“THE PROBLEM OF TURKEY

“THE PROBLEM OF TURKEY

INEXPLICABLE MODE OF ACTION”

I skimmed through the article quickly until I read the sentence;

“The three might be added [to] the murders of Bulgarians, Macedonians, Greeks and Serbs who have been done to death with the old religious fury which is as prevalent as ever.” (Evening Post, Issue 73, September 23rd, 1911, page 10) Ah, that crafty Tito not only did he add the word “Macedonians” to the article but he added it together with the words “Bulgarians”, “Greeks” and “Serbs” in order to distinguish them as a unique ethnic identity. What a clever move! Upon the team’s return from today’s first mission Tito seemed to be in a good mood when he said, “We are going to October 11, 1907 to visit with another Evening Post editor”. How many Evening Posts could there be in this world, especially in 1907, I wondered as I feverishly flipped the pages of one Evening Post after another? It had to be the same paper as the previews mission, I thought to myself, and sure enough it was. The story read in part as follows;

“The Balkans

The state of affairs in the Balkans is not by any means reassuring, although the same might have been remarked any time within the last ten years, or even longer. Today’s cable messages tell us that the Creusot works have at the present time a contract for the delivery during 1908 for material and ammunition for Servia, and that the same firm has also been entrusted with the manufacture of materials for new artillery for Greece. For some time now the Serbs, the Greeks, the Bulgars and the Macedonians have been annoying each other more than any occasion during a comparatively short period, and, as usual, it is very hard to form a just conclusion as to which is the most to blame.” (Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, issue 90, October 12, 1907, page 4) Again, how clever of Tito to convince the editor to add the word “Macedonians” amidst the words “Greeks”, “Bulgars” and “Serbs”. Very nicely done team! Again upon their return everyone was in a good mood, not very talkative but none the less in a good mood. “I feel good,” Tito commanded “so I think this time we should take a field mission. What do you think?” “Yes, yes, yes,” was the reply. “Okay then, we are going to Rome, Italy to visit a certain reporter who owes me a few favours. I am setting the time dials to September 26, 1915. I couldn’t help but wonder “what kind of favours” Tito did for this poor reporter and now he was going to “blackmail” him to write about the Macedonians. I had no idea the article would appear in an American newspaper and only found it by accident.

“Special cable to the New York Times.

Rome, Sept. 27. – Another great conflagration in the Balkans is unavoidable. Many Balkan exiles living in Italy, especially Greeks, Macedonians, and Bulgarians are speeding home via Brindissi and Messina. Another sign of the gravity of the situation is the fresh severity of the censorship in the Balkan countries practically allowing only the transmission of official news.” (The New York Times, September 27, 1915) No sooner was the team back than they quickly left for their next mission. It was getting late and Tito insisted on doing one more mission before retiring for the day. “We are going to the West Coast to Tuesday August 25th, 1903,” he said as he quickly set the time dials and pushed the activation button.

I had to look all through the West Coast newspapers the next day before I found the following article, which in part read;

“THE BALKAN INSURRECTION

It is therefore quite understandable that religious fanaticism and intolerance, combined with racial and political prejudices, could cause Turks, Macedonians, Greeks, Albanians and other races comprising the population of the Balkans to turn and rend each other if their passions are not kept in check by a government wise enough and strong enough to hold them.” (West Coast Times, Wednesday, August 26, 1903, page 2) The team was back in no time and as its members retired for the night, I was left alone with the Delorean. If only they knew the kind of mischief I would be getting into! Mischief was my middle name as I again took sole possession of the time machine. I spun the time dial wildly and went where it took me. This time I had no idea where and when I landed but no matter, wherever this was it was good because I ran into a young author named David Turnock and convinced him to write the following; “It was overwhelmingly ‘Greek’, a label that covers not only ethnic Greeks but Hellenized Orthodox people such as Armenians, Bulgarians, Macedonians and Vlachs as well. Even Serbs who initially resisted any identification with Greek culture were being converted at the turn of the century: they had effectively established a universal state within the empire, as a result of vigorous reaction to growth of banditry which eliminated Muslim elements both Turkish and Albanian. But as Greek was the language of commerce throughout the Balkans, some Serbs began to adjust, at least until a cultural reaction set in during the 1820s. Thus many of the ‘Greeks’ who carted textile materials to the coast were Slavs and Vlachs and in addition there were many Armenians taking the road to Germany and Russia.” (“The Making of Eastern Europe from the Earliest times to 1815”, by David Turnock, page 292) Satisfied with my deeds for the day, I returned the Delorean to its original time and space and retired for the evening.

Essay 5 – In the Balkans

The next morning I again showed up an hour earlier in hopes of seeing TrueMacedonian before the others arrived. The Delorean’s hood was cold as it had cooled off from my previous day’s adventure. As usual TrueMacedonian was the first to arrive but followed closely by Tito, Doc and Marty so we had very little time for discussion. After saying “dobro utro”, TrueMacedonian advised me to quickly get into the trunk because the others were not far behind. I had one request for TrueMacedonian. I asked him to do me a favour and make sure Tito disclosed the time and location of his missions so that I would be able to follow their progress. Without proper information I found it difficult to follow their progress in the newspapers. Yesterday for example, I had to look all through the west coast newspapers to find out what they had done. But before TrueMacedonian had a chance to reply I heard him tap twice on the Delorean’s hood, letting me know that the others were there and that I should keep quiet. Tito was not in a very good mood this morning. I could tell this by his abrupt entry into the Delorean, without greeting TrueMacedonian as he proceeded to fiddle with the time knobs setting the next destination. What a grouch I thought. No that’s too nice for him, he is more like an ogre, no wonder he has earned the title dictator! “We are going to Iowa, to January 25, 1911,” I overheard him say in a stern and brutish voice. Okay we are going to Iowa, to January 25, 1911. But where in Iowa? The next day I was lucky to run into this article on only my fourth try;