666 



TURKEY. 



T. 7,000 taxes from the island and has supple- 

 mented this with an equal amount in order to 

 keep up the religious institution. In 1902 the 

 Egyptian commissary levied a goat tax, not mere- 

 ly in order to add to the revenue, but to preserve 

 the trees which the multitudes of goats were 

 destroying. The people refused to pay the tax, 

 and when it was enforced they resisted. There 

 was a fight in which many persons were wounded. 

 The Sublime Porte therefore ordered the incor- 

 poration of the island as a new district in the 

 vilayet of Salonica. A Turkish administrator 

 appeared with gendarmes and law officials and 

 assumed jurisdiction and control. The Khedive 

 sent the director of the Wakf to enforce his rights 

 of property and administration, but he was not 

 successful in doing so. The English author- 

 ities thereupon offered the Khedive their support, 

 but their intervention was declined. 



Political Disturbances. There was more un- 

 rest among the Christian populations of the Turk- 

 ish Empire in 1902 than there had been for some 

 years before, and a corresponding ferment was 

 started among neighboring Mohammedan peo- 

 ples. The financial embarrassment of the Central 

 Government rendered any attempt at reorganiza- 

 tion or reform impossible, and that embarrass- 

 ment was increased by the mobilization of troops 

 for the prevention of rebellion. The restraining 

 influence of the Austro-Russian accord alone 

 kept the Macedonians from a general open revolt, 

 and caused a split among the Macedonians them- 

 selves, the majority of whom lost faith in Bul- 

 farian aid, since Bulgaria was held in restraint 

 y Russia, and planned a spontaneous movement 

 for the creation of an autonomous Christian state 

 within the Turkish Empire. The Albanians 

 showed some tendency to break loose from Tur- 

 key and set up a separate Mohammedan state. 

 Italians and Austrians were secretly busy in Al- 

 bania endeavoring to foster their respective na- 

 tional interests and influence. The ill treatment 

 of Servians by Albanians prompted Russia to es- 

 tablish a consulate in the country to watch over 

 the safety of the Slav inhabitants. Neither 

 Greece nor Servia would engage in a national 

 propaganda in Macedonia, and the Bulgarian 

 propaganda relaxed, although the revolutionary 

 desires of the Macedonians were keener than 

 ever. The Armenians put forward their national 

 aspirations once more. They held a congress in 

 Brussels, and afterward revolutionary outbreaks 

 occurred at Mush and Sasun, which were rigor- 

 ously repressed. The United States minister suc- 

 ceeded in getting from the Porte indemnities for 

 the American schools and missions that were de- 

 stroyed by the Turks in the Armenian outbreak 

 of 1895. The Gregorian patriarch obtained an 

 irade recalling the exceptional laws under which 

 the Armenians have suffered ever since by con- 

 vincing the Sultan that the masses of the Ar- 

 menians are loyal to his rule. Until the Hintchak 

 and other secret societies bred a revolutionary 

 spirit among the Armenians they were the most 

 favored race next to the Turks in the whole em- 

 pire and were known distinctively as the loyal 

 community. The Arabs betrayed their charac- 

 teristic aversion to Turkish rule that is always 

 manifested when the resources of Stamboul are 

 crippled. A difficulty arose with Italy regarding 

 piracy in the Red Sea. The Italian Government 

 notified the Porte that if this was not stopped it 

 would take measures itself to do so. An ulti- 

 matum was sent to the Arab authorities, and 

 when it expired on Nov. 5 the Italian squadron 

 sunk the pirate dhows of the island of Midi and 

 the Turkish troops captured the chiefs, two old 



Turkish cruisers having been repaired and sent 

 to Yemen with troops to accomplish this purpose. 

 The French Government took similar steps to 

 protect its commerce. An English gunboat bom- 

 barded Balhof, the chief of that town having 

 plundered a British ship that was wrecked on the 

 coast. Koweit, at the head of the Persian Gulf, 

 has been taken under the protection of Great 

 Britain, and the Vali of Busra was thwarted 

 in his efforts to reestablish Turkish authority 

 over this stronghold, important for naval pur- 

 poses and also a more commanding position in 

 the Arabian peninsula than the rugged promon- 

 tory of Aden, where Great Britain has extended 

 its territory up to the edge of effective Turkish 

 occupation, whereas in central Arabia effective 

 Turkish possession is impossible without a mili- 

 tary effort that the Porte has not the means of 

 making at present. The Sheik of Koweit has 

 been aided before in asserting his independence, 

 and with British aid he has successfully defied 

 the Turks, although Busra was made a separate 

 vilayet in 1884 for the purpose of organizing 

 Turkish rule in this part of Arabia. The Walia- 

 bis in the interior are supplied from Koweit with 

 the means of maintaining their rebellion against 

 the Turks, while British war-ships are kept at 

 Koweit to forbid the landing of a Turkish force 

 to subdue the rebellious Sheik Mubarakh. The 

 position of the latter, however, can only be made 

 secure by the constant presence of a British naval 

 force ready to protect him against rival claim- 

 ants. One of these, Ibn el Rashid, Emir of Nejd, 

 attempted in September to attack him by land 

 and water, and the British naval authorities in- 

 tervened to save him. The British Government 

 called upon the Porte to punish the Emir of 

 Nejd, but the Vali of Busra did nothing. The 

 dhows in which a part of the attacking force 

 came were captured by British sailors, one of 

 whom was killed. Germany has permission to 

 extend the Bagdad river to Koweit, which lies 

 at the mouth of the Tigris, and is unwilling 

 that England by means of intrigues with Arab 

 chiefs shall establish territorial claims in this 

 part of Arabia, and British claims are not yet 

 recognized by Russia or any of the powers. The 

 Turks took more active measures for the sup- 

 pression of piracy. The British alone have en- 

 couraged the rebellious Arabs in their revolts 

 against Turkey and question the sovereign rights 

 of the Sultan over the peninsula, compelling him 

 to keep an army corps in Yemen and one 01 

 the other side of Arabia. Turkish sovereignty 

 is not questioned in the holy places. The exten 

 sion of the British protectorate over the part o 

 Yemen lying behind Yemen was obtained b; 

 aiding a few rebellious tribes in their resi>t jun- 

 to Turkish authority. The Sultan of Makalh 

 and Chahar is desirous of setting up an inde 

 pendent kingdom, and if the British give liin 

 effective support they may establish a protect 

 orate over a large part of Yemen, where lliei 

 interests do not come into conflict with tlm-r 

 other powers as directly as in the Persian Gull 

 Two commissions have been sent to delimit th< 

 British sphere in the Hinterland of Aden, ant 

 neither reached a definite conclusion of the mat- 

 ter. The Turkish Government will not admit t In- 

 British extensions, which have been accompanied 

 by the demolition of Turkish fortifications and 

 the British authorities are content to leave the 

 question open. In the Gulf of Aden, pending the 

 negotiation of a more definite arrangement, the 

 Porte agreed with Great Britain to maintain the 

 status quo and not to attempt to land troops 

 for the subjugation of the Sheik of Koweit. 



I 



