"Turkey will never go to war unless it is for the recovery of Constantinople," said Moutebil Kemal, visiting Turkish architect, in an interview with a CRIMSON reporter yesterday afternoon.
"We hope however, to get back our capital in the near future, although nothing is being done about it at present. Our new capital, Augora, with its new walls, will satisfy us for the present.
"But our new capital is not the greatest thing which has happened to Turkey. Our abolishment of imperialism, and the unification of the Turkish race, has been a blessing. Turkey used to be a country where all races were squabbling and fighting among themselves about religious and other differences. Now the other factions have won what they hoped would be their independence. Turkey has abolished her caliphate, and the state, not the church, rules. We are now a democratic republic, which is ready to take advice, but not orders, from western civilization.
"We are modeling our republic on western Europe, not on the United States. As I say, you are a mixture of races. We no longer are. We therefore copy the governments where the people are a unit. France and England are our models.
Eastern Countries Want Freedom
"England, however, must change her foreign policy in the near future. The eastern countries want her advice, but they are through with being enslaved. India, Mesopctamia, and many other countries are in this position. Countries taken away from Turkel in the war were promised their independence. They have not received it yet, and things cannot go on as they are now."
Mr. Kemal now turned to the subject of prohibition, which he said was in the same state in Turkey as in this country.
"Before the abolishment of the caliphate in Turkey, our religion and our conscience kept us away from liquor. Now the law forbids the Turks to imbibe, but we can get the stuff if we want on the sly. But the problem of bad, poisonous alcohol is just the same as in the United States. I will say, though, that the idea inherent in a Turk for centuries that he shall not drink or gamble because his religion so demands, still persists. He believes that drink leads toward degeneration of his race. His religion works for higher ideals, as any creed should do, and it has great effect on the liquor situation."
Americans Welcome in Turkey
Mr. Kemal was asked what he thought about America. "You ideals," he went on, are the most striking thing about you. They are like your buildings, whose minimum height seems to be ten stories. You are a young country. Europe is a continent of tired people. Its civilization is old, but it is also in a state of total fatigue. We look to America, and so does Europe, for the maintenance and addition to new ideals.
"There are 25,000 Americans who are active in Turkey. We are glad to have them. The best manufacturing firms have branches in Turkey. They are very hipful to us, and we look up to them. There are perhaps ten Turks active in America, and we are gaining a lot of valuable experience. What we want is just what America is doing for us, and what Britain can well do for India and her other dependencies. The East is through with slavery now, as the West was years ago."
Mr. Kemal is employed by Coolidge, Shapley, Bullfinch, and Abbott, Boston architects, and has been in this country for a year.
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