TURKEY'S STAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23780, 7 October 1940, Page 7

TURKEY'S STAND

COURAGE DISPLAYED APPROVAL IN BRITAIN OUTPOST OF CIVILISATION British Wireless LONDON, Oct. 4 The Times comments editorially on the fine example set by Turkey in her calm and steadfastness. It says that few countries hitherto excluded from the score of war have had more anxieties to face than Turkey, and none has emerged from the ordeal with more courage and consistency of purpose. In spite of the embarrassments imposed on Turkish policy by the enigmatic attitude of Russia and the collapse of France, Turkey has not flinched in loyalty to her engagements or in her faith in ultimate British victory. Turkish opinion and the press have been notably recalcitrant of the blandishments of Nazi propaganda. The German attempt to exploit Turkey as a jumping-off ground in the Middle East once before brought disaster, and the recent intrigues of Von Papen, the Nazi Ambassador, show that these designs still figure largely in German diplomacy. Mussolini did little to conceal the ambitions he inherited from pre-Fascist Italy of aggrandisement at Turkey's expense. In the Balkans, Turkish interests coincide with those of Soviet Russia as well as Britain in resisting the extension of the Axis Powers, and Russia is already angered by the German assumption of undisputed control of the Danube, and has every reason to be content that the keys of the Straits should be safe in Turkish hands. Turkey's alliance with Greece is proof against intimidation, and has been a powerful factor in encouraging Greece to present a firm front to Italy's threats. The Times therefore concludes that to-day there is every confidence in Turkey's capacity to maintain unshaken the role of one of the outposts of freedom and civilisation, and that her will to do so was never in doubt.

CAPTURED FREIGHTER CANADIAN PORT REACHED (Received October 6, 6.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, Oct. 5 The German motor-freighter Weser, of 9179 tons, which was capturea recently off the Mexican coast, has arrived at Esquimalt, British Columbia, with a prize crew, under naval escort.