“From all sections of Egypt come reports of enthusiastic manifestations in favor of a holy war. The Sheikh-ul-Islam has communicated with a majority of the Mohammedan princes of Asia and Africa, who declare they will assist Turkey in a war against England.”[160] We are glad to say that, as is now well known, this project completely failed in those countries where it would have done the most harm, but it had its dire consequences in Persia. Immediately after their declaration of war on the Allies the Turks took the offensive on a large scale. One army invaded the Russian territory, and another crossed the Persian frontier and entered the province of Azerbaijan. In this province were many Syrians (Nestorians) and Armenians, who were living in villages and towns. These Syrian Christians--like the Armenians--have suffered many vicissitudes, including massacres by the hands of the Turks and Kurds. But the Turkish invasion and short occupation of this province in winter and early spring brought new horrors upon the Christian inhabitants both Armenians and Syrians. The moment hostilities broke out, the Turco-Kurdish soldiery began to indulge itself in atrocities. The Persian province of Azerbaijan contains a large population of Syriac Christians, and the suffering of these people at the hands of the invading hordes are described with terrible detail in letters from German missionaries[161] resident among them, letters which were published on October 18 (1915), in the Dutch newspaper _de Neimve Rotterdamshe Courant_. From the contents of these letters we select the following: “The latest news is that 4000 Syrians and one hundred Armenians have died of disease alone, at the missions, within the last few months. All villages in the surrounding districts, with two or three exceptions, have been plundered and burnt, 20,000 Christians have been slaughtered in Ourmia and its environs. Many churches have been destroyed and burnt, and also many houses in the town....” And here is a description from another letter: “In Hoftewan and Solast 850 corpses, without heads, have been recovered from the wells and cisterns alone. Why? _Because the commanding officer had put a price on every Christian head._ In Hoftewan alone more than 500 women and girls were delivered to the Kurds at Sandjbulak. One can imagine the fate of these unfortunate creatures. In Diliman crowds of Christians were thrown into prison and compelled to accept Islam. The men were circumcised. Gulpardjin, the richest village in the Ourmia province, has been razed to the ground. The men were slain, the good-looking women and girls carried away. The same in Babaru. Hundreds of women jumped into the deep river, when they saw how many of their sisters were violated by the bands of brigands, in broad daylight, in the middle of the road. So also at Miandoab in the Suldus district.”[162]