The Washington herald., 1918-10-24

The 'msrtyrdofn of the Greexs Ihsae-
fore comprised two per1odsf-that ante
dating the war, and that which 1,es m
In the early part OF 1915 The HIST
Fafreeted the Greeks living on tine ssa-
coast OF Asia Minor. The second
affected those living in Thrace and in
the territories surrounding the Sea of
Marmora,. the DardaneIles. the Bos-
phorus, and the coast of the Black
Sea. These latter. to the extent Of
several hundred Thousand, were sent
to the interior of Asia Minor. The
Turks adopted almost identically The
same procedure against the Greeks as
that which they had adopted ag inst
the Armenians.. They began by ifIco:--
lporat!ng the Greeks into the Ottoman
army and then transformilgs them
into y labor battslions, using them 10
build roads In the Caucasus and uIhtT
scenes OF action. These Greek sol
diers. just like the Armenians. died
by thousands from cold. hunger and
other priyations. The same house
toulouse searches for hidden weapons
took place in the Greek villages, aud
Greek men and women were beaten
and tortured just as were their fellow
ATmenians. The Greeks had to sg.-
NIT TO the same, forced acquisitions.
which amounted In their case, .as in
1 the case Of the Armenians. merely
to piundering on IA wholesale scale.
The Turks attempted to force Tie
Greek subjects TO become MohamIue-
dams; Greek girls, just like Armenian
girls were stolen and taken TO Turk
lsh harems and Greek boys were Kid
! mapped and placed in Mosien n house
holds. The Greeks. just like The ar
menians, were accused of disloyalty
to the Ottoman government; The Turks
/ accused them of furnishing supplies
to the English submarines In the
Marmora and also OF acting rs stiles.
The Turks also declared that he
! Greeks were not loyal 10 the Ottoman
government. aud that they also looked
forward TO the day when the Greeks
inside of Turkey would become part
of Greece. These later charges were
unQuestionably true: that the Greeks.
after suffering for five centuries the
most unspeakable outraEes at the
hands OF the Turks. should look long
! ingly to the day when their territory
should be part OF the fatherland. was
to he expected. The Turks. as in the
CaFe Of the ATmeniRns. seized upon
.lhis as an excuse for a violent on
slaught on the whole race. Every
where the Greeks were gathered in
groups and. under the so-caIIed pro-
lection of Turkish gendarrnes. they
were transported. the larger part on
/ foot, into the interior Just how
/ many were scattered in this fashion
/ is not definitely known, the estimates
varying anywhere from 10000 to l.Ola.-
"n These caravans suffered z eat
| prlvauons. but they were not sIbrrit-
to- Tn IL
Armenians. and this is prob,hly the
reason why the outside world has not
! heard 80. much, about them The
I Turks showed them this greater con-
sideration not from any motive of
| pity. The Greeks. unlike the Ar
menians. had a government which
was vitality interested in their v,i-
, fare. Al this time there was a .eu-
erHl apprehension among the Teutonic
allies that Greece would enter the war
on the side OF the entente. and a
Wholesale massacre Of Greeks I'm Asia
Minor would unGuestionably have pro-
duced such state OF mind in Greece
that its prO-GermAn king would have
been unable longer to keen his coun-
ttry out of the war. II was only a
matter Of state policy, therefore. thar
! saved these Greek subjects Of Turkey
from all the horrors that bereI the
| Armsnians. But their sufrerings are
/ still terrible. and constitute another
chapter in the long story Of crimes
for which civilization will hold the
Turk responsible.
TaIaat Tells why He "Deport." IN,
ArmenIanS.
II was some time before the story
OF the Armenian atrocities reached
the. American Embassy in all their
horrlhle details. In January and Feb
NTuaTyA fragmentary reports began "a
Hitter in. but the tendency was ar fi-st
. 10 regard them as mere manifesto
tions OF the disorders that had pre-
vailed in the Armenian provinces for
many years When the reports came
from Urumia, both Enver and TaIaat
dismissed them rs wild exagrera
tlons, and when for the first time we
heard Of the disturbances at Van.
these Turkish officials declared that
! they Were nothing more than a mob
uprising which they would soon have
under control. | now see, what was
not apparent in those early months
that the Turkish government was de-
termined| to keep the news. as long
- possible, from the outside world
ut was clearly the intention that Eu-
rope and America should hear OF the
annihilation OF the Armenian race
only after that annihilation had been
accomplished. AS the country which
the Turks particularly wished to keen
in ignorance was the United States,
| they resorted to the most shameless
preyarications when discussing the
situation with myself and with my
STAFF. ---
Deport Intellectual Leaders.
In early April the authorities ar
! rested about 200 Armenians I'm
constantinopIe and sent them to
the interior. Many of those who were
then 'deported were educational and
! social leaders and men who were
prominent in industry and in finance.
| knew many of these men and there
, fore felt personal interest in their
msfortunes. But when spoke to
ralaats about their expulsion, he re-
piled that the government was acting
| in self-defense. The Armenians at
ttStanzbe said. had already S hdma Iheir T
abilities as revolutionists: he knew
/ that these leaders in 1Constsntinople
/ were corresponding with the Rus
slams and he had every reason to fear
I that they would start an insurrection
against the central government The
| safest plan, therefore. was to send
| them to Angora and other interior
| towns. Talaat denied that this was
part of any general concerted scheme
to rid the citY of dts Armenian popu-
flation, and insisted that the Arme-
nian masses in Constantinople would
not be disturbed.
IL
+ Deprived Of Code.