THE CHRISTIANS OF TURKEY.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPROTATOR.1
Si,—While attempting, with his customary pretension to familiarity with Eastern matters, to correct a sentence in your review on "Turkey in Europe" (January 26th) Canon MacColl has allowed himself to make several gross misstate- ments concerning the position of native Christians in Turkey before the law. He says : "They [the Capitulations] afford no protection at all to the Sultan's Christian subjects; for these there is practically no protection at all." The Capitulations are treaty privileges accorded by the Porte to subjects of foreign States residing or travelling in the Ottoman Empire. Neither Turkey nor any other State could grant such extenitorial privileges to its own subjects. Continuing in the same strain. Canon Ma,cColl says: "Their [the Christians'] theoretical status as 'Tributaries' is in practice quite worthless." We (the people of Turkey at large) have almost forgotten the term "Tributaries," which Canon MacColl seems to imagine is -still in use. He further maintains : "They [the Christians] are not allowed to bear arms." Tme, but neither are the Mahom- medans; by the Ottoman law no civilian may bear arms. How- ever, the Christians have on several recent occasions shown that they are, in fact, pretty well armed, and it is not impossible that they may give further practical proofs of this if unluckily for themselves they are again misled by their soi-disant friends in the West. Your correspondent's statements about the non-validity of Christian evidence against Mussulmans and the non-existence of evidence given by one Mussulman against another and in favour of a Christian must, it seems to me, be intended to mislead. The actual laws of the Ottoman Empire are modelled upon the French judicial system ; the Koranic law being now confined exclusively to matters dealing directly with religion. The numbers of Christian Judges and lawyers in modern Ottoman Courts is not inconsiderable. If Canon MacColl's strong prejudice against Mussulmans will not allow him to believe what I have said, let him apply to the Turkish Ambassador in London. His Excellency Costaki Pasha is a Greek and a Christian, and was Procureur-General for the High Courts of Constanti nople, and he was also Professor of Procedures of the Criminal Law at the Law College in that city.—I am, Sir, 1,Lc.,
HALIL HALID.
Previous page
