Turks Are Defiant, But May Surrender.

New York Times 100 years ago today, January 5, 1913:
Peace Delegates Insist That They Will Not Meet the Ultimatum of the Allies.
BULGARIAN ARMY IS READY
Dr. Daneff Gives Assurance That It Is Better Than Ever and That Turkish Delays Must Cease.
    Special Cable to The New York Times. LONDON, Jan, 4.— Again to-day the Balkan Peace Conference provided a dramatic surprise. Instead of following out their own plan of replying this afternoon to the ultimatum of the allies demanding the cession of Adrianople and the Aegean Islands, the Turkish delegates announced that they would give their response on Monday.
    It is taken as certain that the response will be the rejection of the allies' terms.
    At first blush the situation seems to give reason for the gravest forebodings, and in some quarters it is believed that a renewal of hostilities is inevitable. On excellent authority, however, the correspondent of The New York Times learns that hopes of peace need by no means be abandoned.
    The Turkish Government is playing a losing game. It has recognized that much, but will not abandon hope while a single card remains in its hand. Intervention by the great powers is its last hope, and it is counting on intervention in some form with absolute certainty.
    It is stated on good authority that the powers have agreed on a procedure which is calculated to avert a resumption of hostilities, even if on receipt of Reschid Pasha's reply on Monday the Balkan delegates notify Turkey of their intention to terminate the armistice.
    Amid the anxieties aroused by the unfavorable turn of the negotiations there is an amusing note in the announcement in all the evening papers that Sir Edward Grey has abandoned his week-end in the country. Some reports read as though the British Foreign Secretary were sacrificing his convenience to an unheard-of degree by foregoing his departure from London at the moment when the destinies of nations are in the balance. Sir Edward's friends, who know of his activities during the last few months, are inclined to resent the suggestion that he could think of absenting himself from the Foreign Office at a juncture when he may be able to put the crown on the good work he has already accomplished toward safeguarding the peace of Europe.