WHEN GREEK MEETS TURK.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3138, 9 October 1922, Page 8

WHEN GREEK MEETS TURK.

(By Mercurius.) k There is little difference between the information' (appearing in the Oaniaru Mail of Monday) which Mr Lloyd George supplied to London newspaper representatives and that which he gave in a speech delivered in the House of Commons on the 4th of August last. Lieut.-Connnand'er Kenworthy had asked a question relating to British policy in the Near East, and in reply to that member’s remarks, which practically charged the Britisli Government with being the cause of all the trouble, said that the Sevres 'Treaty was the result of the deliberations of a special Commission, on which Britain, France. Italy, and Japan were represented. The Government of none of these countries interfered with the report of the Commission. They simply endeavored to give il form and carry it out to the best of their ability. The opinion may be hazarded that at the time none bf the signatories to the Sevres Treaty imagined that war .would eventuate from the disposition of Turkish territory. Ken ml Pasha, who is. in fact, a rebel against the Turkish Government at Constantinople, had not loomed on the horizon as a disturbing element. Me became that after the Treaty had been signed by the Constantinople Government. He settled himself down at Angora, and drew to his' Cave of Adullan a variety of Young Turks, old I urks. and I urks steeped in various degrees ol murderousness. It is a mistake to suppose that the .Mohammedan world is drilled into the substance of an indivisible whole. Nothing of the kind. Ihe British had Mohammedans lighting for them, and in proof ol this it is only necessary to mention the fact that out of the Turkish Empire three kingdoms have been formed, and if Kemal Pasha can he taken into account, there is a fourth, for that individual broke away (rom the Constantinople Government and formed one of his own at Angora. Ihe other two are the Hed.jaz and Mesopotamia. with, of course., the Sultan operating his functions at Constantinople. with British. French and Italian troops in his capital to see that he does so in terms of the treaty. It may bo that on a question of religion the Mohammcndan turns to Constantinople for his inspiration. but on questions of purely national policy he invariably turns the other way. He is not enamored of the rule of the Sultan, and that is the reason why there is a King of the Hedja, a King in Mesopotamia, and a dictator at Angora. Ihe 'Turk himself has burst up Turkey, or has assisted to do so by Ids readiness to transfer his allegiance from the Sultan to a king who lays no claim to the Khalifate. Of the four Powers that signed the Sevres Treaty Japan is 100 distant to become an effective force in compelling its acceptance, and has notified the Allies that she does not intend to send troops to .support her signature. As to France and Italy. Mr Lloyd George gives the reason why they do not wish to become, embroiled in the Kemal Pasha episode, and desire to throw the whole responsibility on Britain. France is said to have supplied Kemal Pasha with war munitions, .and this in spite of the fact that the purpose of the treaty was to render the Turk impotent to rebel against its terms. How did France expect the the treaty to he fulfilled if it supplied Kemal Pasha with the means to defy its terms? France makes a feeble effort to cover up her treachery by the observation that she has a large Mohammedan population in Northern Africa, ‘ and she cannot afford to ignore their religious susceptibilities. Why. then, did she sign the treaty? Her Mohammedan subjects have not come into existence since the treaty was signed. They have been under her rule for years, and are no more concerned about Turkish territory than the King of the Hcdjaz. But the turn events have taken is giving France some concern. Britain is her strong ally: without her she would tremble herself in to a paralysis, for the loss of Britain would mean that the nightmare of Germany would for ever he disturbing her dreams. She dare not defy Britain by withdrawing from the Sevres Treaty, and she finds it difficult to desert Kemal Pasha after supplying him with material to carry on a war against conditions that she herself assisted to impose on Turkey. France is in a tight comer, and that is the reason why she is so anxious to impress on Mnstapha Kemal the necessity of doing nothing that will bring about a conflict with Britain. Italy, Mr Lloyd George says, wanted the mandate over Turkish territory that vas handed to Greece, and we can sec now that it would have been wiser to have deferred to Italy’s greed than to have handed the mandate over to the pusillanimous and murderous Greek, who is little removed from the 'Turk when ho ri allowed to run loose. France and Italy are Mediterranean Powers, and 1 both would rather see Greece a weak, feeble, and effete nation than one whose purposes were hacked up by greater strength. That is but natural, and no one would have objected to their advancing that as Hie reason why they declined to enforce on Turkey the terms of the treaty. But while it is a reasonable reason it should have been advanced before the treaty was signed' by them. In signing Hie treaty they subscribed 1 to its conditions, and it is too late now to saddle Britain with the whole weight of compelling Turkey to fulfil its terms. The whole affair has evolved a remarkable position. France. Italy. Britain. Japan, and Turkey signed what is known as flic Sevr’es Treaty, and Britain is left as the only Power whose signature is worth the paper it is written upon. Japan, of course, has given an acceptable reason for hep action. and is beside- not immediately interested in live Near Eastern question. It might, however, he an entirely different question were Russia to force herself into, thy conflict, if such should lake place. Japan, as an ally in fho Great War. of which. Hie Turkish affair is a reaction, might retrocede from her intention of hacking out of Russia in A-ia. and increase her hold on all the country she held up fo a recent date. I hat, of course, is ai matter that concerns Russia, which is nimble to eject Japan by force of arms, Japan is evacuating Russia' because she undertook 1 1! do so when the war was elided, and not because she has no desire to stay (here. Russia has to consider this aspect an aspect that may occasion her greater loss if site won her point in Europe and lost it in Asia. But Russia is a negligible quantify in flic arts n( war. Absolute bankruptcy does not prevent a nation going to war with a neighboring Power, hut political and physical atrophy Is a certain obstacle to her winning it. The removal of the Russian army south fo Tight n Hie cause of Turkey would leave Hie embers of a revolution glowing red-hot behind if. and no one knows that heller than the two arch-scoundrels, Lenin ami Trotsky. Vet such a thing as Rn--siaii intervention is suggested. but France, although friendly disposed' to Kemal. is not likely to accept as a participator in the discussion this beadles- and' tailless symbol of bankruptcy and starvation. But after all what was she rendered Mnstapha Kemal and her later declaration that she declines touse Alice to compel Turkey to fulfil her obligations? Was il not with the object of putting a spoke in the wheel

of Britain P Britain has given way to France's pleas in connection with the German reparations. She has given her the major portion of the German indemnities. She. has held in abeyance the payment of the interest on the money she has lenther, has given her priority of payment in connection with a considerable portion of the reparations, and has yielded to her importunities on every point but an advance into Germany when Germany could not pay. France undoubtedly desires tp-frush and humble Germany, as well as extract the indemnities that Germany and the Allies agreed upon, and she wanted Britain to march an army into Germany along with the French army to seize all they could get. Britain declined to do this, and France ever since has taken no pains to conceal her displeasure. The Turkish affair then came into purview, and France got her opportunity, is it therefore not a fact that France, in assisting Konial ami dodging her responsibilities, was largely influenced by the attitude taken up by Britain over the German reparations!- 1 The French are a. mercurial people, and some allowance can lie made for a country that puts its signature to a document and then does its best to discount its value. is found with Mr Lloyd George for his action in speaking the mind of the! British Cabinet and calling upon the dominions to emphasise the solidarity of the Empire, fdis purpose was to let Kemal Pasha know that Britain was determined 1 to uphold the treaty, by force if necessary, and' there was the more reason for this inasmuch as he would at the time entertain a. strong suspicion thai France and Italy were more than lukewarm in their adherence to tin' terms of the treaty I hey had signed. Both are anxious to get Greece out of the road, and Greece has met their desires in this respect by getting herself out of the road. Greece aimed at more than her* mandate allowed her, and suffered in consequence. That Britain will be embroiled in war over this Kemal Pasha affair is not likely. Tbe Turk is a slippery individual, but. he is not entirely a fool. He will get more than the trea'ty allowed h'm, but he will have to .abandon all right to close the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus at his will. Greece, with her armies decisively beaten will have to abandon all pretensions to occupying a great stretch of Turkish territory. That much K o*lll a 1 Pasha has secured for his country.