THE OUTLOOK

THE MISSIONARY REVIEW of the WORLD

RECENT REPORTS FROM TURKEY
Missionary Review
July, 1916
The Russians continue to advance in Asia Minor, but more slowly than at first. As they
occupy the Armenian territory, the surviving Christians come out of their hiding-places
and peace is restored to the remnant - but Asia Minor as a whole is in a pitiable condition.
The havoc wrought by the Turks can be better realized when we think that the number of
Armenians, men, women and children massacred or starved to death in the past year
would take three days and two nights to pass a given point marching twenty abreast
without a break!
The American Board received a cable from the charge daffier at Constantinople, urging
that all the missionaries in the interior of Asia Minor be withdrawn on account of
increasingly tumultuous conditions, but a message from the United States Consul at
Tiflis, Russia, stated that conditions in the region of Van are suitable for the missionaries
who were driven out to return. The American Board new has four stations under the
Russian flag, Van, Bitlis, Erzroom, Trebizond, and has found the Russian officials
extremely friendly.
Matters, evidently, are very different in the Turkish territory and on the Russian side of
the line. The American Board expects the male missionaries to return to Van at an early
date. They will travel via Russia and the Caucasus and, for some time to come, will be
occupied mainly in relief work. The missionaries still in Asia Minor (one hundred and
twelve in number) are advised to consult with Treasurer Peet at Constantinople and the
Unites States Embassy as to the wisdom of their remaining at their posts.
A company of eight missionaries from eastern Turkey, desiring to leave for home, have
been detained at Beirut since January 1st, the Turkish government refusing to allow the
United States battleship Des Moines to take them off.
In America, the Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief has been stirred to renewed
activity by a recent cablegram which states that many of the Armenian exiles, deported
from their homes by Turkish soldiers, are reduced to eating grass and are dying of
starvation by hundreds.
"Sufferings among exiles have been greatly increased on account of their having refused
to accept Mohammedan religion in accordance with offers generally made them. The
fortitude of most of the people under the sufferings which they are undergoing is
wonderful, and they are not losing their Christian faith. The men of the families of many
of the exiles are still serving in the Turkish army."
The Committee has commissions at work in several cities of Turkey and Persia and relief
is being distributed under the direction of American missionaries and United States
consuls, each city being the distributing point for a large section of country where are
thousands of destitute people. It is estimated that in Turkey, Persia, Syria, and Palestine
there are approximately a million Armenians, Nestorians, and native Christians who are
destitute and suffering for want of food and the necessities of life.