§ MR. HUGH SMITH (Northumberland, Tyneside)To ask the Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Government has received any official information to the effect that on 16th February the village of Kuklish, near Strouhnitza, was sacked and burned by Turkish troops; that while an insurgent band of twelve men was allowed to escape from the village thirty-six villagers and one girl were massacred and many women violated; and, if so, whether he proposes to make any representations on the subject.
(Answered by Earl Percy.) In reply to the hon. Member's Question, and the Question which stands in the name of the right hon. Baronet the Member for Walsall, it appears from a narrative supplied by a Russian gendarmerie officer, who was present during the later phases of the conflict, that the numbers of casualties and houses burnt are correctly stated; but we expect shortly to be in possession of further details of the occurrence, as an inquiry has been held on the spot by the Russian Adjoint, the secretaries of the Austrian and Russian Civil Agents, and Colonel Ali Riza Bey, representing Hilmi Pasha. The revolutionary band, whose presence had been denied by the villagers when summoned to surrender them, escaped during the attack. The exact number of killed and wounded among the Turkish troops is not stated.