Memories of a Turkish Statesman, 1913
Pasha Ahmed Djemal
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Text originally published in 1922 under the same title.

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Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

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Memories Of A Turkish Statesman—1913-1919

by

Djemal Pasha

Formerly Governor of Constantinople, Imperial Ottoman Naval Minister, and Commander of the Fourth Army in Sinai, Palestine and Syria

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

INTRODUCTION 4

MILITARY GOVERNOR OF CONSTANTINOPLE, 1913 5

CHAPTER I. — MILITARY GOVERNOR OF CONSTANTINOPLE, 1913. 5

THE OUTBREAK AND END OF THE SECOND BALKAN WAR 26

CHAPTER II. — THE OUTBREAK AND END OF THE SECOND BALKAN WAR. 26

AT THE ADMIRALTY 51

CHAPTER III. — AT THE ADMIRALTY. 51

IN COMMAND OF THE FOURTH ARMY 87

CHAPTER IV. — IN COMMAND OF THE FOURTH ARMY. 87

OUR PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXPEDITION AGAINST THE SUEZ CANAL 93

CHAPTER V. — OUR PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXPEDITION AGAINST THE SUEZ CANAL. 93

THE DESERT FORCE 103

CHAPTER VI — THE DESERT FORCE. 103

THE BATTLES OF GAZA 110

CHAPTER VII — THE BATTLES OF GAZA. 110

THE ARAB REBELLION 124

CHAPTER VIII. — THE ARAB REBELLION. 124

THE ARMENIAN QUESTION 156

CHAPTER IX. — THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 156

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 208

INTRODUCTION

MY personal participation in general politics in the Ottoman Empire begins with the coup d’état of January 23, 1913.

On the evening of that day I left the headquarters of the Lines of Communication Inspectorate{1} and went to the Sublime Porte, to which a great crowd was flocking at the time.

At that moment Mahmud Shefket Pasha, who had been appointed Grand Vizier a few hours before, returned from the Imperial Palace and met me at the entrance to the Grand Vizier’s palace.

He had hardly seen me before he called out: Djemal Bey, I want you to take over the Military Governorship of Constantinople at once and you must not lose a minute in taking all measures you think necessary for the preservation of order and confidence in the capital.

As I have said, my assumption of the highly important and equally responsible office of Military Governor of Constantinople meant my direct participation in general politics in my Fatherland. I thus find myself compelled to start my memoirs at that point.

MILITARY GOVERNOR OF CONSTANTINOPLE, 1913

CHAPTER I. — MILITARY GOVERNOR OF CONSTANTINOPLE, 1913.

I ENTER UPON MY OFFICE.

WHEN I was commissioned by Mahmud Shefket Pasha to take over the direction of the Military Government of Constantinople, the corpse of Nazim Pasha was still lying in the room of the First Aide-de-Camp of the Grand Vizier and the Ex-Grand Vizier, Kiamil Pasha, as well as the Sheik-ul-Islam, Djemaleddin, the Minister of the Interior, Reschid Bey, and the Finance Minister, Abdurrahman Bey, were lodged for safety in one of the rooms of the Minister-President’s quarters.

After a short conversation with Talaat Bey, who had been entrusted provisionally with the administration of the Ministry of the Interior, we decided that Nazim Pasha’s corpse should be taken to the hospital at Gulhane, Kiamil Pasha and Djemaleddin Effendi should be sent home, and that we should keep Reschid Bey and Abdurrahman Bey a few days in the Military Government building, in order to protect them against the rage the revolutionaries were displaying against them.

At that moment Lieutenant-Colonel Nadji Bey, Kiamil Pasha’s son-in-law, and a friend of mine since school days, was in the Grand Vizierate building. I received him with the words: You needn’t have any anxiety. Your father-in-law is safe. You can take him home, but if he does not want to be molested by some excited fellow it would be advisable for him to leave Constantinople for a time and go to Europe.

Nadji Pasha thanked me very warmly, and Kiamil Pasha and Djemaleddin Effendi reached their homes without mishap. Reschid and Abdurrahman were brought to the Military Government building, and Nazim Pasha’s body was removed to the hospital at Gulhane. I myself went to the Military Government and spent the night there engaged in taking such measures for the preservation of order as the situation required. Lest I burden my story with immaterial details I will not describe them more fully.

I made the doctors at Gulhane give me a report on Nazim Pasha, and also had a detailed report of the affair prepared.

THE BURIAL OF NAZIM PASHA.

On the next day the burial of Nazim Pasha was carried out in accordance with my instructions.

I had attached importance to the obsequies being carried out with every mark of distinction, and therefore insisted that the high military dignitaries, ministers and civil officials, as well as the military attachés of foreign Powers, should take part.

The weather was bad that day. I was a prey to profound melancholy. The Bulgarians stood before the Chataldja lines, the Greek Fleet blockaded the Dardanelles, the warships of the Great Powers were anchored off the Bechiktach, prepared to occupy Constantinople at any moment. But we ourselves, who unfortunately had not been in a position to wrest the reins of government from weak and nerveless hands by lawful means, had seen ourselves compelled to resort to a coup d’état, in which the former War Minister and Commander-in-Chief of our army had unhappily lost their lives. And in spite of all our efforts and such great sacrifices the future of our country was still in the greatest jeopardy. Such was the gloomy vision that passed before the eyes of my mind, as by the side of Major Maucorps, the French Military Attaché, I accompanied the earthly remains of Nazim Pasha to the grave. As we were crossing St. Sophia Square I turned involuntarily to Maucorps and said: Look here, my friend, the Europeans alone are responsible for this victim, for by your perpetual injustices you have enticed the Turkish nation into the arena and compelled it to fight to be able to live in freedom and escape thraldom and misery. Who knows how many more obsequies you will attend? It will be no surprise if you have to follow my coffin tomorrow.

He made as if he did not understand me, and asked me to make my meaning clearer. Passing over the French intrigues, out of courtesy, I spoke of the machinations of the English and Italians, and especially those of Russia, and referred to the spirit of revolt they aroused in the country. I explained to him how the Balkan peoples had been compelled to form an alliance by these intrigues and added that now, when the slightest support from England or France could still save us, they not only refused us such support, but did not hesitate to speak evil of us through the heads of their Governments, so that the poor Turks, after so many blows of adversity, had ended up by tearing each other to pieces. The English Military Attaché, Tyrrel, followed our conversation with interest, though he took no part in it. Maucorps, however, replied: You’re right! He spoke in a tone which left me in no doubt as to his genuineness. We ultimately lapsed into silence and accompanied Nazim Pasha to his last resting-place.

THE GENERAL AMNESTY.

On the evening of the coup d’état the President of Police took the precautionary measure of arresting the most prominent members of the Opposition and bringing them to headquarters. A decision with regard to them had to be taken quickly, particularly as Reschid and Abdurrhaman were detained at the Military Government building.

After discussing with a few friends, and particularly Talaat, we decided not only to take no repressive measures against them, but rather to strive to come to some understanding with them. Mahmud Shefket Pasha entirely approved this decision.

Thereupon I sent for Abdurrhaman Bey, who wished to speak to me. I gave him an assurance that he and his friends were in no danger, that their detention was only temporary, and merely for the purpose of protecting them against attempts at assassination, and that they could go home in a day or two. I added, however, that in my opinion they would be wise to leave Constantinople and live abroad for a time. I gave them permission to have bedding and food fetched from their houses. Two days later I had them taken back to their homes under safe escort. A day or so later they left Constantinople, as did Kiamil Pasha and Djemaleddin Effendi.

On the second day after my entry into office I went to the garrison headquarters, and visited Ali Kemal Bey as well as Riza Nur and Ismael Bey of Gumuldjina, the deputies for Sinope, who were interned there. I gave them the same assurance that they were in no danger if they abandoned all idea of untimely opposition. I remarked that in these unhappy times the country needed the help of all reasonable and well-disposed men, and that if they believed in my good intentions I could give them an honourable field of labour.

Ali Kemal Bey wanted some post in Europe. Dr. Riza Nur asked for the money necessary to prosecute his medical studies in Paris. Ismael Pasha gave me his word of honour that if he were allowed to remain in the country he would refrain from any opposition to the Government until normal conditions were restored.

I sent Dr. Riza Nur to Paris after I had obtained the necessary approval of the grant of money he had requested. Kemal Bey I sent to Vienna, compensating him in the same way for his removal. I had several letters from him there.

Four or five days after these negotiations with the leaders of the Opposition, the political atmosphere cleared, and Mahmud Shefket Pasha’s Ministry could settle down to devote itself to its great task.

As Military Governor of Constantinople I had also to hold the post of General Officer Commanding the operations base of the army at Chataldja, and in carrying out the double functions of these offices I made it my principal business to preserve order in the city and at any cost prevent the repetition of a coup d’état against Mahmud Shefket Pasha’s Ministry.

I must not omit to refer here to two measures which I found it necessary to take:

1. There were in Constantinople a number of smugglers who were offering smuggled tobacco (in Government packets) in the streets of the city, Sultan Hamam, Sirkedji, and on Mahmud Pasha Hill and Bayadzid Square.

I detected an open proclamation of the bankruptcy of state authority in the cry, Two piastres’ worth for one, to the accompaniment of which these people had the audacity to offer their wares in packets under the tops of which the strands of light yellow tobacco could be seen, even if indistinctly. To bring the strength of the Government home to the civil population I therefore resorted to the powers conferred on the Military Government by martial law, and announced to all those concerned that anyone who indulged in illicit trading, whether wholesale or retail, would be arrested and banished from Constantinople.

In the next week I had four or five at most of these individuals deported, and the court martial passed sentence on a few smugglers who were caught in a kiosk not far from the Seraglio. The result was that the common swindling which had become an everyday occurrence was soon exceptional, and the people of Constantinople and its suburbs could henceforth enjoy perfect security.

2. There were many people in Constantinople who indulged in the vicious habit of making amorous remarks to Mohammedan ladies as they passed them out walking, on the boats and bridges, or in the streets and bazaars. Among them were even old women, who made indecent suggestions and even laid hands on elegant and well-dressed women.

I had always had a violent hatred of this abuse, and I had never been able to understand the neglect to take strong measures against it before. Indeed, the evil was always more or less noticeable in proportion as the Government was strong or weak. When I became Military Governor many fathers of families who had reason to complain applied to me with a request to take steps to change this condition of things. As our criminal code provided but little with which to combat it, I found myself once more compelled to resort to the powers which martial law conferred upon the Military Governor.

I issued a warning that men who used insulting language and women who accosted ladies should be transported to the interior. After four or five examples had been made our women were able to walk in the streets without further molestation. For the first time a definite step had been taken to place the personal freedom of Turkish women on a secure basis.

During my period of office as Military Governor I have proved that I am one of the most zealous advocates of the emancipation of women, or, to put it more accurately, I believe firmly in the important part which woman is called upon to play not only in social life, but also in public affairs. It is true that for that reason I was subsequently made the object of numerous calumnies on the part of certain persons. Nevertheless the Women’s Movement which began with my term of office not only did not die out as time went on, but extended and developed continuously and rendered the greatest service during the war. I am absolutely convinced that the civilising agencies of a country can best and soonest be promoted with the help of woman, and that those nations which keep their womankind in a state of slavery are on the high road to inevitable decay.

AN ATTEMPT TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT.

After my appointment as Military Governor of Constantinople I invited the editors of the principal newspapers of the capital to call upon me, and told them that their papers would be subjected to a very mild censorship only if they would undertake to publish no articles of a kind to imperil public order. I asked them to write articles of a general and helpful nature, to enlighten public opinion and rouse the new forces which the Fatherland needed for its salvation. I desired to allow even the most violent organs of the Opposition to continue publication, organs which dated from the time of the previous Ministry. The latter certainly exceeded on occasion the instructions given them, but I confined myself to making representations to their editors or responsible directors.

The Government worked with the greatest energy to arouse the martial spirit of the nation and create an army capable at any rate of beating the Bulgarians facing the Chataldja lines during the second war against the Allies. On the one hand they founded the Committee of National Defence, and endeavoured to accumulate all possible material and military resources, and on the other they tried to raise the moral of the army and did everything in their power to create opinion favourable to Turkish interests among the Great Powers.

At that moment the English, French and Russian diplomatists who had been sent to Constantinople were doing their utmost to induce us to make peace with the Balkan States on the terms that we should accept the Enos-Midia line and abandon the islands of the Archipelago.

When I called one day at the French Embassy the Ambassador, Monsieur Bompard, with whom I had been on friendly terms since the days when I was Governor in Adana, chose this topic as the subject of conversation.

My dear Djemal Bey, he said, "why are you so obstinate about keeping Adrianople and the islands? You’ve effected a coup d’état. You’re in power. We know that your party represents the strongest factor in the country and that, unlike the old Ministry, you wouldn’t hesitate to take and carry out decisions such as even we ourself regard as in the best interests of Turkey. You must make it your business now more than ever to secure peace and order at home. Don’t you think it wiser to devote the moral and material resources you mean to squander on the retention of Adrianople to the reforms you intend to introduce? Broadly speaking, all you possess in the city is a few historically notable mosques, and as for the islands, they’ve always been inhabited solely by Greeks."

By way of answer I took the Ambassador up to a map of the Ottoman Empire which was hanging on a wall. I pointed out that for the defence of Constantinople a hinterland was required which must at any rate stretch to Adrianople, and that if Anatolia was to be protected against the attack of Greek robber bands the possession of the islands off our coasts was absolutely essential.

My dear Monsieur Bompard, I ended up, "we regard this question of Adrianople and the islands as a life and death matter for our future. We should be eternally grateful to any European Government which supported us in this affair, and it would always find us at its side. It would be a great coup, and France could thereby win a position of moral supremacy in the East."

While the Government was thus endeavouring to save Adrianople I was getting news every day which seemed to indicate that the Opposition were planning a coup d’état. The reports were ultimately so numerous and became so urgent that I found myself compelled to come to some decision in the matter.

One day fate delivered into our hands a certain Serdar Sidki Effendi from Erzerum. This man was caught with another individual in the act of having proclamations printed at a printing establishment in Pera. The ringleaders of this group were working under the moral protection of Prince Sabaheddin Bey and taking direct orders from his Private Secretary, the Bosniac Satfet Lutfi Bey. Their aim was a coup d’état with the intention of making Prince Sabaheddin Bey Grand Vizier.

We arrested them all. We did not get hold of Satfet Lutfi for a time until we ultimately found him in the house of Herr Lazare, interpreter to the Austro-Hungarian Consulate. I had him arrested and imprisoned. As these measures were contrary to the capitulations, I found myself compelled to get orders from Mahmud Schefket Pasha and, as supreme responsible representative of the executive authority, call at the Austro-Hungarian Embassy in full dress and present my apologies to Count Pallavicini.

This attempt at a coup d’état is described as an attempt to overthrow the Government in the record relating to this affair. These documents, which were most carefully drawn up, are preserved in the Military Government, the Prefecture of Police and the War Court. The prisoners were condemned to various penalties. Prince Sabaheddin I left alone for the time being, as Talaat Bey, who was then performing the functions of Secretary-General of the Committee and endeavouring to arrive at some understanding with the Prince, had asked me to postpone his arrest until we secured some obvious and irrefutable proof of his guilt.

In spite of the arrest and punishment of Satfet Lutfi and his accomplices Sabaheddin Bey continued his machinations. This time he entrusted the conduct of the business to his close friend, Dr. Nihad Reschad Bey. Nihad Reschad Bey now got into touch with Talaat Bey with a view to finding a basis for compromise between our party and Prince Sabaheddin’s, and simultaneously started a plot, the object of which was the murder of Talaat Bey, Mahomed Shefket Pasha, and other persons. But I was daily kept informed of his intrigues, and, so to speak, followed him step by side. The Doctor’s double game was so well concealed by his elegant exterior that Talaat Pasha, who was in negotiation with him, would not believe in the machinations of this gentleman, though I exposed them in all their details to him. He accused my intelligence service of wishing to deceive me until I ultimately convinced him entirely by a shattering piece of evidence.

One day there was to be another conference between Talaat and the Doctor. This conference was, however, preceded by another meeting which the Doctor had arranged with his accomplices. Highly satisfied with the course of the discussion with his friends, the Doctor took leave of them, remarking with a Machiavellian smile: Now we’ll talk to Talaat about an understanding. I had taken good care that someone in whom Talaat Bey had perfect confidence should witness this scene. From that moment on Talaat Bey doubted no longer. Doctor Nihad, who had obviously got wind of the affair, succeeded in escaping when I tried to have him arrested also. Several of his friends were put under lock and key, and formed the second group which was brought before a court martial.

Prince Sabaheddin disappeared from the scene. I learned subsequently that under the protection of Mr. FitzMaurice, the first interpreter at the English Embassy, and Major Tyrrel, the Military Attaché, he had fled to a house in English occupation, so that our hands were, of course, tied.

I could not understand how the Prince, who had planned the conspiracy with extreme boldness, could suddenly abandon his scheme and take to flight. When Talaat Pasha was later on returning from our journey from Constantinople to Berlin and came to speak of this matter he remarked with a smile: When you gave me palpable proof of the intrigues of the doctor and the Prince and I realised that you were determined to have them arrested I had the Prince warned through one of his confidants to disappear as quickly as possible. That is how he got away.

Curiously enough, it was I who had set the Prince free at the time of the events of April 13th (March 31st) after he had been taken prisoner by the Army of Operations and brought to the Ministry of War. I had hardly heard of his arrest before I went to Mahmud Shefket Pasha and represented to him that these measures against the Prince were not permissible. I told him that inasmuch as we had come to Constantinople to remove the mischief makers and fight the nefarious activities of the street politician, it would not be right to behave in the same way towards the Prince and certain individuals whose political opinions and convictions differed from our own. The Pasha at once ordered his release. I thereupon went to the great drawing-room in which the Prince was waiting with his mother, the Sultana, and told him with polite apologies that he was free. But while the enquiries into the activities of Satfet Lutfi and his friends were in progress and Doctor Nihad’s accomplices were being searched for I was informed that the Prince was one of the many authors of the events of April 13th. This time he was enabled to escape through the protection of Talaat Pasha, although there could be no doubt about his participation in the preparations for a coup d’état.

One day at the time when I was taking proceedings against the Prince and his fellow-conspirators (it was before his flight) his brother, Prince Lutfullah Bey, came to the Military Government to ask for my help in a personal matter. In the course of our conversation I began to speak about Sabaheddin Bey, and said: "I want you to do me a little favour, I mean take your brother Sabaheddin Bey a message. In his appeals, both here and in Europe, he asserts that the leaders of ‘Unity and Progress’ are assassins whose hands are red with blood. Although this allegation is in direct contrast to the evidence, I will assume for the moment that it is true. I myself maintain, on the other hand, that all the members of the Opposition, Prince Sabaheddin included, have blood on their hands as well as we ourselves.

"To begin with, it was they who organised the events of April 13th; theirs is the guilt for all the blood which was then shed as well as for that which flowed when the Army of Operations entered Constantinople. Further, the Prince took an active part in the formation of the group of ‘Band of Delivers’ Officers, and was not unconnected with the rising in Albania. His Highness thus cannot evade partial responsibility for the blood that has flowed. On the other hand, he is trying to brand us as murderers. I must therefore ask the Prince to recognise these facts and be good enough to admit that those whom he called murderers only proceeded to take counter-measures in an absolute emergency. He should also admit that the sharper measures were taken by his party and should be prepared for a compromise which allowed both parties to remain true to their different political convictions and yet to work for the common welfare of the Fatherland, each in its own way."

Lutfullah Bey naturally defended his brother most vigorously, and vowed that he was incapable of dipping his hands in blood and had nothing to do with all these affairs. Thereupon I said to him: I can’t discuss these matters with you, as you know nothing about them, but please tell me whether you will repeat my words to your brother. That will satisfy me.

He promised, and added: Perhaps I can do some good this way.

Two or three days later Prince Lutfullah Bey called on me again and told me that he had repeated my words to his brother, and that the latter had replied that my accusations conflicted wholly with the truth and that I either desired to slander him or must unquestionably have been falsely informed. I recognised but one political principle which he regarded as his ideal, and fought for its realisation by the methods of peace. He shrank with horror from all bloodshed, and he could not understand how anyone could regard him as the advocate of a bloody revolution, much less as its organiser. He was bound to assume, merely from my remark as communicated to him, that there was a cloud of hatred and enmity about him, and he therefore considered he must withdraw for some time to some safer place.

I will make Sabaheddin a proposal, I replied. We will choose the three best-known English lawyers. I will show this committee of judges the proofs and evidence against the Prince which I can produce and they shall decide whether the Prince was or was not one of the organisers of the various insurrections and revolutionary movements. If their decision is against him the Prince would have to face the Ottoman Courts.

A few days later Prince Lutfullah Bey returned and assured me that he had no chance of seeing his brother and putting my proposal before him. As a matter of fact Prince Sabaheddin had disappeared the night before.

ABUK AHMED PASHA.

At the time of my enquiries into the coup d’état planned by our enemies my attention was urgently called by my intelligence service to the fact that Abuk Ahmed Pasha, who was then commanding the Chataldja Army, was not unconcerned in the affair, and had instructed his nephew, Prince Sabaheddin, and their friends to promise his help. I have always considered Abuk Ahmed Pasha a man of honour, and do not think any different of him now, and I am convinced that the greatness and prosperity of his country has always been his dearest wish, and that he has genuinely devoted himself to it. For that reason I could put no faith in the numerous reports which I received from my agents, and I remained of that opinion even when he resigned after Enver Pasha was appointed War Minister, and he was asked to reside in Damascus; Even now I adhere firmly to that view although I see that Abuk Pasha has become a Minister in the Cabinet, which includes individuals like Marshal Shakir Pasha Hadra Sabri and others who, as the most prominent and influential members of the Liberal-Union, were the authors of the attack on Mahmud Shefket Pasha.

DAMAD SALIH PASHA.

My agents displayed the greatest zeal. They continuously brought me news of a conspiracy which aimed at the overthrow of the Ministry, and in particular contemplated the assassination of Mahmud Shefket Pasha and the deaths of Talaat Bey and myself. This time the conspirators had the protection and direction of the first interpreter at the English Embassy, FitzMaurice, and Major Tyrrel, the Military Attaché. I was also informed that Muhib Bey, the director of the Political Section of the Police in the time of Kiamil Pasha’s Ministry, Captain Cherkess Kiazim, Ex-Captain Shefket Ismael of Gumuldjinaj and several other individuals were concerned in the conspiracy; I had these people very closely shadowed by my secret agents. I received a report which gave me the most positive indications that Damad Salih Pasha and Reshid Bey, the former Minister of the Interior, were at the head of the conspiracy. As I knew that Damad Salih Pasha was a member of the committee of Liberal-Union I could not believe that he would participate in such a crime. In any case I was very much concerned to protect an individual closely related to the Imperial Family, and prevent him from taking any part in a plot.

I therefore sent one of my aides-de-camp to him and asked him to give me an appointment, and the Military Government. He was there at the hour agreed. After I had given him a very respectful reception I said to him: Would Your Excellency allow me to tell you quite straight what is on my mind? Certain people who wish to make use of the material and moral advantages of your great name and person and your relationship with the Imperial Family are secretly engaged in underhand intrigues and misusing your name. A secret committee is said to have been formed under your chairmanship and to be seeking adherence in civil and military circles with the intention of removing the heads of the present Government in the near future and starting a revolutionary movement. I must assume that your Excellency knows nothing of all this, but please be good enough to believe that the individuals in question are actually doing as I have said, and thereby saddling Your Excellency with the heaviest responsibility. Please believe that I regard it as my sacred duty to protect you against their activities, especially having regard to your relationship to the Imperial Family, to which I am in the highest degree devoted. I therefore beg you very respectfully to leave Constantinople for a time and reside somewhere in Europe, so that if the Government has to take strong measures against the leaders of the conspiracy very shortly you will not be drawn into the affair. Besides, such a step would also mean that these people were deprived of the strongest support on which they could build.

To these words, which were perfectly honestly meant, he replied in a manner and tone which were utterly incompatible with the rules of good breeding and courtesy.

Look here, Bey Effendi, he said, I’ll speak to you quite frankly. Thanks to Her Highness the Sultana, I’m leading an extraordinarily pleasant life here, a life which suits me so well that I shouldn’t like to miss a moment of it. I must therefore decline your suggestion of going to Europe. Besides, if I took your advice and went to Europe people might regard it as an admission and start accusing me. So here I am, and here I remain; don’t you hesitate to do whatever you think right. My only regret is that you had me fetched to frighten me with threats.

While asking the Pasha not entirely to forget the rules of courtesy, I said to him: "I can see Pasha that you have great confidence in the strength of your organisation, which is known to me, and are convinced that your hopes will be realised very shortly. You think that you can wait here for their realisation without danger, but I can assure you that I have a magnificent intelligence service at my disposal, and