§ 1. Colonel YATEasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to the letter addressed to the Foreign Office by the London Committee of All India Moslem League regarding the treatment which it is stated the Mussulmans of Macedonia have been subjected to at the hands of the Balkan allied forces; whether the Consular reports received by him, which have been brought to the notice of the Governments that now control the territories in which these outrages are said to have occurred, have been productive of any result; and whether he has any information to show that outrages on the unarmed peasantry, either by one side or the other, have now been put a stop to?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir Edward Grey)The reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative, and I am informing the league of the steps taken by His Majesty's Government in this matter as stated in my reply to the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds on 16th January, and of the further information contained in my reply to the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds to-day.
§ 2. Mr. WALTER GUINNESSasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether the following alleged facts in connection with the occupation of Dedeagatch by the Bulgarians have been brought to his notice, that over 50 Turkish houses with their inhabitants and a mosque containing 300 refugees were dynamited, that 3,000 men, women, and children were massacred during 13 days, that in the neighbouring village of Ferejik over 500 Moslems were murdered; whether he will call for a report from, the British Vice-consul at Dedeagatch; and, if these statements prove well founded, will he make urgent representations to the Bulgarian Government to put an end to such atrocities?
§ Sir E. GREYAs was indicated in my reply to the question of the hon. Member for Hull on 9th January, the reports which have reached me respecting the treatment of the Moslem inhabitants of territory in Servian and Bulgarian occupation, cannot be considered as authentic in detail. In view, however, of subsequent information tending to indicate that these reports were not without some foundation, I took the action of which the hon. Member was informed in my reply to his question of 16th January. To that reply, and the answer which I also made to his question of 21st January. I have at present nothing to add, except that the Bulgarian Prime Minister has stated that no outrages have been committed by Bulgarian Regular troops, and that any actions of Bulgarian bands have been quite irregular and directly opposed to the orders issued from headquarters.
§ Mr. W. GUINNESSMay I ask whether the right hon. Gentleman suggests that the Consular reports may not have been accurate in detain?
§ Sir E. GREYThe Consuls have not got first-hand information of these things. They report such things as they hear and such things as they think may have some foundation. They have not been eye-witnesses.
§ Mr. W. GUINNESSMay I ask whether it is impossible to investigate them, and whether we are to understand that British Consuls in these towns are practically prisoners, as we are told by General Baumann has been the case with the French and German Consuls in spite of their protests?
§ Sir E. GREYIn the state of things which prevails when a country is at war you cannot expect the British Consuls to be in a position to investigate and supervise all the things that happen. They send such reports as they can. With regard to reports from British Consuls, during the last few months I have dealt with them in the same way as the reports with regard to things which happened under Turkish administration before the war began in the last four years.
§ Mr. NOEL BUXTONMay I ask whether reports have not been received from both sides, and whether there is not a distinction to be drawn between atroci- 1152 ties by irregulars and those committed by troops under regular officers?
§ Mr. W. GUINNESSMay I ask whether the only way to get rid of atrocities committed by irregulars not under control is to publish the whole information and induce the Regular troops to put a stop to them in response to European opinion?
§ Sir E. GREYEver since 1908 I have been asked to publish the reports about things which went on in Macedonia. I declined to publish the reports which I was asked to publish regarding outrages that happened, or were alleged to have happened, under Turkish administration in Macedonia when there was a state of war existing between Italy and Turkey. At that time I was the subject of some reproach because I was supposed to be sheltering the Turks in not publishing the reports. I am pursuing precisely the same course in regard to the reports I have received since.
§ Mr. W. GUINNESSWould it not be the best course so as to avoid all suggestions that the right hon. Gentleman is not acting with absolute and strict impartiality, and that he is sheltering the Turks, to publish all the reports since the last Blue Book was published in 1908, which would satisfy the Turks and everybody else?
§ Sir E. GREYI think the probable result would be to dissatisfy practically everybody. The reports contain matters, some of which appear to have good foundation and some of which are rumours. They are inextricably mixed up together. What I thought was the best course was to put such information as appeared to have some foundation before the Governments which might be in a position, directly or indirectly, to control events and prevent things of this kind happening. That is what I have done. To go beyond that would not, I think, be in the public interest at the present moment, and would be going far beyond what any other Government has done.
§ 4. Mr. W. GUINNESSasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in order to prevent a repetition of the atrocities which have been committed by the allied forces on the Moslem population of Macedonia, he will make urgent representations to the Bulgarian Government, and take immediate steps to ensure the presence of Consuls or other 1153 impartial witnesses if and when the town of Adrianople capitulates?
§ Sir E. GREYIn reply to the first part of this question, I have nothing to add to the replies which I have already given to the hon. Member on this subject. In regard to the second part, the Consular representatives of the Powers are, so far as I am aware, still at their posts in Adrianople.
§ 5. Mr. W. GUINNESSasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that General Baumann, Inspector-General of the Turkish Gendarmerie, has stated that when the Greeks and Bulgarians entered Cavalla all the Moslems that could be found were massacred, including a large number in the mosque, where he saw twenty-five corpses in the doorway alone; that the Bulgarian General Gueneff compelled the Greek metropolitan to surrender the Turkish women to whom he was affording refuge, and gave them to the troops; that the Bulgarian soldiers mutilated women in a manner which it is impossible to describe in words; that these atrocities only ceased with the arrival of a French cruiser; and will he call for a Report from the British Vice-Consul, and, if General Baumann's charges are substantiated, bring pressure to bear on the Greek and Bulgarian Governments to punish those responsible?
§ Sir E. GREYI have seen a copy of a notice circulated by the Porte, which is stated to have been received through the intermediary of General Baumann. The statements contained therein are not made by General Baumann himself, nor is the identity of their author revealed. It is therefore difficult to judge as to the degree of authenticity attaching to such allegations. The same difficulty occurs in the case of other and similar reports which have reached me and which do not rest on first-hand knowledge or proof. The hon. Member is already aware of the action taken in regard to these reports. I may add that in the only case where the information which has reached me has been sufficiently detailed to give the names of certain irregulars stated to have been the authors of outrages, a further communication is being made to the Government concerned, and His Majesty's Minister has been instructed to express the hope of His Majesty's Government that those who can be proved to have been responsible for excesses will be dealt with as justice demands.
§ Mr. W. GUINNESSMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman, in view of his saying that the reports are not transmitted to General Baumann, whether his attention has been drawn to a French pamphlet saying that these particular allegations have been made to General Baumann himself and transmitted by him, and containing the statements in extenso in inverted commas?
§ Sir E. GREYI cannot go into all the pamphlets published in this country, and still less into those published in France.