census-takers with whom I have talked are finding that, their task is taking them much longer than they had expected. "The difficulties of taking an accurate census in Turkey, and especially in Constantinople, aro great, and it will be no small feat if tho figures for the whole country aro known within three or four days, as was promised. Many Constantinopolitans, notably among the Armenians, continue to believe that the authorities have some ulterior mo'dvu in their heads and that tho census will cause them trouble. One Armenian even thought that a massacre was intended and that that is why the population is confined within doors. M. Jacquard, the Belgian who is conducting the wholo census, is stationed in Angora and all results as they come in will be sent to him for classification and publication." Tho census was ptill unfinished at 9 p.m. and tho streets were just as, deserted as they were in tho morning.