The evening leader., 1918-11-15

THE GREEKS OF ASIA MINOR
SEND MISSION TO AMERICA
Their Culture Survived Despite Turkish Rulers Prominent
Greeks of Tarpon Springs Have Formed Organization to
Further the Interests of the Unredeemed Peoples; the
Commissioners May Visit Our City.

A friendly mission which has come
to this country in behalf of the un-
redeemed Greeks in Turkey includes
among it's members Christos Vassa-
likaki, member of the Greek parlia-
ment, and n. G. Kyriakides, promi-
nent shipnwner and trader. Both of
these men have led busy lives in the.
world of commerce and politics. They.
have lately interested themselves in
the liberation of the Greeks of Asia
Minor because, as they say,
they could not remain Indifferent
observers of the sufferings and mis-
cry of their compatriots. Although
Mr.. Vassalikaki is a member of the
Greek parliament from the island of
Lesbos, he has lived part of his life
in Smyrna and is well acquainted with
the Greek people who live east of the
Aegean.
SIN no district is the world struggle
between autocracy and liberalism
more clear-cut than between the
Turks and the Greeks in Asia Minor, =
Mr.. Vassalikaki recently declared in
an interview. "The Turks are the
most brilliant example in history of
absolutism, imperial rule, and the doc
trine that might makes right. The
Greeks were the worlds earliest cham
pions of democracy The conflict in
Asia Minor is little replica Of the
larger combat between the rnIe Of the
people and the rule Of kings aisich has
turned all of Europe into a blcodvBat-
tleground.
Greeks Withstand Oppression.
'It is probably hard for Americans
to realize the tragedy of the long slav-
cry of the Asian Creeks" Mr.. Vassa-
ikaki continued "Since 1853 the
Turks have made every effort to ami
hilate them. In spite of Turkish fe-
rocity, the Greeks have actually in
creased in numbers. Their vitality
has been remarkable. There are more
than 100000 of them living today
in the peninsula of Asia Minor and the
lands commerce and education are
very largely in their hands"
The number of Greek schools, as Mr.
Vassalikaki explained, has somewhat
declined since the beginning of the
war, but thousands of them have kept
open notwithstanding the hostility of
the Turk. According to the latest OBJ
tainable figures, the Greeks under the
Turkish yoke in Thrace and Asia Mi
nor have 9,276 schools and churches,
with 10,025 teachers and priests and
276,000 pupils. They have also in their
hands about 65 per cent of the export
trade, 70 per cent of the import trade,
60 per cent of manufacturing and in
dustry, and 70 per cent of the banking
business. The most important hos
pitfalls, orphanages, libraries, clubs,
and newspapers are run and support
ed by the Greeks. Before the war they
were spending about $5,O00,0OO each
year on public projects and charities.
A Day of Reckoning.
The attitude of the Turks toward
Greek enterprise has, of course, been
unfriendly. The Turks are by dispo-
sition rowing people with no great
interest in business of government.
The divine law, as written down in
the Koran, is the one code they sub
NIT to, and their Interpretation of the
Koran has been considerably different
from that of the more intelligent
Arabs. There is, in particular, one
sentence in the Koran which, in Mr..
Vassalikaki's opinion, has colored the
whole thought of the Turks in their
dealings with the Greeks. Unable to
deny the vigor and vitality of the
Greeks, the prophet Mohammed
gravely wrote down in the sacred Ko-
ran: "We have defeated the Greeks,
but time will come when they will
defeat us Also"
1t is this day of Greek triumph to-
ward which all pious Turks have look
ed with apprehension. In February,
1915, when they were told that a
Greek army was ready to land in the
Dardanelles, many Turks fed from
Constantinople, thinking that the