At the beginning of the war the British Government gave a definite surance that, if Turkey remained neutral, her independence and integrity would be respected during the war, and in the terms of peace. In this France and Russia concurred.
The British Government has since then endeavoured, with the greatest patience and forbearance, to preserve friendly relations in spite of increasing breaches of neutr the part of the Turkish Go at Constantinople in the case of German vessels in the Straits of the Dardanelles.
On October 29 the British Government learnt, with the utmost regret, that Turkish ships of war, without warning and without provocation of any sort, had made wanton attacks upon the open and undefended towns in the Black Sea of a friendly country, thus committing an unprecedented violation of the most oFdinary rules of International Law, comity and usage.
Ever since the German men-of-war, Goeben and Breslau, took refuge in Constantinople the attitude of the Turkish Government towards Great Britain has caused surprise and some uneasiness. Promises made by the Turkish Government to send away. the German officers and crews of the Goeben and Breslau have never been fulfilled. It was well known that the Turkish Minister of War was decidedly pro-German in his sympathies, but it was confidently hoped that the saner counsels of his colleagues, who had had experience of the friendship which Great Britain has always shown towards the Turkish Government, would have prevailed and prevented that Government from entering upon the very risky policy of taking a part in the conflict on the side of Germany.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.