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.