Says Turks Advise Christians to Flee

The New York Times, January 11th 1915, page 2.

SAYS TURKS ADVISE CHRISTIANS TO FLEE
Fear of General Massacre in Constantinople if Allied Fleet Passes Dardanelles.
Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.
ATHENS, Jan. 9, (Dispatch to The London Daily Telegraph.) — A man arriving from Constantinople who is in a position to know the facts has given me a mass of information concerning the present condition of affairs in the Turkish capital. He says the Turkish Government has no fear of an international revolution, and that the measures taken against the enemies of the Young Turk Committee are so drastic that no concerted movement on their part is possible.
The whole attention and anxiety of the Government is concentrated on the possible forcing of the Dardanelles by the allied fleet. It seems that this fear is shared by their German mentors, for Baron von Wangenheim, the German Ambassador, has warned the Minister of a Balkan State in Constantinople that in the event of the allied fleet’s forcing the straits, the Turks will vent their wrath by a massacre of the Christian population. In Constantinople no endeavor is any longer made by the Ministers to hide their feelings toward their Christian subjects.
To the Greek Patriarchate, who was sent to Talaat Pasha to remonstrate against the excesses committed by the organs of his Ministry, he unequivocally replied that there was no room for Christians in Turkey, and that the best the Patriarchate could do for his flock would be to advise them to clear out of the country and make room for the Moslem refugees.