Confusion In Turkey.

New York Times 100 years ago today, July 23, 1912:
    The root of the present trouble In Turkey is the stubborn attempt of the "Young Turks " to gather all power in the empire into the hands of the Ottomans and to control its exercise through the Committee of Union and Progress. The outcome has been a degree of corruption, oppression, and discord as mischievous and as weakening as in the reign of the "Red Sultan." As this has been brought about under a "Constitution" of extreme liberality, guaranteeing, on paper, the freedom of the people and the responsibility of rulers, successful reform through regular legal agencies is practically impossible. Discontent and resentment have spread through the army, and the present movement is, in substance, an attempt by prominent officers to secure changes, under threat of military insurrection. It is in many ways a repetition of the movement of 1908 which led to the overthrow of Abdul Hamid; but it is not aimed at his successor, Mahmoud, but at the Committee of Union and Progress, which has seized control.
    The new Ministry fairly represents, probably, what there is of public opinion in the empire; at least it represents that of the military leaders of the re-revolution, if we may be permitted the term. Its first demand is for the dissolution of the Imperial Parliament. That, on its face, is a retrograde demand, but it is based on the fact that the present Parliament was chosen by manipulation and corruption, and is in no real sense representative. If the demand is conceded, it will be the duty of the Government to proceed to a new election, conducted with reasonable fairness and order. But this will necessarily be an extremely difficult task, partly because the officials throughout the empire are a bad lot, and partly because the constituencies are ignorant and are torn by religious and racial animosity. Unjust and intolerable in some ways as the rule of the Ottoman Committee has been, it must be said that the Ottoman element in the motley congeries of races in the empire is the most vigorous, and has supplied the nearest approach to a unifying force that the empire has had.
    The immediate work of the new Ministry will be the pacification of the Albanians, who have real grievances and who are an extremely important element in European Turkey. It is by no means a hopeless undertaking, but a delicate one. Much more trying will be the problem of dealing with the Italian war. The ultimate surrender of Tripoli is apparently inevitable. All that is open is the degree to which the prestige of the Government may be saved. The first essential is to gain time, and the suggestion is already made that this can best be done by a truce for the purpose of negotiations. If the result should be the clear concession by Italy of the religious authority of the Sultan over the Faithful in North Africa, the payment of a generous indemnity, and the return to Turkey of the Aegean Islands, it is possible the definitive peace might be attained. If the Albanians cannot be satisfied, if peace cannot be made with Italy, the outlook is gloomy for the continuance of Turkey's integrity. Her hungry neighbors on every side, and especially in the Balkans, could hardly be restrained. But this fact in itself will make all Europe anxious to help Turkey through its troubles if possible.