§ MR. FLYNNI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what information the Foreign Office can give the House regarding the position of the Christian population in and around Halepa; and, whether the Mussulman population have been armed and encouraged to acts of lawlessness by the Turkish authorities?
MR. CURZONA few days ago Her Majesty's Consul reported that 700 armed Christians were on the heights above Halepa, and an unknown number of Christians to the westward. The embarkation of Christians from Halepa does not seem to have met with any interference on the part of the Mussulmans. The general tenour of the reports indicate that in this neighbourhood the Christians were rather the assailants than the attacked, and the British Naval Commander reported on the 7th of February that an agreement had been made that they should not advance further. No 177 information has been received showing that the Turkish authorities have armed the Mussulmans or encouraged them to lawless acts. A Mussulman mob attacked the Arsenal at Candia and possessed themselves forcibly of 2,000 rifles; two Turkish soldiers were killed and live wounded during the assault. But the town has since been reported to be quiet.