BALKANS.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 March 1916, Page 5

BALKANS.

TURKEY'S TROUBLES. UNDER GERMANY'S THUMB, TREATMENT OF BULoaR SOLDIERS. Athens, March 13. The persistent rumors respecting the peace negotiations of Turkey are premature, as the position of the Austro* Germans is still strong, notwithstanding the animosity of the people. The Austro-Germans are gradually taking forces to* Constantinople and simultaneously transferring Turks equal in strength to the provinces. They are obviously intending to replace the entire garrison. They are already masters of the Turkish navy. German and Bulgarian officers at Philipopolis triumphantly celebrated the capture of Verdun and the march towards Paris. The shops were closed, the town beflagged, and the troops marched past.

Deserters state that the Bulgarian soldiers are shockingly treated and not allowed to write letters home. If they grumble at the food they are ordered twenty-five blows on the naked back, or, if the case is more serious, they are shot. '

YOUNG TURK MOVEMENT. . REVOLUTION PREDICTED. Athens, March 13. The newspaper Nea Helles says that 75,000 Turks have petitioned the Crown Prince Var-ed-Din asking him to compel the Sultan to remove the Young Turks Government and conclude separate peace, otherwise there would be a revolution next week. „ READY, AYE READY! -

. SERB ARMY REORGANISED. London, March 13. The Daily Telegraph's Rome correspondent says that a Serbian army of 150,000 men has been completely reorganised in Corfu and is ready to fight wherever the Allies send it. IK OFFENSIVE PREPARING. - -i Received March 14, 6,15 p.m. Zurich, March 13. Rumanian advices announce great preparations in Bessarabia. The mission is an offensive against Bukovina. A large number of troops and an immense quantity of munitions has been brought lip.