File 705/1916 Pt 2 'Arab revolt: Arab reports; Sir M Sykes' reports' [‎38v] (74/450)

6
white troops taken at Kut only a third had in opinion ’ surv ivors
the march and subsequent hard work on a t Affion, Kara Hissar, Ismid, and
apparently had been distributed among ^ P these places were in a^
Angora ; owing to failure of supphes ^'^^ImerLans had succeeded in providing r
precarious condition two months ago, _ believed British prisoners were getting
them with clothing and supplies. The mformant bebe' ed mt^n |. He feared t f at the
sufficient food; British officers weie a ri g ’ improve the conditions in bad camps.
Bed Cross representatives would not be a o 1 1 bv the Germans. Protests
He described the treatment as studied neg ec , o Turks were indifferent to
would be ineffectual, as Turkey rather enjoyed ^ the
our treatment of Turkish prisoners, anc o j e } them He feared that the
prisoners advanced fictitious stories of our trea m nt of ^“ ma " e fe a stro ! that
generous enemy : he was nothing of the sort.
The Central Islamic Society.
The general meeting of this society was held at Caxton Hall on the 16th December
and wL followed bv a lecture on “Moslems in Hon-Moslem Countries,' given by the
Yicomte de Potier.' A reliable correspondent has sent the following accoun
meeting and lecture :—
The president, Abd-ul-Karim Khan, a law student in London, laid stress on the
number of Moslems within the British Empire, saying that one quarter of the to
population was Moslem. He said that the Central Islamic Society was not a political
body but that in Islam politics and religion were inseparable. • j u
5 the secretary of tlm society stated that the Moslems would not remain dumb when
the terms of peace were discussed. He deprecated the untimely movement that some
people had started with the intention of upsetting the Caliphate and causing trouble m
the ''vicomCde Poitier started his lecture by saying that he had never spoken m
public and did not pretend to have a deep knowledge of matters concerning Mam- H e
was simply going to relate his personal impressions o the treatment dealt to Muss
mans in the Balkan States and other countries he had visited in the summer of 1914 ,
some even, as for instance Turkestan, in 1913. He could only speak of the way
Moslems had been treated in those countries before the war. , A
Bosnia-Herzegovina. —He said that these two provinces wer ®’ hl ® ^ no r ^ ie ^f e ’
the only Turkish territory that had benefited by being separated from the Turkish
Empire. The Austro-Hungarian rule in the two provinces was very fair and just.
The Turkish laws had been kept, and this consideration gave great satisfaction to the
Moslems. There was a large number of Moslem schools, probably one thousand, m
Bosnia alone, and. about fifty of them were high schools. The Austrian Government
endowed Moslem institutions very generously and even helped poor people hnancia y
to perform their pilgrimage to Mecca. Possibly the good treatment dealt to Moslems
in Bosnia-Herzegovina was prompted more by political reasons than by sympathy or
the Mussulmans. However that may be, the fact was clear that the latter enjoyed
full freedom and great wealth in the two annexed provinces. The principal landowners
were Moslems. He could not say that the Moslems were as well treated m other parts
of the Austrian Empire. There was large numbers of them in Lower Dalmatia, but he
had no recollection of seeing any mosques or Moslem schools. _ .
Greece. —The Mussulmans inhabiting the provinces occupied by the Greeks^ m
consequence of the Balkan war, were very badly treated by the Greek authorities.
Their condition was disastrous. Their lives and properties were not sate, specially in
Macedonia and southern Epirus. Thousands of families emigrated into Turkey. The
Greek authorities stole their money and property. The lecturer said teat he saw in
Constantinople thousands of refugees in extreme poverty. Many of them camped out
in the open air, although the majority had been cared for by the Turkish Government.
At Kavalia Turkish ladies of distinction had been compelled to go about in the streets
and collect money for the Greek navy.
Roumania. —Most of the Mussulmans in Roumania were Turks and were very well
treated by the Roumanians, who have great sympathy for the Turks.
Bulgaria. —In Bulgaria proper the Turks and the Bulgarians lived in close contact
and were very friendly.