§ MR. F. S. STEVENSON (Suffolk, Eye)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Turkish Commander of the 4th Army Corps, whose headquarters are at Erzeroum, has been compelling the Armenians to supply the horses necessary for the formation of the Kurdish Cavalry regiment, that the owners have received no compensation for the confiscated animals, and that acts of cruelty have been perpetrated at Kortanlan, Hogthean, and other places on those persons who refuse to give up their property; whether any protest has been made by the British Consul in Armenia; whether the acts enumerated are in contravention of Article 61 of the Berlin Treaty; and when the promised Papers relating to Armenia will be published?
MR. J. W. LOWTHERNo information in support of the allegations contained in the first paragraph has been received. Her Majesty's Vice Consul at Van has reported that the Kurds have come forward with great readiness to enlist, that their horses have been branded, and that although it was alleged that they had borrowed and stolen the horses of others he was not able to confirm the report. There 29 has, consequently, been no ground for representations on the part of Her Majesty's Embassy. The acts alleged in the first paragraph might be considered to be in contravention of Article 61 of the Treaty of Berlin. Papers will be distributed this week.