PRECARIOUS POSITION

New Zealand Times, Volume XL, Issue 9171, 11 October 1915, Page 7

PRECARIOUS POSITION

HARD-PRESSED TURKS autocratic triumvirate in CONTROL. A dispatch to San Francisco papers dated at Athens on September ,12th stated:

An American citizen of standing in Athens has received advices from Constantinople, which, he says, are trustworthy, that the situation of tho Turkish Army and Government is,unfavourable. ' According, to this information, the position 'of the Turkish forces defending the Dardanelles is precarious. It is said that the Turkish front, thinned by the heavy losses which the fighting has entailed on both sides, is finding jt increasingly difficult , to hold the lines against the French and British. . ■ 1

Turkey’s position, at sea is described as disadvantageous. The former German cruisers Goeben and Breslau are said to have, been incapacitated, while the Russian fleet preys upon Turkish shipping. TRIUMVIRATE IN CONTROL-

According to this information, Turkish affairs are under tho control of a triumvirate with autocratic powers, consisting of Enver Pasha, Minister for War; Talaat Bey, Minister of the Interior; and Bedri Bey, chief of police of Constantinople.: dissatisfaction among the' Moslems, is .reported, and it is said Sheikh-ul-Islam' was dismissed because lie did not approve of measures taken against the Armenians. The Committee of Union and Progress is reported to . , have .been,.- virtually superseded by a secret committee which is responsible to the wishes: of the. triumvirate. -

The American’s informant states that Armenians are being to concentration camps at various points, being driven afoot- or forwarded ~ia box-oars* He adds that the earlier massaorea'of Christiana 'in Asia Minor are being duplicated in the present instance, and that, in some cases only a comparatively small: part of the ■ expelled Armenians reach the concentration- camps alive. ARMENIAN GIRL VICTIMS.

• Henry Morgenthau, . . American Ambassador at Constantinople, has exerted every effort to protect the Armenians, but apparently, his endeavours have been unavailing. It is stated that American women who attempted- to go with the refugees to look,out for Armenian children" were turned shack, and that a number of. young Armenian girls, who wore,.studentsat .the American College at Constantinople,. fell into the -bands of. the Turks, i - Owing to tho. interruption of sea transportation it; is almost impossible to purchase" coal in Constantinople, - and wood-, is - being used -for locomotives: The crops are good, but it has been almost -impossible to harvest them; r Petroleum costs one dollar a gallon, and the price of sugar has increased-seven-fold. .