Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1918. TURKEY AND GERMANY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1859, 1 August 1918, Page 2

Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1918. TURKEY AND GERMANY.

AT the conclusion of his remarks at the conference of the Harbour Board’s Association, at Wellington yesterda v (says flic Post), I he lion. Mr Wilford referred to the cabled report that Turkey had broken relations with (lermany. Neuters had, he said, told us that Turkey had cut (he painter from Germany. If it was only (rue. “IL’ 11 1 he result of this news, if true, is at present incalculable,” said Mr Milford; “the influence on the German public’s altitude towards (he war will be astonishing. Germany is largely a country of business men, who are not carrying the strain and burden of this war for national glory only. 'World-power for them, means larger markets. This is their justification for the suffering and sacrifice they are making. Remove this object, and justification of this war to them is gone. How does the German commercial man look at the question? He looks for an Ottoman Empire within a German zollverein. Turkey is his goal and his excuse for their losses. Asia Minor, including Anatolia, are the prizes he seeks. Turkey he thinks to-day his best German colony. It is the market he thought the Paris Conference couldn’t effect. It is one of tho largest and most promising markets of the world. It is an immense reservoir of raw materials. Turkey, says Yladimir Jobotinsky, is tho ultima spes of the German business man. In Xaumann’s “Mittel Europa,” Turkey is the alternative to overseas expansion, the vital link, the spring of the clockwork. If you strike it successfully the whole Eastern Ottoman Empire dream collapses; and Egyptian and African

dominance crumbles into dust. Turkey is not only an Ally whose collapse would weaken Gei'inany's strong!li; it is (he reason for her acts and moves for the Servian ultimatum and the declaration of war. The mobs in the streets of Germany may he dazzled by the German troops camping in Belgium, France, or Poland; the leading men of Germany know that Belgium must he restored after the war. What encourages the Junkers, the Tlohenzollerns, and the linanciers is the Berlin and Bagdad route via Constantinople, and the rich districtot, Anatolia. The invasion of Anatolia or the occupation of it under agreement would mean the loss of all that makes the war worth while for Germany. In conclusion, do not forget that the route of this war plague is. Asia Minor. The 191 h Century in 191(1 said that the present war was waged for the control of Asia Minor. The Balkans are the antechambers leading to Asia Minor and further. Germany has tried to swallow Turkey as a whole, but we hope, if the news is true, that 'furkey has at least seen through the ruse. Let me predict (hat Turkey tvill never suffer for long (he predominance of one foreign Power. This I think the Allies realise."