The Detroit times., 1916-07-15
Binding Tie of Otto
man Empire Is Now
Severed
IMPORTANCE HAS
BEEN OVERLOOKED
Christians Soon to Be
Able to Invade
Holy City
~ TIE RELIGIOUS RAMBLER.

~ JUS MALICIOUS RAMblEF.
So vague Ii American knowledge
. cCncerning the geography and pol
!. ltics Of the near east, that relatively
\ few persons have read, or. having
x Rad. have understood the news that
& tn Arabs OF the Hejaz nave reve.t-
Z % and captured Mecca from the
s Turks, and that they were attack
INK Medina. Jiddah, the Red sea
G port Of : Mecca. was also taken by
the Arabs. Kerbela and Meshed
& All. IN southern Arabia, or Baby
y loulis, 10 use the ancient name. have
also been reported in revolt against
j Constantinople.
All OF this is news of staggering
Z Importance. II Is worse for the
4 Sublime Porte than the Russian vic
tel1es In the Caucasus, or the final
Il severance of the tie that bound
Egypt to Turkey. This IL the SUI
. preme misadyenture for CONSTANT
1Opie For 1t means in a single
sentence. that the one tie which
bound the conglomerare Ottoman
empire together. loyalty to the sui
tan m Cahph, Or successor of Mo
haSnmed, has been severed. The
Oaliphate has been taken back by
~ Arabs. to which II rightfully be-
1oEes, and with whom 1t resided for
eonturies after the death of the
pt0phet. until the sons OF Gilman
I invested II from the family OF
xeeeish. with whom Mohammed de
I eseed II should forever remain.
me- n the near east politics and re-
Sr1on are inextricable. Religion
#103 ~ said TO be super-poiitics.
VI cfooa rather than party binds peo-
~ together. The enc explanation
I ~ the continued survival Of THE
4 NOT man Of Europe" Is simply
Jsl4m Turkey mas represented the
I toedership Of all the followers of
tie Prophet. These 0.e00 900
4 Moslems. scattered through the do
Is Sninicn Of Great Britain, Russia.
Germany, France, Italy and Hol-
land. have been ever before the
4 minds Of the statesmen of Europe.
The present sultan OF Turkey is
tscoH1mander OF the faithful" He
has many other titles, the latest he.
y ne given. as IL in sandonic irony,
u n sMohammed tho victorious" Ma
i attribute Of his ONCE approaches In
Importance his position as the sue
3 cess0r OF McharImed That IL tho
secret OF his power. Now, az all
rsrdcnts know, there is not drop
& q Arabian blood in the veins OF
y ~ Turkish sulians. Hourly they
hqve lived IL fear of a revolt of the
laithful, which might be caused by
y knowledge Of that fact. Even in
~ pest the issue has been raised in
4 fhe name OF orthodoxy by the Arabs,
md especially by the Wahabis, who
have ever been Keen to protest that
The Turks are not good Moslems.
3 With the Caliphate wrested from
Turkish hands, the Turkish empire
Inevitably crumbles.
Behind the military activity Of
the war has gone an immense
amount of secret intrigue on the
( part of all nations concerned. II T.
I. ncw generally known that ty the
\ oGpeement OF the Allics the Turkish
newer In TO be overhrown, II the
Allies are successful. As Lord
Il Bryce said the o'her day, the power
- shay Christians IL to be forever
* taken from the Turk.
II preparation for this consum-
nation, and 10 remove forever fror,
The Turk the power to proclaim a
holy war;" Great Britain has long
II been discussing and negotiating az
4 to whom she should assist 10 as.
eume the Caliphate. There really
were only two possibilities, the sui.
Ian Of Egypt being out OF the ques-
nm. These two were The sheikh
q - the scnussi and the Shereef of
"a Mecca. Persons who keep informed
<h - near eastern affairs know that
0ony months ago Prita'ns cnoice
~ On the shereef of Mecca. His
e1olms were superior in many re.
npocts. Most Important OF all. his
no1o was IA Mecca. He II known
oGurs 70 hundreds Of thousands al
a lope)ems over the entire lslamfc
wovId. Mecca Is the capital and the
u1ginA oflthe Faithful. lie Ia of tn,
tfibe Of kcrslsh, to whom IN,
A Arabs would rally. ~ well AZ othel
1lonlems
- al this eiabcrate and intricat,
DotlInG the Shah Mostems. VIII
- oounted unc-thodox by the Sur
~ we're taken into consideration
~ onaIly won over The impor
~ - this politically lies In IN
oGoe Shs Moslems of Persia an
~ onlAh MosIeIns. This sec
hnpo Ksfbela and Meshe
n1noA second only to Me-
- There have revolt