The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-07-14
New Sultan Is Only Pawn of the Kaiser
Interesting Political,
Diplomatic and Re-
ligious Plot That
Has Led to Unusual
Succession

was largely by reason of the close and in
innate relations existing between Durham
Eddine and Enver that the latter in JAM
uary and February Of 1916 made trip
to Medina and to Mecca for the purpose
of securing the approval and powerful
backing of the Grand Shereef of Mecca,
the guardian in chief of the holy places
of Islam, for the movement in favor OF
the proclamation of Burhan-Eddine as
next heir to the Ottoman throne.
Enver is too arrogant and too extrava-
gantly conceited to be successful in any
diplomatic undertaking. Instead of pro-
pitiating the Grand Shereef, he antago-
nized him and failed so signally in his
mission that not long after his departure
the Grand Shereef proclaimed the inde-
pendence, not alone of the holy places Of
Islam, but of all Arabia, and their eman-
cipation from the oppressive and extor-
tionate rule of the Sublime Porte. To-
day the Grand Shereef has been recog-
nized by all the Powers Of the Entente
Us luc SuNGItlSH VI tut tlclluCHb nbhto
and nation of Arabia, all the great tribal
chieftains of which have accorded to him
their temporal as well as spiritual ale
glance.
An Accomplished Musician, Too.
As everything relating to Durham Ed
dine must necessarily be of interest just
at this time, it may be as well to add that
he is an accomplished musician in the
Western sense of the word, and is an al
together marvellous performer on the
piano.
That Durham Eddine should have COM
mitted his future to the Kaiser, and have
thus identified himself with what is
bound TO prove sooner or later a disas-
trous cause, is of course attributable TO
his early training and TO his long stand
ing intimacy with the members of the
Hohenzollern family at Potsdam. On
the other hand, it is less pardonable in
him than it would be in the case Of most
of the other members of the sovereign
house of Gilman. For Durham Eddine,
unlike most of his predecessors on the
throne, has travelled extensively, has
spent much of his time abroad, and has
had advantages in this respect that have
not been within the reach of other rulers
Of the Ottoman Empire.
At one time the Sublime Porte owned
northern portion of Africa, besides
Arabia, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia and the
Caucasus. To-day every vestige of OF
tOman sovereignty has vanished from the
Iberian Peninsula. Morocco, Tunis and
Algeria, all belong to France. Egypt and
the Sudan are British protectorates The
English hold Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Naza-
reth and the greater part of the Holy
Land, as well as Bagdad and all Mesopo-
tamia.
How Turkey Has Dwindled.
The Turk has been driven from Al
bania. Greece is no longer an Ottoman
province, but an Independent kingdom,
with the island of Crete subject to its
rule Rumania, Serbia, Montenegro and
the Balkans, as well as Bulgaria, which
had all won their independence from
Turkey, are temporarily subjected to
German occupation, which will terminate
with the victory of the Powers of the
Entente. The Crimca was torn from the
Ottoman Empire by Russia, and Bosnia
and Herzegovina by Austria. Arabia, as
l have pointed out above, is now an in
dependent State.
Indeed, it IS sadly shorn inheritance
to which Durham Eddine has succeeded,
and in view of the fact that the victory
of the Entente and the final defeat of the
Kaiser are coming nearer day by day, and
hour by hour, it looks very much as if
by attaching himself to the Teuton chariot
Of war he had determined the final doom
of the once mighty House Of Gilman, and
as if he were destined, as predicted by
Nostradamus in 1855, to be the last wearer