AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN ANGORA ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: MISS GRACE ELLISON. The first British woman to visit Angora since the beginning of the Nationalist Movement. She has always stood for Anglo-Turkish friendship. Frontispiece ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN ANGORA :: :: By GRACE ELLISON :: :: :: ════════════════════════════════════════ With 34 illustrations, reproduced from the Author’s own sketches and photographs, and with a cartoon by L. Raven Hill _LONDON: HUTCHINSON & CO. PATERNOSTER ROW_ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TO MY DEAR MOTHER AND TO MY LATE FATHER, CAPT. JOHN ELLISON, IN LOVING MEMORY OF HIS BEAUTIFUL LIFE: HIS EVER COURAGEOUS DEFENCE OF JUSTICE, HONOUR, AND TRUTH. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FOREWORD AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN ANGORA AT the time of writing I am the only Englishwoman who has been in Angora since the Nationalist movement began. Others, moved by curiosity, have sought permission to visit the country under its new _régime_, but Nationalist Turkey has bidden them wait—until she is sure that her guests will write, or speak, the _truth_ about what they may see, and can be trusted to forget the prejudices with which they would almost certainly arrive. For myself, I have three times been welcomed to Turkey with open arms _on account_ of my nationality. On this occasion I was still welcome, but _in spite of_ my nationality—an ugly truth that my mind almost refuses to accept. To compare impressions from these visits one must first ask: “How could such a change of attitude come to pass?” Formerly Great Britain was _the_ country of all countries that “counted” in Turkey. To be a “gentleman”—(they used the English word)—was the Turks’ highest ambition. British stuffs were chosen in preference to French, _not_ because they were finer or of greater value, but simply because they were _British_. Our ideals, our policy, and, I must add, our governesses, were almost regarded as sacred in Turkish eyes. And now I am advised, for greater safety, to travel as an American! God forbid! I stand by the old flag. I would smile, could the tears be hidden, when I recall the police officer who so solemnly enquired if _I was sure_ I was not an American. “Perfectly sure,” I replied.