New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-02-16
To the Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Now that the fate of Constantinople has
been sealed, what will be the likely dlspo-
sition of the balance of Turkey? The cor
rect answer to this question must be sought
in the history of the Turks. Since 1857, when
the Turks were first identified with our his
tory. to the present day their rule has been
an unbroken record of human suffering and
destruction They have been directly re-
sponsi5le for ten out of fifteen principal in
ternational wars of the last hundred years.
Here a people of four TO five millions, taking
advantage of international jealousies ana
squabbes, have not only for centuries OPP
pressed and prosecuted a dozen alien SUP
iect races, but they have withheld from the
use of the world an extensive country en-
lowed with all the bounties of nature, which
is now shrunken in area to the size OF
France. Germany and Austria Hungary COM
bined.
Then il follows that the considerations OF
the proved unftness and incompetency of the
Turk for self-rule advocate the dlscontsu-
nnce of his rule. But unfortunately moral
reasons alone do not make and unmake
states. In the case of the Turk it is neces-
nary that the termination of his rule should
he not only in harmony with, but even cor
ducive to, the interests Of the nations OF the
Entente And, particularly, unless the re-
moval Of the Turk accrues to the interest OF
Great Britain he will continue to hold noml-
nal sway over a considerable portion OF his
Asiatic possessions.
II is strange that even to-day there IS III
England circle of men who do not want 10
see Turkey entirely dsmembered, through
the instructive fear Of the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Il. no
seeing Germany in Asia. Yet this war is a
melancholy commentary on the Disraelian
policy, which kept in the Turk to keep OIL
Russia from Constantinople, and consequently
excited the more aggressive ambition OF Ger
many, which resulted in the Great War To-
day il is a fact as clear as the sun that the
considerations of the interests of Great Brit
ain both as a Moslem and an Aslatlc power,
the maintenance of peace and the equl-
librium of power in the Near East not only
suggest the advisabiity, but clearly demand
the necessity of the elimination of Turkey as
q state.
A Turkey that is dependent upon or subject
TO the influence of more than one nation Will
become a bone of contention among them and
q recurrent cause Of international discords
and wars Turkey that is divided up into
spheres of influence will again become hot
bed of native and foreign intrlgues and con-
:roversies A Turkey that is left free to con-
ceive and to act will again become sub
servient tool in the hands of an ambitious
foreign nation. The Turkey of Talaat-Enver
IS more insufferable deadly plague than the
Turkey of Abdul Hamid, which was the shame
Of civilization.
Moreover, the possession of Constantine
pie by Russia makes a ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF
Turkey now inevitable. Russia at CONSTANT
nople will be separated from her mainland
by the Turk provinces of Trebizond and Cas-
tamuni which she must eventually have. II
at the conference that took place between
Russia and her allies the conferrees did not
mention or did not provide for the future
disposition Of the Black Sea coast, then they
omitted all essential part of the major ques-
ton, which is bound to come up at not DIS
tant future. To give Constantinople to Rus
STA without a land route to reach 1t, and THIS
without any logical or defensible reason, is
very much like offering an appetizer to nun
cry person and then Withholding from MIN
the entree, in full view and within his reach