TURKEY AND PEACE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 70, 15 December 1917, Page 8

TURKEY AND PEACE

For some time past there have been indications that Turkey is anxious to break away from German dominance, and this has been most marked since tho fall of Bagdad, and the progress of our forces in Palestine. To-day comes news that the Turkish delegate who is conferring' with the British delegates _in Switzerland'.on'tho question of the 'exchange' of prisoners has communicated with the Turkish Government asking for power to negotiate for peace with Britain. It is fairly safe, to assume that nothing will come of this immediately, but it is a happening not without significance. It is one of many signs of disillusionment on the part of thc_ Turks regarding German professions and German promises Leading Turk's, long ere this, have realised that they.have- been hoodwinked by Germany and that they arc being treated as mere tools in the hands of the Kaiser. They now know that whether Germany wins or loses in v the war ifc will bring little profit to Turkev, but on the contrary that German "domination will continue, and instead of tho Turkish nation adding to its strength and power it will become nothing more than a vassal State under a powerful and grasphi" master. Bnt iip to the present they have seen no way out of the position into which they were entrapped with the connivance of the leading figure in the Young Turks party, Enver Pasha. Nor is it yet at all clear that even though willing and anxious to break with Germany they could succeed in doing so without a revolution aimed at the overthrow of the existing Government. There can be little doubt that prior to the war, in spite of the activities of German intrigue and tho. liberal use of German gold, Turkish sentiment on the whole was pro-British. Thero were many good reasons for this. Enter Pasha, however, was a valuable tool in tho hands of his-Gorman friends and his powerful aid in Turkish Government circles led to' Turkey being treacherously dragged into i,ho war on the side of tho Central Powers contrary to the general sentiment of tho country. For the time being the friends and sympathisers of Britain and France found themselves not only helpless, but in deadly peril. Under German guidance Enver Pasha instituted a reign .of terror_ in Constantinople, and German military officials have dominated the Government and the capital since.

Events, however, have not worked out as thu Turkish ■ sympathisers with Germany were led to ■ believe, and to-day : the pro-British section in the Turkish capital, , finds many

supporters throughout the country —aud open supporters. Turkey has suffered terribly _ through the war. Famine, oppressivo taxation, desolated homes, and an increasingly gloomy outlook have served to embitter the people Against their rulers, and the Germans arc the most hated of these. German or Austrian reports of victories against the enemy in Europe now count for little with tho Turkish people, who know of the fall of Bagdad and who will soon learn of the fall of Jerusalem and the defeats in Palestine. A peace with Turkey would be a simple enough matter in all probability but for the fact that the Germans still dominate the Government and practically hold Constantinople at their mercy. A peace move by tho pro-Entente party at the present time- would most likely result in a massacre of the leaders of the movement. But the ferment is working, and each British success in Palestine or in Mesopotamia must add weight to the influences operating in our favour amongst tho. Turks. With nothing to gain by continuing in the struggle, distrusting their own Government which has fed them for so long on lies and promises never fulfilled, hating their arrogant German overlords, they have for long lost heart in tho war. If the Entente Powers could show them a way to peace tho Turkish people and soldiers would welcomo it readily enough; but nothing 'short of an internal revolution seems likely to provide a practicable road to tho desned goal.