EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS
ARRANGED .WITH TURKEY. A DIPLOMATIC JOKE. THE '-BARBED-WIRE DISEASE." (Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn.) Received April 26, 8.55 a.m. LONDON, April 25. Lord Xewton, Assistant Under-Secre-tary for Foreign Affairs, in the House of Lords, said the Government had been for 12 months endeavouring to arrange the exchange of prisoners with Turkey, which was extremely proud to hold European prisoners and loath to exchange them. Moreover, the prisoners were a source of profit to the Turks, who were aware that their prisoners were well treated in our hands. The whole battle was fought round the name of one Turk whom Turkey was anxious to get back. The Turkish delegates made wild claims regarding the number of British prisoners, but we calculated that Turkey holds about 8000. The Turkish delegates insisted on plain instead of barbed-wire round the camps for Turkish prisoners. Somebody had apparently read in the papers of the "barbed-wire disease," which is really a nervous breakdown, and the Turks thought it referred to a disease due to Jbarbed-wire. It is the first time a joke has appeared in an international document.
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Bibliographic details
Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13751, 26 April 1918, Page 5
Word Count
185EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13751, 26 April 1918, Page 5
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