Turkish Prisons and Prisoners 
By FELIX J. KOCH 
NTKRING the north bound train at Adrian- 
ople an American met two young men, re¬ 
fined fellows, and both in tears. Seemingly 
Germans, these two brothers proved, on further 
acquaintance, young Greeks, members ol the Greek 
Orthodox Church, but living for many years in 
Leipsic, and only refraining from naturalization in 
Germany that the family estates in the Turkish 
Empire might not suffer confiscation for the crime, 
and their relatives be subjected to ignominy. Con¬ 
vinced that their fellow traveler was not another 
Turkish spy, they told their story. They had come 
home on a visit to mother and sisters, laden with 
trinkets, and anticipating all the pleasure of a re¬ 
union after several years of separation. They 
reached the depot at Constantinople only to find the 
police awaiting their coming, and no sooner had they 
left the car than, for absolutely no cause of which 
they were aware, they were escorted to first one and 
then another police station, and finally lodged in a 
prison opposite the Mosque Sultan Achmed. There, 
for a period of thirty-five days they remained without 
once learning the cause, beyond the suspicion that 
some relative might have incurred the enmity of an 
official, who, not daring to vent his spite on the 
offender himself, was taking it out on the family. 
Spurred on by public sentiment at Leipsic, the 
German government made representations, hut as 
the Greeks were still Turkish subjects, all protests 
failed of their purpose. Finding that source of relief 
unavailable, the family, who were a not unimportant 
one at the capital, resorted to the Greek Patriarch 
of Constantinople, 
giving heavy back¬ 
sheesh for his use 
in effecting the re¬ 
lease of the prison¬ 
ers. Whether the 
money went to gild 
the pockets of the 
primate, or if the 
excuse given, that 
carriage fares ex¬ 
hausted the sum, is 
immaterial: suffice 
to say the Patriarch 
did not greatly exert 
himself in the mat¬ 
ter, realizing the 
futility of the cause; 
for just at that time 
a rupture existed 
between himself and 
the Porte, over the matter of baptism, the Turks 
contending that mere government registry of this 
sacrament was sufficient, while the Greek Church 
held its sanction needful, in addition, for those of that 
faith, and any influence the Patriarch might exert 
would amount to nil. In fact, at this stage of the 
game, the Patriarch himself was placed under arrest 
and secured his liberty only through the English pre¬ 
tending a desire to meet him, when the excuse had to 
be given of a temporary absence, which must, of 
course, be followed by a speedy return. Then again 
the Germans exerted pressure, and finally, at the 
end of the fifth week, the pasha sent for the prison¬ 
ers, had their measurements taken, and ordered 
them escorted by two police to the train itself, where 
they were informed that should they ever return, they 
would be thrown into prison for life. With this in¬ 
junction, the train pulled out. 
As mile after mile of Turkish soil rolled by the 
anxiety of these men became pitiful to witness. 
Every traveler in Ottoman domains realizes the sense 
of insecurity hanging constantly over one,—the 
oppressive feeling that every neighbor is a spy in dis¬ 
guise, and to Turkish subjects, such as these, there is 
added the fear that their arrest may occur at any 
moment. Not until over the border could they feel 
assured that they were at last at liberty, and as the 
border station came in sight, their alarm redoubled, 
lest a telegram await, ordering their return. Then, 
with the passports inspected, they rolled into Eastern 
Rumelia, and the episode became a thing of the past. 
Such is the ease jwith which a subject of the Sultan 
may be thrust into 
the padishah’s pris¬ 
ons. To the for¬ 
eigner, on the other 
hand, if on curiosity 
bent, no place is 
more difficult of ac¬ 
cess. 
The prison of 
the Mosque Sultan 
Achmed, where the 
two Greeks were 
confined, is typical 
of the larger Turk¬ 
ish penal institu¬ 
tions. Of course 
the prisoner enters 
by way of the office, 
a narrow chamber 
lined with divans, 
where the officials, 
THE TORTURE TOWER AT SALONICA 
5 1 
