South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1920-09-17
ARMENIANS AND
GREEKS BARRED
FROM ST. SOPHIA
Passports Are Now Demanded
From All Visitors in Con-
stantinople.

CONsTANTINOPLE. Sept 10
Passports are demanded Of visitors
seeking 10 enter Saint Sophia, and
any Christian who cannot establish
the fact that he is neither a Greek
nor an Armenian. is not admitted.
Since the Greek advance eastward
into Anatolia and the boast OF
Greeks that they will recover Saint
Sophia within a year. Moslem au-
thorities have doubled the guard
about the great mosque and take
special precautions 10 prevent
Greeks and Armeians from entering
There are rumors in Constantine
ople. probably all of them ground
less, that Greek t-ooIs Will take the
church by force, regardless OF peace
conference rulings, eliminate the
MOslem alterations in it's interior
and restore the Christian character
impaired TO the historic building by
the Emperor Justinian when the
present building was erected under
his direction In the sixth century.
Will Dynamite Mosque
Turks have declared they will
dynamite the mosque before they
will permit il 10 be desecrated by
the Greeks and spice is added 10 life
in Constantinople by recurrent rum
ors that the Turkish nationalists
have mined Saint Sophia and many
other important buildings prepare
tory 10 razing them before a Greek
advance into the Turkish capital.
Such an advance is not regarded as
improbable. The ability OF the Con-
stantinople government 70 enforce
the terms OF any treaty is question
able as long as Mustapha Komal
controls practically all OF the re-
naming fragments OF the Turkish
army and refuses TO take orders
from the Sultan. Greece has the
only troops which could undertake
further punitive measures and might
reasonably be eXI ected 10 demand
Constantinople as the reward for
additional military operations.
Russians Admitted
In suite OF the boast of Russians
in Constantinople that the Turkish
capital and Saint Sophia will event
ually fall into their hands as re-
suit Of the discussions among the
Entente powers, the Turks show no
disposition 10 bar Russians from
their most historic masque. Every
afternoon hundreds OF Russians fire.
quent the great shrine. Cossacks In
their fantastic, long-skirted black
coats embellished with rows OF
ivory-tipped cartridge cases; eau
casian princesses, gay in bright
colored Partisan COWS; tight belted
Tartars. with their quaint curved
swords; peasant women in their
cheerful hand-embroidered head
shawls and aprons and Donikine's
wounded soldiers all mingle freely
with the Moslem worshippers.
Treat Americans
The Noslems treat Russian with
the same Indifference displayed to-
ward British and French soldiers
and American sailors and relif work
ers who wander through the majes-
tic mosque and are shown by noisy
guides how the Christian angels and
the mosaiCs OF Jesus and the Virgin
Mary were Clumsily concealed by
the Moslem artists who turned the
Christian sanctuary into a house Of
worship for Islam.
The Turks do not love the Rus
slams. Neither do they hate them.
No Christian is loved by "A Moslem.
but the rover OF the Turks 10 hate
is exhausted on the Greeks and Ar
menians. They regard Russians as
lesser evil than the Greeks. Any
Turk one meets in Constantinople
frankly says he would accept Rus
sian control OF Constantinople In
preference TO Greek domination. And
ne SAYS IL with a full realization that
Russian domination would probably
mean bOshevik domination.