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Taranaki Daily News, 20 February 1920, Page 4

DEALING WITH TURKEY. The decision of the Supreme Council to allow the Sultan to remain at Constantinople is a compromise that may prove a source of danger in the future. There can ho no question as to the complexity of the task of settling the fate of Turkey, and the more the problem is studied from every point of view, the greater seem the difficulties to be overcome. In ridding Palestine of the domination of Turkey, and the misrule that has for so long a period been intolerable, was one of the boons of the Allies' victory, while freeing Armenia and Mesopotamia from a similar evil is in the beßt interests of civilisation. That the desire to expel the Turks from Constantinople was as general as it was sincere, cannot be denied, and it is probable that the views expressed by the French journal, La Victoire, to the effect that Mr, Lloyd George's altered views regarding the Turk are due to the recognition of the fact that the expulsion would have a disastrous effect in India, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, are based on sound reasoning. The religious fanaticism of the Turk has all the elements of catastrophe that are present when a lighted torch is held above a powder magazine, so that eliminating the menace that an uprising of tlie "Faithful" would cause to India and Egypt justifies to a large extent the decision of the Supreme Council. At the same time there will inevitably be much heartburning over the policy which allows the Turkish Administration to remain in Constantinople, even though it is shorn of its power for evil, and it is almost certain that endless friction and trouble will ensue, The Allies are to exercise naval and military control of the Dardanelles, but it is stated that whether their control of the Bosphorus is also contemplated is uncertain. It is to be hoped there will be no uncertainty on this point for long, as it is equally necessary for the Allies to control the Bosphorus as the Dardanelles. Europe has long been impatient of the bloodshed, pillage, corruption and duplicity of the Turkish regime, and it was devoutly hoped that the time had arrived when the iniquity was to be ended. The only ray of hope appearing in the treatment of Turkey by the Supreme Council is the probability of the Sultan being debarred from keeping 1 any army, It would, however, be rash

to speculate on this proviso being a sufficient safeguard to the preservation of peace, and it would be idle to expect that the nature of the Turk would undergo any material change owing to the signing of a treaty, so it is evident the Allies, or the British alone, will have to depend on armed force to keep the Turks from causing trouble, or for punitive purposes. At most the compromise arrived at is a makeshift that has obvious disadvantages, nor is it devoid of peril, while it will entail a large expense, and in the end may have to be abandoned. It is probable that most laymen will consider it would have been better to have taken all risks boldly and courageously, and made a clean sweep of the Turk out of Europe, but the Supreme Council evidently deems it best to be diplomatic rather than autocratic. While doubting the wisdom of the decision, let us hope that the military measures evolved by Marshal Foch and the British military authorities will so draw the TurkVi teeth that he will be impotent to work further .mischief.