THE MIRACLE A True Story millions of non-Turks living under the Ottoman yoke. Indeed, the fact that many leading figures in the `Union and Progress' movement were inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution served to reinforce that hope. But in vain: before long, the ranks of the Young Turks were dominated by the most extreme, fanatic and chauvinist elements, led by Mehmet Talat Pasa, Enver Pasa, Cevit Pasa and Cemal Pasa.    "As soon as the Young Turks had stabilised their hold on power, it occurred to them that if the ideas proclaimed by these liberal Young Turks were put into practice, all those living under the Turkish yoke would develop and acquire economic power - and sooner or later demand self-rule. They therefore decided to solve the problem in the only way the Turks know how: by forcible conversion to Islam or death. The Turks are past masters at killing mainly civilian populations; they have been doing it for centuries. So on 10th August, 1910, Mehmet Talat Pasa publicly announced these decisions by the Young Turks, which have been implemented to the letter right up till today and will continue to be implemented whenever the opportunity arises for the next hundred or thousand years.    "The new beginning of the plan to wipe out non-Turkish populations started with the almost total extermination and murder of important figures in the Christian communities. On 11th October, 1911 Bishop Emilianos of Grevena was assassinated. These incidents were all contributory factors in the Balkan War which broke out the following year and gave the Young Turks the opportunity to carry out the systematic extermination of civilian populations, all in the name of executing their plan.    "After the Balkan War ended with the defeat of the Turks, they continued to implement their barbarous strategy. On 14th May, 1914, Mehmet Talat Pasa sent confidential telegrams to all Turkey's political leaders and military commanders. The text of one of these cables, which was addressed to the governor of Smyrna, Rahmi Bey, was published in the French newspaper `Le Temps' two years later, on 29th July, 1916. It said:    "'To Rahmi Bey, Governor of Smyrna.    "'The Ottoman Greeks in your region constitute a majority, a fact which may prove to be dangerous. However, in general all those living along the Asia Minor coast, including your prefecture, must be forced to leave their homes and be moved on to Erzerum, Erzincan or elsewhere. This is absolutely essential for political and military reasons. If they refuse to leave their homes, then you should instruct our Muslim brothers to force them to go by using all possible means, whether legitimate or not.    "The Greeks should also be made to sign a statement to the effect that they are leaving of their own free will; this is absolutely essential, in order to avoid any political complications in the future.    "Signed: Mehmet Talat, Minister of the Interior, Hilmi, Director of the Interior Ministry, Ali Riza, Correspondence Officer.'"    Mr Kleopas paused for a moment to sip some water. My eyes were riveted on him as I drank in his every word.    "As you can see, my boy, and as you will find out for yourself when you're a little older and have read what history has to tell us about the subject, the Turks are and always will be a race of barbarians who are constantly looking for new territorial conquests. The only thing they know how to do is to destroy. As they have never established any kind of culture or civilisation of their own, they don't want any culture to exist; they have never respected any nation's culture throughout their bloody history. Everywhere they went they demolished, 79 and 80 Leonidas Koumakis THE MIRACLE A True Story If you prefer a hard copy of the book, please send an email to HEC-Books@hec.greece.org Previous Page | Initial Page | Site Map | Next Page (81st of 204) © For Internet 2001 HEC and Leonidas Koumakis. Updated on 19 June 2001.