The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1919-01-20
ROMANTIC LAND INVOLVED
IN THE TURKISH SURRENDER
The Five Provinces of the Ottoman
Empire in Asia and Brief Sketch
of Their Ancient and
Amazing History.

In war geography bulletin the Ma
tional Geographic society gives a
brief account of the five provinces or
districts into which Asiatic Turkey
may be roughly divided. The bulletin
which is based upon communication
to the society from William H. Hall,
says:
"Anatolia 1.-THE name is from a Turk
ish word meaning the dawnO lies be-
tween the Black and Mediterranean
seas. This district is the home of the
greater part of the Turkish popula-
ton, perhaps 100000 in all. Here is
case where the people can be distin-
guished from the government. Even
the so-called subject races have suf-
fered but little more at the hands of
the governing officials than the COM
mon Turkish people. -
when one remembers that all gov
eminent of. the empire lies solely in
the hands of a group of not more than
300 men, and that they impose their
selfish will on Turk and Christian
alike, one readily understands how a
distinction can be made between peo-
pie ond government. In spite of a
constitution having been proclaimed
and parliament summoned, the peo-
pie, whether of Turkish or other race,
have absolutely no voice in the affairs
Of the nation.
"Armcnia, east of Anatolia, ex-
tending 10 the region of the Caucasus
and the Persian border, is the site OF
the ancient kingdom of Armenia. The
population is not wholly Armenian
in fact, even before the war the ma
jority of the people were Turks and
Kurds-but here the bulk of the Ar
menian race was found.
Massacre of the Christian.
at is rugged land, a succession
of mountains and valleys, where the
people have had to contend with ma
ture for the establishment and main
tenance of their homes; but like all
highland countries, it has been the
means Of producing religious, free
dom-loving people.
'They were the first nation to en-
brace Christianity when, in the latter
half of the third century, their king,
Tiradates, accepted the new faith, and
most of the nation followed him.
Throughout all the succeeding centu-
ries they have remained steadfast
wave. after wave of persecution, until
this last storm of hate and fanaticism
has swept the greater part from their
homes and has destroyed at least a
million-two-th thirds of the entire peo-
pie.
'Kurdistan, a hill country north of
the Tigris river, is the home of a
brave, virile, largely illiterate series
o. tribes and clans known as the
Kurds. They are the descendants of
the Cardushi, who gave Xenophon and
his ten thousand so much difficulty on
their march across these same hills on
their way to the sea.
"Nominally they are Moslem in re-
ligion, but they have retained many
elements of heather worship. Some
of their tribes are 'Yesdi,' or devil
worshippers. They are home-loving,
frugal and capable of enduring great
hardships. They practice strict mon
ogamy and their women occupy an
equal place with their men in the fam
| lily life.
The Kurds have furnished at least
one great man to history, for Saladin,
the chivalrous leader of the Saracen
hosts, the compeer of Richard Occur
de Lion, was from this people.
"Mesopotamia, upper and lower, vies
with Egypt in claiming the honor of
being the home of ancient civilization.
It comprises the valleys Of the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers. Here flourish
ed the Chaldean, Babylonian and AS
syrian empires. The city of Bagdad,
with all its glamour of mystery and
magic, is in the heart of Mesopotamia.
"This was the richest land in the
world, the granary Of the ancients;
!yet, in spite of all that it has been, it
today lies largely waste-the desert
sands have encroached upon the fer
tile fields, while the clogged canals
have turned other portions il. ;
swamps and marshes.
What population there is-not more
than l,O0O,000-is of Arab origin, and
the Arabic language is spoken
throughout. There is, in fact, a very
distinct dividing line between the