Jenghis Khan, Hulagu, and Tamerlane the Turk of Samarkand were irresistible conquerors of a villainous and savage type, who ruthlessly destroyed the ancient glories of Mesopotamia.
Their devastating instincts were infused into the Turkish tribes, whom they drove westward from the regions of the great Gobi plateau. Some of the Turkomans became j anizaries to the Moslem Khalifs. They in time usurped the authority of their masters, and founded the Turkish dynasty at Ghazni, till fresh hordes from Khorasan established thé authority of the Seljuks ; and, finally, at Angora, Ertoghrul, the leader of a homeless Turkoman tribe, founded the empire of the Ottomans, who have completed the ravages of Jenghis Khan and made Mesopotamia the most desolate country on earth.
The Arabic-speaking world extends from Arabia, in the south, through Palestine and Mesopotamia, to Aleppo, in the north. The whole of this country must be set free from the blighting influences of Turkish despotism. If the Arabs are freed, they will gradually recover their strength, and the world will make headway with the breaking down of the one great barrier that has blocked the peoples’ progress for nearly five centuries. If Its Future Prospects.
If the Turks are permitted to govern anybody but themselves, if they continue to command the world’s important highways, then humanity will suffer, and military despotism may once
more regain the ascendant. If Turkey remains anywhere south of Aleppo she would be able to force the Mohammedan world to fall back from the point of vantage which it has now safely reached, and would compel it to reassert the old interpretation of a fanatical ” Jehad.” If only the Arabs can retain their freedom without the interference of European politicians they will themselves be able to deal with the delicate religious questions involved in the fall of the Ottoman Khalifate. The maintenance of peace in the East as well as the progress of Western peoples depend mainly upon the permanent expulsion of the Turk, with all his robber bands, from the world’s highways, and the grant of a charter of freedom for the dwellers.