TO
COMPREHEND this narrative thoroughly, one must remember that the East is
unchangeable. The Turks of to-day are precisely the same as those who followed
Mohammed the Conqueror through the gates of Constantinople on May 29, 1453, and
they have amply demonstrated that they do not differ from those whom Gladstone
denounced for the Bulgarian atrocities of 1876. Those who are building hopes on
any other conception will be deceived; they will be painfully deceived if they
make treaties or invest large sums of money on Western ideas of the Oriental
character.
I
am neither “pro-Greek,” “pro-Turk,” nor anything except pro-American and
pro-Christ. Having passed the most of my life in regions where race feeling runs
high, it has been my one aim to help the oppressed, irrespective of race, as
will be shown by documents submitted later, and I have won the expressed
gratitude of numerous Turks for the aid and relief I have afforded them on
various occasions.
I
am aware of the many noble qualities of the Turkish peasant, but I do not agree
with many precepts of his religion, and I do not admire him when he is cutting
throats or violating Christian women. The massacres already enumerated are a
sufficient blot upon the Turkish name. They were made possible by the teachings
of the Koran, the example of Mohammed, lust and the desire for plunder. They
sink into insignificance when compared with the vast slaughter of more recent
years, conducted under the auspices of Abdul Hamid, Talaat and Company, and
Mustapha Khemal.
It
should be borne in mind, however, that it was not until after the declaration of
the constitution that the idea “Turkey for the Turks” took definite shape and
developed into the scheme of accomplishing its purpose by the final extinction
of all the Christian populations of that blood-soaked land—a plan consistent
with, and a continuation of, the general history of Mohammedan expansion in the
ancient home lands of Christianity.
At
the time of the declaration of the constitution in 1908, I was in Athens. My
first intimation of the event was a procession of Greeks carrying Hellenic and
Ottoman flags, marching through the streets on their way to the Turkish
legation, where they made a friendly and enthusiastic
demonstration.
The
idea in Greece and the Balkans generally was that the constitution meant equal
rights for all in Turkey, irrespective of religion—the dawn of a new
era.
Had this conception proved true, Turkey would to-day be one of the great,
progressive, prosperous countries of the world. The weakness of the conception
was that in an equal and friendly rivalry, the Christians would speedily have
outstripped the Ottomans, who would soon have found themselves in a subordinate
position commercially, industrially and economically. It was this knowledge
which caused the Turks to resolve upon the extermination of the
Christians. It was a reversal of the process of nature; the drones were
about to kill off the working bees.
During
these days a member of the Turkish Cabinet made a speech at Saloniki, advocating
the closing of all the foreign missionary schools, as well as native Christian,
arguing: “If we close the Christian institutions, Turkish institutions will
of necessarily spring up to take their place. A country must have
schools.”
Immediately
after the fall of Abdul Hamid, I was transferred to Saloniki. There was great
rejoicing over the fall of the “Bloody Tyrant,” and the certainty prevailed that
the subjects of Turkey had at last united to form a kingdom where all should
have full liberty to worship God and pursue their peaceful occupations in
security. The fall of Abdul Hamid had been made possible by the
cooperation and aid of the Christians.
But
the latter — Greeks, Bulgars, Serbs — were soon cruelly disillusioned. A general
persecution was started, the details of which were reported to their various
governments by all the consuls of the city. This persecution first displayed
itself in the form of sporadic murders of alarming frequency all over Macedonia,
the victims being, in the beginning, notables of the various Christian
communities. A favorite place for shooting these people was at their doorsteps
at the moment of their return home. It became evident that the Turkish
Government, in order to gain control of the territory, was bent upon the
extermination of the non-Mussulman leaders. Many of those murdered had been
prominent in the anti-Abdul movement.
From
the extermination of notables, the program extended to people of less
importance, who began to disappear.
Bevies of despairing peasant women who bad come to visit the vali (Turkish governor) and demand news of
their husbands, sons or brothers, appeared on the streets of Saloniki. The
answers were usually sardonic; “He has probably run away and left you,”
or “He has probably gone to America,” were favorite replies. The truth,
however, could not long be hidden, as shepherds and others were soon reporting
corpses found in ravines and gullies in the mountains and woods. The reign
of terror, the Turks’ immemorial method of rule, was on in earnest, and the next
step taken to generalize it was the so-called “disarming”. This meant, as
always, the disarming of the Christian element, and the furnishing of weapons to
the Turks.
An
order was issued that all persons must give up their guns and other weapons, and
squads of soldiers were sent out through villages to put this edict into effect.
That the object was not so much to collect hidden arms as to terrorize the
inhabitants was soon made evident from the tortures inflicted during the search.
Bastinadoing was a favorite measure. The feet of the peasants, accustomed to
going barefoot, were very tough; they were therefore tied down and their toes
beaten to a pulp with clubs.
Another
form of torment frequently resorted to by the “Government of Union and
Progress,” was tying a rope around the victim’s waist and slipping a musket
between the body and the cord and twisting until internal injury resulted.
Priests were frequent victims of this campaign of terror and hate, the idea
being to render them ridiculous as well as to inflict hideous suffering. The
poor creatures were made to stand upon one foot while a soldier menaced them
with a bayonet. If the priest, finally exhausted, dropped the upraised foot to
the ground, he was stabbed with the bayonet.
The
prisons were bursting with unfortunate people existing in starvation and filth.
An American tobacco merchant related to me that a prominent Greek merchant
disappeared from the streets and for
several days screams were heard issuing from the second story of a certain
building. This Greek was not killed, but was finally released. He showed the
American round pits all over his body. He had been tied naked to a table and hot
oil dropped on him. When he had asked, in his agony, “What have I done!” his
persecutors replied, “We are doing this to show you that Turkey has been freed
for the Turks.”
He was doubtless let go to spread the glad news.
A
well-known British correspondent, a pro-Bulgar, stated that he had sent reports
of these persecutions to the British press, but could not get them
published.
He had the obsession that the reason was because the whole British press was
owned by Jews, but it is not easy to follow him
in this deduction. The true reason is to be found in some government
policy of the moment.
It
was this indiscriminate persecution of Greeks, Bulgars and Serbs which drove
them into the same camp
and enabled them to chase the Turk out of Macedonia, even though they did fall
at one another’s throats as noon am they got rid of the common enemy. Any one
inclined to doubt the veracity of the above description must understand, if he
knows anything of Balkan matters, that it needed a pretty serious state of
affairs to cause Greek and Bulgar to fight on the same
side.
The
persecution to which all the races in the Empire were subjected, with the
exception of the Turks, is well-depicted in the following article in the “Nea Alethia”,
a
conservative journal published in the Greek language, in Saloniki, which used
all its influence in favor of harmony and moderation. The following is from the
issue of July 10, 1910, or about two years after the declaration of the famous
“Constitution”:
“Before
two years are finished a secret committee is unearthed in Constantinople, with
branches all over in important commercial towns, whose intentions are declared
to be subversive of the present state of affairs. In this committee are found
many prominent men and members of Congress. All discontent seen in the kingdom
has its beginning in this perverted policy. Our rulers, according to their
newly adopted system of centralization upon the basis of the domination of the
ruling race have given gall and wormwood to all the other races. They have
displeased the Arabs by wishing them to abandon their language. They have
alienated the Albanians by attempting to apply force, though conciliatory
measures would have been better. They have dissatisfied the Armenians by
neglecting their lawful petitions. They have offended the Bulgarians by forcing
them to live with foreigners brought purposely from other places. They have
dissatisfied the Serbians by using against them measures the harshness of which
is contrary to human laws.”
“But
for us Greeks words are useless. We have every day before us such a vivid
picture of persecution and extermination that however much we might say, would
not be sufficient to express the magnitude of the misfortunes, which since two
years have come upon our heads. It is acknowledged that the Greek race
ranks second as a pillar of the Constitution and that it is the most valuable of
those contributing to the prosperity of the Ottoman
fatherland.”
“We
have the right to ask, what have we, Ottoman Greeks, done that we should be so
persecuted? The law-abiding character of the Ottoman Greeks is indisputable. To
us were given promises that our rights would remain untouched. Despite this,
laws are voted through which churches, schools, and cemeteries belonging to us
are taken and given to others. Clergymen and teachers are imprisoned, citizens
are beaten, from everywhere lamentation and weeping are
heard.”
“With
what joy we Ottoman Greeks hailed the rise of the 10th of July! With what
eagerness we took part in the expedition of April, 1909! With what hopes we look
forward even to-day to the future of this country! It is ours, and no power is
able to separate us from it.”
“The
Greeks are a power in Turkey; a moral and material power. This power it is
impossible for our compatriot Turks to ignore. When will that day come when full
agreement will exist between the two races! Then only hand in hand will both
march forward, and Turkey will reach the height which is her
due.”
The
following is from my Saloniki diary, dated December 11,
1910:
“Wholesale
arrests, in some of the towns all the prominent citizens being thrown into jail
together.”
“Series
of assassinations of chiefs of communities, in broad day, in the streets. Fifty
prominent Bulgarians thus shot down, and many Greeks.”
“The
following figures were obtained from a report of the Turkish Parliament and
locally confirmed:
In
the Sandjack of Uskub, 1,104 persons bastinadoed; Villayet of Monastir, 285
persons bastinadoed; Saloniki, 464 persons bastinadoed; (of these 11 died and 62
were permanently injured.) Casas of Yenidje-Vardar, Gevgeli, Vodena, 911 persons
were bastinadoed.
All
the prisons are crowded with Christians; many have fled into Bulgaria and
thousands of men, women and children are hiding in the
mountains.”
This
was the state of affairs two years after the declaration of the Constitution,
and it was this common suffering which Greeks, Bulgars and Serbians endured,
which drove them together and forced them to declare the First Balkan War, in
October of 1912, in which the Turk was practically driven out of Europe until
Christian statesmen of the Great Powers brought him back again. Turkish power
has always been built upon Christian dissension and aid.
In
the (at that time) pro-Turk “Progres de
Saloniqne”, a journal published in the French language at Saloniki, appeared
an article which expresses a state of feeling among Oriental peoples which has
taken great distension since the date of the article (July 22, 1910). What was
then a fire bids fair now to grow into a general conflagration, due to the
building up, by Christian powers, of the sinister puissance of Mustapha
Khemal:
“In
the space of three years,” says the article, “the Orient, twice and from its two
extremities, has marvelously astonished the civilized world: first, by the great
victory won by the Japanese over the strongest of Occidental peoples, and next
by the wonderful revolution in Turkey! In fact, it is a marvel, which is being
accomplished to-day! There is no comparison between the Orient of to-day and
that of ten years ago. What is more curious is that this Oriental movement has
taken the form of two separate currents, which, starting from the two
extremities of the Orient, are going to meet and their points of junction will
be, in all probability, India.”
“At
the head of these movement will be found the peoples belonging to the same
race—the Mongolians. Each one possesses the unquestionable title to the moral
and intellectual supremacy of the great countries over which their influence
extents.”
“The
Japanese are incontestably at the head of the peoples professing Buddhism, the
doctrine of Confucius, etc.; the Turks, defenders of Islam for centuries, are
the incontestable leaders of the people professing Islamism. Therefore, the two
movements, starting from the two extremities of Asia, from the Bosphoros and
Tokio, go spreading, each one in an appropriate field prepared in advance by
history itself to accept it, then, since they are essentially the same, they
will unite at their point of junction, to form a common and formidable Asiatic
current. With this in view, the Occident is feeling uneasy and
agitated.”
Immediately
after the reestablishment of the Constitution, then, the first step of the
dominant race was to solidify its supremacy by measures of suppression,
oppression, and murder. The Turks also deliberately undertook to force all the
non-Turkish races to become in language, laws, habits and almost all other
particulars, “Ottomans.”
(Professor Davis’ “Short History of the Near East”)
It
is exactly this policy, in operation, which is referred to in the clipping from
the “Nea Aletheia”, quoted
above.
A more foolish project was never conceived by the mind of man—that of forcing
whole nations to change their languages and habits overnight. The impossibility
of this scheme becomes all the more evident when the reader reflects that an
inferior civilization was attempting to impose itself upon a superior one. The
Turk never had any intention of giving equal liberty to all the peoples who were
so unfortunate as to be in his power. Failing to “Turkify” them, as it has
been called, his only next alternative was to massacre and drive them out, a
policy not long in developing.
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