NEAR EAST TENSION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 11 October 1922, Page 8

NEAR EAST TENSION

OUTLINE OF THE CAUSES

THE FEUMENT OF CENTURIES

COCK ITT IN ASIA MINOR

Tlu; plainest fact emerging from Mm history lending up In Mie present high t.elision in the internationalised zone at and about the Daidanelles, is that if the tension should break into conflict, tlu* fate of many nations will he involved. Imporlnnt interests oi all the ehief European Rowers would he more or less a Heeled : many promising settlements of complex diflieulties would he deranged ; and, most serious of all, (he smoulder ing fires of hate as between the Christian and Moslem populations might. Hare into a conflagration. The strained position today has its centre in the Treaty of Sevres, though radial interests and ramifications run leu k into almost ccminics, |l inav he noted .that conditions in the hit ernat iouahsed zone between Constantinople ami the Aegean Sea illustrates once more how prone the 'lurk is to act contrary Ui the preconceived opinions of both his enemies and his friends When hostilities between the Allies and Turkey nfiieially erased at noun on Thursday. (». toner 51. J9lo, Mediterran,.;m |i lm .. the universal opinion was that it marked the beginning of the final chapter in Mm long, lurid history ol the Ottoman Empire. Ho pronounced was that opinion among the Allied administrators that the (pier-lion ot peace terms , was placed last mi the programme ol the Peace Conference of Paris. It was not until May U. 1920. that the Allies terms were presented In the 1 nrkish delegation to ‘Paris. . Three months later, oil August 10, to he precise, the terms were embodied in the treaty ot bevies and accepted and signed by the repre-■pentativi-s of the victors and the van (pushed. Time and circumstances have practically made the Sevres treaty a hortive. TilE RISE AND EARL OF TURKEY'S I EMPIRE I Since there have been so many conflicting and transient war settlements-in the past three years, an outline of the Treatv of Sevres and its principal effects‘upon the Moslem populations should be serviceable. Rut in order to illustrate, 11 its real eliect of that instillment upon the Turk, it is essential to slate briefly the former glory of Hie Ottoman Empire. There was a time when all Eastern Europe seemed fated to pass under the Mussulman scimitar. The greatest expansion of the empire was attained in the 16th century, when its boundaries touched the fertile plains of Hungary, overleaped the whole of the Ralkans west and south to the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, and ran eastward by north to within sight of the Caspian" Sea and thence south-east i to the Persian Gulf, while the long si rip of land by the Hod Sea and the whole of the African Continent were , under the sway of the Crescent. The tide of Turkish conquest turned in 1686, and never again knew a flood. Rudapest was lost to the Turk in conflict in 1686. It was tho beginning of a vast erosion of Turkish territory by the advancing Western tide. War succeeded war down the years, and conqueror after conqueror took' heavy 1011. Greece . was the first independent- State carved out of Turkey : then Russia advanced and further reduced the Ottoman Empire; and other wars up to 1913 continued the process of reduction. By this time all Turkey’s possessions in Africa had long since been lost, and her empire was a mere fragment compared with its . former extent. I mally, lurkey’s entry into the world war on the side of tile Central Powers seemed to seal her fate, and the dwindling empire became relatively a mangled ruin in Asia Minor, with Allied navies at the front door of Constantinople. | ARMISTICE AND TREATY 1 The nrm Istjee convention with -Turkov was signed on October 30th. 1918. Its terms were purely of a military character. ;inl need not he recapitulated. Subsequent events have proved, however, that many of the essentially drastic terms as to complete demobilisation, surrender and disposal of equipment, aims, and ammunition, and-the cessation of violence against tormer subject races in many vilayets were flouted in the characteristic Turkish manner. It ■ is of interest' to observe that, in respect of the Treaty of Sevres nearly two years later, there is very little stability in international political opinion. The "terms of Die treaty were first condemned as extravagant leniency toward the Turk, whose inherent constitutional love of intrigue and foul tyranny would be encouraged, When the difficulties of settlement accumulated that criticism swung to (he opposite, and there was an equally vehement demand for revision and important modifications. Tim main terms of the Sevres Treaty were admittedly severe. They were interpreted by the Turks as “''suicide 400 limes over." Their operation involved dissolution of the pre-war Ottoman Empire. Rriefly. Turkey w'as to cede to Greece the whole of Thrace except the sandjak of Ghatalja and the Devitos water-supply area. Tenedos, Imbros. and other islands in the Aegean then occupied by Greeks had also to he ceded to the Hellenic Government. An end was to he made to Turkish administration of an extensive area in Asia Mittor. comprising Smyrna, Tireli, (blemish. 1 Magnisa, Akhissar. Rerglnima, and I Aivali. all these to come within the jurisdiction of Greece, whose representa I lives had pledged their capacity to administer their interests, with the rightI o( annexation by plebiscite within five years, Turkey was required further to "recognise the independence of Armenia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and ( lip [leiljaz; , 1 1 > confer autonomy upon Kurdistan, lo recognise'' the French protectorates over Tunisia and French Moroccoltalian sovereignty over Lyhia, (he. Dodecanese, arid Caste,llorizo; and I the. British protectorate over Egypt- and 1 the Sudani to recognise also British soi vereignty over Cyprus, nod to cede I' l 1 Great Britain the rights secured to the i Porte in the Suez Cabal Treaty of December 22, 1888. | ECONOMIC AND MILITARY I GLAUSES i These were (he main territorial refill 1 qnishrnents. The economic and other Surrenders were not dess severe. 'There was lo he drastic disarmament with an arniv limitation to 50,000 effectives all i ),|| ( |. The Turkish finances, such as I thev were, were to lie controlled by an I Allied Finance Commission, and, worst | <‘,f a || (o the Turks’ temperament. Turkey's legal svstem Was to he subject lo i /\Hit'd alteration its might lie necessary ,in make life tolerable lo foreigners. . | Ruder these sweeping temlona chaimes the Ottoman Empire was ousted fronMTirope, except for Constantinople j atid a small strip of territory. 1 The most remarkable feature ot the whole settlement was the creation'"! an internationalised zone of the Straits, e-\ lending inland upon both sides c, the ; historic waterways. Ihe control ol Ihi.- ! zone was vested m a commission v-hu h ! u-w civeit wide powers and onerous dni ,j‘.i 1'1,,. zone, he it- not ed as a curious H-petiimn of ancient history. eon.' ponds almost exactly m area to tl ; j . |tm Fmidre of ( 'cm-l.intinople as sby the Crusaders, under Baldwin. <1 1 Flanders, and the- Doge Dandolo, m !2 The ohied of the carefully planned reobviate anv risk ot taihne f"" v . principal Allies equal rights ° !4 ' ' J freedom of the Strain i; 1 'iX'F."; ■ t« 11

i ■•add . 1 1 j[ • t hat now the British Empire m,av aI. aie have to safeguard Ihose interest;, .Drain, it is Mm eld dog for (he hind read. Time and refleei ion have ahered many of the earlier ini erpn la* ions of the Treaty of H,wres. and possibly llm ’Turk 'tv dipiomaev may regain sonic ol Mm territory lost through blundering into war on the fide of the Central Powers, Meanwhile, the pcsiMmi is aknp lo a smoking volcano, with a historic notorietv for violent emotions. N.Z. Herald. '