Ambassador Zia Skeptical.

New York Times 100 years ago today, November 5, 1912:
Says He Does Not Even Believe Turkey Is Suing for Peace.
Special to The New York Times.
    WASHINGTON, Nov. 4.— Dark as the outlook may seem to the followers of the Sultan, the Turkish Ambassador here, Zia Pasha, holds firmly to the belief that in the end Turkey will triumph over her enemies. He contends that the reports thus far have not given a true account of the military operations, and that the resources of Turkey in the way of trained soldiers and the men to make a great army are greater than the outside world knows. Zia Pasha, in a statement issued this afternoon, asks the American public not to form a judgment too soon and to await trustworthy reports from the theatre of war before taking it as a foregone conclusion that Turkey is beaten irretrievably.
    "In three weeks," says the Ambassador, "Turkey can recruit from Asia a greater army than that which has been engaged in the war in the Balkans. That this will be done, if the need comes, I have no doubt.
    "There is no possibility either of the fall of Constantinople or of a massacre or pillage of the Christians and foreigners there. If we have been defeated I look for an official announcement ordering a fresh army from our territory in Asia minor. I do not know that we have been defeated, and am inclined to doubt newspaper reports under the circumstances, because the correspondents are not at the front, and are compelled to rely upon rumors.
    "Turkey is able to fight indefinitely. Personally I do not believe there is any truth in the report that she is suing for intervention by the powers, or that she intends to do so.
    "The fortifications around the capital are so strong that the enemy will find it impossible to penetrate them, even if the Turkish Army has been defeated in battle, which we do not now concede. We have received no advices from home indicating that our army has been routed. The last cablegrams received were most encouraging.