HC Deb 26 April 1898 vol 56 cc1209-10
MR. F. S. STEVENSON (Suffolk, Eye)

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether Her Majesty's Government are aware that two days before his assassination the late Yussuf Yunnan, agent of the Armenian Relief Fund at Sairt, wrote a letter to Mr. Andrus, of the United States Congregational Mission at Mardin, giving a detailed account of the demands and threats made by the Governor of Sairt and his subordinate officials; whether Mr. Stavides, legal adviser to the British Embassy at Constantinople, has communicated a copy of that letter to the Imperial Procureur General at the Sublime Porte; and whether a definite demand for the repayment of the stolen money and of the cost of maintaining the family of the late Yussuf Yunnan during the past 18 months has been made by Sir Philip Currie?

THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY

Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople has recently sent home a translation of the letter in question. He has communicated a copy to the Grand Vizier, and has requested that the stolen money may be restored, but he does not speak of having made a claim for the cost of the maintenance of the family of the late Yussuf Yunnan. It is understood, however, that the Armenian Relief Committee at Constantinople are in communication with Sir Philip Currie in regard to this latter point.