The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-10
TURKEY NO MORE DENIES GERMAN
 RULE IN COUNTRY Though Officials Have Claimed No Suzerainty
 Existed Over Them WHY OTTOMAN JOINED IN THE GREAT WAR Leaders and Those in Power Feared That the Allies Would Divide
 the Country After
 Victory

CCAASteAAtiiOPiC, ouHC N0-tSOIIoSpOH- dence of the Associated Press.)-In Otto- man government circles the view Is held that much nonsense Is being circulated about the relations of Turkey to Ger many. The many official reports issued on the subject have had no result, it is said, so that now the government of- fices at Stamboul care no longer as to what degree of German suzerainty over the Ottoman empire is alleged
 The facts of the case are declared to be as follows: Enver Pasha, minister of war and vice generallisimo of the Otto- man army, and the former German am- bassador to Turkey, Baron Hans von Wangenheim, were the men who first brought the Turkish and German gov ernments together on the war issue Both of them took the stand that Turkey would be sacrificed by the entente unless her government adopted the radical meas ure of joining the central powers. This view was also taken by the next strongest man in Constantinople. Talaat Bey, min ister of the interior. To the group were soon added the grand vizier and the leaders of the progress and union party, official title of the Young Turks.
 This was the only connection between Germany and Turkey at the time var was declared upon the entente It was discovered soon that things did not al- ways work well when left entirely to of- ficial Channels. The presence in Con- stantiople of Liman von Sanders Pasha, head of the German military mission, caused considerable friction. Sanders Pasha was none too well liked at the German embassy. T. was said Sanders Pasha considered himself entirely an Ot- toman officer. and resented even the slightest suggestion from the embassy. In this he was supported by Enver Pasha whose loyalty to the field marshal was unshakable, even when Berlin suggested that he be removed because the opera tions on Gallipoli were not swift enough
 The resulting friction never went be- yond the bounds of disagreements among friends, but to eliminate it became the duty of man in a somewhat obscure position In Constantinople, Corvette Cap tain Humann, commander of the German naval base here Captain Humann is in the German imperial naval service, though born in Smyrna as son Of the ATCIcOlOSlst IluliidHI cASdVdlOr or the ruins of Pergammon. Captain Humann knew Enver Pasha when the latter was telegraph operator, and today the two address one another in the German familiar 'du" or thou.
 CAPTAIN HUMANN THE MAN
 It fell to the lot of Captain Humann to straighten out all angles. It is said that he never failed. Born in smyrna he seemed to have imbibed with the air a good deal of the psychology os the Oriental. He knows the. Turk, his temperament. language and methods of thought. and when Baron von Wan genheim and his aides had failed to persuade the officials in Stamboul they would ask Captain Humann to try. But the captain never had to go further than the office of Enver Pasha There would be an exclamation of what was wanted and then Enver Pasha would make telephone call with sat- isfaction all around.
 That the Germans had ever been able to impose their will upon the Turkish government in despotic manner is an absurd claim. The Associated Press correspondent has seen from number of incidents that the Turkish govern ment. officials look upon themselves as full equals in all affairs they have in common with the Germans.
 It Is fact that no officer from Ger many ever served in any capacity in the Ottoman army or government as ! German officer. Before he could oc- cupy himself with matters distinctly Turkish. or before he could issue a single order in the Ottoman army, the German officer had to enter formally the service of the Sultan and change his uniform for a Turkish one. No ex- captions have ever been permitted in this.
 The attitude of the Turkish govern ment is that while German officers. noncommissioned officers and men, were needed in the Turkish army, they could be admitted only as Ottoman sol- dlers All are subject to the Ottoman military and civil laws, though on the latter point there Is still difference of opinion. because Germany has as yet not officially recognized the abolition of the capitulations. This affected all, even the highest, men. such as Ad- miral Won Usedom Pasha. Admiral Su- chon. General Mertens Pasha, Field Marshal Won Der Goltz Pasha. Field