IN MESOPATAMIA.

Wairarapa Age, 11 March 1922, Page 5

IN MESOPATAMIA.

A PEACEFUL YEAR. MENACE OF THE TURKS. (Received 5.5 p.m.) London, March 9.—Mr Churchill, in the Commons, reviewing the conditions in Mesopotamia, said he had been able to reduce the garrison from 23 battalions to nine, and hoped eventually to reduce them to four. This was possible owing to air power, of which there were eight squadrons now in the country. The only considerable body of Imperial troops there was stationed near Mosul, guarding against- possible Turkish hostile movements. Thanks to the new air mail, the distance between London and Baghdad had been reduced from six weeks to a fortnight —the distance had actually been covered in seven days. Mesopotamia had had a peaceful year, thanks to the establishment of ‘an independent Arab State under Feisul. Mr Churchill emphasised the difficulty in Palestine. He said that because Britain was openly pledged to the Zionists, the Arab majority in Palestine was unsympathetic with that movement. Nine thousand care-fully-selected Jewish settlers had been admitted and had introduced wealth and industry. The costs of administration would be reduced from £B,000,(100 in the current year to £4,--000,000 next year, and thereafter to £2,000,000. Mr Asquith predicted that trouble was inevitable with the Kurds, and possibly with the Turke. He stressed that a real lasting treaty with Turkey was necessary to the securety of Mesopotamia, He would never be a party to any policy which would result in the re-establishment of Turkish rule or® the Christian population.—(A. and N.Z.)