AT STAMBOUL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 493, 28 April 1909, Page 7

AT STAMBOUL.

MARTIAL LAW. SALONIKA'S TERMS TO THE CAPITAL. GARRISON'S PUNISHMENT. DRAWING THE REACTIONARIES'TEETH. (DY TELEGRAPH—PEESB ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT.) (Reo. April-27, 10.5 p.m.) , Constantinople, April 27. The Salonika Committee : announces that 'prior to the capitulation of Yildiz, Shevket Pasha, as commanderSof tho Salonika troops (Third Army Corps), issued an ultimatum embodying.the following terms:—-.-' ..-'. ' That with regard , to the soldiers . ■■'of-the First' Army Corps who took V . part in the defence .of Constanti- . . noplo, . those Vwho. were actively; engaged in the massacres following ; '. the military coup of April 13 (against ;.- v the : Hilmi Cabinet) should be sent ':■:■■ to the Turkish province of Yemen, v, in south-west Arabia; those guilty , of complicity in the massacres should ■'■"■■ be employed on the construction of .. ■ roads in Macedonia; and those soldiers • who .were neutral should be, incor- , :;' porated in the Third Army Corps. ; : That Constantinople should be '■• garrisoned with sixteen highly- •'. - : disciplined battalions of 'the Third ; • Army Corps,• these .'to' m quartered ' at tho Ramiz and Tschiftlik barracks . •'.'■ ;: outside the city walls, and to support' '.■-,'■ the , Constantinople police and; gen- '■ darmerie.- - : • J '' , ■ ', '"■ v: ~■■■'• That the present ponce of, the ;., .capital '-"should, be replaced, by ■'::-. gendarmes and police from Mace- -.';•■. donia..■': /•:'..:, -.. ■~' ■■'■.' '';■:' ; . ■'■.'.:.■ i ~, Shevket; Pasha; also announced, that the state of siege proclaimed in Constantinople wili last until the Chamber,' has passed an association law, a press law, a public meetings Act/ and a suppression of vagabondage lkw. ! Hadi Pasha, Acting-Commander- of the Third Army Corps at Salonika, will preside over, tho court-martial in the capital. Constantinople refugees are pouring into Athens. ,

THE SULTAN CHAMBER REPORTED AGREED ON DEPOSITION. ABDUL HAMID'S CONDUCT IN'THE CRISIS. Constantinople, April 26. The Tewfik Ministry has transmitted its resignation to the Sultan, and informed Parliament—which has now returned to Constantinople—of tho fact. Parliament is almost unanimous as to the necessity of deposing the Sultan. According to tho Tewfik Ministry, it'was at the Sultan's instance that a Macedonian battalion occupied Yildiz. The Sultan takes credit for preventing further bloodshed on Sunday, as ho prevailed on the Yildiz troops not v to: resist the Macedonians. - Tewfik Pasha and Edhem Pasha (the recently resigned Grand Vizier and Minister for War) have, at the Sultan's instance, returned to their homes. They declaro that tho Sultan was cool and collected throughout tho ordefil.

:■ ■ [Several authorities-have .'given the Sultan ■credit for ; personal courage.. According, to one, Abdul Hainid "showed' great courage and presence of mirid on the occasion Df the attempt :to.Assassinate him by-bomb in 1905. .Carriflgos 'arid .blown to pieoea .near .him, but the Sultan did. not turn, a .hair." It is also said that- in the hour of failure and crisis 'in the war', with Russia, 1877-73, the ■ Sultan showed a courageous front. According to yesterday's cablegrams, , lewfik andEdhem were on Saturday compelled to-remain at Yildiz as hostages; at that time the Salonika troops were threaten;* ing to bombard Yildiz by sea arid land. After .the' capitulation of Yildiz, and the scattering of the garrison, \the." Sultan ..--.."accepted a Salonikan ■ guard," and now tho hostages go home.] : - ,* - . •; ' ; ■': ;- .. ; ;.;V .MINISTRY REMAINS PRO TEM. ■*•,, : V ; ; . (Rec. Apri); 27, 10;5 p.m.) : ■ >\. ,;;. Constantinople, April 27. ~; The Senate and the Chamber, after a joint sitting in Stamboul, held in secret, asked the Tewfik 'Miriistry.to remain,in.office for s<Jme diy's-longer..;. The.Ministers, acceded to, the . request. ,: ,■'■■'.. : -■'.,;; ■•■'•....'.: *'. ■", ■;,■.-■

THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS' DEAD. A COMMON GRAVE. INCIDENTS OF THE FIGHTING. (Rec. April 27, 10.25 p.m.) Constantinople, April 27. During Saturday's fighting the number killed on the Constitutionalists', side was. 3oo; They, wore burial in a common grave with great ceremony. Aftor the occupation of the Taxim barracks', tho traitors who had, by abii6c of the white flag, enticed tho/ attackora into open ground and then fired on them woro summoned from the ranks and woro summarily shot. White handkerchiefs and rags arc still flying over tho surrendered barracks and guard-houses.

TEN THOUSAND ARRESTS. HOW THE SULTAN'S BODYGUARD WERE TAKEN. (Rec. April 27, 10.25 p.m.) Constantinople, April 27. The Sultan's personal guard, consinting of 200 fusiliers, body servants, and secretaries, surrendered on Monday afternoon, after Shevket .Pasha had trained numerous guns on their position and nad massed troops at all the approaches to the Palace. ' , 'Tho arrests now numbor 10,000. They includo several high officials. Tho journal "Ikdam," which supported (tho first Grand Vizier), has been suppressed. Tho editor has fled.

-, RACIAL AND RELICIOUS ISSUES. ■ ; ; ;■ . THE ANATOLIAN. ARMY. . . ; MANY ARRESTS.—MOSQUES CLOSED, ■'•;';■.■ - : -':j■■.■'■•'■•' . Constantinople, April 20. ■ ;■! Eighty, softas (students or attendants-in tho mosques) were killed wlnlo' nssiating *n' ttio defence .of a guard-houso nt'Staraboul. "•',■ I'pur thousand rcaotioiiariea, including a number of' hadjis 'and softaaj ; havo been arrested. \. ■ . . ■ :■■... i' ■-. "Many mosques have bc«n closed. Kurds .within-.tho'. dity. hnvo. been disarmed, f, :. It is feared that the hadjis and softas ;:\vbo took- refugo in Asia Minor will further in-. !flame reactionary outbreaks. . ; • .Shevket Pasha, who commands tho Third Army Corps, fears that thd Intent hostility between the European arid Asiatic Turks will 'have a bad effect on tho army in ■Anatolia (Turkey in Asia). ' f " After tho Yiklijs barracks had been occupied, soveral Jjodios of Macedonian voluntears, consisting of various' raoes -and . oreedsj

attached to tho Salonikan forces, were acclaimed whon marching through Pera (the European'and official "quarter of the capital), but they were not welcomed in tho Turkish quarters.'

SKOTARI TROOPS SURRENDER. (Rec. April 27/10.5 p.m.) •■ Constantinople, April 27., The 4000 anti-Constitutionalist troops who were stationed at Skutari, the Asiatdo suburb, of Constantinople—to cope with whom the Salonikans ferried artillery across the Bosphorus—have surrendered.

PANIC IK THE HAREM. Constantinople, April 26. During tho preparations made by the Salonikan troops to bombard Yildiis Kioiik, tho cries "of tho women in the Imperial harem were hoard at a distance.

TA description of Yildiz states, inter alia :— "The park is surrounded by' a great wall, in some parts 50 feet high, and contains two small lakes, the one natural, and.the other artificial.'. v. Within the main enclosure a second wall surrounds the kiosk, which the Sultan, with his four principal wives, inhabits, and which he himself designed. About it aro grouped smaller kiosks, in which' the other ladies of the harem reside. The doors of this inner barrier are all locked at sunset, and therein, protected by his bodyguard, the Sultan passes his nights in what he considers assured security. . . The palace domain -is guarded by two batteries of artillery, and by the whole of the 2nd division of the First-Army Corps, composed of 12 battalions, each 600 strong."] ■

MORE MASSACRES IN SYRIA. A TOWN BURNING. • Constantinople, April 26. A massacre is proceeding at the Syrian seaport of ,Latakia, whither a French battleship, is hastening. . Nadjiu is burning. A CITY OF SIEGES. A BIT OF CONSTANTINOPLE'S HISTORY. The history of Constantinople is almost a record of its sieges, writes one authority; About 100 years after ■ its enlargement or foundation by Constantino the, Great (330 A.D.) began that series of assaults bv sea and land before which it gave way only thrice, when its gates were opened to Dandalo, Michael Palaoologus, and Mahomet 11. Michael, by the aid of' his Varangians, recovered, 200 ■ years before its final capture, what the .latins had held nearly 60' years; and 100 years before it surrendered the Ottoman Turks profited by the in the empire, and wero called into the east of Europe as the followers of the same antiChristian standard had been called- into t)» west, till the last Constantino fell in defending the city which the first had raised and named.. Constantinople was threatened.' by the Huns, in the reign of Theodosius tho Younger, 450; by the Huns in that "of Justinian, 553; by the Persians and Avars in that of Heraclius; 626. Tho Arabs besieged it in'three different, expeditions. They camo under Sophian in'66B, and attacked it six .times, once every year (072-G79), when Consta-ntine Pogonatus was emperor. Leo the Isauvuii repelled .a second invasion under Mosleinch m 717. They were finally led b.v-Haroiin-fcii-Eashid, who made with Constantino and Irene in 782. The Russians assailed the "saa-walls of tho capital four times from 865 to 1043, in the reigns of • Michael 111 and his successors. vßomanus lecapenus, who beat them back when they were come down the second time, had to repel another enemy—tho Hungarians—in 924. It was not by arms,-but by the treaohery of GilpracMu the leader of the German: guard, that Alexius Comnen is entored one of the landgates and seized the throne (1081); and another Alexius, with his father Isaac Angelus, brough the. Latins, who occupied the city for 5G years, after the two 'sieges of 1203 and 1204,; until Michael Palaeologns embossed his name>as conqueror on the bronze pafes of St. Sophia. In the fifteenth centiiv?- Constantinople. was "at-, tacked by. tho Turks' twico; under Manuel ■' it resisted Amurath in. 1452: but, undor:Constantino Palaeologus it yielded to. Mahomet in 1453. The; city has tlms i beoi often the aimi rarely the.prize, of invasion.. .■: ' '■■■■■■'■ ~ ' • ■'

'.;■■[■'; r ...THEFAVOURITE,. . )yU■■■' -■ A PEN-pICTIfKE OF'.BUE-HAN.Eb.bIN, :, It was reported by cablegram the other day that the Sultnn's favourite son, who wna accused'of helping the reactionaries, had disappoared from Constantinople. :./■.: .•. ■■ •': "Why the Turkish.sovereign .should prefer his third sou, Bur-han-ed-din, to his eldest, Selim, in thn fierce contest for the succession, remains a secret, (writes. "Current litera-, ture"). Selim is in his thirty-eighth year, and a most promising prince,, whereas Bur-han-ed-.din,, who. is but little past twenty, is.affirmed' to lack both magnetism and intelligence.. All the world knows how tenacious, is' the hatred of Abdul Hamid, notes the Rome 'Tribuna,' 'but the commander of the faithful hates no one 60 intensely. as. he. hates his eldest son.' This sentiment is averred to date from', the time Selim became an especial favourite with, one of the innumerable denizens of the. harem at Yildiz. Another legend is that, -.entering Selim's study one morning, Abdul Hamid found his eldest son intently, studying a map of Turkey, and marking with pins all the provinces lost'to the empire since the beginning of his. father's reign. Abdul-Hamid, the'story runs, struck Selim in the face and cursed him then and therb. . '. . ■ . His Father's Companion. • ■ "Bur-han-cd-din, while deficient in those personal attractions. for which his father is admired, is the Sultan's constant companion. The education of the prince has been mainly German. Tutors from taught him tho art of war, and professors from Jena. hjivo given him courses in philosophy. His religious training has long been tho object oj his father's special solicitude, and it is said that. Bur-han-ed-diriis the delight of all sheikhs on necount of his acquaintance with the commen-' taries as well as with the sacred text.. Biir-han-ed-din greatly "distihenished himself when he was a student at El-Azhar, the supremo seat of learning of the whole Islam world at Cairo, v. . . \. ■' ■ '.. His Courage Impeached. : ' : ' ■ "For all that, he is not deemed brilliant, nor does he inspire popular enthusiasm whenhe goes with his ■ father to the mosque for the.sublime ..ceremony., of; the ..Selamnk. Truth to tell, the courage of Bur-han-cd-din has beon impeached more than once by hia detractors, who .roundly accuse him of bolting a few years ago. when an attempt was made to assassinate his. father. Bnr-hanned-din is likewise accused of secret indulgence in champagne—a flat defltiiice, this, of tho prescriptions of that religion he professes - to revere. It is'further intimated that the number of his wives is remarkably largo for so young a prince. He'has become fat in the past few years. In short. Bur-han-ed-din is pronounced by some Constantinbpolitans a,coward and a glutton, overbearing in demeanour- and spoiled. He. shocked the whole . palace, onde by whipping a servant until the nian's back bled. That ■is the story, although it must be* confessed 1 that the tendency to .slander him increases with the possibility that he may win, the hot contest for his father's throne, . . Buying Support, . ■,- , "The Sultan's determination to alter the order of succession in Bur-han-ed-din's favour is held_ to explain many contemporary Turkish mysteries. Why was the son of Shei'k-ul-Islam granted the. rich railway, concession from Aleppo to the coast? To buy his father's sunport for Bur-han-ed-din. Why was the Grand Master of the Artillery given- a monopoly of the electric lighting'.in Constantinople? It was a bribe in Bur-han-ed-din's behalf. Thus one after another, are explained decrees UN mans and irades. Bur-han-ed-din himself is said to be so sure of tnking his, father's placo that his natural arrogance has become' wollnißh insupportable lo the partisans of fieshnd Effendi and the champions,.of Yussnf Iz-ed-din. That the accession of Bur-han-ed-din would constitute a violation of the Moslem law of 'succession to a -throne—depriving* of their rights the legitimate heir, Reshad Effendi—seems to be beyond dispute,"