Turkish Ministers' Long Meeting.

New York Times 100 years ago today, December 4, 1912:
    LONDON, Wednesday, Dec. 4.— Prior to the signature of the protocol arranging an armistice by the Turkish and Bulgarian delegates, the latter representing also Servia and Montenegro, there had been a long sitting of the Turkish Council of Ministers to consider fresh proposals submitted by the allies.
    The refusal of Greece to sign the armistice is susceptible of different interpretations. In the first place, as a tacit armistice has been in existence for more than a week already, it is not impossible that the negotiations may have served to bring about an agreement on the general principles of peace terms, such as would promise the speedy arrangement of a peace treaty when the conference meets, as is now expected, in London. In this case the fact that Greece is standing out from the armistice protocol would not be of great importance. In the second place, the Greek abstention may mean a serious split among the allies, arising from jealousies concerning the possession of Salonika and the insistence of the Greeks on the capitulation of Adrianople, Scutari, and Yanina.
    Other points which may influence the situation are to be found in the fact that Turkey recently sought to conclude a separate treaty of peace with Greece, that Bulgaria apparently is not unwilling to enter into an alliance with Turkey, and that the allies are desirous that Turkey shall enter the Balkan Custom League.
    There is a rumor in Sofia that a suggestion has been made to substitute Rumania for Greece in the Balkan league. It seems clear that Bulgaria will ignore the Greek offer to land an army in the Gallipoli peninsula and to send her fleet to attack the Dardanelles, and that the relations between Greece and Bulgaria are greatly strained, and these signs of dissension among the allies leave the situation full of dangerous possibilities.
    It is reported that France is trying to persuade Greece to adopt a less unyielding attitude. It is understood that financial pressure and the exhaustion of their forces had much to do with the willingness of Bulgaria and Servia to conclude peace, and, in this respect, Greece, which gained her victories with less expense, is better able to continue hostilities.

The Armistice Terms.
    The terms of the armistice between the Turkish and Bulgarian armies as accepted by Bulgaria provide that the truce shall continue during the whole period of the peace negotiations.
    Turkey is to have the right of revictualing all her besieged fortresses and all the detached bodies of Ottoman troops remaining in Macedonia and elsewhere, as well as the Turkish populations in the various parts of the theatre of war.
    Turkey is to have the right of revictualing her fortresses, troops, and population by way of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, in addition to the ordinary available routes. The allied Balkan Nations are to furnish safe conduct for the revictualing parties, and the Ottoman convoys are to be permitted to pass, if necessary, through the forces of the allies.
    The blockade of the Aegean and Adriatic coasts of European Turkey is to be raised.
    The terms are generally regarded as generous, but m view of the great difficulty which Turkey necessarily will find in revictualing her scattered forces their practical effect probably will not be very important.
    The fact that the negotiations for the armistice were regarded as an integral part of the peace negotiations also helped Turkey to obtain more favorable terms than would have been granted under other circumstances.
    Adrianople was the obstacle which threatened to wreck the parleys between the plenipotentiaries of Turkey and of the allies when they opened, and Adrianople appeared again at the end of the negotiations as the most serious hindrance to the attainment of an agreement. At the first session of the delegates the Turks absolutely refused to consider the surrender of Adrianople, and when the Bulgarians subsequently yielded to them on this point the Greek delegates held back.
    The firm attitude of Turkey on the subject of Adrianople throughout the negotiations is shown in a telegram from the Sultan to King Ferdinand, to the effect that, while he (the Sultan) is prompted by the most peaceful motives, he is unable to renounce Turkey's hold on Adrianople, which all Ottomans consider as a Mohammedan sanctuary.
    The bitterness of feeling between Greece and Bulgaria was reflected yesterday at the Greek legation in London. The Minister declared that the action of the Greek fleet was "the one decisive factor of the whole war," adding: "Without the presence of our ships, Turkey would have been able to bring her best troops from Asia Minor, land them at Dedeagatch, and flank the Bulgarian armies, thus rendering their magnificent victory quite impossible."