Grace Ellison

“ No one can marvel that she set her hearers on fire to save “all that remained of the Turkish Empire—Anatolia.” As she has written, “It is the love of race which first made the Turks a mighty people. Whatever may come, rest assured our race cannot die. It hath immortal life. Though we stand alone against the world, our love of race will give us courage. Till we can once more stand proudly beside the nations, we will fear no obstacle and shrink from no self-sacrifice!” ”

“ The millions spent in propaganda may serve to prolong the legend, they cannot alter facts. To visit, with glowing anticipations, this land of our dreams, means the awakening to bitter disillusion. Those only are still blind who will not see.
In Angora I could but plead for England: “We have loved Helen; must we divorce her?”
More than the eloquence of Venizelos, more than the gold of Zakaroff, more than any pity for Christian martyrs; it is our age-old loyalty to the civilisation to which we owe our visions and our ideals—that has led us so woefully and so wilfully astray. ”

“ In that mood Turkey would have accepted—anything, but the one thing we imposed on her—the Greeks at Smyrna! That policy of sheer folly has transformed the veneration of her people into fear and distrust, if not hate.
Unjustly and unreasonably as we have behaved towards our old ally, we were not, indeed, alone in this mischievous exalting of Greek aggressions. Dare we not now own our mistake? We are great enough, and strong enough, to be generous, to mend our ways! ”

“ I tried again, hoping to silence a busy man.
“Please imagine you are an American,” I suggested, “and that time is money.”
“Time is not money when a woman’s life is at stake. Forgive me, your courage—which I shall never forget—is immense, but you are not a sportsman!”
“What do you mean?”
“It is not fair to us—Englishmen! What will the Turks think of us, allowing it? They will have a mighty poor opinion of British chivalry. And we do not deserve it! Would they let one of their women do such a thing? We, too, protect our women!” ”

“ ANGORA III.—THE MARVELLOUS ATMOSPHERE OF A GREAT BIRTH In all my wanderings, East and West, over Europe and America, I have nowhere been so much thrilled by a dominating sense of “real effort” as at Angora. Against a background of prehistoric civilisations, the human bees swarm in and out of their Parliament, buzzing away night and day, a free and independent Turkey.
What will their “delegation” accomplish at Lausanne? Is the war only postponed, or will there be peace? “At one moment our spirits rise to the most daring hopes; we see ourselves marching into Constantinople. ”

“ Because the League stood aside, and left the Greeks in Smyrna, as Britain refused discussion with Turkish emissaries, Mustapha Kemal was driven to arms, which gave Turkey, indeed, the victory, but spread ruin throughout Anatolia.
Should not a careful consideration for the feelings of all nations be an outstanding characteristic of the League, which is the expression of the world-brotherhood? Yet it suggested that a man, a Mr. Pitt, should be allowed to search the harems for enslaved Greeks and Armenians! An incomprehensible insult that, if Turkey ever forgives, she cannot forget. ”

“ And now, as the sunset colours—gold, scarlet, violet, and purple—are glowing upon the immortal rock, over the marble ruins, I marvel at “tiny” Athens and her “vast” name.
Alas, for Hellas and modern Greece!
Had her own people been as faithful as Oxford to the traditions of ancient Greece, what would have been the Eastern Question to-day? And for some, no doubt, it is this very honouring of Hellas that has been responsible for our fatal pro-Greek enthusiasms. If we recognise the superiority of the modern Turk, loyalty to Plato, to Aristotle, and to Socrates must forbid speech ”

“ I asked.
“No, never,” he replied. “I saw the whole scheme from the first (even when we had no munitions) , just as it finally worked out. We delayed—to save bloodshed and devastation. Fethi Bey went to London as a last resource, because we wanted a treaty—in ink, not in blood.”
Is not that last effort for peace, perhaps, this great man’s finest gesture to a war-ridden generation? Knowing the glory he could win for himself, in the certainty of strength for conquest, he yet made three separate attempts to persuade the Powers to enforce a peaceful retirement upon the Greeks. ”

“ Nature abhors neutrality, as she abhors a vacuum. And so it is in politics.
On the other hand, however, we ask ourselves what nation was as badly beaten as Turkey? Yet which of our late enemies has dared such open defiance to the Allies? Not, however, in consequence of their victory over the Greeks; but because she knows that, however much we may pretend, none wants to fight; and no one can win the prize of “Constantinople” save by conquest.
We had foolish visions of a new Byzantium, and thought that Greece would reward our support by a “place on the Bosphorus.” ”

“ From the time one’s carriage rumbles over the stones of the great unshaded courtyard to the side where the Pope’s apartments are situated, one has the sensation of walking over a book of sacred history. It is true all Rome is history. The Vatican, however, is the history of the Catholic Church from the beginning, and as you go up the marble steps you instinctively lower your voice, walking slowly and silently. ”

“ TURKEY AND THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS—THE PARLIAMENT OF NATIONS MUST BE TRULY IMPARTIAL AND INTERNATIONAL For those of us who pinned their faith on the League of Nations, it is a matter of the deepest regret that Turkey has lost her trust in the great Parliament of All Nations, especially now that it could have played so important a part in settling our differences at the Lausanne Conference. It is not entirely the Turks’ fault; indeed, considering all things, one can scarcely urge them to any other attitude. ”

“ How is it, then, that we have so consistently failed to quiet the Turkish storms? Of course, every one of the “powers” has been involved, each playing for its own hand, striving to end or prolong the war in its own interests.
It is well known that the Turk himself has above all committed one crime—he has kept Constantinople!
Bent on a policy of peace (!) we undertook to disarm Turkey; but the mission despatched to Anatolia for this purpose could, or would, not accomplish its task. Then in May, 1919, despite the Mudros Armistice, we allowed the Greeks to occupy Smyrna! ”

“ They have never tasted alcohol; miserably clad, without proper clothing or shelter, they sit about us expressionless and resigned—singing hymns of joy that sound far more like a funeral dirge. There is no need for thought, since they are ready to die for their fatherland, their leader, their faith.
Yet, though they know I come from an “enemy” country, there is no kindness and consideration they will not extend to a woman who trusts them. Where is the Bolshevism of those who have lifted me over every step of mud, and are even now girding their loins to carry me onwards for forty miles? ”

“ Constantinople, without our women, makes one wonder if it were so wise as it appears, thus to play for safety! After all, cannot the Englishwoman endure what the Russian, Greek and Armenian are left to put up with? If the husband is in danger, should not his wife be with him? “We want to ‘protect’ our women,” I had been told, and there is no finer ideal than chivalry. But, after Constantinople, I would suggest that we women also “want to protect our men!” ”

“ He has the right to say ‘look at me,’ as he trots along with the double row of turquoise beads round his neck, leading these great big chaps behind him. When he chooses to push ahead, they must hurry after him; and when he condescends to turn round and ‘look over’ them, for all the world as an officer might ‘eye’ his men, you could not discover a more striking example of personality in the East. ”

“ The home life of Mustapha Kemal, literally given to his country, involves severe daily self-sacrifice. From month to month he allows himself no recreation, no change of scene, no intercourse with the world’s culture. Among these lonely mountains he cannot break the monotony by going to a play or to a concert; he does not hunt or follow any kind of sport; and even Nature, at least in winter, is scarcely kind.
His life is one of continual mental and physical effort: reading, studying, and planning, seeing everyone, for they all want to see “The Pasha” and not the second in command. ”

“ To all the Turks, Riza Nour, Tewfik, Hikmet, I say the same. “We are both in the wood. We must walk round and round, until we have found a way out.”
It may sound paradoxical, but, while there is absolutely no offence to British prestige in the National Pact that is worth shedding one drop of human blood to remove, it yet stands for such vital ideals, means so much, and has been achieved with such grand courage and self-sacrifice, that the Nationalists must uphold and defend it to the bitter end. ”

“ People have asked me “Why did Lausanne fail?”
I answer: “It did not fail. It would have been failure had Ismet Pasha signed, at the pistol’s point, a treaty that could not be ratified. He knew that the Assembly would never sign the terms offered by the Powers; and, as I told Lord Curzon, he had to consult his colleagues in Angora. It would hinder peace, not promote it, to sign with no security for ratification.”
As Ismet said, “We have purchased our Anatolia with the blood and money of her peasants. We can die, but we cannot betray them.” ”

“ The Lausanne Conference is beginning—perhaps he will give me his impressions.
From the window of the antechamber I saw the Pasha arrive, attended only by one aide-de-camp. There is, of course, absolutely no foundation for the stories that he is even more strictly guarded than Lenin, among a people who trust and love him!
It is not necessary to see M. Kemal Pasha to realise that he is the greatest man in Turkey to-day, quite apart from his actual achievements. He has, indeed, accomplished miracles; but it is rather the universal attitude of the people by which one measures the man. ”

“ Why are we the only nation to whom the principle of racial frontiers has been denied? By what kind of justice does an Arab minority, probably smaller than one quarter of the population, give England the right to annex Mosul!
“To insist upon our accepting ‘foreign judges,’ is an humiliating insult to our Government that is altogether incompatible with National Sovereignty. Such interference, and such an affront to the authority of the State would be no less injurious to the interests of foreigners in Turkey than to our own. ”

“ Every Turk will acknowledge the supreme value of the institutions that have produced brilliant pupils like Halidé Edib Hanoum, and they will know very well how much the women of Turkey can gain from them, not to be gained from their own system of education. I admire Turkish women very much, and have enjoyed their company in their own homes, but I am none the less ready to honour the work of their American teachers that has already given them so splendid a start towards real progress and complete freedom. ”

“ What is it one admires the most? For me, certainly, the all-conquering gift of the truly brave.
As my father used to say of General Gordon: “In the service of God and humanity, he was the bravest of men; and in his sorest need or his greatest loneliness, his courage rose all the time. To have known Gordon is to say with certainty, ‘God is courage!’”
This fragile and thoroughly feminine little lady was first in the field against Abdul Hamid, one of the first to understand Angora, to leave all for the Pasha, to work without ceasing for Nationalism and the new Turkey. ”

“ I have just been to the famous Hadgi Bairam Mosque, and found its chief charm, as I expected, in the exquisite colouring of the carpets and antique faïences. These glowing scarlets and blues, mauves and terra-cottas, surely compensate, in some measure, for all the grey that overshadows life. Europe would not seem so sordid if we imported more bright colours from the East—for our East Ends! Nothing fascinates me so much as the atmosphere of a mosque; the un-selfconsciousness and natural reverence of the men at prayers ”

“ Turkey has been insulted, despised, and deceived by Christendom. Despite her utmost tolerance to every faith, she has been betrayed by those to whom she was most indulgent. Missionaries she welcomed in Christ’s name, as messengers of His love to all men, have used their sacred privileges to organise enemy propaganda.
Therefore will I bear witness: there is a father’s heart on Peter’s throne; a father anxious for all his children, suffering; and with no crusade to urge against Islam, also sons of God and brothers of Christ! ”

“ Western friends, no doubt, are often tempted to wish him the master of a little more push and noise. Longer intimacy and a more sympathetic understanding, however, will cure us of this mistake. Were he not so supersensitive all the time, did he attempt our rush methods of progress, he would soon cease to be himself and lose the fine mystic idealism for which no sacrifice has been too great, no passion of waiting and working too prolonged.
They will not yet set up a Republic, as we understand the word. No nation on earth has less capacity or inclination for Bolshevism. ”

“ THE FUTURE—ABOVE ALL, A LASTING PEACE Will the future bring us peace; above all, a lasting peace? Though nothing less is worth having, we cannot have war.
I saw M. Franklin-Bouillon in Paris and, though not perhaps in agreement with all he did in Syria, I maintain that his work in Moudania deserved thanks rather than criticism. He knows the Turks well, and affirms that he would have made peace at Lausanne. ”

“ I was hearing the other day about a scheme for building a railway in co-operation with the Turks: one rail to be laid by them and the other by the Americans! I should feel far more safe in a yaili with one wheel!
It is a delightful pastime to work out big schemes for smashing up Europe, Asia, and America; in order to rebuild the world tastefully and according to hygiene, like a couple of happy children with their bricks; but we have at last reached the conclusion of the whole matter. East is East and West is West. ”