Against the Turks

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 161, 14 December 1914, Page 5

Against the Turks

UNDER THE HEEL OF THE TYRANT. TURKEY POWERLESS TO PREVENT WAR. GERMAN DOMINATION. London, December 11. A dispatch from Sir Louis Mallet, Hritisli Ambassador at Constantinople, stut™ that it was evident in the middle ol August that Germany would drive i I >-key into war. . Warning} to the i rand Vizier fell on deaf ears, though hi; was hilly alive to the precariousness or lm< own position. Enver Bey, whe was dominated by quasi Nnpe'conic and political pan-Mamism, controlled the army, which wa3 entirely in Germany's hands. The Sultan, the Heir-AppaTPiit, the Grand Vizier, Djavid Bey, and e majonty of the Ministry, with a considerable section of the Committee of Union ami Progress opposed the adventure. Talaat Bey held a middle course, but his hesitations ■ were finally overcome. Enver Bey's emissaries bribed the Bedouins, ami war 'stores were. sent south. A German ofiicer provided with large sums of money, went to Syria to suborn the local chiefs. The Khedive himself was a party to the conspiracy. The German Embassy actually mad'e arrangements in his presence for a military expedition across the frontier. The Allies' Ambassadors, hoping to delay the war, accepted many hostile acts which might have occasioned a rupture of relations. After the attack on Odessa and the Bedouin occupation of the wells at Mgdaba, for the purpose of an attack on the Suez Canal, Sir Louis Mallet had a painful interview' with the Grand Vizier, who pleaded that the situation was still not irretrievable. The Ambassador replied that the only possibility was the dismissal of the German Mission. A majority of the Cabinet Council -on the evening of August 2!) favoured peace, but was powerless to dismiss the German naval officers. TURKISH FLEET ACTIVE. RUSSIAN COAST BOMBARDED. Received 13, 5.5 p.m. Athens, December 12. Turkey has forbidden the export of figs and grapes from Smyrna. Amsterdam, December 12. It is reported at Berlin that the Turkish fleet bombarded the coast in the neighborhood of Batoum, killing a number of Russians, and wounding many. AN AFFRONT TO ITALY. Received 13, 5.5 p.m. Rome, December 12. Turkish soldiers endeavoured to arrest the Lrit'ih Consul at IVuVida. The latter escaped to the Italian Consulate. The Turks forced an entrance and seized the British Consul. Italy has sent a strong protest to the Porte. Italian newspapers demand a complete explanation. (Hodeida is a fortified town and seaport in Yemen, Arabia, on the east coast of the Red Sea. Population, 40,000.) Received 13, 12,35 a.m. Rome, December 12. The warship Guiliana has arrived at H'cili-jJn GERMAN TYRANNY RESENTED. Received 13, 0 p.m. London, December 12. A message received from Athens reports that the several weeks' revolt of Turkish officers and men at Constantinople against German officers' tyranny culminated in a serious riot in the bar-: racks at Stambour. Two German instructors at Stamboul were wounded. ' TURKISH GUNBOAT SUNK. Received 13, 0 p.m. Received 13 6 p.m. Paris, December 12. A message from Constantinople states that a Turkish gunboat was sunk By a mir:; .it the entrance to the Ihrlanel'cs. A GERMAN BOUNDER. VON DER GOLTZ TO TAKE VICEREGAL CHARGE. Received 13, 5.5 p.m. Sofia, December 12. General Von der Goltz is staying a fewdays in Bulgaria. He says he will occupy apartments at the Sultan's Palace at Constantinople, and assume vice-regal functions. t 1 [■} . liji-'j KHEDIVE AND KAISER. A HIGH-SOUNDING THREAT. \ Received 13, 5.15 p.m." Cairo, December 12. The Khedive is as Alexandrctta, where 300 German officers and 40,000 Turkish troops are gathered. The Berlin Vossischo Zietung interviewed the Khedive at Constantinople. He said Turkey was going to strike England at licr most vulnerable point. The enterprise was most carefully prepared. When England's political pressure was removed, economic coercion would cease, and Germany ■ would take her proper place in Egyptian markets. The Khedive added: "The Kaiser is our greatest living statesman. I revere him on account of his sympathy with Islam."