NEW TURKISH CAPITAL.

Shannon News, 22 August 1924, Page 4

NEW TURKISH CAPITAL.

Those Englishmen who.used to visit Turkey in.the old days would be surprised at the change that has taken place in the country as a result of the National movement (says a contributor to the London "Daily Express"). Thmi change is particularly noticeable in Constantinople which has-lost a great deal of its importance from political point of view since Angora became the capital. No longer does one see the old type of Turkish functionary in its "stambouline," dispensing coffee and cigarettes to its visitors. Hia place at the Sublime Porte has been taken by young men in large "kalpaks," the head-dress of the National-

ists. The large crowd of concession hunters and others having business with the Government are obliged to proceed to Angora, since the only representative of the present Government in Constantinople is Dr. Odnan Bey, head of the diplomatic mission which acts 'as a kind cf liaison between the - : foreign Embassies and the Turkish Foreign Office. Germans Seeking Commercial Supremacy. The town of Angora itself is really little more than a large village, though new buildings are springing up every- . where. A visitor to the capital of the "new Turkey" would be astonished to find the department of State housed in buildings considerably inferior to the farmhouses to which they were accustomed during the war. Perhaps the most remarkable features of the new regime are the enthusiasm and energy now prevailing in the Government offices, and markedly different from the dilatory methods of ■ the old ways of the Sultans. In the hotel where I stayed were many young secretaries working at the ministry of ; Foreign Affairs. At 9.30 there was a general rush for office, and they • told me that if-they "were five minutes late a painful interview with the head of the department was the inevitable result. The Turks say that there is no question of Constantinople again becoming the capital of the Turkish Republic. .They consider Angora as the cradle of their movement, and, as such, it has the strongest sentimental tie. But, apart from this, they realise that a return to Stamboul would mean the deatli of their movement, and would speedily subside into the old ruts of the Sublime Porte. The crucial moment has now come when Turkish business men should reconsider the whole Turkish problem in the light of recent events, otherwise it will be too late, and ;the plums will fall into the mouths of their commercial rivals. A treaty has just bean, signed at Angora with the Germans; the Deutsch Orient Bank has resumed is activities, and a deliberate attempt is being made to re-establish Germany's commercial supremacy which existed in Turkey before the war. When I was in Angora a rew weeks ago there were some 30 foreigners besides myself having business with the Government, but I was the only Englishman.