FREEDOM OF STRAITS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16847, 25 September 1922, Page 4

FREEDOM OF STRAITS.

PREMIER’S DECLARATION. THE POSITION OUTLINED. Ao»iralian and N.Z. Cable Association. LONDON. September 23. Mr Lloyd George .summoned a number of newspaper men to Number 10, Downing Street, and made a statement to them. He ©aid he thought that it was desirable, in view of the misapprehension of the character of the difficulties in the Near J:ast, to state the actual'facts of t-he position. Any action the Government had taken was not concerned with the merits or the demerits of th<> Graeco-Turkish dispute, which was a matter for determination by conference between the Allies and the belligerents. The present actio:*, wtps dictated by two supreme considerations. The first of these was our anxiet;. regarding the freedom of the seas between the Mediterranean and the. Black Sea. ’lhe closing of the Straits by a Power which owed more to Britain and France than any other two Powers did. was an act of perfidy which was directly responsible for the collapse of Rumania our most powerful alley in that quarter of the globe, and had the effect of prolonging the war for at hast two years. It was essential for the condition of the world’s peace that there should be an effective guarantee of the freedom of these seas in the future. If neac*e were ■sighed without the achievement of f hat object it would jl>e equivalent to defeat. Britain was taking no separate action-but was simply carrying out what was agreed upon by the Allies in 191?. Her chief object then and now was to prevent an exceptionally horrible war from spreading into Europe. If an army which could not be restrained by its chiefs from perpetrating such outrages as were committed at Smyrna were permitted to cross into Europe and occupy Constantinople, where there were hundreds of thousands of Armenians and Greeks and many thousands ol persons of European nationalities, there was every reason to fear that there* would be a repetition of these incident?. If the war spread to Thrace, where national rivalries between the Turks and the Greeks existed and where there were Serbs and Bulgarians, there might be a conflagration which would spread with a fire not easily extinguishable. It must not be forgotten that the Great War began

-in the Balkans. War in Asia Minor must not spread to Europe. Britain lmd therefore strengthened her position at the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus in order to maintain th-e freedom of the Straits and prevent the" spread of the fire which had devastated Asia Minor. They did not want the fire tp cross the narrow seas and light the dry tinders in the Balkans. Emphasising British impartiality, the Premier pointed out that General “Haring ton had Kemal the same pioclamation as he gave to the Greeks some time ago when the latter brought up a division in order to cross the Chatalja lines held by the French. Although the Greek move would have been a formidable oounterstroke to the Turkish menace at Smyrna, the Greeks would have had to cross the neutral zone. The British Gommander-in-Chief of the Allied forces had therefore warned the Greets in identically the same terms as he now warned Kemal. British troops had moved up to the Chatalja lines to support the French. It was suggested that Britain was provoking a conflict by continuing to occupy Ghanak. Military experts wen of the opinion that the continued occupation of Chanak was essential to maintain the freedom of the straits. • 1 We do not wish to hold Gallipoli or Chanak in the interests of the British Empire,” he said. “We do nob claim that Britain, alone, should have the responsibility of controlling this area. We believe that these important shores should he held tinder the League or' Nations in the interests of all nations alike.’ r The freedom of the Straits wag a matter of life and death to Rumania and equally so to Russia. The Turks in Asia Minor were responsible in 1914 and in the early months of 1915 for the deaths of 1,500,000 Christians. There was no provocation and no rising against Turkish rule. It was a 'wanton and cold-blooded massacre. The Allies felt themselves obliged in 1918 to ensure that there should be no recurrence of these murders, and for that reason the mandates had been introduced. The Greeks, who had the mandate for south-eastern Anatolia, exchanged Venizelos for Constantine. The sequel was the severest criticism of the choice. Britain would do her best to obtain an immediate peace conference of all the Powers to avert a war which was regarded as a calamity. Before the army which left Smyrna a heap of ruiris was permitted to cross to Europe peace must be established. The appeal was addressed to Australia and New Zealand because they had a special interest in the defence of Gallipoli They had sacrificed thousands of thei? most heroic sons in order to achieve the freedom of the Straits. The Gov ernment felt that, when this freedom was challenged. Australia and New Zealand had a right to associate themselves with any action taken to maintain what it had cost them so much to achieve. ‘ • Whatever happens at the peace conference,” he said, “we shall not abandon the policy of securing the freedom of the Straits. I do not mean securing it by a treaty depending on the caprice of any government there may be at Constantinople. We had the promise of the freedom of the Straits before 1914. but German intrigues overcame, not merely the promises, but also the real Turkish interests. In the future the security, therefore, must be reliable and effective.”