File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎303v] (615/834)

28 —
A TURKISH OFFICER’S VIEWS ON THE
ARABIAN SITUATION.
Captain Zia, the first Turkish envoy to Medina, was inter
viewed on his return through Egypt recently. He is an Albanian
from the neighbourhood of Durazzo who has seen much service
as an officer in the Turkish Army, and has recently, as secretary
to the chief of the General Staff in Constantinople, been in touch
with the leading personalities in the Government. He talked with
great candour on a variety of topics and, for the most part,
expressed very decided opinions. The following notes are the
embodiment of his views’ on one or two points of general interest
in the Arabian situation.
King Husein.
He did not attempt to conceal Ins contempt for King Husein,
whom he regards as an incompetent old barbarian. Though he
did not, he said, know the extent of our commitments to him, he
concluded that they involved the support at least of his temporal
aspirations. Any attempt to fulfil these would, in his opinion,
be a classic blunder. King Husein was totally unfited to sustain
the role which they would involve. He was, for example, too
primitive to control any part of Syria; witness his ruthless
application of effete Koranic punishments, such as the cutting off
of hands and feet for minor offences ; by such actions alone he
had already gone far to alienate all intelligent Moslem opinion
outside Hejaz. Further he was neither a natural leader nor a
competent organizer ; so that we should, in supporting him, be
bolstering up a weakling, a policy always foredoomed to failure
in Arabia.
The Pilgrimage.
In connection with the future of Hejaz, the point about
which the Moslem world at large felt most anxious, he said, was
the security of the Haj. King Husein was incapable of control
ling the Bedu, as this war alone had amply demonstrated. For
merly the safety of the pilgrims was guaranteed by the proximity
of Turkish troops. Since the war it had been temporarily ensured
by British gold, which gave the King exceptional powers and
diverted the attention of the Bedu elsewhere. If our subsidy
were to cease on the conclusion of peace, Moslems in general
would probably consider the Pilgrimage too hazardous a venture
to embark upon. This would produce an impasse, the gravity
of which, from an international point of view, hardly needed to
be emphasized. Incidentally, chaos would result in Hejaz,
which, having no natural resources, had always lived a few weeks
ahead of starvation, largely on the Pilgrimage proceeds.
The Galiphate.
King Husein’s reticence on this subject had, he said, given
the 1 urkish Government much cause for wonder. They had
expected him to assume the title at the first opportunity, though
they would, of course, never consider his claim for an instant.