BALKANS ASTIR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 May 1940, Page 5

BALKANS ASTIR

NAZIS SPREAD RUMOURS OF ALLIED LANDING

VON PAPEN'S ASSURANCES.

ONLY “POLITE INTEREST” FELT IN TURKEY.

By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright.

LONDON, May 6.

The Athens correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says German sources have spread a rumour that an Allied landing in Salonika is imminent. Fishermen said they had seen no signs of it, though they reported sighting British warships on patrol duty in the Aegean Sea.

The Istanbul correspondent of “The Times” says the situation is considered very serious, though hopes of maintain peace have not been abandoned. The German Ambassador to Turkey, Herr von Papen, has been volunteering profuse assurances that Germany and Italy have no aggressive designs in the Balkans, but these have not received more than polite interest in the Turkish Press, which repeats its Government’s statements that aggression in the eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans will not leave Turkey indifferent.

The Sofia correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says Bulgarian officials stated that at least 50,000 Turkish soldiers were concentrated on the Turkish-Greek frontier. The Budapest correspondent of the Associated Press says Russia is reported to have concentrated from six to eight motorised divisions, representing 100,000 to 150,000 men, on the Ruthenian border. German military activity in Slovakia is also reported. The Germans. are moving large quantities of munitions and other supplies eastward. SLOVAKS DROP LEAFLETS. Slovak planes dropped leaflets over the Hungarian minority districts, saying: “The day of liberation is near. Get ready. Herr Hitler is with us. The glorious Slovak army will deliver you from the Magyar yoke.” The German news agency mentioned troop movements on both sides of the Bulgarian and Yugoslav frontier. Egypt is calm, says a report from Cairo. General air defence exercises in Egypt will begin on May 7 and the country will be blacked out for a week. British and Egyptian troops are engaging in desert manoeuvres. Guards have been placed at public bulidings. “INVASION OF ENGLAND.” It is reported from Rome that Signor Ansaldo, broadcasting to Italian troops, said: “Germany will certainly and soon repeat Napoleon’s attempt to jnvade England. Now the Norwegian chapter is complete, a fresh chapter of a vaster war is opening. You will witness more remarkable things which will shake the pillars of the world." The Pope in a sermon at the Vatican said: “The hour has come for all Italians to pray for peace in the midst of the dangers of these days.” The German, secretary for tourists in Belgrade has. gone to Berlin after the Government’s refusal to permit 10,000 German tourists to spend the summer in Yugoslavia. A Turkish economic mission headed by M. Berkin, director of the Ministry of Commerce, has arrived in Bucharest to arrange the exchange of wool for timber and oil. ALLEGATION DENIED BRITISH LANDING IN GREECE. The German Official News Agency alleges that Britain is preparing to send troops through Greece, and the same allegation is also 'published in an Italian newspaper, Daventry reports. London states officially that there is no truth in this allegation.

Turkey has again indicated her determination to take a firm stand against aggression, and to join the Allies immediately any attempt is made to upset the status quo in the Mediterranean. It is officially denied that Turkish troops are concentrated along the Greek frontier.