An Observer in the Near East

by William Le Queux

But M. Theotokis has gone even farther. His declarations are distinctly amusing. In the course of an interview in Athens in January of the present year he actually had the audacity to attribute the present situation in Macedonia to Bulgaria. He argued as follows:—

“For a period of six years armed bands of Bulgarians roved all over Macedonia, endeavouring to get the Greek Christian inhabitants to declare allegiance to the head of the Bulgarian Church, and backed up their efforts in this direction by committing murders and atrocities of every description. Notwithstanding repeated appeals of the Greek Government to the Powers to put a stop to these outrages, they were continued, and instead of being checked, went on increasing in number and violence. News of these atrocities reaching Greece daily, public opinion here was getting more and more excited, and finally, the Greek public having given up all hope of a stop being put to them, committees were formed with the object of taking action to protect their compatriots.

“The Greek Government was powerless to prevent these protective bands from crossing into Macedonia, as, unfortunately, we have not sufficient forces to thoroughly guard the frontier. The inability is not surprising, when you consider that Turkey with twenty times the forces at her disposal is not able to prevent them from getting across. That these bands should occasionally have seized an opportunity to avenge Bulgarian crimes, which had continued so long unrestrained, is only natural, as it is not possible to keep armed bands under proper control in such circumstances.

“Finding at last that they had to face Greek bands, which they were not able to stand up against, the Bulgarians commenced to fill the world with complaints against the Greeks, and sent out descriptions of imaginary atrocities committed by Greek bands, when their only real cause of complaint was that they themselves could no longer commit crimes on the Greek Christians with impunity in the way they, for six years, had been accustomed.

“The result of the great outcry raised by the Bulgarians was that strong pressure was brought to bear by the Powers on the Greek Government to prevent Greek bands from crossing into Macedonia, and the Greek Government increased the efforts they had always been making in this direction. Probably as a result of the efforts of this Government, fewer Greek bands have been operating in Macedonia during the past two months, and the consequence is that thirty-nine Greeks have been murdered in Macedonia during this period by Bulgarians, while only seven of the latter have been killed by Greeks.

“The Greek Government have no interest whatever in hindering the efforts of the Powers to restore order in Macedonia. Quite the contrary; no one desires to see order restored there more than we do. But you must remember that the majority of the inhabitants of Macedonia are Greeks, and it is not in the power of the Greek Government to control public opinion in Greece in face of the atrocities committed by Bulgarians on our countrymen in Macedonia. If the Bulgarian propaganda in that country is put a stop to, the Greek Christians will have nothing to fear, and in such circumstances no Greek bands will be found there, as their sole object in crossing the frontier was to protect their co-religionists, who for six years had been terrorised by the Bulgarians. Once Bulgarian crimes in Macedonia cease, there will be nothing more heard of ‘regrettable incidents’ in that country.”

Thus it will be seen that the Prime Minister makes no mention of Germany or of German intrigue. He endeavours to put the blame upon Bulgaria, when all Europe knows well that it is Greece who is responsible for the present bloodshed, and even the Turkish Grand Vizier himself has condemned the action of the Greeks, and declared that in more than one instance the Greek bands have actually operated with the full knowledge and assistance of Greek consuls.

With such biassed views held by the Greek Premier, it can easily be seen that a solution of the problem of Macedonia cannot be arrived at without recourse to force of arms, and the more so, because of Bulgaria’s determination to make her power felt in the country where her subjects are being daily murdered.

The Turkish policy is the traditional one of procrastination, promises, and perfect politeness. The promised reforms are not carried out, the foreign officers employed in reforming the gendarmerie are disgusted with their treatment, and are fast leaving the Turkish service, while the Mohammedan rule is daily growing more and more oppressive, and the unfortunate Macedonians are being slaughtered under the very eyes and with the full cognisance of the Turkish officials, both civil and military.

In Constantinople it is believed that a serious entente regarding Macedonia exists between Italy and Austria, and this belief is based upon Signor Tittoni’s recent declaration. From information I gathered from very reliable sources, however, I am in a position to state that the Turkish fears are utterly groundless. An entente exists, but only in regard to Servia, Bulgaria, and Northern Albania. Austria desired that Montenegro should be included, but Italy—for very obvious reasons—made the complete independence of that valiant little country one of the stipulations. Hitherto Italy and Austria have carried on separate propagandas, but it is quite certain that the two are now amalgamated, and will in future work towards one common end.