TURKEY WATCHFUL

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXII, Issue 98, 25 March 1942, Page 5

TURKEY WATCHFUL

BALKAN DEEVLOPMENTS LONDON, March 23

Turkey is keenly watching developments in tlie situation concerning Bulgaria, Rumania and Hungary, which is equully unsatisfactory lrom the Axis viewpoint. The Istanbul correspondent of the Times says the Bulgarian Cabinet, after an obscure semi-official warning from Berlin, held a four-hour sitting, at which it is believed that the majority of Ministers favoured a temporising policy concerning active participation by Bulgaria in the war against Russia. M. Kiroff, Bulgarian Minister in Turkey, will go to Sofia from Ankara shortly, and it is understood Bulgarian diplomatic representatives in Berlin, Rome, Budapest and Bucharest have! received similar invitations. These!

were probably sent after the Cabinet meeting so that the whole situation could bo reviewed before momentous decisions, necessitated by strong German pressure, arc taken. In the meantime it is significant that a Bulgarian paper has chosen the present moment to recall an interview

Hitler had in 1939 with the then Bulgarian Prime Minister, in which Hitler was reported as saying that lie wished only for peace and quietness in the Balkans, which would be more appreciated than any military assistance Bulgaria might give. What interests Turkey particularly is the fact, that, besides the Bulgarian j people’s alleged Bussophile feeling, the Bulgarian Government is using the danger ol an eventual Turkish attack against Bulgaria as a pretext for refusing to send troops to the Russian front. There is a feeling that the hurried departure of tho German Minister (von Papon) on March 21 to Bulgaria, whence lie will go straight to Hitler's headquarters, is due to an urgent summons to report the truth about the alleged Bulgarian fears of Turkey. Tt is considered probable that a German inquiry about the Turkish atti-! tude toward Bulgaria will be made in Ankara after von Papon’s consultations. There is no doubt about the Turkish answer should such an inquiry be made. Tt would be that Turkey’s policy remains one of peace and neutrality and that Bulgaria has nothing to fear from Turkey. HUNGARY AND RUMANIA.

j The Times correspondent from the j German frontier says that there is chagrin in Berlin that the long-smoul-J tiering enmity between the Rumanian | and Hungarian peoples should have j burst into flames when preparations I for the spring offensive against Russia : demand unity among ail participators. Rumania has claimed Italy’s support ! while Hungary has cited Germany as ! her second. Berlin must find a quick | solution to minimise the risk of armed [conflict between the two States. .The | tactics adopted are to play on the fear | of a Soviet victory and the loss of all [ the territories won by the sacrifices of war. Berlin, however, is uneasy at! the Hungarian Prime -Minister’s statement that Hungary's participation on the side of the Axis must not be allowed to diminish her home defences because it shows both Rumania and i Hungary are using the threat from their neighbour for withholding full aid from the Axis.

A message from Bucharest states that hostile demonstrations are reported in Bucharest and other centres in Rumania, also in Hungary.

The new Turkish Ambassador to Britain. M. Raul Odbay, lias arrived in London.