Revision Courteous

In 1915 the Dardanelles wrote their bloody name in history when the Allies' disastrous Gallipoli offensive utterly failed to take Turkey's formidable fortifications. After the War a defeated and prostrate Turkey watched the destruction of its forts by the victors. In 1923 the Treaty of Lausanne decreed that the famed Straits should be open to all ships, should never again be fortified by Turkey. Last fortnight Turkey's President Mustafa Kamal ("Grey Wolf") Ataturk moved to scrap the Treaty of Lausanne, refortify the strategic Dardanelles.

Of all the Wartime losers who now propose to shrug off their post-war penalties, Turkey had picked the best time to make the best case. Germany last month had provided a fine, fresh precedent by its rough & ready remilitarization of the Rhineland. The permanent security of the Dardanelles had been guaranteed jointly at Lausanne by Britain, France and Italy, all three of whom were in a serious snarl last week at Geneva. Turks had a firm friend and warm supporter in France's new ally, Soviet Russia, which would secretly like to see the Dardanelles fortified against the navies of capitalist powers. Italy's War booty of the heavily fortified Dodecanese Islands are within a short cruise of the Dardanelles and Italy today is, potentially, as much an enemy of mighty Britain as of Turkey.

Dictator Kamal Atatuerk has made a point for years of groaning bitterly about the demilitarized Dardanelles at every crisis in international affairs. Meanwhile he has quietly lined the Straits with solid highways interspersed with concrete "parking spaces" behind earth embankments. Down these roads could roll at a few hours notice heavy tractor field-pieces, to unlimber at the parking spaces and command the Straits. With all this in his favor, Kamal Atatuerk last fortnight felt he could afford to wangle a remilitarized Dardanelles the legal way.

He sent to the League of Nations notes, strictly according to diplomatic etiquet, asking for an opportunity to discuss revision of the Treaty of Lausanne. He explained that his action was motivated by "recent events, particularly because Germany militarily reoccupied the demilitarized Rhineland, which show that the guarantees to Turkey under the 1923 Convention demilitarizing the Dardanelles run the risk of being slow and difficult to apply." In other words, if the onetime Allies could not force Germany to keep the Rhineland demilitarized, how could they be expected to keep the Dardanelles safe against a surprise attack by, say, Italy?

Last week the British Foreign Office with record rapidity posted a reply to Dictator Kamal Atatuerk assuring him of a treaty-revising conference "without delay." Soviet Russia hastened to assure Turkey of its backing. Though the Italian Foreign Office kept mum, Italian officials privately protested that "a situation would be created equally serious as Germany's violation of the Locarno Pact." Except from Italy's point of view, this was hardly true. The original peace treaty with Turkey was the ignominious Treaty of Sevres which stripped Turkey and partitioned it into French and Italian "spheres of influence." Outraged Turks rose behind the "Grey Wolf" and proceeded to chase the invading Greek armies into the Aegean Sea. At Lausanne the Turks practically dictated their own terms, being far more ready to resume fighting than were the demobilized Allies. Lausanne booted out of the demilitarized zones the Allied occupation forces, abolished the spheres of influence and gave Turkey an unlimited Army & Navy. Thus by 1923 Kamal Atatuerk had already won back much more for Turkey than Adolf Hitler for his show and blow has yet won back for Germany.

Able Dictator Kamal Atatuerk is well aware that he needs Britain's support before proceeding to fortify the Dardanelles. Last November he promised Britain Turkey's mutual assistance in case Italy should go on the rampage in the Mediterranean. Last week, the day after he received the British note promising a conference, Europe was astonished by a report that Turkey had already sent soldiers into the demilitarized zones. The British Foreign Office cautiously registered "disbelief." British newspapers were unexcited. The false rumor had been as effective as if it had been an official trial balloon. Thoroughly satisfied, Kamal Atatuerk at week's end categorically denied that soldiers have marched into the demilitarized zones--vet.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.