File 705/1916 Pt 2 'Arab revolt: Arab reports; Sir M Sykes' reports' [‎110v] (218/450)

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Balkan allies, Germany would be prepared to send, if necessary, a very large number
ol troops, and that the Balkans were considered by Germany so important, that they
would be prepared to sacrifice a large amount of ground on the Western frontier and so
shorten their line and enable them to send the necessary troops to the Balkans.
APPENDIX.
Committee of Union and Progress.
The “ Frankfurter Zeitung ” publishes long extracts from the report submitted to
Constantinojfi ^ ommittee Union and Progress, which is now meeting in
The reference to the military situation includes the following:
Thanks to tlm efforts and help of the German military mission we have
succeeded m perfecting our military organisation. By restricting the system of
payment for exemption from military service, and as a result of the extension
of compulsory service for all, our armies, which according to the common belief
could not number more than from 700,000 to 800,000 men, have been brought up
to the figure of more than 3,000,000. The organisation and the reforms introduced
m the schools for reserve officers and non-commissioned officers have enabled us
o complete, and more than complete, our cadres of officers. Thanks to the zeal of
^ \ ctlve [this is evidently a characteristic compliment
P f [j hy Enver to himself], the military education of our soldiers and the increase
of their moral efficiency have reached such a pitch that they have been found
worthy to defend themselves successfully against the greatest European armies
and to take their place by the side of the best organised armies in order to defeat
our enemies.
The Armenian Atrocities.
The report deals at length with the Armenian question. Most of the space is
devoted to an account, on the usual lines, of the dangerous and revolutionary character
urkey s Armenian subjects, the disorderly behaviour of Armenian “bands” and
the almost benevolent methods of repression adopted bv the Turks. The ’report
Z p^ag:tnsf “ admlSS1 ° n ° f “ ” aUd a Va ° Ue P romi - -stitutL.
“ In order to save our armies from the danger of falling between two fires it was
considerepiecessary to remove the Armenians from all theatres of war and from
the neighbourhood of the railways. As excesses occurred during these deportations
several committees of inspection were sent out to make investigations and
Sved'elsrhe.e'Th'' 0 '' ^ of those had teen
removed elsewhere. Ihe commitfees appointed under these regulations are at
present compiling a register of the deserted estates.” g
[From the “Times,” 13th October, 1916.]
o