Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-01
TURKEYS ENTRY INTO THE WAR

Turkeys act of war against Russia
came as a complete surprise to those
who have been follow
HoStilitieS ing the course of the
government at Con-
. Su1PA1se' stantinople from the
OF the European campaign.
Until almost the eve Of this precipi-
tant procedure. which has been all but
subsequently by Turkish
a dispatch from London
stated that Turkey had assured the
amba ssadors of Great Britain. Russia
and France that she intended to main
tain her policy of neutrality. Much
is required to clarity the
which has been SO suddenly
changed by the hostile maneuvers of
the former German cruisers against
Russian ships and ports in the BLACK
Sea.
Certain recent dispatches. however,
have Indicated a serious schism In
Turkish governmental affairs. One for
instance dated London, October -.
announced that the Sultan OF Tur-
key. at a family council. unexpect-
eddy proclaimed Yossouf 1zzedin, heir
presumptive to the Turkish throne. as
generalissimo of the army and navy.
and this had been done to combat the
of Enver Pasha.'
In a previous article We have had oc-
Gen. Cherif Pasha. Turkish general
officer of distinction. who said that
the Ottoman patriots grouped around
me In opposition to the wicked commit
tee OF union and progress energetical-
ly protest against the attitude of the
NJ ny in pn1
land" And, Furthermore. Gen. Cherif
Pasha expressed the hope that the true
Ottoman patriots would not be con-
founded with a handful of inscriptions
politicians attached to certain intri-
gantes by interest and venality.
"A handful Of INSCRIPTIONS poll
ticians." This can only refer to Enver
Pasha and his acolytes, and explains,
perhaps. the reported action of the
sultan in appointing Yussouf Izzedin
luton to have done with the dictator
ship of Enver Pasha.
Reading between the lines of Gen.
Cherif Pasha's letter to Sir Edward
Grey, there can be no doubt that there
are two distinct and widely separated
parties in Turkey: The committee of
union and progress. or the Young
Turk" and the party of the ''Old Turk"
The Young Turk. which is no longer
the liberal party of 1905. but now a
venal. while the "Old Turk" formerly
associated with the party of Hamid.
has become the patriot and real
Turk" after the manner of such adj
mirable types as the late Gen. Nazim
Pasha and the aforementioned Gen.
Cherif Pasha.
y 1t was fatal indeed that the young
Turk" party should become reactionary
with the abandon
Young Turks ment of its high
ideals. Its action in
heactlouaIy. the interior is char
acterized by an absolutism which is
nothing less than tyranny. In Janu-
airy a commission composed of the
grand vizier, el-Cheika- ul Islam, Enver
Pasha and the Crown Prince Yussouf
met to elaborate the status of the i'm
perial family. A project of law COM
posed of twenty-four articles was es-
tablished.
This commission styled itself the "dy-
nastic council" 1t decided, for ex-
ample. that the imperial princes should
not receive strangers except by special
authority; that their going out of their
residences should be reported; that they
could not sell or buy property; that
no marriage could be contracted; that
no voyage could be undertaken without
the consent of the dynastic council.
The imperial family protested, the
crown prince the first, but he was in
two sons of the sultan accepted. Nine
princes signed a protest. What plot
was proposed it does not appear, but
it was designed thus to reopen the
mysterious palace life practiced by
the redoubtable Sultan Hamid, and thus
strengthen the hand of some dictator
when he had seized control of the
state.
Enver Pasha, Talaat, Djemal ana
Djavid constitute veritab1e directory
which the sultan has learned to fear.
Djavid Is supple, active and impertur-
bable. He conducts all financial and
economical affairs with address. Djemal
Pasha, Ex-Governor of Pera. who. after
the assassination of Mahmoud Chevket
Pasha presided over the bloody reprisal
that followed. Today general and also
minister of marine, he dreamed OF
making Turkey a great naval power.
Talaat, minister of the interior. is en-
dowed with many qualities OF the
statesman: he is calm. dfgnined, ana
full of tact in his personal relations.
and he is decidedly the most interest
ing figure of the directory.
Enver Pasha, however, Is the man OF
the hour, and believes himself man
of destiny. He was born In Roumeiia
thirty-fiVe years ago. Minister OF wal,
he holds in his hands all the military
and naval resources of Turkey. Enver
is mad with ambition, and anects the
genius of Napoleon. He dreams IN
secret of being able to convert the
a ctual Ottoman directory into con
sulate. In the role of first consul ne
would change the consulate INTO en-
nirei His position as son-in-law OF the
en1tan he believes, will help him in
his aspirations.
Enver is the hero of the Tripoiitan.
He assassinated Nazim Pasha: the gen
eralissimo of the Turkish
Asaosa;n army Maxim Pasha be-
longed to the Old Turk
OF Nazlm. party. Honest. patriotic
and brave, he represented the very best
In the Turk, among whom there are
many truly great and good men. The
atrocious act of assassination of Nazim
was doubtless to open the way of en-
pire to his assassin. But neither Enver.
Talaat, Djemal or Djavid. the four
members Of the Ottoman directory. can
be said to be very near to the capital
of their aspirations. They are not
popular. They have spilled the blood
of their adversaries and are known to
be the authors of many murders, and
the people do not forget, but follow
them with terrible hatred. The direc-
tory may be assassinated at any mo-
want The friends and relatives OF