The passage we have just quoted is as sound politically
as morally, and we do not doubt that the effect on Turkish opinion was as Lord Cromer describes, and that to it wo owe a good deal of the sympathy now shown to Britain by the Young Turks. We must not forget, however, another reason why the Young Turks feel such a strong debt of gratitude to this country, though it was a reason which Lord Cromer could not allude to himself. A very great deal of that grati- tude is due to the fact that Lord Cromer, in spite of the tremendous pressure that was put upon him, steadily refused to yield up the Turkish political refugees who had fled from the shameful tyranny practised at Constantinople under the old regime and had sought safety in Egypt. It is no secret that every effort was made to induce Lord Cromer not to allow Egypt to be an asylum for Turkish patriots. In spite of the fact that to have yielded them up might often have made his task in Egypt much easier, he steadily refused to do so.
Previous page
