Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 1950. CHANGES IN TURKEY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 212, 23 June 1950, Page 2

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 1950. CHANGES IN TURKEY

A close watch is being kept on Turkey as a result of the changes which are expected to follow the result of the recent election. Inonu .had governed for a long time with an iron hand, retarding the ‘beneficial works put in hand by Kernel Ataturk, but now that Celal Bayar, Ataturk’s right-hand man has come to pow'er, it is more than probable that his beneficial programme will again be taken up. Conditions in the country at the moment are worthy of note. First and foremost is the fact that the Turks firmly believe that only complete co-operation with the Western democracies can help them in the event of another war. They have a feeling that this \vill come, and they realise that they are in a bad strategic position, because they could be attacked' simultaneously from three sides. Just what that means can be understood when it is mentioned that she would have to defend 1600 miles of frontier and a similar length of seashore. Even if the Turks succeeded in tying down large Russian forces in the interior of Anatolio in a guerilla war, the coal, copper, and chrome mines, the backbones of the Turkish war industry, situated in the frontier area, would go. Elite Soviet divisions are stationed in Rumania, and their vanguard, 300,000 German trained Bulgarians, are on a wartime footing. Thanks to the peace treaty which gave the Russians the major part of the Italian fleet, the Russians could easily land on the coast of Anatolia. Turkey’s fleet has no chance of defending the country’s shores. The only Turkish battleship, the Yavuz, is a derelict floating box. She used to be the German Goeben, built long before the First World War. In addition Turkey has received four destroyers and some small units from America. But these would be no match for the modern, Italianbuilt ships. During the last war a great deal of American money went into Turkey, and since then the American officers have revolutionised the Turkish army. In fact, America exerts a great influence in the country to-day, and the Turks base some hope on this. They are grateful for the help so far received, and while Turkey is not yet fully Western, that day does not appear to be far distant. <