HC Deb 16 March 1896 vol 38 cc1010-1
MR. SAMUEL SMITH (Flintshire)

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether he can corroborate the reports from Asia Minor that great numbers of forced conversions to Mohammedanism from Christianity are still being made, and the rite of circumcision cruelly administered to men and boys; that the wives of these converts are forcibly taken from them and given to Turks: that the Armenian church in Urfa has been burned down when 2,000 people were inside, of whom not more than 100 escaped, who were killed by the sword; and that systematic-debauchery of defenceless Christian women is carried on by Turks in nearly all the devastated districts with impunity; and, whether he will cause inquiry to be made by our Consuls in Asia Minor as to the accuracy of these statements?

MR. CURZON

The reports received tend to confirm the general, though not the precise accuracy of the statements made in the Question. Her Britannic Majesty's Consuls already have instructions to inquire into and report upon these matters, and representations are in consequence being constantly made at Constantinople.