REVELATIONS OF SECRET POLICE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 270, 7 November 1908, Page 3

REVELATIONS OF SECRET POLICE.

s INNOCENT VICTIMS DONE TO DEATH. e INSPIRED CRIMES IN TURKEY. t e Ym Bey, the fallen head of Turkey's ii Secret Police at Constantinople, is a rce fugee i;i London. To a press iuterr viewer he has given a very frank con- , fession of the sort of work which he s had to carry out. lie saiu :—" 1 am l glad indeed to be in London. What a i tine city, and how secure I feel here. I You may ask me any question you like, ; but first I will tell you how 1 got safely L away. On July 21st, the day of pro- ! claiming the Constitution, 1 knew that r with Tashin and Izzet Pashas my offic-

• ial career was ended. It was merely a , question of flight. Who could 1 trust ?| Those who feared me yesterday would, have stabbed me to-day. 1 paid a man I . to hide me ia his house for two days.] On July 24th'the Sultan sent me a letter, short and explicit—' Flee to Europe without an hour's delay.' 1 waited till dark, having airangcd to go on board a German boat leaving for Smyrna, and on my way to the small boat. I which was waiting alongside the quay, 11 was attacked by a man who recognised me, und luckily for me, I shot hitn| dead on the spot, and rushed for my life; for the quay, got on board the German, boat and reached Smyrna safely, where i 1 transhipped to a mail steamer, and readied Marseilles. On board I was recognised by a Russian naval officer who liad known me at the Imperial Court, and lie promised not to disclose my 'identity to anybody on board. I was clean shaved, and had changed my fez, for a straw bat. and assumed the name of Mr Gray, in whose name 1 am staying at this hotel." -Do you not con-1 template making peace with the new regime ?" I enquired. " Impossible ! They can never forgive me. Turkey has seen the last of me for ever. You must remember that during my term of office 1 have been the means of ruining Ministers, officers, and civilians at the bick| ding of my' superiors, and 170 Turksmembers of some of the most lionoved families in the empire—have disap-" penred." I inferred from the motion of Zia Bev's hand that " disappeared " had the most sinister meaning. •' Under indirections," continued Zia Bey "a body of well-paid secret agents, over 400 in number, have been constantly at work —some Turks, mostly Armenians and Greeks, a few women and two Maltese. It mattered not wlho were the persons to be removed, orders from Yildiz were implicitly obeyed. False reports were submitted to the Sultan, and from them there was no appeal. To be denounced by us was sufficient to ruin any one. " Can you wonder then that I say to you emphatically Turkey has seen the last of me for ever." " But you recog- ' nise, 1 suppose that the now administration is likely to last '<" "It has been a success from the moment it was inaugurated. I can tell you—ruined man and exile for the rest of my days that I am that it is work of honest, patriotic men, ' mostly army officers, who clearly saw

that the. remnant of the Turkish Empire was slowly being devoured by the Sultan and the Palace regime. The Porte as an administrative machine had ceased to exist twenty-five years ago. all power was central at Yiicliz. Ministers even tlhe Grand Vizier, were with > less that the authority of the head] clerk of a department. I do not blame the Sultan entirely. Their power rest-1 ed in a sort of working agreement, which enabled them to manipulate the ■resources of the empire solely in the | (private appropriations of the revenues, no matter how gained, in the interest of themselves. Izzet Pasha is reputed, to have saved from his perquisites I</ S | millions of Turkish pounds, the bulk of; which he has invested rn the United states of America and through Greek' financiers in Paris. But the Pultan him-; self has at least three millions, of pounds invested in Germany, Austria, and France, and he received heavy percentages on the bribes received from contractors for war stores, supplies, and clothing for army and navy. These mien used me because they found me pliable. I accepted the post at the palace because It suited me to he well paid and live under the protection of Hie Sultan. In reality 1 truly believe that we should have served equally well an honest Administration if it had existed, but it did not exist, and wc did not com- ( plain nmv that an end had come to our careers. I have often rellcctcd that it could not go on for ever, but the ?nd came quicker than most of us expected owing to the strides it made in the army in the last six months.' 1 "Then what are your plais for the future !" i

" I shall not remain in London permanently, and am proposing to purchase a small country esta;e in Canada, by-! cause I am a true admirer of British ' rule, and am grateful for the safely of tire British Hag'which I now enjoy. As 1 «iu amy over forty years of age. I have a reasonable hope of living there in peace : but I must adopt another name than that of "Mr Gray," he added with a smile. " Then 1 am sure you wish well to tin' new regime in Turkey ?" " With all my heart f do. I have the one regret that my own record is sneh that f!cannot dare to expect tho thousands who have suffered through me will ever forgive me the wrong I have inflicted on innocent victims denounced by the police."