IRAN SUPPORTED IN TURKEY

Southland Times, Issue 24524, 27 August 1941, Page 5

IRAN SUPPORTED IN TURKEY

PUBLIC OPINION IN PRESS U.S. SUPPORT FOR BRITAIN (Rec. 8.15 p.m.) LONDON, August 25. The Ankara radio said the Turkish people hope that the possibility of a settlement of the Iran trouble is not lost, adding that Turkish public opinion supports Iran and regards the allegations against Iran as incompatible with right and justice and considers that Iran is defending her independence. Some of the Turkish Press is sympathetic to Iran. The Daily Mail, in a leading article, says it is to be hoped that any opposition will be met with speed and power. “We have no time for political battles on the Syrian model,” it says. A settlement is a matter of extreme urgency. Iran is the missing piece in the defensive rampart to keep Hitler from the spoils of Asia. The potential battlefield is the entire Eastern Hemisphere,

with India as its centre. We must be ready for any eventuality. Hitler wants oil. He will throw in everything he has got to reach the rich oil-bearing triangle of the Caucasus, Iraq and Iran. The New York Times says the Secretary of State, Mr Cordell Hull, told his Press conference that the British and Russian move into Iran can be regarded as Britain and Russia versus Germany. The New York Times says this is tantamount to America’s tacit approval of the Allies’ action and adds that the Administration has begun preparations to ship Lease or Lend aid to Russia via Iran, thus elim-

inating friction with Japan due to shipments via Vladivostock.