TURKS AND TURKS.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2936, 13 July 1878, Page 2

TURKS AND TURKS.

A Constantinople merchant writes as follows to the Times :—" It is incumbent on every Englishman in these critical times to give the 1 benefit of his experience in matters connected with Turkish' affairs if, by so doing, he can thrown any light on the subject. And Ido not hesitate to say that private individuals like myself, long resident in this country, whd know»the languages and have intimate relations with the body of the people,.are at times better able to give a correct opinion than those who are surrounded by the atmosphere of official reserve. I have many opportunities of testing the. feelings of the Turks, and I have endeavoured to make the best .use of them.. They are now divided by . unmistakeablo demarcation into two distinct classes—the official world, that' is, the mongrel;race which form the Government: element, and the non-official world,. consisting of the pure Turks, who form the governed, inclusive of the army up to the rank of sergeant. The official, world, .with, selfpreservation in view, have thrown themselves body and soul'into'the hands of Russia, and will obey her.beheßts,' against England or any other Power, knowing that Russia alone will, for her own .purposes, protect them .from the. opeuly-ex-pressed resentment of their people. The non-official Turks, on the other hand, are savagely joyful at the prospect of a war against Russia by England, for they hope thereby to satisfy the two master-passions of their souls—viz., hatred of Russia, and hatred of their rulers. It is essential to bear this bitter antagonism; between the official and non-official worlds in view, for it is clear to me—and there is not a non-official Turk- who does not .tell me the same —that if England makes ~w|r with,Russia,.an alliance,; offensive and defensive, between Turkey and Russia will mean nothing more than*an"aU liance between the present Turkish rulera and Russia, whereas Ihe body of the Turkish people will welcome England as their deliverer, and will .fight for her as faithfully as they would have fought for their Sultans in days, gone by. I am firmly convinced that if England were to give the,signal, there would be a rising of the people and the army in' her favour, as against Russia, such as .would.astonish Europe. They say the Turks are demoralised. The official world is so..certainly in every sense, for wherever they turn an abyss is before them, but the people are as eager to fight as ever, provided they "can get leaders in whom they can have confidence—leaders who will save them from.their present rulers, leaders who they hope will continue to lead them even after peace is made. Believe me, sir, this is the feeling of the pure Turk, who has as much common sense and as little fanaticism as any European race, and is, above ail, governed by an intense anxiety to be honestly ruled over."