TURKEY AND THE LEAGUE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18276, 18 December 1922, Page 6

TURKEY AND THE LEAGUE.

The decision of Turkey to accept the virtual ultimatum delivered by the Allies at Lausanne for the safeguarding of minorities, in conjunction with the optimistic reports of agreement over the future of the Dardanelles, clears the air in no small measure. The prospects of a settlement of all outstanding points of difference and a speedy tranquilising of this disturbed quarter of the globe are infinitely better now than they have been for long. There is still room for serious differences, but the indications to-day are of accord upon the major points. It is useless wasting regrets over the extent to which the Turks have regained much of that which it was felt they should justly lose in consequence of the war. The endeavour to allocate responsibility for this development is equally profitless. The past cannot be revoked. The main conclusion must be one of relief that the solution of the knotty problem of the Near East appears so much closer at hand. The League of Nations, in assuming tho guardianship of the minorities concerned, has undertaken what will probabjy prove the heaviest task it has yet had to face. A wide tract of country is included. Fierce passions have ruled the relationship between the peoples. The immediate past contains bitter memories. They will not soon fade, and so long as they remain they will call for unceasing vigilance from the guardian body. It iB, at the same time, a momentous forward step for the League to receive in trust these people who have looked so long in | vain for effective protection. Both the permanence and the importance of its place in international relations are greatly enhanced. Once again, as in the Silesian question, it is called upon to try where others have failed. If, by its efforts, inviolability of person and property are secured to groups of people who have never enjoyed so much before, it will be finally and irrevocably confirmed in the office of protector of the weak. Turkey assumes a new place, making herself subject to the pressure of world opinion in a way she never has been hitherto. All told, this outcome of the Lausanne Conference is one of the most momentous happenings touching the Near East to occur for very many days.