792 



TURKEY. 



i; 



16. Armenia shall be given reforms according to 

 local needs, and shall be protected against the Kurds 

 and Circassians. 



17. A complete and general amnesty shall be de- 

 clared. 



18. The Porte shall take into earnest consideration 

 the views of the commissioners of the mediatory 

 Powers in regard to the possession of the city of 

 Khotoor, and shall carry out the work of the demar- 

 kation of the Turcp-Persian boundaries. 



19. The indemnity to be paid by Turkey to Kussia 

 is fixed at 1,410,000,000 rubles, of which 900,000,000 

 shall be charged to the costs of the war, 400,000,000 

 to the account of damages to trade, 100,000,000 to the 

 insurrection in the Caucasus, and 10,000^000 to the 

 damages to Bussian subjects and property in Turkey. 



20. In consideration of the stringent financial con- 

 dition of the Turkish Empire, and in accordance with 

 the desire of the Sultan, the Czar of Kussia is satis- 

 fied to be offered in payment, together with the san- 

 iak of Tultcha (which may be exchanged for Bessara- 

 bia), Ardahan,Kars, Bayazid, and the Armenian ter- 

 ritory to the Soghanli Dagh. 



21. Turkey undertakes to settle in a conciliatory 

 spirit all actions between Eussian and Turkish sub- 

 jects, and to execute immediately all legal judgments 

 already delivered. 



22. The privileges of the monks of Mount Athos 

 are preserved to them. 



23. The treaties and conventions are again put in 

 force. 



24. 25. The Bosporus and Dardanelles are to remain 

 open in times of peace as well as war to merchant 

 ships of the neutral states coming from or going to 

 Eussian ports. The Porte engages, therefore, not to 

 establish before the ports of the Black Sea and the 

 Sea of Azov a blockade, which would be in direct 

 opposition to the spirit of the declaration that was 

 signed at Paris on April 16, 1856. The evacuation 

 of territory by the Eussian armies, except as regards 

 Bulgaria, is to be completed three months after the 

 definitive peace. In order to save time and avoid the 

 cost of maintaining the Eussian troops in Turkey 

 and Eoumania, a portion of the army may be sent to 

 the ports of the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora 

 in order to allow of their embarking on ships belong- 

 ing to the Eussian Government or chartered by it 

 for the occasion. Similarly the evacuation of Asiat- 

 ic Turkey is to be complete in six months after the 

 conclusion of the definitive peace, and the Eussian 

 troops may embark nt Trebizond, the preparations 

 for leaving to begin immediately after exchange of 

 the ratification. 



26. The Bussians shall administer the Turkish ter- 

 ritory until the return of their troops. 



27. The Porte promises not to proceed against 

 Ottoman subjects who have had relations with the 

 Bussians. 



28. A discharge of prisoners shall take place after 

 the ratification of the treaty. 



29. Eatifications shall take place within not more 

 than fourteen days. The formal conclusion of peace 

 is reserved, but in any case these preliminaries shall 

 be binding for Eussia and Turkey. 



The Turkish Parliament met for its second 

 session on December 13, 1877. In the speech 

 from the throne, the Sultan, after referring to 

 the events of the year and the extension of 

 the liability to military service to the Chris- 

 tians, spoke of the new Constitution, and the 

 reforms which he had undertaken, in regard to 

 f which he said: 



The salvation of the empire depends entirely upon 

 the complete and sincere carrying out of the Consti- 

 tution. Our greatest wish has been to see all class- 

 es of our subjects enjoy the benefits of a complete 

 equality and our country profit by the progress of 



modern civilization. But the war has postponed 

 the fulfillment of these wishes. Furthermore, the 

 calamities of the war have exceeded all limits : a 

 numerous population, non-combatant and inoffensive 

 women and children, whose life and honor ought 

 according to the usages of war to have been respect- 

 ed, have been subjected to cruel treatment, revolting 

 to humanity. I am pleased to hope that in the fu- 

 ture nothing will prevent the truth in that respect 

 from coming to light. We believe that we have 

 given you a manifest proof of our firm intention 

 to persist in the path of progress, by directing our 

 attention to internal reforms, even at a time when 

 the Government is engaged in a great war. It is by 

 means of complete liberty of discussion that one can 

 arrive at the truth in legislative and political ques- 

 tions, and thus protect the public interest. The 

 Constitution renders this a duty on your part, and 

 1 do not think I have to give you any other order or 

 encouragement in this respect. 



A spirit of great independence manifested 

 itself in the deliberations of the Chamber. As 

 soon as the organization had been finished, and 

 the speech from the throne and an address to be 

 drawn up replying to it came to be discussed, 

 the character of the Assembly became appar- 

 ent. A party at once formed by which oppo- 

 sition to the proposal for a vote of thanks to 

 the Sultan was made, on the ground that he 

 had done nothing to deserve them ; and, after 

 a long and animated debate, a motion directly 

 censuring the Ministry was lost by only one 

 vote. This motion was to the effect that "if 

 the Ministry had exerted themselves and shown 

 more foresight in conducting the military and 

 administrative business of the country, the 

 country would now have found itself in a more 

 honorable position." An amendment, substi- 

 tuting for the word Ministry the words " those 

 in executive power," was carried by a decisive 

 majority. In consequence of this resolution, 

 the Grand Vizier and Mahmoud Damad offered 

 their resignations, w r hich were not accepted. 

 The Ministers of War, Marine, and Foreign 

 Affairs were called upon by the House on Jan- 

 uary 8th to explain the faults of their adminis- 

 tration, and were submitted to a rigorous ex- 

 amination. 



An important change in the Ministry took 

 place on January llth. The Grand Vizier Ed- 

 hem Pasha was replaced by Hamdi Pasha. 

 Said Pasha was appointed Minister of the In- 

 terior ; Namyk Pasha, of the Civil List ; Kiani 

 Pasha, of Finance ; and Ahmed Vefyk Pasha, 

 of Public Instruction. The Ministry, however, 

 even at the time of its formation, was regarded 

 as a temporary one only. On February 4th the 

 grand- vizierate was abolished, and a ministry 

 was formed after the European pattern, which 

 was composed as follows : Ahmed Vefyk Pasha, 

 President of the Council and Minister of the 

 Interior; Server Pasha, Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs; Rauf Pasha, Minister of War; Said 

 Pasha, Minister of Marine ; Kiani Pasha, Min- 

 ister of Finance ; Ohannes Echamitchian Effen- 

 di. Minister of Public Works ; Namyk Pasha, 

 Grand Master of the Artillery ; Savfet Pasha, 

 President of the Council of State ; and Halil 

 Effendi, Sheik-ul-Islam. 



