Turkey differs in almost every respect from all other countries. Its government has no parallel either in fundamental principles of organization or in methods of administration. It is unique in its religious beliefs, unexampled in its educational conditions, and incalculable in its dealings with moral and religious questions. We entertain notions of right and wrong that are generally accepted by the nations of Christendom as well as by many others not so classed. These conceptions constitute the fundamental principles of international usage and form the basis for what we call International Law. To conclude, however, that these generally accepted principles will command recognition in Turkey as the basis for its international relations is to invite disappointment. Turkey recognizes no such law as having force in its empire.
In the dealings of one nation with another it is customary to regard the verbal pledge of a sovereign or cabinet minister as worthy of credence, and a basis for negotiations, at least, if not for final adjustment. This notion must be laid aside as purely academic and visionary, in dealing with Turkey.
In view of such facts, it is plain that no phase of Turkish life or affairs can be clearly understood without considerable knowledge of the country and its history, the government and its administrative processes, the diversified religions of its people, and their interdependence. Such a knowledge is especially necessary to anything like an intelligent comprehension of the problems and methods of mission work in the empire of Turkey.
All the chapters of this book except the last were written as they stand, some months before the promulgation of the Constitution on July 24, 1908. A reading of this manuscript suggests no alterations in the light of recent facts except the addition of a statement of the immediate events that led to the overthrow of the old régime and the inauguration of the new order. Obviously only the transitions can be recorded here. The new constitutional government has yet to demonstrate its stability.
I. THE COUNTRY
In attempting to understand this motley field, two principles of the empire must always be kept in mind. One is the Mohammedan principle, which allows non-idolatrous peoples to retain their religion on payment of a poll-tax, at the same time freeing them from military duty. The other is the Turkish principle, which allows different nationalities to remain distinct, but requires them to be represented before the sultan by a political or religious head. There is no assimilating power tending to unify these many races and religions, like that of the British, or even the Mughals, in India. The consequence is that all these separate units form a conglomerate state, binding religions and nationalities together in a repellent contact ready to fly apart into fragments the moment the external fettering bond snaps.
—Edward A. Lawrence
in “Modern Missions in the East.”