CHAPTER XXII
TURKISH CABINET—THE LESS-KNOWN MINISTERS OF THE SOVEREIGN STATE
In judging the members of the Cabinet one must realise that some of them do not speak any European languages, and know little, or nothing, of Western ways. In some cases, for example that of Hassan Fehmi Bey, the Minister of Finance, this is due no doubt to their humble origin. They tell me, however, he “knows the requirements of New Turkey.”
The Minister of Education, Sefa Bey, represents Adana and is somewhat the same type of man, reserved and timid to exaggeration.
There are many Deputies in the Assembly of wider knowledge and better understanding outside their own country who would seem, at least to us, more suitable men for these important Ministries. But we cannot expect to understand all the influences which determine the election of a Turkish Cabinet; only hoping that, as the years pass and the Assembly becomes concerned with wider issues, it may be led by men, assuredly no less loyal to their own nation, who yet desire rather to understand our civilisation, to live in closer contact with Europe, than merely to turn away from us as the object of their eternal hate.
The host who has so graciously welcomed me to his home in Angora is Feszi Bey, Minister of Public Works. He learnt something of Europe, and a little of the French language, when exiled to Malta. I have already recorded evidence of his kindness and generosity, which is certainly not confined to the horses he shelters with so much care in preference to any thought of damage his carriage must suffer by exposure. Simple in tastes and manner, he yet gives one the impression of great power and activity; while the remarkable agricultural schemes inaugurated on his vast estates have been carried out with prudence and success.
Kiazim Pasha, the Minister of National Defence, is a young man on fire with energy. He was in command of an army and corps at Sakharia and largely responsible for the supplies and the organisations which led the army of Ismet Pasha to victory. Like many impulsive natures, he is subject to frequent attacks of pessimism, from which I have striven to rouse him by the assurance that we will not have war.
The Minister of Economics, Mahmoud Essad Bey, is, of course, responsible for agriculture, commerce, and industry. Having studied these subjects in Switzerland, his practical activities are guided by sound theoretical knowledge.
Ali Fouad Pasha was the distinguished general who fought against the Greeks in September, 1921, and has succeeded M. Kemal as President of the group formed to uphold the “Rights of Roumelia and Anatolia.” The Assembly itself developed, or grew out of, this little band of patriots, who are still its leading spirits, the chief inspirers of its policy. At present, the opposition which does exist has very little power or influence; a drawback, as we know to our cost, in any Parliament; which, however, may very well be of temporary advantage to the Assembly until the Turks are really secure from external interference.
I was again impressed, almost startled, by the change that is in progress in the conditions of life in Turkey, as I looked down upon the present Cheik-ul-Islam, called in, “as a mere form,” to depose the Khalif, with no more ceremony than one directs the dentist to extract a tooth.
In the old days I well remember the odour of incense and sandalwood in the sanctuary of Abdul Hamid’s Cheik-ul-Islam, as the great man sat cross-legged under his enormous pumpkin-hat, amidst the picturesque surroundings of historic, ancient, religious ceremony. To him it seemed that for a cheik to dethrone a Sultan, as he foresaw must soon be the command, would be a solemn and awful thing. I could not imagine him modestly waiting for orders, as his successor is waiting to-day. How are the mighty fallen!
Though propaganda has busied itself already, in the attempt to find flaws in the power and popularity of Mustapha Kemal Pasha, his supremacy remains unquestioned. So far, when his party says go, the Assembly goeth, and when he says come, it cometh.
It is certain, nevertheless, that, as the new order settles in its stride, the Government will be confronted with many difficulties of which we cannot as yet foresee the precise nature. M. Kemal is at least two centuries ahead of some of his own Ministers, four hundred years in advance of the peasants, now suddenly, without preparation, made citizens of a Republic—a sovereign people. I have seen the peasants in their homes—those charming little pictures out of the sixteenth century. Without the least knowledge of, or interest in, what we have come to call civilisation, these simple folk have been vegetating through the centuries, free from the noise of great cities and the anxieties of progress. Though always ready to fight and die, as we say “for King and Country,” the symbol of their faith and inherited traditions, they had, and still have, no idea whatever of any government system, or who makes the laws. Naturally sober and religious—not poor, since they had always enough bread—these children of the soil have known no ambition to improve their quiet and happy lives.
It may be Kemal Pasha could do more with only his big Ministers and no Assembly. On the other hand, quicker progress might prove unsettling, and the founders of New Turkey need no advice from us. They have chosen what seems to them the better way; we can but pray for their success. No doubt, as France floundered through revolution, they will be driven to face a thousand bitter disappointments and delays. In times that have well-nigh submerged the land of the Mother of Parliaments, the Assembly must face rocks ahead.
Now that New and Independent Turkey has her chance, she should take it. Rome was not built in a day; and when difficulties come, as come they must, let none scoff with a cheap “I told you so.” Only leave Turkey to the Turks, and, like other nations, they will try and try again, until, at last, they succeed.