DIPLOMATIC MOVES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 94, 18 October 1939, Page 9

DIPLOMATIC MOVES

TALKS IN MOSCOW

TURKISH MINISTER GOES HOME

FRESH PROPOSALS

(By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright.) (Received October 18, 12.30 p.m.)

LONDON, October 17,

Moscow reports that the Turkish Foreign Minister, M. Saracoglu, is going to Turkey tonight, although the negotiations have not concluded. It is reliably stated that he is taking fresh Soviet proposals which do not preclude continuation of the talks.

The Turkish Cabinet met in Ankara and examined a report by M. Saracoglu on the Kremlin talks. The Rome wireless deals with proposed terms for an agreement. According to the Italian report, Russia and Turkey will pledge themselves not to support any act of aggression against the other, ancl Turkey will close the Dardanelles to all belligerent warships. This report, not .confirmed from other sources, says that Russia has given an assurance not to make aggression against Rumania. NEW YORK, October 16. The Moscow correspondent of the •"New York Times," Mr. G. E. R. Gedye, says that finalisation of the negotiations is most difficult, and this is causing reports of *a last-minute, hitch. Diplomatic circles believe that Istanbul reports of a breakdown and the concentration a fortnight ago of Soviet troops on the Turkish frontier have been exaggerated. The authorities regarded the reports so seriously' that they complained to the correspondents of British papers that the "publication constituted a grave political matter." The correspondents established .that they were not responsible, suggesting that the rumour was deliberately spread by j quarters anxious to upset the negotiation"?. France and Britain continue to be satis-, fied, confident that the Turks are protecting French and.British interests.

The Washington correspondent of the "New York Times"' says . diplomatic circles disclose that the Soviet is bringing pressure to bear on Iran (Persia) by the medium of trade negotiations, seeking to reassert her sway in north Iran and obtain control of the rice output and concessions in the oilfields. An unconfirmed report states that the Russians are also seeking a sea-base in the Persian Gulf.