Greek King Blames Bulgars.

New York Times 100 years ago today, July 3, 1913:
Gives Details of Alleged Unprovoked Attacks on Greek Forces.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
    LONDON, Thursday, July 3.— King Constantine of Greece in a statement to the British public says:
    "On May 20 Bulgarian troops, concentrated in large numbers, delivered a sharp attack upon a Greek regiment at Aughisma. After a sanguinary fight lasting fifteen hours the Bulgarians seized several villages in the neighborhood of Panghaion, which were occupied by the Greek Army.
    "To put an end at all costs to this state of affairs and to prevent fresh incidents of the same kind a convention was signed on June 2 at Salonika between the Chief of Staff of the Greek Army and the Commander in Chief of the Bulgarian troops in the region of Serres. This convention established a neutral zone which the two armies were to evacuate and in which neither party was to penetrate.
    "In spite of this agreement the Bulgarian General Staff neglected to evacuate most of the points which it had promised to abandon. Besides this, Bulgarian troops on June 23 attacked the Servians at Istib.
    "On the night of June 29 Bulgarians also attacked the Servians at Guevgheli, which they occupied on the morning of June 30.
    "In addition to all this the Bulgarians attacked a second time the Greek troops at Panghaion, and also those at Nigrita on June 29. Finally, on June 29, Gen. Hessaptchieff, in command of the Bulgarian troops at Salonika, no longer concealed his intention of leaving the town. This fact left no possible doubt as to the hostile intentions of the Bulgarian General Staff, which had designed to keep inactive in Salonika for as long as possible an entire division of the Greek army.
    "The Bulgarians thus clearly showed their intention of disregarding their solemn engagements, creating, by consecutive unexpected strokes, a state of affairs which would allow them gradually to paralyze the Greek and Servian armies. This they intended to do by occupying strategic points of first-class importance, by cutting the communications of the two armies at Guevgheli, and by interrupting the railway communication between Salonika and Uskub. Doubtless they hoped thus to override their allies by a policy of intimidation.
    "This attitude of the Bulgarian troops rendered it necessary for the Greek Army to take measures to assure its own security. It was for this reason that on June 30 the General commanding the District of Salonika called upon the Bulgarian troops to evacuate the place within a stated interval. This time limit was actually exceeded, but the Bulgarians refused to go. Our troops, after a short resistance, captured the Bulgarian detachment remaining in the town.
    "On the other hand our troops, which had been attacked since June 30 by the Bulgarians at the bridge of Gumentse, at Nigrita, and at Panghaion, received to-day an order to advance.
    "But apart from these military considerations, the great question of humanity arises. Ever since the occupation of territories in Thrace and Macedonia, where Greeks are in the majority, by the Bulgarian army the population has suffered the harshest treatment. Since the first attack on Panghaion on May 20 this state of affairs has become intolerable. More than 15,000 refugees since that day, that is to say during a period of peace have poured into the Chalcidean peninsula and into Salonika.
    "The Bulgarian army respected neither the property nor the honor nor the lives of the Greek population. After the flight of 40,000 Mussulmans from Bulgarian horrors — a mass of people whom the Greek Government was compelled to maintain for six months in Salonika — it was now the turn of the Greek population to seek in flight safety from the inhuman tyranny of the Bulgarians.
    "Their fears were not unfounded. The news received at Salonika of the fight at Guevgheli and of the passage of the Bulgarian army through villages in the neutral zone contains terrifying details of the treatment meted out both to the Servian prisoners of the Bulgarians and to the population of these regions.
    "The Bulgarians have burned the villages of Stoyacovo, Guvezna, Sopo, and Berovo, and have massacred old men, women, and children.
    "By the capture of the Bulgarian troops in Salonika and the order given to-day to the army to advance and make its position safe, the Greek army, in the face of daily attacks delivered in flagrant violation of a sworn compact, seeing under its very eyes atrocities committed on a population of the same race, has done no more than take the necessary measures of defense to insure its own security and to safeguard the higher interests of the nation and of humanity."