HE FIGHTS FOR ISLAND HOME.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18011, 23 November 1926, Page 8

HE FIGHTS FOR ISLAND HOME.

LONE BRITON S TINY KINGDOM HAS BEEN SEIZED BY TURKS. (Special to the "Star ") LONDON, October 4. A story full of romantic adventure and Eastern intrigue lies behind a legal case which will shortly come before the Anglo-Turkish Mixed Arbitral Tribunal in Constantinople. It centres round the adventure* of a young Englishman and hi* forefathers on a small island, three and a half miles long by about two miles wide, which lies basking in the warm sunshine about eighteen miles from the mainland off Karaburun, in the Gulf of Smyrna. The Island rejoices in the picturesque name of Drymusa, which means a sweet-smelling herb. Over a century ago. when the island was uninhabited, a retired British Army officer, named Charles Edwards, settled in Smyrna, where a son, Anthony, was born. Anthony became a journalist, and. in search of “ local colour," cruised for miny years around the islands in the Aegean Sea. In 1845 he discovered the island, and, falling in love with the romantic splendour, bought it from the Turkish Government. There probably would have been the end of the story had it not been for the fact that the island, situated at it is almost in the centre of the gulf, occupies an important strategic position. His grandson, another Anthony Edwards. who subsequently became the owner, is the claimant in the case now pending. - *’ TAX-ENFORCING "ARMY” His predecessors had been content to pay occasional visits to the island to enjoy its wonderful climate and splendid fishing, but Mr Anthony, jun., noticed that vines, almonds, aniseed, tobacco and olives could be grown there with little trouble, so he cultivated the soil. Then 2000 Ottoman Greeks from the mainland settled on the island, but refused to pay any rent. When Albanian soldiers w*ere loaned to Mr Edwards to enforce the law. the Turks realised the importance of the island’s position. When the war came, the Germans converted the island into a fortress, and Mr Edwards was interned. Then came the Kemalist advance in Asia Minor, and Mr Edwards returned from Malta only to find that his island had been placed in a military zone, and he was unable to land even as a visitor. Mr Edwards, who is now employed in the British Consulate in Smyrna, has taken steps to sue the Turkish Government for the value of the island and a substantial amount in damages.