FIGHTING THE TURKS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 763, 21 July 1916, Page 7

FIGHTING THE TURKS.

I ENEMY CLAIMS SUCCESSES, j OX EUPHRATES, PERSIAN, AND TRIPOLI FRONTS. Australian and S.Z. CabU Atioeiation. AMSTERDAM, July 20. A Turkish comuniquc says:— "We surprised the enemy on the, Euphrates, and raptured seven food-; laden vessels. "On the Persian front the operations are taking a course favourable, to us. The Persian Mudjtahids are rendering us great assistance. "Muri Hey, commanding the Turkish volunteers in Tripoli, defeated the Italians near Misrata, capturing' 200 officers, 0000 men, and 21 guns." j IThf Mudjtahids are the more learai-d section i>r tlie Mohammedan clergj' in Hex- ■ sia, as distinguished from tin* Mullahs.J THE SUBMARINES. ACTIVE ONCE MORE. ! GERMANY'S WEAPON OF DESPERATION. An*tratiea o„d h'JZ. CabU Attixiatlvn. LONDON, July 20. There is a remarkable recrudc-1 scenee of submarine activity. Nearly a dozen vessels have been sunk during the last 24 hours. This change in tactics was not announced by Germany, but some light is thrown on the subject by the latest German newspapers. The Berne correspondent of the "Morning Post" calls attention to a semi-official article in the "Berliner Lokal Anzeiger," which is calculated to cheer up the advocates of Germany's former ruthless methods. The article discusses the abrogation of the Declaration of London, and suggests that England may use her | power to force neutral Slates to j adopt an unfriendly and, if possible, j a hostile attitude towards Austria j and Germany. That would ultimately • mean that all the frontiers of Austria and Germany would be closed. If such a situation arose Germany would probably reconsider the cessation of submarine operations which was ordered out of consider- j ation for the United States and other ■ neutral countries with the object of preserving their friendly feelings to-. wards Germany. In the event of England succeeding in inducing neutral countries to; adopt an attitude of active or pas-! sive hostility towards Germany, one I important reason for her decision to j cease submarine operations, which j was arrived at in the spring of 191 C, would have ceased to cxisi. i The British Press consider that in ! view of the ruthless submarine oper-1 ations of the last few days, it is a reasonable deduction that Germany I has decided that England is influen-; cing neutral countries definitely in | favour of the Allies. Some critics i arc even prepared for a greatei ruthlessness. They declare that it is a short step from the seizure or sink-1 ing of neutral vessels to the invasion j of the neutral countries surrounding: Germany particularly Denmark, j with a view to compelling them to J supply food to Germany. The "Berliner Lokal-Anzeigcr" fur- j ther hints at an important secret j change concerning the methods of | German submarines, which will be of great advantage in the event of Germany being compelled to act ruthlessly. The paper adds: "The new decision will probably have to be made soon." The "Kreuz Zeitung" qualifies this announcement by remarking: "The decision will have to be made quickly, otherwise we shall lose the best j time of the year for submarine operations." The "Neuesle Nachriehten" says:— "In our last Note to America we re-; served a free hand in regard to sub-j marine war or mercantile shipping: in the event of America failing to induce England to alter her procedure, j which is an infringement of all in-1 ternational law governing neutral j trade with Germany, but the time for | us to use our free hand has not yet j arrived."

The cable news in this issue accredited to " The Times " has appeared in that journal, but only where expressly stated is such news the editorial opinion of " The Times."