THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1941 TURCO-GERMAN TREATY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23996, 20 June 1941, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1941 TURCO-GERMAN TREATY

Yieldi\r, to heavy diplomatic pressure backed by military force, Turkey has felt constrained to sign a treaty of neutrality and friendship with (Jermany. While the, undertakings exchanged do not necessarily I amount to a great deal, the very | fact that Turkey has been induced to sign the treaty gives (jermany an advantage which she will at once proceed to follow up and enlarge. The Nazi camel has insinuated her head into the Turkish tent. As the Times points out, the second article ot' the treaty, providing for the settlement by negotiation of questions touching common interests, leaves the door wide open for von Papen's intrigues. No doubt he is already busily engaged in trying to suborn Britain's ally. It is true that the new pact, allows for Turkey's commitments under her earlier alliance with Britain, but it. is also true that Turkey has failed to discharge those commitments. On October 19, 1039, she bound herself to assist Britain and France if they were involved in war in the Mediterranean. Italy's entry into the war on June 10 of last year provided the occasion, but Turkey remained passive. Nor did she move, as pledged to do, when Britain in pursuance of her guarantee went to the assistance of Greece on October 28. Had Turkey discharged her treaty obligations to Britain, or to Greece, Yugoslavia and Rumania, the Axis would pro-

bably have been deterred from disturbing the Balkan peace and Turkey would not have found herself constrained by the fact that she had Germany for a near neighbour in the Black Sea, in Thrace, and in the Aegean, and that her main lines of communication with the outside world were cut. But Turkey left it too late.

j liow far Germany may be able to | exploit her treaty with Turkey in | the military sense remains to be seen. Turkey holds the master key to the Middle East and also in relation to Russia. Apart from any transit facilities she might be induced to grant to Germany, her pledge of neutrality is clear gain for the enemy and also in direct contravention of the alliance with Britain. Moreover, although Turkey has resigned the Caliphate and any claim to lead the Moslem world, she is the largest independent Moslem State and her lead is still influential over a wide region. Her treaty with Germany will not go unnoted in Irak, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Transjordan and Egypt, nor even in Afghanistan and Moslem India. In fact, through the Saadabad pact, i Turkey has formalised friendly relations with her eastern neighbours, Irak, Iran and Afghanistan. How Russia stands in the new Turkish arrangement with Germany has yet to be discovered. Since the last war, however, Turkey has consistently made good relations with Russia the first consideration in her foreign policy. Even the operation of the British alliance was subject to that primary condition. It is possible, therefore, that Russia had a hand in bringing Turkey into treaty with Germany. If not, she is bound to be influenced by its conclusion because she is affected by any new diplomatic orientation of the guardian of the Straits. If the treaty is not a sign that she is still in collusion with Germany, its signing will make Stalin less inclined to break with Hitler. One of the treaty's provisions, it is ominous to note, will have the effect of muzzling the previously outspoken Turkish press and radio. In future they must not. offend against Nazi susceptibilities. Outside the somewhat speculative! diplomatic, political and military re- I

! actions, article 3 of the treaty seems calculated to bring about a full restoration of trade between Germany and Turkey. Until the war broke out, three-fourths of Turkish trade was done with Germany, Central Europe and the Balkans. Britain has never been able to replace those buying and selling markets, and now, with Germany in a position to block Turkey's principal trade outlets, Ankara was faced with a choice between economic paralysis or a full trade pact with Germany. Her Government's passivity this last year has placed Turkey in jeopardy, economically as well as militarily. No doubt this pressing economic; consideration proved a prime factor in causing Ankara to yield to Berlin. Some of Turkey's export surpluses should make an important contribution to the straitened economy of Europe. Her output of chrome—-she produces a quarter of the world's supply—is the most important, and she also exports cotton, wool, mohair, copper, tobacco, nuts, and less considerable j quantities of wheat, other foodstuffs j and coal. Her trade is naturally com- ! plerilentary to Germany's, as the i treaty notes and as pre-war trends ■ proved, and in this sphere the Axis has therefore, gained a definite and probably immediate advantage, however the. treaty may work out in the military and diplomatic spheres.