Turks See Threat to Themselves

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 107, 7 May 1941, Page 5

Turks See Threat to Themselves

BELATED BRITISH MOVE LONDON, May 5. Turkey Is gravely concerned about the British-Iraql clash, says the Ankara correspondent of The Tinea. It threatens, at least temporarily, the loss of the railway to Basra, which, since the war spread to the Mediterranean, has been a moat important route for Turkish trade. There is also serious anxiety that, if the conflict continues, Germany will get a footing on yet another Turkish frontier. The Turks, says the correspondent, Are irritated, because they think the British could have prevented the situation. They do not understand why the British were content until this late hour to entrust vitally important strategical centres to people whose politics are mainly selfish and dishonest intrigue. The Turks express the opinion that the time to send troops to Iraq was when there was a friendly Government. They believe, too, that if the trouble Is not quickly settled the Germans will intervene, using Syrian air bases. The Syrians one day are for the British and the next day for the Germans, according to the fluctuations of the war. Official Turkish circles do not expect trouble from Iran (Persia). The authority of the Shah is high, and proGerman sentiment there is primarily a reaction to Soviet pressure.