Germany -- Foreign relations -- Turkey; Turkey -- Foreign relations -- Germany; World War, 1914-1918 -- Turkey
About this time I had a long conference with Enver. He asked me to call
at his residence, as he was laid up with an infected toe, the result of
a surgical operation. I thus had an illuminating glimpse of the Minister
of War _en famille_. Certainly this humble man of the people had risen
in the world. His house, which was in one of the quietest and most
aristocratic parts of the city, was a splendid old building, very large
and very elaborate. I was ushered through a series of four or five
halls, and as I went by one door the Imperial Princess, Enver’s wife,
slightly opened it and peeked through at me. Farther on another Turkish
lady opened her door and also obtained a fleeting glimpse of the
Ambassadorial figure. I was finally escorted into a beautiful room in
which Enver lay reclining on a semi-sofa. He had on a long silk dressing
gown and his stockinged feet hung languidly over the edge of the divan.
He looked much younger than in his uniform; he was an extremely neat and
well-groomed object, with a pale, smooth face, made even more striking
by his black hair, and with delicate white hands, and long, tapering
fingers. He might easily have passed for under thirty, and, in fact, he
was not much over that age. He had at hand a violin, and a piano near by
also testified to his musical taste. The room was splendidly tapestried;
perhaps its most conspicuous feature was a daïs upon which stood a
golden chair; this was the marriage throne of Enver’s imperial wife. As
I glanced around at all this luxury, I must admit that a few
uncharitable thoughts came to mind and that I could not help pondering a
question which was then being generally asked in Constantinople. Where
did Enver get the money for this expensive establishment? He had no
fortune of his own--his parents had been wretchedly poor, and his salary
as a cabinet minister was only about $8,000. His wife had a moderate
allowance as an imperial princess, but she had no private resources.
Enver had never engaged in business, he had been a revolutionist,
military leader, and politician all his life. But here he was living at
a rate that demanded a very large income. In other ways Enver was giving
evidences of great and sudden prosperity, and already I had heard much
of his investments in real estate, which were the talk of the town.
Enver wished to discuss the capitulations. He practically said that the
Cabinet had decided on the abrogation, and he wished to know the
attitude of the United States. He added that certainly a country which
had fought for its independence as we had would sympathize with Turkey’s
attempt to shake off these shackles. We had helped Japan free herself
from similar burdens and wouldn’t we now help Turkey? Certainly Turkey
was as civilized a nation as Japan?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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