BRITAIN AND TURKEY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23082, 6 July 1938, Page 12

BRITAIN AND TURKEY

The House of Commons has been asked to approve an agreement by which Turkey will be granted credits to the amount of £6,000,000 for the purchase of military supplies in the United Kingdom. This arrangement represents part, but only part, of what was achieved by a Turkish economic mission which spent from February to April in London negotiating a financial agreement. The whole sum involved was £16,000,000, of which, as the cablegram published to-day says, £6,000,000 was to be devoted to the purchase of equipment for national defence. The remaining £10,000,000 was required partly to improve the working of the Anglo-Turkish Clearing Agreement, and partly to aid in industrial development. This last objective is regarded as the most important of the three. Under the direction of Kemal Ataturk a first five-year plan of economic expansion is ncaring its end, and a second is about to be launched. The second is largely concerned with mining, communications and agriculture. These projects require improved transport facilities, including important harbour development works. For such purposes, both machinery and technical advice and assistance will be required. It is significant that, with such needs to be met, Turkey should turn to Great Britain. The application, and the successful meeting of it, have been rightly interpreted as a tribute to present relations between Britain and Turkey and to the excellence of British materials and technical advice.