Turkey in revolution

Front matter

BOOKS ON TURKEY AND THE BALKANS.

THE BALKANS— ROUMANIA, BULGARIA, SERVIA AND MONTENEGRO. With a New Chapter containing their History from 1896 to 1908, and New Illustrations. By William Miller, M.A., Associate of the British Schools at Athens and Rome. (" Story of the Nations.") Large crown 8vo, cloth, 5s.

TURKEY. With a New Chapter on Recent Events. By Stanley Lane-Poole, M.A., Litt.D., late Professor of Arabic in the University of Dublin. (" Story of the Nations.") Large crown 8vo, cloth, 5s.

Contents

PAGE

INTRODUCTION . . . . . -13 PART I

CHAPTER

Part II

VI. THE FIRST IMPRESSION . . . . 85

VII. WHAT LIBERTY MEANS . . . . IOI

VIII. PERSONALITIES . . . . , II3

IX. THE COMMITTEE OF UNION AND PROGRESS . I27

X. YOUNG TURK POLICY . . . .139

XI. ABDUL HAMID . . . . 151

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

XII. THE SHEIKH-UL-ISLAM . . . . 1 67

XIII. THE ELECTIONS . . . 1 85

XIV. THE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT . . 195

XV. THE DEPUTIES AT WORK . . . 207

xvi. Europe's welcome . . . .217

XVII. WAR-CLOUDS , . . . .227

Part III

XVIII. THE WISE AND PRUDENT .... 239

XIX. PROSPECTS . . . . . 2 57 XX. IN THE CRIMEAN CEMETERY . . .269

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Map of European Turkey and the Balkan States

Old and New . . . . Frontispiece

A procession of voters, going to record their votes, is crossing the Galata Bridge, a floating bridge with a surface of uneven planks, across the Golden Horn from Galata to Stamboul. In the background is the Valideh Mosque. (Photo L'Aigle.)

FACING PAGE

The Sultan's Favourites . . . . 25

Taken from a rough broadsheet sold in the streets of Constantinople after the Revolution. The Lion of Liberty is facing a hydra-headed monster, the heads representing the various Palace favourites who really controlled the government in the old days — the famous " Palace Gang."

Justice and Police under the Sultan's Government . . . . . .28

The Police School. From the Kalem, or The Pen. This paper, from which I reproduce several cartoons, is one of the happiest literary products of the Turkish Revolution. The picture represents the incapacity and injustice of the old regime.

The White Tower. On my visit in 1907, a Bulgarian had just been hanged here, and his body exposed to public view for three days.

In the Streets of Monastir . . . . 38

Bulgarians at a street corner.

A general view over bright red roofs. Mosques in the distance.

Monastir . . . . . .61

The place where General Shemshi Pasha was shot, on entering his carriage to drive to Resna to suppress the incipient Revolution.

(a) The quay, showing the White Tower in the distance.

(b) The place where the transports arrived from Asia Minor,

List of Illustrations

FACING PAGE

carrying the troops which the Sultan hoped would be able to put down the revolutionary movement among the 3rd Army Corps in Macedonia.

The Gardens of the White Tower. From this place the telegram was despatched on July 23rd, 1908, conveying to the Sultan the ultimatum of the Committee of Union and Progress. It was here that the Committee met that night and awaited the Sultan's decision.

Rejoicings after the grant of the Constitution. A procession of Bulgarians.

The 24TH of July . . . . .68

A picture postcard commemorating the grant of the Constitution, with a portrait of Enver Bey, and an inscription " Long live the Fatherland ! Long live the Nation ! Long live Freedom ! "

Constantinople . . . . . -72

Rejoicings after the grant of the Constitution. A procession through the streets of Pera. (Photo L'Aigle.)

Constantinople. . . . . .89

A procession of voters crossing the Galata Bridge. The Galata Tower crowns the hill to the left. (Photo L'Aigle.)

An Official of the Old RAgime . . .106

The Young Turks are presenting him with a bill for his peculations and misdeeds. (From a broadsheet sold in the streets of Constantinople after the Revolution.)

A Demonstration before the Office of the

President of the Council . . .111

From the steps a speech is being delivered on liberty, equality, and fraternity. (Photo L'Aigle.)

Enver Bey in Salonica . . . .116

He is crossing a square in front of a Greek restaurant. A snapshot taken a few days after the Revolution. Like the other members of the Committee of Union and Progress, Enver Bey has refused to allow his photograph to be taken for sale, so that the picture possesses exceptional interest. He wears the khaki uniform which the Young Turk officers had agreed to adopt for the expected civil war. The flags in the background, and the seller of newspapers, are typical of the new state of affairs.

Ahmed Riza Bey, first President of Chamber of Deputies 118

For twenty-five years, as an exile in Paris, he laboured for the Young Turk cause. (By kind permission of the Editor of the Near East. )

List of Illustrations

FACING PAGE

Maniassi Zadi Refik Bey, Minister of Justice . -125

He is the only member of the Committee of Union and Progress who at present holds a Government portfolio. (By kind permission of the Editor of the Near East.)

Fraternisation of Christian Priest and Moslem

From the Kalcm, where it was entitled " Panneau decoratif pour le Parlement."

A "Manifestation" in the Streets of Pera . 143

The procession is shown on its way to the British embassy to do honour to Great Britain in recognition of the support given to Young Turkey. (Photo L'Aigle.)

The Sultan . . . . . .152

He is alighting from his carriage at the door of the mosque, on the occasion of the weekly " churchgoing " or Selamlik. The photograph is unique, as it was taken on the first Friday after the grant of the Constitution, and since that day the photographers have been excluded from the court of the mosque. It is the most life-like representation of the Sultan's features and attitude that I have seen. (Photo L'Aigle. )

The Mutiny Among the Palace Guards . . 155

After the Revolution one of the first necessities was to replace the Palace Guards of the Sultan by regiments loyal to the Constitution. Some of the Guards, who were being sent away to the provinces, resisted the order to leave. They were promptly surrounded and overpowered. The picture shows the ringleaders, in the centre of a square formed by the loyal troops from the Macedonian garrison, being addressed by Mukhtar Pasha, the commander of the 1st Army Corps, which garrisons Constantinople. They were afterwards led out and shot. (By kind permission of the Editor of the Illustrated London News.)

The Selamlik . . . . . . 156

The Sultan is shown driving down the hill from the Palace to the mosque, followed by a group of Court and other officials. Opposite him sits the Grand Vizier, Kiamil Pasha. Behind are the windows of the Palace, at which the Sultan sometimes appears to show himself to the people. Troops, four deep, line the road, and behind them is a motley crowd of sightseers, who would not have been admitted before the Revolution. (Photo L'Aigle.)

The Balkan Committee's Delegates Received by

the Sultan . . . . . 159

The Sultan is shown addressing the delegates. The scene typifies the changed attitude of those who have formerly attacked the Sultan's government on grounds of humanity. As a result of the Revolution, he has become, for the present at least, the mere figure-head of a constitutional state. (By kind permission of the Editor of the Illustrated Lo>uion News.)

II List of Illustrations

FACING PAGE

Fraternity . . . . . .172

A Turkish mollak (in the centre) is shown sitting at the voting table with a Greek priest on his right and an Armenian priest on his left. Behind are two little girls bearing the emblem of the Constitution decorated with flowers ; in front is the ballot-box. The wall at the back is the facade of a Greek church. (Photo L'Aigle.)

A polling-place in the court of a mosque in Constantinople. The place is surrounded by soldiers. Each voter receives a large blank sheet of paper, writes on it the name of the candidate of his choice, and drops it in the ballot-box. They are voting for an "elector of the second degree." These "electors" subsequently elect the deputies for the city. (Photo L'Aigle.)

A procession escorting the ballot-box, after the primary election (see the last picture), to the municipal buildings. The ballot-box is on the carriage in the background. (Photo L'Aigle.)

A scarlet flag, about 2 ft. square, of which thousands were sold on the day of the opening, December 17, 1908. The English reader will note its place of manufacture. It bears the date of the grant of the Constitution.

Prince Saba-ed-din . . . . .212

The brother-in-law of the Sultan, he has nevertheless lived in voluntary exile, in Paris, for the past ten years. He is the founder of the Union Liberale, which advocates a measure of local self-government, and claims to be more liberal than the Committee of Union and Progress. It may play an important part in Turkish politics. (By kind permission of the Editor of the Near East.)

The Lifting of the War-clouds . . . 230

This cartoon appeared in the Kalem when the prospects of peace with Austria and Bulgaria were brightening. It was called "The Lamentation of the Carrion- Crow."

The Boycott of Austrian Goods . . . 235

During the controversy with Austria, arising out of the annexation of Bosnia, all Austrian goods were boycotted by the Turkish people. The picture shows the shop of Herr Stein, in Galata, where "pickets" were stationed to warn the public not to enter. (Photo L'Aigle.)

The Boycott . . . . . .236

The chief feature of the boycott was the refusal to buy red fezzes, most of which are made in Austria. The Kalem depicts the Emperor of Austria putting on a fez, in order to persuade his people to buy up the stock of fezzes which is lying unused in the Austrian factories.

IT fell to my lot to visit Turkey both shortly before and shortly after the Revolution. Like so many others, I had been deeply interested in Near Eastern affairs since the Macedonian rising of 1903 and the brutal suppression which followed it ; I had followed the efforts of England to introduce reform, and the attitude of the other great Powers of Europe. In the autumn of 1907, nine months before the grant of the Constitution, I had an opportunity of seeing for myself the condition of affairs in Constantinople, in Macedonia, and also in the liberated countries, Servia and Bulgaria. In Macedonia I was fortunate enough to visit the places which have lately been in every one's mouth — Salonica, Monastir, Fiorina, Ochrida, Resna. In 1908 came the Revolution. The situation was suddenly changed. There was good hope, at least, of a reform of Turkey from within. That would be the best possible solution of a problem which had sometimes seemed insoluble, except by war. The Balkan Committee, of which I had been a member since its foundation, welcomed the new regime and took active steps to make known the ideas of the Young Turks to the English public. As this Committee, during the outburst of anti- English feeling which occurred in the autumn at Vienna, was credited with deep designs and almost superhuman powers, it may be as well to say that its members, drawn from all political parties, were united by the sole object of improving the condition of the European subjects of Turkey, Moslem and Christian alike. It was ready to support, therefore, any policy of reform that seemed likely to prove effective, whether its authors were the Powers of Europe or the reformers of Turkey herself. Being aware of our objects, and appreciating our recent action, the Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress, which had brought about the Revolution, invited us to send delegates to Constantinople, to make their acquaintance and to be present at the opening of the new Parliament. I was one of those who accepted the invitation. Our formal duty was to present an address of congratulation to the Committee, and a meeting was arranged for this purpose at the 6 cole

Civile, the Government school at which officials are trained. At the Committee's desire, we presented our respects to the constitutional Government which they had been the means of placing in power. We had the honour of being received by the Sultan and the Grand Vizier; while some of us had the advantage of an informal interview with the Sheikh-ul-Islam.

When I left London I fancied that, beyond the formalities of a semi-official reception, we should have no dealings with the Young Turk leaders. I promised myself some weeks of delightful rambling and gazing and inquiring, of politics and history and art. But such was not the notion of the Committee. This was to be no ordinary visit. They were to become our friends, and we were to become theirs. We were to meet "everybody " ; we were to understand the Young Turks, their aims, their hopes. They would show us how they knew something of our ideas also ; how, even in the dark days, even when we were the bitterest enemies of their Government, they knew that our efforts were disinterested ; how, being unable to communicate with us, they had resolved to convince us, not by words but by deeds ; and how delighted they were that we should have helped to influence

IS

English opinion in their favour. It was an advantage to them to be able to show the public that they had enlisted the support of some of the most active enemies of the old regime. We were Englishmen, too, and had not all intercourse with the Englishman been prohibited till now, in spite of the fondness which the Turk had always felt for him ? And so it came about that we were no mere official guests, but whenever there was no formal business to be done we were together — clattering about hither and thither in little carriages through the rocky streets, now visiting a mosque with glowing old Christian mosaics, now an elementary school, now the office of the Shura-i- Ummet, the Committee's newspaper, now the chambers where the Parliament had met in 1877. Or we were having lunch together at our hotel, or consuming a succession of indescribable Turkish dishes and sweetmeats in a dark little eating-house of Stamboul, or dining with the Mayor of the European quarter. Or we were watching a patriotic play together, our friends interpreting the sentiments, all of us thrilled with excitement at the successful tricks of the spies, the terrible court-martial, and the grand finale, with Enver Bey himself (who was sitting beside us all the time) bursting on to the stage in the khaki uniform of the revolutionary troops, dealing out stern justice to the villains of the piece, and raising the glorious standard of the Constitution.

And all the time we talked, talked in very imperfect French, talked of the things which four months before it was treason and sedition to speak of — the things which our friends had studied in secret, the ideas they had bottled up so long in their minds, unspoken ! We talked politics, and history, and economics, but above all politics — the politics of Turkey and of all the European countries, the supreme practical problem, reform, civilisation.

In such intercourse we could not fail to learn many interesting facts about the authors of the Revolution and their policy. There was much indeed which had not yet found its way into print and could not be learnt from any other lips than theirs. At the same time it was obviously difficult to acquire exact knowledge on many points. Before the Revolution everything was carried on in secret, and as no member of the Committee was acquainted with more than four others at the most, none of them were in a position to describe its work as a whole. Nor has the veil, even yet, been altogether lifted. This is partly due to the principles of the Committee itself, which prevent its members from making anything public that might glorify the achievement of some individuals at the expense of others. After the Revolution, again, the government of Turkey, stable as it seemed, and in reality was, vis-a-vis the Powers of Europe, was in a state of flux. The time was one of transition. The Ministry was a provisional one. It was thought best to leave open all questions not demanding immediate solution until the meeting of the Parliament. Everything was changing and, though order was kept, intense excitement prevailed.

The First Part of this book deals with the origin of the Revolution. It was necessary, before proceeding to the events which have recently filled the newspapers and interested the public, to recall some of the features of Old Turkey. It is only against that background that the new movement can be seen in its true colours. But I have not loaded the book with a detailed description. I have assumed a general knowledge, and merely described, under the name of "The Sultan as Revolutionist," those features of his rule which contributed directly to the revolutionary spirit. I have gone rather more closely into the case of Macedonia, which I had visited so short a time before. Macedonia affected and interested Europe in an exceptional degree, having long provided an element of danger and uncertainty in the field of international policy. In Macedonia the seed of the Revolution was sown, and the organisation first took shape which was destined to subvert the Hamidian rule. This organisation was responsible for the exciting events which startled the world in the summer of 1908, and culminated in the grant of the Constitution on July 24th. The play which I mentioned above describes how the Constitution was won, or, what is hardly less interesting, how the Turkish populace believe it was won ; and it throws some light on the opinions of the Young Turks about the Macedonian question during the pre-revolutionary period. I have thought it worth recording.

The Second and longest Part contains what I saw and heard in Turkey during the period of ferment which followed the Revolution. The state of Constantinople presented at this time such extraordinary novelties, its picturesqueness appealed so much to the eye, and its strange contrasts awakened so many memories, that I have tried to reproduce the impression I received on revisiting it, before the new information had begun to sort itself into pigeon-holes. I have then drawn attention to the actual effects of the Revolution, as distinguished from its prospects ; to show how much it has already achieved, and what "mere liberty, ,, as we sometimes con temptuously call it, really means. The personalities of the Young Turk leaders, and of the prominent men in the Ministry, are described first, and this leads to an account of the position and conduct of the Committee of Union and Progress after their first and greatest object had been secured. In fact, though not in name, they controlled the government through the period of transition. All Europe was impressed by their statesmanlike qualities, which were chiefly based, I have ventured to suggest, on the moral character developed by their earlier efforts. Their policy, and that of the reforming Turks in general, was eagerly discussed and criticised at this time ; and it was closely connected with the vital question of the liberal movement in Mohammedanism, about which the Sheikh-ul- Islam talked to us very freely and emphatically. What I have to say of the position of the Sultan, both present and future, I have woven into an account of the Selamlik, or weekly " church-going," and of the interview which he accorded to us. During these months the elections for the new Parliament were proceeding all over the Empire. They would have attracted even more interest than they did, if they had not been conducted with such complete order and good humour. They culminated in the opening of the Parliament by the Sultan, a historic ceremony which I have described in some detail. This leads up to the subject of the Parliament itself, its composition, and such guesses as could be made at the time as to its probable grouping and action. There would have been enough of interest in such a picture if it had been confined to the internal affairs of Turkey. But the dawn of the Revolution was tempestuous. Austria, Bulgaria, and Greece expressed their welcome in a painfully violent form ; the whole question of the southern Slavs was suddenly raised ; long-standing ententes and alliances were threatened ; the leaders of Young Turkey were plunged at the outset into foreign difficulties ; and the constant danger of war overhung the first six months of the new regime. The whole picture is little more than a rough sketch of a movement in rapid progress. Such pictures may easily be distorted; but I hope I have provided facts enough to correct any rash conclusions which may have slipped in by the way.

The last Part consists chiefly of reflexions. I am prepared for the charge that it is the dullest of the three ; some will think it unnecessary. I will only plead in justification that it includes the reflexions of others besides myself — men of much longer experience, and well qualified to speak from the point of view of students, diplomatists, merchants or financiers ; and that while it certainly contains material for criticism, it may also supply some food for thought. The anticipations of the best judges are part of the facts of the present situation. The returning traveller is always met by the query, "Will the new order be permanent?" It would be affectation not to attempt a reply. Lastly, no Englishman can prevent himself from looking back at the history of his country's relations with Turkey since the Crimean War, and speculating, if vaguely and inconsequently, about the future.

I cannot write a final account of the Turkish Revolution ; but if my picture needs correcting, History will correct it.

KrphaL '

' Crete ? ft iV/ 4 P ITER AlANE A *

S E A

Long" East 20 of Greenwich

Scale of English Miles

CHAPTER I HEN the ultimatum, demanding the

V V Constitution within twenty-four hours, reached the Palace, the favourites debated, it is said, as to who should announce the unwelcome news to His Majesty. At last one, bolder than the rest, entered the Imperial presence, carrying, as he thought, his life in his hand. To hrs astonishment, the Sultan replied that the news gave him great pleasure, as this was the object which he had laboured throughout his whole reign to achieve. And in a sense he was right. "The real author of the Revolution," I have heard it said more than once, "is Abdul Hamid."

He came to the throne in August, 1876. The opening of his reign was marked by a tragic failure abroad and a bitter disappointment at home. A Conference was summoned at Constantinople, as a result of various insurrections in European Turkey. To put the Powers off the scent, the Sultan granted a Constitution. Parliament opened in March, 1877. The Russian War, so disastrous for Turkey, began in April of the same year. The Parliament was closed, and finally suspended in February, 1878. After that ill-omened beginning, the Sultan's government went from bad to worse. The army of spies increased until it numbered more than forty thousand, and cost two millions a year. The Sultan became more and more ingenious in appealing, when political necessities required it, to anti-Christian fanaticism. This was the chief practical use of his claim to the position of Khalif, or leader of all the faithful. By playing on the rivalry of Christian nationalities, granting churches and bishoprics now to one and now to another, favouring the weaker until it became the stronger, and then exciting the animosity of its rival, he maintained a precarious equilibrium which kept him and his favourites in power. He encouraged robber Kurds or Albanians, whose military support was valuable, to enrich themselves at the expense of the peaceful and industrious. His system, regarded as a means of preserving autocracy, had only two drawbacks. One was that the railways and the telegraphs, without which he could not have consolidated his position, brought into the Empire a breath of Western civilisation and some inkling of Western methods. The other was that, while he cramped education, he failed to suppress it ; and among all thoughtful people the desire for it was only intensified b) the persecution.

A mild tyranny would not have sufficed to provoke a docile and loyal people. But the Sultan's tyranny was not mild. At a moderate estimate, 10,000 persons have suffered death for purely political offences in the last thirty years, apart altogether from massacre and civil war. What was even more effective, the most intelligent and disinterested men have for years been exiled — not to remote steppes, where their influence would have been wasted, but to populous cities all over the provinces, where they have become centres for the propagation of liberal ideas.

Men of independence and character might have sought compensation in quiet and obscurity. It was not permitted. The director of the museum had his books and papers seized and destroyed ; a remnant of them he sent to Europe, and now, since the Revolution, he has received them back — " two boxes full," as he exclaims with beaming face. His brother, an archaeologist, was forbidden to visit the royal archives and treasures. A professor of my acquaintance taught the principles of Free Trade ; he found himself suddenly removed from his post for speaking of " freedom." A lecturer on constitutional law was not allowed to pronounce the word " constitution." A distinguished lawyer told me that he had written a book on the social life of Turkey ; fearing detection and possible persecution, he had burned the manuscript. An artist, who had studied painting in Paris eleven years ago, was forbidden to return — his dearest wish denied him. Any ^ association with foreigners was certain to lead to suspicion and espionage. An ambassador came to take his leave of a Turkish gentleman. M Many of my compatriots will be sorry to lose you," said the Turk. " I fear they will not," replied the ambassador ; " for, apart from the officials with whom I have had to come in contact, you are the only Turk I know." In 1901, all heads of families employing European tutors or governesses were ordered to dismiss them. Three or four could not dine together without being 11 reported on." There was no end to the odious and often absurd activity of the Sultan's spies. Since the Revolution there has been published the text of a letter dated August ii, 1905, from one Vamik-Chukri Bey, an official in the Ministry of the Interior, who deems it his duty to draw his superiors' attention to a newspaper article on the Russo-Afghan War. The town of Khiva, he says, obviously stands for the celebrated reforming priest Chiva, and the defeated Afghans are in reality the Turks ! The evils of the old regime made quite as deep an impression upon the best of the Turks themselves as upon the Christians. Their feelings may be summed up by some lines from the chief poem of Tewfik Fikret Bey, a patriot who has lived to see the destruction of the evils which he deplored in secret. The poem has been translated by Miss Jenkins, of the Home College at Scutari, in a metre which imitates the original couplets : —

" O Fear, armed Fear, to whose swift downfall go From the widow and orphan each loud plaint of woe. . . . O laws but tradition, O Tyranny, 'neath Whose oppression no safety nor right but to breathe.

O Justice, the courts have expelled thee for aye, Unredeemable promise, eternal lie. People, losing all power of emotion from fear, To you is aye stretched out Suspicion's long ear. O mouths dumbly locked by the fear of the spy, Popularity wide brings but Hate in full cry. To be Policy's slave, Sword and Pen, is your lot ; O great Moral Law, e'en thy visage forgot."

The Sultan's rule was not merely malignant. It was stupid. Its favouritism became ridiculous. It sent ambassadors to the European capitals, or envoys to the Hague Conference, who could hardly read or write ; names might be mentioned, but it is useless to rake up the past. It was monstrously extravagant. A navy whose engines were thick with rust, and whose ships could not leave their moorings, was commanded byseven thousand naval officers. The luxury of Yildiz Kiosk, and the swarm of new palaces which accommodated his favourites or imprisoned his possible rivals, drained away the scantyresources of the State, while the potential wealth of its once fertile soil was left undeveloped. The old rdgime had only one merit : it was picturesque. There were, and perhaps there are, observers of such singular mental detachment that for this one virtue they forgave it all its sins. They loved the "Old Turk," the

JUSTICE AND POLICE UNDER THE SULTAN'S GOVERNMENT. [Kalem.

Instructor. What is the Police ?

Pupil. The instrument for the execution of Justice.

Instructor. And what is Justice ?

Pupil. The regular payment of the salaries of the Police..

Note the sleeping pupil, the cobwebs, and the picture of the policeman standing with his back to the murderer. The Kalem, or Pen, from which I have leproduced this and several other cartoons, would take high rank as a comic weekly in any country. It is one of the happiest literary products of the Turkish Revolution.