HANDS OFF STRAITS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18196, 15 September 1922, Page 7

HANDS OFF STRAITS

ALLIES IN ACCORD.

TROOPS LAND AT CHANAK.

UNEASINESS IN BALKANS.

BULGARIA SUSPECTED.

YUGOSLAVS MOBILISING. By Telecrarh—Press Association—Copyngnt.

(Received 7.5 p.m.) A.iindN.Z.— Reuter. LONDON. Sept. 13.

France has officially signified her aorecment with Britain on tho subject of the freedom of tho Straits, and 'has expressed her readiness to discuss any settlement providing that legitimate Turkish aspirations are safeguarded.

The Paris correspondent . the Daily Telegraph says that it is c'xear that the French Government does not see eye to eye with the British regarding tho Turks. France proclaims herself faithful to the principle of the freedom of the Straits, kit France's sympathy with tho "legitimate aspirations of the Turks" means that she will make her voice heard in support of Turkish claims to Adrianople. The Rome newspaper, Giornale D'ltalia, states that Must&pha Kemal realises that any attempt against the Strait© will meet with the opposition of tho Allies, and complications regarding Adrianople wou'd cause the Little Entente's intervention. The Turks are warned that Europe will not allow the war to be transferred to Europej.n soil. The Daily Chronicle reports th<»t British. French, and Italian detachments have landed at Chanak and Scutari, which is regarded as confirmation of Allied solidarity in the determination to ensure the protection of Constantinople and Gallipoli.

Well-informed circles in London manifest anxiety regarding the likelihood of sn attempt by the Turkish Nationalists to' reach Thrace, Allied vessels in the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmora are ready to frustrate snch an effort, Mustapha Kemal has not yet replied to the Allies' warning against action in the areas under their control.

The Pall Mall Gazette says that the Turks En Thrace are engineering an antiChristian movement. Encounters between Bulgarian comitadjis (irregulars) and Greek detachments occurred at Nevrokop, the Bulgarians being driven back. j Yugoslav circles confidently predict a Turco-Bulgarian alliance against the other Balkan nations. I

It is reliably stated that the Governments of Yugoslavia and Rumania intend to aid Greece in the event of a Balkan conflict. Yugloslavia is mobilising and* concentrating troops toward Cskub.

M. Venizelos has arrived in Paris, and •will confer with M. Poincare and see Mr. Lloyd George in London later to urge the Allies to uphold the Greek claim to Thrace, which he believes the Turkish successes are endangering. THE GREEK DEBACLE. PANIC FLIGHT FROM SMYRNA. ALLIED TROOPS REMAIN. TURKISH EXECUTIONS. (Received 4.5 p.ra 1 A. and N.Z. LONDON. Sept. 13. j A portion of the Greek Army which was holding out on the Cheshme Penin- j sala. west of Smyrna, has surrendered to the Turks. Advices from Smyrna indicate that all is fairly quiet. British sailors guard the consulate, and Allied troops, with Mustapha Rental's concurrence, assist in maintaining order. The correspondent of the Daily Telegraph at Smyrna states that official executions of Armenians and Greeks alleged to be guilty of crimes in 1919 are increasing in number, but the situation does not warrant widespread rumonrs that Armenians are destined for extermination. The Turkish commander states that as the Greeks laid waste an area more than 20! miles wide and 200 miles long, he sees no i possibility of returning the refugees to their homes in this territory. Mr. G. Ward Price, in the Daily Mail, gives a graphic story of the panicky flight] of the Greeks from Smyrna on the an- ) proach of the Turks. He says that the j remnants of the Greek Army are now j shipped to Chios, whence they are return-1 ing to Athens for demobilisation. Steaming up the Gnlf of Smyrna, he had abun- j dant evidence of the terrorised flight of the Greeks. The whole population, civil j and military, was trying to get away. I Steaming down the gulf was a succession of Greek transports, shabby steamships of all sizes, which had been hastily requisitioned. Greek soldiers clustered on them like swarms of bees. Little Bailing I boats laboured along, heavily laden with I

refugees Coastal steamers packed with /civilians were towing more civilians in f lighters. Along the shore road on the south side of the jnilf Greek infantry, cavalry, and motor transport were streaming westward toward Cheshme, whence' they were ferried across to Chios. The confused khaki column stretched for miles. Smyrna itself was in great confusion. The quays were densely packed with Greeks alternately weeping and shouting, and in their panic offering high prices for places in boats. The advance guard of the Turks entered without opposition. The Greek Government ha* asked the Allies for authority to requisition foreign j steamers to transport refugees from Asia Minor. The Matin says that the Christian minorities need not fear mo'estation by the Turkish Array, Mustapha Kemal having personally uudertaken their protection and maintenance. TURKISH PEACE TERMS. ALLIED CONTROL TO END. (Received 7.50 p.m.) 'A. and N.Z. CONSTANTINOPLE. Sept. 13. [ Hamid Bey, one of the leaders of the' Turkish Nationalists, states that the inter- j Allied occupation of Constantinople can-, not last forever. It will have to cease when Turkey has achieved the peace for which she is fighting. "We will permit: no control," he declared, " because we are not slaves. Britain must make up her I mind to abandon completely this key to the Mediterranean. The first condition of our participttion in a peace conference is the evacuation of Anatolia." THE QUEEN OF GREECE. ON THE WAY TO GERMANY. A. *nd N.Z. LONDON. Sept. 13. | The Queen of Greece, who is a sister of the ex-Kaiser, has arrived at Flushing, W route to Hamburg..