THE SITUATION IN TURKEY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 68, 16 April 1909, Page 2

THE SITUATION IN TURKEY.

Turkey has provided another sensation. The troops have revolted against their oll'ieers and all constitutional authority, surrounded Parliamentary buildings, demanded and brought about the dismissal of the Grand Vizier, the President of the Chamber, the Minister for War—in fact, the whole of the members of the Cabinet—as well as the downfall of the Young Turkish Party, otherwise tile "Committee of Union and Progress." incidentally the mutineers killed some seventeen people, and I lien proceeded to the palace of the Sultan, whom they cheered, and who later caused an irade to be read in Parliament pardoning the

nine mutineers! 1( is an extraordinary story, though one not out of keeping with recent happenings in that lurbulcut country. The cause of the trouble, it is staled, was an order given to Hie troops that, in any circumstances they should, if called on, lire on their coreligionists, and an attempt on the part of the officers ui abolish the practise of iitclti(]iii<r tile Sultan's name in the daily prayers. J low far the deal Assassin himself was concerned in the movement it is, on the information available, impossible; lo say, but it is hard to believe that an army of men without officers could not only have delieil Parliament, lint brought about the dismissal of the Executive, as well as have dealt a death blow to such a potent organisation as the Committee of Union has proved itself to be, and be pardoned for their acts of rebellion by tin; MuJ-. j tan into the bargain, without having the support of that scheming potentate. The political situation in Turkey is an interesting one. The re-cstablihliment 'hy Abd-ul-Haiuid of the Constitution he had promulgated in lS7(i. ami almost immediately afterwards susjiemled, came as n. tremendous surprise to everybody, not excepting the leaders of the Young Turkey Party, who did not expect such a sudden fruition of their patriotic labors. The leading spirit in the movement was the Sultan's own nephew, l'rince Sabah-vd-dine. The obstacles to uuccess opposed by the illinspired genius of the Sultan,' and the extraordinary dillicuUy of weaning (he Turkish peasant, who' forms the backbone of the Turkish Army, from his almost animal devotion to the Sultan, were recognised to be of such magnitude by the party as to cause it to believe that at least two or three years more would be necessary to bring about that ge-.ieral revolt, by the troops upon which it had rightly centred its ell'orts. and which, by depriving the Uamidian regime of it* principal] support, would bring it to the ground. What hastened the event was the indescribably wretched condition which 'had always been, tb.6 lot of the Turkish soldier under the autocracy of Yildiz, and 'which none but -men of his patient and discipined character would have endured so long, became nt last intolerable to liiiu when he was brought into contact with his fellow subjects, inont of them hi.s v"- , religionists, of the .Macedonian (.iemlarinerie, whose treatment, under European I supervision, formed such a contrast In his own. The army concentrated in Macedonia, which represented four-fifths , of the military establishment of 'fur- | key, having revolted, the movement' (

spread with lightning rapidity to the | neighboring troops in the province of Adrianoplc, and from Ilium to those in the, vicinity of Constantinople, because it arose from a reaction against unbearable sufferings common to all soldiers of the Sultan, with the exception of those belonging to the pampered (iuaril. garrisoned around Yi'ldiz itself, and also because, unlike former mutinies, the rebidlion in Macedonia liroke out in the midst of the whole army corps simultaneously, aiid thus gave encouragement to other units and divisions to follow suit.

The Young Turkey Party had no ai ticipation of tliis happy precipitation o events, due to unforeseen causes; bu no sooner had its tendency manifesto itself than the reform party intervene through this numerous officers affiliate to its cause, and, adjusting ilia move mcut to its general purposes, gave it th significance of a political rising, wliic led, in an extraordinary short time, t the attainment of its fundamental pre gramme. In this way « military revol was promptly transformed into a revc lution: the tirst, lie it noted, which lia taken place in the history of Turkey It is a fact that, so far, all dethrone mwits and oth.T forced political change in the Ottoman Empire have lieen th result of conspiracies or revolts. Th upheaval was unlike that which tool place iu IS7«, when the Sultan grantei a constitution, which li.' suspended *> soon as he found his position again so cure, in that the first represented th' ideas of a -small group of enlightcnei patriots, whereas the other was thor uughly national in character. The role played by Abdul-Hamid i: the drama was intensely interesting At first he could not bring himself t< believe that the system he had devise; Eor preventing his subjects, and especi ally his troops, from combining againsi liim in any hut a sporadic and limit manner had failed to act after serving tiim so well for thirty-one years. When lowever, with the quick perception ,vhieh is one of the attributes of his extraordinary intellect, he realised thai diis was the. case, and that resistance o the wishes of the nation was out of he question, lie promptly adapted himiclf to the new situation and, shedding ,he despot, entered into the skin of a 'Onstitutional monarch with a facility ■ ncl good grace which came as a revela.ion even to Lhose most intimately acpiainted with him.' U 'was an axiom vith all stuchnts of the Kulta'.i's charicter thai, rather than part with the ininipotence of despotism, which apleareil to lie as necessary an element if existence to him as the' breath of his lostrils, ho would confront a hundred tenths or put an end to his day with his iwn hands. And yet when confronted >y the inevitable'in the shape of an incxpccted revolution, he bowed to it nd said to his subjects: "I thoroughly ilentify myself with the change. .My barest wish is to preside over its sueessful development!" The election of Turkey's first larluinent was attended with extraordinary lill'iculties owing principally to the want .( homogeneitv in the empire, lut, the Young Turk Party triumphed ner all the initial troubles. So soon, lowever, as Parliament set to work, nore difficulties presented themselves, lie Young Turkish Party (or the Comaittee of Union and Progress, as they vere subsequently called), not content I'ith having a majority of its nominees n Parliament, was adverse to surrenderng any of its power. It wished to act s the unconstitutional power benind the hrone. The new Grand Vizier or Prenier, Kiamil Pasha, found, to use his '\ra words, that the Committee had the lower, while he had the responsibility, 'hat was a travesty of democratic govriiment that Kaimil refused to accept, le threw down the gage to tne Comnittee. and the result might Jiave been oreseen. Despite his popularity and his ininent services to his country in the ime of oppression, and despite a iimuiinous vole of confidence passed by the icwlv-elec-tcd Turkish Chainlier only a iionth before, Kiamil was overthrown ast February. The Chamber passed a

no-confidence motion by PIS votes to S. | It was subsequently slated that, prior to this vote, army officers lobbied in the Chamber. The Committee of Union and Progress then became a subject of keen criticism in the Kuropean press. It was argued that the Committee should not continue to occupy an unconstitutional position, but should either come torward and govern tlie country itself, thus combining power and responsibility in the manner of a. democracy, or should allow the nominal Turkish Government to lweome the real Government. The course taken by the Committee was to permit llilmi Pasha to form a new Ministry (which has just fallen). At the same time, it was stated that many <>f the reactionary leaders of the old regime had become "converted" and had joined the Committee of Union and Progress; in fact, the new Grand Vizier Hihni Pasha was cited as one of these. " The triumph of militarism" was o.ie .Miniining up of the Committee's coup, by which Kiamil was deposed. The question nuturallv forced itself: Where was militarism likely to lead the Constitution—what democracy ever nourished with an . army as foster mother? Wrote The Times correspondent, "The mere presence of a few officers and men of the .Salonika battalions in the lobbies sufficed to overawe all opponents, but the danger of sui-h methods is too apparent to need further comment." Remarked ono deputy: "It is no longer a battle with parliamentary weapons; there are extraneous forces at work here, against which we cannot continue to light" The new llilmi Ministry saw that something had to he done with regard to the political methods of members of the annv, and accordingly it issued a circular.' though whether its instructions are taken seriously is not clear. The Minister of War 'circularised all commanding officers, stating that certain officers, especially subalterns, were misinterpreting the principles of liberty laid down in the Constitution, had been at times guilty of disrespectful conduct to their superiors, and had adopted an attitude tending to the subversion of discipline. Tlius they attended meetings, took part in polities, made speeches, enrolled themselves as members of societies, and published signed articles in newspapers. The rules of military discipline forbade all such acts, and commanding officers were, therefore, instructed bv tlie Minister to bring these facts to the notice of officers and to bid llieni conform to the regulations of the service on pain of the severest penalties. The circular, whether obeyed or not, is interesting as showing how the army tries to dominate the political machine. Remarking on the full of Kiamil, The Times fails to sec how such a coup by an organisation which has no place in the Turkish Constitution, and for which there could not be n place ia any free Constitution, could be regarded as "a triumph for constitutionalism." The Times adds: ''lt is a Irimnpli for the revolutionary body which overthrew the despotism of the palace in tlie name of the Constitution, and that triumph shows that the condition of Turkey is still revolutionary and

has not via become constitutional in niiv veal sense." And tin- cablegrams of the Inst few davs bear out this opinion.