//Ed note: This transcribed-translated
article appeared in the Istanbul journal
'Mecmua-ı Ebüzziye' on 4 April 1912.
Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire
over Libya on 29 September 1911.//
French coverage of the war.
The Trent Affair click here for background.
first-hand account of Libya battle click here
for a TNT report on the Ottoman-Italian war
in Libya in 1912.
Newspapers are reporting that two French ships, one ferrying airplanes
to the native (pro-Ottoman) fighters at Tripoli and the other bearing
Ottoman officers under Turkish Red Crescent cover, were seized by the
Italians, who claimed there were Ottoman officers on both vessels, and
brought to Italian ports. This has prompted a protest by the French
government and a heated debate in the French Parliament.
Three French parliamentarians - Mr. Hipolit La Rouche, Admiral
Bineme and Mr. Cartier - addressed questions to the Prime Minister
and Foreign Minister Mr. Poincaré about the Italian transgressions,
asking what the French government intended to do about the matter.
Our (Ottoman) diplomats were eager to obtain both the critical
assertions of the three parliamentarians and the response of
Mr. Poincaré, since both contain important and time-sensitive
information and proof regarding the incident. Unfortunately, although
this parliamentary debate is of grave importance to us, the verbatim
contents of the deliberations were not provided to our newspapers so
they could be translated for non-French speaking statesmen and
experts.
In fact, in the course of the debate, some of Mr. Poincaré's statements
were particularly important, including references to official documents
of great significance. So the fact that not even a summary was provided
to our journal (Mecmua-i Ebüzziye) is very disappointing.
The USS San Jacinto seizing the Trent
In any event, one point we wish to take note of is that in the opening
remarks of Mr. La Rouche, he made reference to a precedent relating
to the Italian transgressions and we considered it worthwhile to convey
this precedent of international law to our readers.
After thoroughly chastising the Italians for their outlandish actions,
Mr. La Rouche stated that:
"It is clear that the actions of Italy in this matter are contrary to
international law and there is no precedent in our (French) history.
However, there is such a precedent in the history of one of our
neighbors (England) from the rather recent past."
"In November 1861, shortly after the war between the North and the
South in America over slavery began, two Confederate representatives
named Mason and Slidell boarded the British ship 'Trent' at Havana,
Cuba, in order to go to England. Hearing of this activity, the North
sent a warship to track the Trent and seize Mason and Slidell, who
were then taken on board the North warship."
"As soon a word of the seizure reached London, the government sent
a severe ultimatum to the North, demanding that the two Southerners
be freed within eight days or else England would declare war. The
North government saw the wisdom of bowing to the English demand,
released Mason and Slidell and reprimanded the captain of the North
warship (USS San Jacinto) for acting against his orders."
After Mr. La Rouche's remarks based on history, he asserted that France
must demand the quick release of the Ottoman prisoners, in order to
preserve France's honor and dignity. Neveretheless, we reiterate that
our journal was blocked from receiving access to the subsequent
discussions, which contained many points of importance and benefit.
//END//
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