PESSIMISM1 AT LAUSANNE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18294, 10 January 1923, Page 7

PESSIMISM 1 AT LAUSANNE.

TURKS MORE OBDURATE.

ALLIES DRAFT! TREATY.

THE- LIMIT OF CONCESSION.

BRITISH NAVAL ACTIVITY. By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright. ■ (Received 9.5 p.m.) ..-. Reuter. '■'•.'. LONDON, Jan. 8. There is. a feeling of pessimism akin ,to apprehension in - diplomaticquarters regarding the fate of the Lausanne ..Conference owing to the stiffening attitude of the Turks since the collapse .of . the Paris Conference, notwithstanding that Allied solidarity at Lausanne is in nowise affected by the failure to reach agreement on the reparation .issue at Paris. It is expected that the 'Allies will concentrate oh drafting a peace treaty em-, bodying the extreme limits of concession ■to which they are prepared to go to meet the Turkish claims, and that the treaty will be presented for definite acceptance or rejection. The result should definitely be known about January 20. f ; V In the meantime precautionary military and naval movements are proceeding at Malta* The battleship Emperor of .India is due on Tuesday/ and is expected to join Admiral Sir 0. de B. Brock's fleet at Constantinople, replacing the King George V., but it is not likely that the latter will leave yet. It is officially denied from Lausanne that British troops are preparing to leave Constantinople.

TURKS IN EAST THRACE.

ARMY OF 20,000 RECRUITED.

Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Reed. 12.30 a.m.) ■.! LONDON. Jan., 8. It is stated that 20,000 Turkish troops are now ,in. Eastern Thrace, insC)d of 8000 gendarmes allowed by the armistice terms. The rest have been recruited in Thrace by Rafet Pasha. The correspondent oil th» Daily, Express at Lausanne continues to stress the seriousness of the situation in the Near East The Turks intend to mass 40,000 armed men in Eastern Thrace within a month. Many Turks declare that they, do not want peace, and would prefer the conference to end without a decision. ~

THE GREEK CONCENTRATION

FEAR OF TURKISH ATTACK. A. and N.Z. LONDON.;.j«. ; 8. It is semi-officially announced from Athens that the Greek Government has assured' the French, British, and Italian Ministers that the reorganisation of the Greek forces in Western Thrace is only being carried out as , a measure of safety. '. ' ■'!■ .v : -" : '.'■•.■,'■■" , Authoritative circles in London consider ] that the concentration!of Greek troops at Karagatch, in Western Thrace, is a wise? precaution, because fears are entertained . | that the Turks may make an effort to [win Western Thrace by force of arms if ; they cannot get their way at, the Lau- ' sanne Conference. _

The Greek concentration is taking place ir> the extreme north-east:, of -Western Thrace, in "■ the Karagatch suburban :dis-". trict of Adrianople. The -restoration of i this area was one of the first demands 'made by the Turks at the Lausanne Conj ference, and ; was firmly refused by ; the Allies. ■■_''..' : At the outbreak of the European- war all of Western. Thrace, with the excepi tion :of the Karagatch area, was BulI garian territory, having been • ceded. by Turkey to Bulgaria after the first Balkan war. The Karagatch area was: regained by the Turks when they recovered Adrianople, during the second Balkan war. In 1915, however, the Turks ceded to Bulgaria the" Karagatch area by; a voluntary agreement negotiated by the* good i offices of Germany as a condition of 'Bulgaria a intervention in the war. The peace terms imposed by the Allies on Bulgaria provided for the cession of all of Western Thrace, including the Karagatch area,* to Greece. This territorial arrangement is v not affected 'by the Convention _of Mudania with the Turks, under which the Allies have agreed to the retrocession to the Turk 3 of Eastern Thrace with Adrianoplo only, the course of the River Maritza being named as the western frontier. The / Karagatch .;■". district-is situated on the western bank of. the Maritza. '•■ ;'.'■: ' :'/'•' -'.""■ ', ; ' : -' -'"'■" "-■'■'■-' Its importance consists m the possession of a double row of forts,* with which the : Turks could once more make , of Adrianople a stronghold commanding the Maritza Valley and the railway to D.edeagatch, on the Aegean coast. The forts of Adrianople have, indeed, been "disarmed" and '." dismantled." But no brie 'can destroy or .'■■;' dismantle the ■ , ring, doubled in places, of those extraordinarily smooth and slippery; ridges arid; hillocks which are so characteristic a ; feature of Northern Thrace, and which, given a few machine-guns and some barbed can be so rapidly converted into strong, defensive ' positions. . .Without the■'.-, Karagatch position Adrianople cannot again become a fortress; with Karagattch it is the ideal entrenched camp. ■'{.''"• . The: Bulgar General 'Staff ■ realised ■'. this in July, 1915, when its ; chiefs insisted absolutely on the cession of Ijaragatch and .its forts and .railway . station '. as a condition of Bulgaria's/entry into the great war on the side of Turkey and the, Central Empires. The Turks plead that Karagatch ought not to be separated from -Adrianople, which is served by the Kaiagatcli. railway station, but the construction of at most two miles of light railway or tramway, which could be carried across;j the Maritza by the existing road bridge or' by a new bridge, using one of the numer- ] ous islands in the river, should remove any Turkish objection .based on economic grounds to the separation of ■ tlfis suburb from Adrianople. ' '

THE MOSUL QUESTION. DIRECT NEGOTIATIONS; Australian aiict N.Z. Cable Association. ! "(Reed. 9.5 p.m.) CONSTANTINOPLE,? 3an.28. Turkish newspapers/assert that Rechid Paisha, former "Turkish Ambassador at London, will be entrusted with the task of negotiating the Mosul question directly with.-Mr. Bonar. Law. v .•• '.:...'■ CLAIM TO RAILWAY

REFUTAL BY ARAB ENVOY.

I Eeuter. 7 ' ; LAUSANNE. Jan. 8. Owing to the fact that Turkey claims that the Hedjaz railway, being a religious foundation, having been built with Moslem capital :to carry : pilgrims to Medina, should be under the supervision of the Caliph. Dr. Naji, special envoy ;afc Lausanne of the King of the Hedjaz, has sent to Lord Curzon a Note claiming'on behalf of the Hedjaz Government the reestablishment of the Arab administration of the ■ railway.: Dr. Naji, in the course of an interview, ' stated that the ! claim of \ the Turks was ] as baseless ; as : i Raiouf Bey's statement that the Yemen was ; part ,of Turkey. He declared that the Yemen was never under the Turks, ■and that when the King of the Hedjaz joined the Allies in the late war the Yei men, was the first to rajly; to -his support |in defence of Arab freedom, ~ ... .