Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-12-26
THE TURKISH REVOLUTION.

THE TURKISH REVOLUTION.
4 One OF the notable occurrences OF the
year is the converting OF a Turkish par
lament at Constantinople VIII the
I experiment OF popular government sue
coed there2 1t is to be tried under the
I most exacting circumstances. The great
| majority Of the people under Turkish
| rule are not accustomed to take an
interest in the affairs of the state. They
are Ignorant and fanatic. In Turkey
the adherents of different religions have
been at war; can they now, all at once.
meet as equals in parliamentary de-
bates? Will they be able to unite IN
defense of the country and for its ad-
vancement along the lines Of European
civilization? These questions are to be
determined by the experiment now be-
| ing made. 1t is to be hoped
| that 1t will be greater success than
| the constitutional government estab-
llshed in 1876, which did not last many
months.
The present reform is due to the ag1.
tatlon Of the Young Turkey party, of
the existence of which little was known
until recently. 1t seems that ever since
the year 1S30--a year ever memorable
In our own hlstory-there has been a
tendency among the more enlightened
Turks to turn to Europe for ideals and
| to leave Asiatic standards. French in
stitutions in particular were studied by
| them. w
In the year mentioned Reshid. a
Young Turk, gathered some followers.
They hoped to see a reformed, re-or-
ganized Ottoman empire They real
tied that the conquered races would al
| ways be in revolt as long as the hand
OF oppression rested upon them. They,
| therefore, proposed to unite the races
in a. common cause. They would try to
| root out all feuds and prejudIoes exist
| ing between various races, and mako
| them united community, an Otto.
man nation under one political institu-
ton, shared by everybody, participated
| in by Christian and Moslem alike.
| The first notable result of their work
was the proclamation in 1853, by Sultan
| Abdul Medjid, of a charter granting a
| measure of equality and liberty to all
| Turkish subjects. IN 1876 a constitu-
I ton prepared by Midhat Pasha was
| promulgated. At that time Herzegoyi-
ma, Servia, and Bulgaria were in re-
volt. On December %, 1876 tho am
bassadors OF the European powers held
| a conference in Constantinople to draw
q reform program and demand Of the
Sublime Porte that it be put into effect
| Immediately. On the first day of this
| conference, with firing of one hundred
! cannons. suddenly r constitution was
proclaimed This meant to notify the
| powcrs that Il representative, parlia-
mentary Turkey was able to inaugurate
/ reforms, to establish Justice and peace
for all, that there was no need of for
| eign interference. Soon, war with RUS
! STA was declared, and Sultan Abdul
i Hamid who was not in sympathy with
the progressive program, seized the OPP
4 portunity to abolish the parliament and
/ do away With all the patriotic Young
/ Turks. Midhat Pasha was eXied and
murdered, and others imprisoned
| Young Turks. after the disastrous
/ war with Russia, We're forced to seek
4 refuge abroad. They established head
4 quarters in Paris. From there litera-
] ture was circulated, but the movements
A were SO secret as to attract very little
attention. The party Is divided into
factions. but their programs are almost
identical. Their aspirations are: Tho
abdication of Sultan Abdul Hamidi res
ervation of the Ottoman dynasty; the
re-establishment of the constitution, of
1876; the DEVELOPMENT OF the country's
industry, commerce. and natural re-
sources; the spread of education and
civilization among all the GLASSES, and
through absorbing all the elements
within the country into one strong ma
ton, naturalization of all the foreign
intervention in the internal affairs of
the Ottoman empire.
The party, 1t seems, was not pre-
pared for the coup when it fell, but
events took their own course. The head
of the sendarmerie at Salonika was
Nazim Bey, a palace spy, who hap
pened to be related to Ahmed Boy,
the head of the Young Turkey party.
Nazim Bey made himself very obnox-
Z ious and was shot at on the day of a
fete. Then he fed 10 Constantinople
and reported that he was no longer
safe in Salonika, The leader OF the
revolutionary party was suspected Of
completely in the attempted murder.
..7tsl, -,
stantinopae, but as he knew what that
meant, he saved himself by fight The
i standard Of revolt had been raised at
Resna. 50 Ahmed Bey went there, and
the constitution was first proclaimed In
the hills near that city by a small as