The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1915. THE END OF TURKEY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 57, 10 March 1915, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1915. THE END OF TURKEY.

The day which many European' statesmen have long looked forward ,to, when the Turk shall be driven out of Europe, “bag and baggage” as Mr, Gladstone demanded at the time of the Bulgarian atrocities in 1870, ap-J pears to be rapidly approaching, and the Allies are now steadily sweeping on towards the famous city of Constantinople. The Sultan Mahomed \. is anxiously waiting an opportunity to slip away and hide in Asia, but he will j probably find difficulty in escaping the too earnest attentions of his own sub-J jocts, many of whom would really en-| joy a. pot shot at their discredited rulers. The Germans who have been so prominent in Constantinople ma.V| also quite likely share in the honour i of being assassinated by the peoplej they have duped and misled into their present plight. One of the great les- 1 sons of this particular incident of the world war, which Germany forced on' to the nations, is the line work that there may be found to do for the groat ships of Britain’s Navy. We have seen demonstrated how the Queen Elizabeth, the latest monster Dreadnought, can stand off and pulverise the forts at long range, leaving the less costly and slightly smaller ships to push up close and cover the mine-sweepers. Attacked by hydroplanes as well as Dreadnoughts and French heavy cruisers it has been found Impossible for the Turkish forts to maintain their resistance. With the naval squadron of the Allies closing in on them from the Sea of Marmora, and with a Bnssian army preparing to descend upon the Turkish capital from the port of Midia on the Black Sea, the hours of the Sublime Porto in Europe are numbered. Mas. sacre and wild outrage in the city of Constantinople is almost certain to happen. when the fanatical populace realise that all is over with the Turkish Empire. .Reviewing the strange history of the Porte, a writer in the Sydney Telegraph recalls the fact that only some thirty-six years ago a British Boot, under Admiral Hornby, steamed through the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmora, into the Bosphorus, at the bidding of Lord Beaconsiield’s Government, to hold Constantinople for the Turks against the Russians, who were threatening the city, and had already imposed their own terms upon the Turks at San Stefano. To-day a British fleet is engaged iu forcing the passage of the straits, preparatory to compelling the Turkish Government at Constantinople to capitulate, while it is practically certain that the forces which will occupy the city will he predominantly Russian. The loss of Constantinople, which has boon for so long the seat of the Caliphate will bo a tremendous blow to

the prestige of Turkish Mohammedanism. Nothing that Germany can do to accentuate the effect of that blow will be left undone. The Telegraph also expresses the view that the next lew weeks will be marked by uneasiness as to the attitude of the Mohammedan world, because Adrianople must go as well as Constantinople, and both are sacred cities, intimately associated with the traditions of Mohammedanism*. Happily Britain has earned a name for honourable dealing among all the Mohammedan communities that are included in her Empire. As, soon as Turkey entered upon the war, Britain announced that the Holy| Places of Mohammedanism at Mecca i and Medina, which are visited by countless pilgrims, would be respected. If Constantinople suffers it will be the fault of Germany and not of Britain. The Mohammedans are already aware of that fact, and their spokesmen in India and in Egypt have expressed the feelings of the Mohammedan world upon the subject. ' c-