The Cordova daily times. [volume] (Cordova, Alaska) 1914-1947, 1918-12-06
GREEKS OF ASIA MINOR
ON MISSION TO AMERICA

UN MlOOlUN III ANlEhlCA
WASHINGTON, Dec. 5.-A friendly
mission which has come to this coun-
try in behalf of the unredeemed
Greeks in Turkey includes among its
members Christoe Vassalikaki, mem
Der of the Greek parliament, and n.
G. KY Kyriakides. a prominent ship
owner 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 misery of their com
patriots. 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.
III ilo uiSli lIt 10 the WI III OIL utSb lt
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
nest brilliant examples in history of
doctrine that might makes right. The
Greeks were the earliest champions of
democracy. The conflict in Asia
Minor is a little replica of the larger
combat between the rule of the people
and the rule of kings which has
turned all of Europe into a bloody
battle-ground.
Greeks Withstand Oppression
1T is probably hard for Americans
to realize the tragedy of the long
slavery OF the Asiatic Greeks" Mr.
Vassalikaki continued Since 1883
the Turks have made every effort to
annihilate them. In spite of Turkish
fcrocity. the Creeks have actually in
creased in numbers Their vitality
has been remarkable. There are more
than 100000 of them living today in
the peninsula of As!e. Minor, and the
lards commerce and education are
very largely in their hands"
The number of Greek schools. as
Mr.. Fassalikaki explained. has some
what declined since the beginning of
the war, but thousands of them have
kept open notwithstanding the hos
tility of the Turk. According to the
latest obtainable figures the Greeks
under Turkish yoke in ThraCe and
Asia Minor have 1926 schools and
churches, with 1O,O25 teachers and
priests and 27G.110 pupils. They have
also in their HANDS about 65 per cent
import trade. 60 per cent of manufac-
turing and industry. and 10 per cent
of the banking business. The most
important hospitals orphanages,
libraries. clubs and newspapers are
run and supported by the Greeks BE.
fore the war they were spending about
100000 each year on public projects
and charities.
A Day of Reckoning
The attitude of the Turks toward
Greek enterprises has. of course, been
'unfriendly. The Turks are by dispo-
sition a rowing people. with no great
interest in business or 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 differ
ent from that of the more intelligent
Arabs. There Is one particular SEN
tence in the Koran which. in Mr. Vas.
salikaki's opinion. has colored the
whole thought of the Turks in their
dealing with the Greeks. Unable to
deny the vigor and vitality of the
Greeks. the prophet Mohammed
gravely wrote down in the sacred Ko-
ran: I'VE have defeated the Greeks,
but time will come when they will
defeat us also" 1t is this day of
Greek triumph toward which all pious
Turks have looked with apprehension,
In February, 1915. when they were
told that a Greek army was ready to
land in the Dardanelles, many Turks
fled from Constantinople. thinking
that the promised day of reckoning
had come
With the Greeks 1t has been just
the reverse. Even in the dark days,
when they had been defeated and ut