MR. HERBERT ROBERTS (Denbighshire, W.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can inform the House what has been the result of the demand made to the Turkish Committee, appointed to inquire into the attack on a convent near Marash, for the arraignment of Colonel Mazhan Bey, the commander of the 1451 Turkish troops who killed Father Salvatore and his companions at the Convent of Yenidjokale last year; whether he has any further information as to the character of the recent disturbances at Niksar in the Sivas Vilayet, in the course of which 340 Armenians and 60 Mussulmans are alleged to have lost their lives; and whether the Porte has taken any steps to restore order in this district and to punish the instigators of the massacre?
MR. CURZONHer Majesty's Government have heard of the burning by Turkish troops of Franciscan monasteries at Yenikale, Deongee, and Mujuk Deresi, and of the assassination of Padre Salvatore, the Superior of the monastery last mentioned. They have no knowledge of the demand made to the Turkish Committee, which would probably have been made by the representative of the country of which Padre Salvatore was a native. As regards Niksar, Her Majesty's Consul at Trebizond has reported that the Turks at that place attacked the Armenians at a given signal on June 20th, killing those they met and plundering their houses. Her Majesty's Vice-Consul at Sivas, in a Dispatch dated July 22nd, reports that no steps have as yet been taken to bring to justice the authors of the disorders. He has called the Governor-General's attention to the feeling of uneasiness created by this fact, and Her Majesty's Charge d'Affaires at Constantinople will make representations on the subject at the Palace and the Porte.