The Hokitika Guardian MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th. 1022. THE NEAR EAST SITUATION.

Hokitika Guardian, 25 September 1922, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th. 1022. THE NEAR EAST SITUATION.

I UK ucuaae »iiu.u iuim i»ciuu\cu me Greek troops in Asia Minor, remarks a Sydney paper, enforces two lessons, one of general application, tho other for tho more particular edification of Greece. The first is that where a treaty is imposed upon one party under dttresp it Is Sparepjy worth the paper it is written fill oriless the powttr tf) ■

’ com pel the fulfilment of its terms is present. The second is that when the party that benefits under such a treaty persists in grasping at the shadow it is in some danger of losing the substance. Gieece, to use a colloquialism, did extremely well' out of the | Treaty of Sevres. She came late into [the war; her efforts and her sacrifices alike were small compared with those lof her Allies. Yet she secured extensive cessions of territory in Thixjce, in the Aegean, and on the mainland of Asia Minor. There were some who held that she got a good deal more than she deserved. Hut the .Supreme Council still clung to its optimistic and rather quixotic belief that it could draw equitable lines of demarcation in regions of mixed population. In the ceded territories the inhabitants are in the main Greeks. Turks and Jews, with in Thrace, a Slavonic element, it was considered that in them the Greeks predominated, and this idea was naturally festered by the Greek delegates, who depicted them as a sort of Graecia irredenta. But apparently the wish was father to the thought. When Greece came to enter into possession of her new acquisitons she encountered a good deal of opposition from a population. which was supposed to be prepared to welcome her with open anus and this opposition was particularly marked in Cilicia. Nevertheless, Greece had begun' to dream dreams of a strong imperialistic colour. She was ill no mind to be thwarted by hostile dcmonptratioils or Turkish protests. She refused to accept the modifications in the Treaty of Sevres recommended by the London Conference, and an army was despatched to Cilicia to discipline the stubborn Turk. Meanwliile tile Turkish spirit, which had been broken by the collapse in 1918, had revived under the stimulating in-

fluence of Mustapha Kemal leader of the Nationalists. Greece was faced by no easy task and a French general who was sent to report on the military position in Asia Minor declared that the Greek army would not be equal to it. This prediction was fulfilled. After a few successes the Greek offensive came to a standstill, and France and Italy, accepting the situation, concluded agreements with Turkey which gave them important economic and commercial advantages in Asia Minor. That was the first-act of the Near-Eastern drama. There followed an interval of inactivity until six weeks ago the curtain rose on the second Greece, apparently despairing of making ;I n,v headway in Asia Minor, sought to bring pressure on Turkey by other means. She announced her intention of advancing in the territory of Turkey in Europe, and even spoke of occupying C, nstantinople. No doubt this was merely a ballon d’essai, but its result was disappointing to Greece. The Allies declared most emphatically that such an attempt would be resisted by them. Then Mustapha Kemal. with his wellequipped army, to the moral and the fighting value of which General Townshend has testified from personal inspection, launched his attack. The Greeks suffered defeat all along the line, and had to evacuate Asia Minor So once again the Near East has become the scene of manifold and disturbing possibilities, although perhaps, it might be correct to say that never during recent years has it ceased to be a storm centre. Crisis has followed crisis in perpetual sequence. j