THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1922. THE CLOUDS IN THE EAST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18198, 18 September 1922, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1922. THE CLOUDS IN THE EAST.

Events have marched rapidly in the Near East. Public opinion might be apathetic when the Greeks and Turks were campaigning in Anatolia with no one outside a narrow circle of statesmen concerning themselves with possible results. Now that the Powers of the West are preparing t'or action, taking precautions to halt the Ottoman advance, now that Britain has sent oat a warning to the Dominions suggesting aid in ■■ safeguarding the hallowed soil of • Gallipoli, the active interest of; everyone is engaged. Affairs appear- '' ing at the outset purely Eastern in their significance have suddenly flung their influence abroad until all the world is in expectation,

watching to see what will be tho outcome of t'Jie next few fateful

days. When Turkey, beaten to her knees by the crushing blows of the Palestine campaign of 1918, sued for peace it seemed as though one of the vexed questions of centuries was settled for ever. The passage of time has shown the thorn in the side of Europe still to be there, and the wound to be rankling. Turkey has never made peace with che Allies. A treaty was formulated' in 1920, was signed, but was never ratified by her. For long the movement headed by Mustapha Kemal Pasha was held to be sectional, without authority from the central Government of Turkey, and without international significance. It has grown so that now it overshadows the feeble and vacillating Government in Constantinople. Mustapha Kemal, with his immense military prestige, with his growing following, and with the halo of success about his brow, is the Turkish force now to be reckoned with. It is no longer possible to regard him as a mere rebellious subject, not to be considered in negotiation. He has assumed his place by suggesting terms, and it is with him that terms will have to be made. Greece, according to the reported demands of the Angora' Government, is being called upon to evacuate Asia Minor and Thrace, to renounce all aspirations to these territories, to make good all damage, and to hand over Greek subjects guilty of crimes of violence during the occupation of Smyrna and its hinterland. There is no hesitation here. Toward Greece, Turkey has assumed the tone of a conqueror. The Treaty of Sevres practically banished Turkey from Europe, proposing that Greece should take almost all Thrace, leaving but a narrow strip behind Constantinople. Smyrna, with an area surrounding it, was to be handed to the control of Greece, with safeguards for minorities and provision for a plebiscite in five years to determine its future. The Dardanelles, it was provided, were to be completely internationalised, with elaborate arrangements for their administration by a commission. When it became obvious that modifications were necessary, new terms were drafted and offered to Turkey and Greece in March last. Smyrna and Constantinople, it was proposed, should go back to Turkey. A broad zone on the Asiatic shore of the Dardanelles was to be demilitarised, but was to be controlled by Turkey. The Allies were to occupy the Gallipoli Peninsula with forces sufficient to keep the Straits open. A new Thracian boundary was suggested, giving Turkey Roiosto, and Greece Adrianople, BabaEske and Kirk-Killisse. Almost the whole of Eastern Thrace on both sides of the frontier was to be iemilitariscd, giving both Greece ind Turkey security against sudden attaek by that route. The question of Thrace was important, since to have handed the whole area back to the Turk would have given him the means to dominate the Gallipoli Peninsula. It is for that reason that -,he present demands from Angora, claiming the whole o£ Thrace, impinge upon the interests of the Allies. Britain, France and Italy, it is stated, are in agreement on the situation. They are understood to lave sent identical Notes to Mustaoha Kemal, and to be taking precautions to prevent the Turk from crossing the narrow waters and •arrying the arbitrament of the sword into Eurone. It is quite evident that Britain, at all events, s not risking having a demand for he Gallipoli area presented, with he Turk actually on the spot. 3iven agreement among the three Vllies, the movement of men and ships to the danger point may be uifficient. The munitions which iave enabled the Turkish Nationalsts to carry on have come from Europe. Supplies should easily be -topped. The possibilities of a lack >f concord among the Powers in the oresent crisis are too grave to bear contemplation. Bulgaria is said to >e massing on her borders. Bulgaria s known to be discontented, restive inder her treatment since the war •nded Russia looms menacingly o the north, the unknown factor. The Soviet rulers of that unhappy 'and have already shown an unlealthy interest in the situation. If t came to action they would have luite sufficient ingenuity to reconcile he adaptable highest interests .if he Russian proletariat with aid for ho autocratic Turk. Beyond all is he immense and inflammatory body )f Moslem opinion already interested m the side of Turkey. All these loints of peril are possibilities, not lecessarily probabilities. Their exstennc needs to be cited merely to j illustrate what grave issues are

hanging in the balance, what heavy need therp" is for thri Allies to exercise all skill, to neglect no precaution in the effort to secure an effective settlement of a problem already too Jong delayed. The alternative can bo nothing but a sanguinary struggle with all civilisation in the melting-pot. The stories of murder and rapine at Smyrna may be over-coloured in the heat of the moment. There is enough credible detail in them, however, to show what can be the outcome when East and West clash with ' religious frenzy aflame and national '■. prejudice in the ascendant. To save the world from an enlargement of that position no effort can be spared. The situation at the instant is not easy to gauge. It is reasonable to conclude, however, that rapid and resolute action is needed to master ! the menace. A flame has been i lighted on the border-land between East and West. It has been allowed to smoulder for many months,, now it is burning fiercely. Unless that flame is first controlled, then quenched, it may spread in both directions, and many millions feel the scorching breath. At this distance it is possible only to and to hope that thoso upon whom it has fallen to handle the destinies of the civilised world will be enabled , within the next few days to turn potential war to peace, am? to achieve what has been sorely needed : for long, a tranquilisation of the j East.