WAR IN ASIA MINOR.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 September 1921, Page 5

WAR IN ASIA MINOR.

HARD FIGHTING, HEAVY GREEK LOSSES, AIM OF GREEKS. By Telegraph.—-Press Assn.— Copyright. London, Sept. 5. Mr. Beaumont, the Daily, Telegraph representative in Smyrna, has been on a tour of the Greek front, and states that the battle has now lasted a fortnight, and was one of the hardest fought between Greek and Turk- since the fall of Constantinople in 1453. the Turks call Angora their Verdun, but the Greeks expect to enter it this week. Kemal’s difficulty is the lack of guns to match the Greek artillery, which prepares for the advance of the Greek, troops by furious shelling of the Kemalist trenches. The Greeks lost very heavily in bayonet attacks, especially at the beginning. They are now fighting 312 miles from, the chief base—Smyrna—whereas the Kemalists are at home, but the Turks are only provided with sufficient supplies for the moment. These will soon be exhausted, as the Bolsheviks are conveying great stocks of food from Kemal’s rear to' the Caucasus for use in Russia. Kemal will then be forced to use men to fetch food.

Beaumont interviewed King Constantine, who is in poor health, living at Eskishehr in a whitewashed barn, suffering from heat and bad food. He said he would much prefer roughing it with the soldiers at the front. Constantine fainted during lunch, to the consternation of his aides, but soon recovered. Constantine said, “If Kemal accepts battle we shall destroy his army, which cannot be more than We shall not remain in Angora more than a few days. When we have destroyed the military depots and taken the railway rolling stock we will retire. There is no question of going to Constantinople at present; the Powers don’t want us there.”

TURKS STIFFLY RESISTING. GREEK ADVANCE CHECKED. London, Sept. 5 The Greek advance in Anatolia appears to have been somewhat arrested. The Turks are now stiffly resisting, and very heavy fighting is in progress in the neighborhood of the Sakaria River. The advantage, if any, rests with the Greeks, who made very slight progress. They crossed the Sakaria Paver near the Angora ralway, but there is nothing decisive. The fighting continues.