File 6/1912 Part 1 'Persia: Shiraz affairs; attack on Mr Smart; Swedish gendarmerie' [‎399v] (292/472)

Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
Quarterly Report on Affairs of Anatolia Peninsula that forms most of modern-day Turkey. , ended December 31, 1911.
Smyrna,
THE news of the declaration of war was received with the utmost tranquillity,
in spite of one or two fanatical attempts to stir up ill-feeling against the Christians
The colony of Cretan Moslems at Smyrna, numbering about 10,000, presented the
only real cause for alarm. They have been a constant source of trouble, especially since
the constitution, and have always been concerned in all acts of violence connected with
th6 < Meirs b °Whittal and Co., a British shipping firm, recently suffered at the hands of
these men, who kidnapped one of the firm’s employes, an Italian. The culprits were
afterwards caught and imprisoned. _
Prize Court. —A prize court was instituted at Smyrna shortly after the cummence-
ment of the war. , ^ £ , ,
Recrudescence of Brigandage.— On the 11th October a well-known % merchant
named Christides, in the employ of Messrs. Ballantyne, McNair, and Clifford was
carried off at Demirdjih on the Aidin Railway by the notorious Tchakirdjali s band, but
■was released within three weeks on payment of the sum of 1,400 Turkish liras. Shortly
after the release of Christides, a rich Turk, Osman Agha, was carried off. Soldiers and
gendarmes were sent in pursuit, and, after a skirmish lasting twelve hours, a body,
purporting to be that of the famous brigand, was discovered without head or arms. It
•was identified by the brigand’s wife, but, though the authorities appear to be satisfied
with the identity of the corpse, doubt certainly still exists as to whether he is really
dead or not.
On the 15th September news was received of the murder of the ex-Eishop ol
Anneo’s sister and her' son at their house near Sokia. All the furniture and goods
in the house were destroyed. The murders are believed to be the work of some
Circassians. n
“Fraudulent Shippers.” —As the result of the shipment by the “ Black Band, a
firm of fraudulent shippers, of forty-one bales of worthless merchandise to Liverpool,
which w T as consequently returned to Smyrna, a protest was lodged by the board
of directors of the Smyrna Chamber of Commerce against the manifestly unjust
demand for 3,000 piastres gold, put forward by the Customs authorities as demurrage.
Proceedings were taken against the band, all the members of which w^ere sentenced to
terms of imprisonment.
Anti-Greek Boycott. —During the month of November the anti-Greek boycott came
definitely to an end.
Shipping had suffered most, whilst Greek merchants had been but little affected.
Though the boycott undoubtedly fell very severely on certain individuals, it seems fairly
evident that Turkish rather than Greek commerce suffered on the whole.
Adana.
After the departure of Djemal Bey, late Yali of Adana, much persistent talk arose
both in Christian and Moslem circles about his alleged malpractices during his tenure of
office.
The matters which formed the subject of allegations were :—
1. The distribution of the amounts sent from Constantinople for rebuilding after
the massacre of 1909.
2. Two building contracts.
3. The sale of Government lands in the mutessariflik of Hamidieh.
In these affairs imputations of dishonesty were alleged, and though there are no
grounds for believing that Djemal Bey took any part in them, the widespread and
persistent feeling that his governorship was nofr above suspicion, necessitate that the
charges should he investigated.
Panic at Adana.- —Towards the end of November last, such a profound feeling of
anxiety manifested itself amongst the Armenians, who feared an attack from the
Moslem population, as to induce the acting British vice-consul to apply for the