HE COLONIST. MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1918. THE TURKS AND THEIR PRISONERS.

Colonist, Volume LX, Issue 14651, 4 March 1918, Page 4

HE COLONIST. MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1918. THE TURKS AND THEIR PRISONERS.

Tros statements published last week in whicb repatriated British and Australasian prisoners of war narrate their

terrible experiences at the hands of their Turkish captors, exhibit the being to whom Mr Gladstone applied the term which' has since passed into general currency—the Unspeakable Turk

in a light in which he has not appeared very noticeably in this war, as far as his conduct towards the Britisn is concerned. In comparison with his cultured overlord the Turk has indeed in many ways been a model of virtue.

His fighting methods agreeably sur-

prised our troops at Gallipoli, and in other directions he exhibited un-

expected humanity which sharply con-

trasted with his traditional fiendishness towards the unhappy Armenians. The Turks, however, seem to have left on the battlefield their kindly bearing towards our men, for the gross cruelty complained of by the repatriated prisoners is endorsed in other qi^arters. The American Consul at Adana, in Asia Minor, in a report wlich was recently made public by the Commonwealth Minister of Defence, brings to light many instances of barbarous ill-treat-ment of war prisoners, of which one or two typical cases may be quoted. The majority of the men who were taken when Kut surrendered were sent to work on the Baghdad railway in. tire Adaiia district in June, 1916. They were compelled to march overland from Baghdad most of the way. Exhausted though they already were, practically no provision for their feeding was made. Most were compelled to soil treir clothing and kits to purchase what little food could be found along the wayBide. The Consul talked with German soldiers who had .given them something to eat. They described how tre English would be compelled, famished as they were, to lick the plates after the Germans had had their meals; yet their stolid, quiet resignation to tVeir sufferings was remarked by everyone. Indeed this may have been disadvantageous, as had they clamoured more the Turkish authorities wo\Ad most likely have seen to it that they received something. A few months later, over a thousand British prisoners were sent northwards from points south of Adana. They travelled by rail part of the way, and then had to march for several days over the Taurus Mountains on foot to Bozanti Station. When it is remembered ttat many of the men were very sick, that all were in an exhausted condition, and none had received any rations for the journey, and no food was given them at any point on the way, the sufferings and hardships of the men may be imagined. They were driven along by tie butt of a gendarme's musket. Many fell oy the wayside never to rise again. A few succeeded in taking refuge in the German and Austrian military camps in the Taurus, where they were succoured, and where the Americans was able to send them money. The first great body was, however, driven on across tie mountains at the bt.tt of t>.e musket., raaay falling by the way; and their passage-resembled a sceno from Danta's Inferno. This comparison was made by an Austrian officer. The prisoners from Galltpoli appear generally to have been subjected to less rigorous treatment, possibly because they were constantly under the eyes of American officials;, and there were at ft at time substantial reasons for the Central Powers not desiring to cultivate American ill-will. Speaking of the prisoners from Gal!I poli, the Consul from whose report we have quoted says that such few as there were were handed over by the Turks to the Baghdad Railway Construction Company, which employed them in and about the town of Belemedik, in the Taurus Mountains. They were under the supervision of Chief-Engineer Havrocordat (an Austrian subject), wto saw to their comfort as far as possible. In tHe fall of 1916 they were well supplied with clothing (save for a few minor necessities), had what food was obtained in the region,-enjoyed much freedom of movement, and for the most part were in good healtb. Up to the end of May, 1916, a large/number of the original British and French prisoners from the Dardanelles remained in Belemedik, preferring to work for the engineer in question rather than risk bad treatment in the camps at Afion, etc. The Consul, however, mentions some cases of ill-treatment which at that early date had come under his notice in the district in which he was stationed. It should be mentioned that here, as in Belgium and Germany, the American Legation and Consular officials exterted^ themselves to Ihe utmost to secure considerate treatment and

generally to relieve the.lot of prisoners of war, often with markedly beneficial results.