THE GATE OF ASIA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 11 October 1922, Page 7

THE GATE OF ASIA

j GREECE AS THE SENTINEL strike i-'uFaiTcENTnRJES BASIS OK GREEK CLAIMS The region in which the present Near East crisis is poised dangerously between war and peace, was the cradle nl Greek and Christian civilisation, and was often rocked violently by the hordes of Asia.. Everywhere throughout western Asia -Minor the evidences of the onltore and ideals of Greece appear in many forms as the milestones of romantic history ol thirty centuries. Smyrna itself was the birthplace of Homer, and on its ancient Acropolis the tomb o! the invihieal Tantalus is shown the tourist to the present day. Even Angora, the stronghold of the Turkish Nationalists, has a splendid Greek past. All the great ruins excavated in A si/a Minor are the remnants of ancient Greek cities of immortal splendour. Their very names proclaim the Turk as the invader: Ephesus, Primp Per gamins, Militus, and liierapolis, the hallowed city. These and many more fascinating facts were the basis of the Greek claims as advanced by M. Veni/.elns at the Congress in Pains in 1919, lor the restoration of territory in Asia Minor. The population of that territory occupied by the. Greek-army under the treaty 'of Sevres, but apparently lost before the onslaught of Mu staph a Kemal’s forces, was then estimated at nearly one and a-lialf millions, of which over one million wore Greeks. This alone explains why the patriotic Greek claims that it is ho who is at homo in Asia Minor, and not the invader' As against that claim the Turk points out that ho lias been master of the land for the past 400 years. It has been a. minority rule largely maintained by massacre. BULWARK OK EUROPE The Asia. Minor peninsula lias been looked upon as the bulwark of Europe since the Trojan war. It is the gate between the Asiatic and the HollenoEurepeaii civilisations. And throughout centuries of strife Grebee has stood as Jirst sentinel of Europe. Historically, as plainly demonstrated by the French historian. Dr. TIA le Has, the Greek element, long before the Ottoman conquest, was fighting and winning for so many centuries that the Christian world considered Asia Minor as an integral part of Greece. In the past four centuries Turkey has not b°en gentle in dissipating that belief and establishing a very different geographical aspect.

Tho division made by successive Sultans after their conquest of that territory split Asia Minor into nine Turkish vilayets or provinces within an area west of a straight line drawn from Alexamlretta, formerly the Gulf of Tssus, to Trebmoud. These are Aid in, with Smyrna as capital; Moti-davendhi-kiar, with Brou-ssa, or Briisa, as capital; also these, known under the names of their capitals: Konjeh, Angora, Kastamoni, Sivas, Trebi'/.ond, and Adana. In addition, the Asiatic part of Constantinople was made part of the Province of Constantinople, while the independent counties or Sandjaks of Ismid and the Dardanelles form what is now known as the Zone of the Straits. Since there is a ecnsi-Ewable Greek population in all the vilayets and sandjaks, ami a predominant Greek population in must of them, tin' question of self-determina-tion is set with thorns. KEATTIRES OK THE COUNTRY lire differences in racial and religious elements throughout Asia Minor are not more marked than the dissimilarities in tho features of the country. It is in these differences that the germs of conflict breed, for all the world over economic conditions are governed by the nature of territory. Is it fertile or barren Is it landlocked or open to the rivers and seas of commerce Can it be defended, or ii it vulnerable to the strong invader ‘i These are the questions that are behind most wars.

The central pari of the Asia Minor peninsula is formed of homogeneous and partly dry, wide plateaux, divided into sections by a few ranges, and surrounded on the north, south, and east by high mountains. Most of the territory is goat country, providing a considerable industry in milk, cheese, line leather and mohair. The western portion is very different, and from the meridian of Constantinople shows a remarkably varied formation, flanges in every direction, of varied area, formation and shape, are divided by deep valleys, running from the mountainous rim of the central plateau to the deeply indented coast, which gives their outlet to rather important rivers. In these valleys there is sleek prosperity and the shade of one’s own dig tree. It is not surprising that there is much desire for their posses don on the plea of ancient rights. Ail races appreciate rich and useful land i nd easy means of communication. THE NATURAL DIVISION The central plateau is subject cc the drought and winter rigours of the Steppes. On the other hand, the western portion of the penimisula is characterised by a truly Mediterranean climate, and the vegetation that belongs to that climate. Asia Minor is thus divided up by a great natural barrier. On the one side, the Kemalists’ side, there is a walled-in plateau of Asiatic type, while on the other, the Greeks’ side as determined by the Treaty of Sevres, there is an rEgean country on the same model as the Greek areas and closely linked, both naturally and historically, with tlie sea and with Greece beyond the sea. Consequently, while Greeks remain in the majority in the fertile fiat,-;, the hard Turks from the goat country and the bleak winds from the Steppes will want to keep to their four centuries’ rule. It is, after all, the old conflict between seed and the sword. These are cogent facts fr„om official records, and shew, more than any elaborate treatise on European polities, wily the dogs of war are again baying at the gates of Asia. Whatever opinion may be as to the merits of Greek claims in Asia. Minor as in Thrace, the Greeks themselves believe, in the justice of their demands. Kor live centuries these Asia Minor Greeks have kept the faith, and never lost the hope of liberation from the Turk. And when men believe that they are fighting for their patrimony they are not easily conquered.—Herald.