Road Block

Flags fluttered from every eminence of Ankara's massive, marmoreal railroad station. Guards of honor lined the platforms as Turkey's President Ismet Inonii, in morning coat and striped trousers, stepped forward to greet a king, resplendent in his native garb.

His Majesty, Abdullah Ibn Hussein, British-crowned monarch of Trans-Jordan, his son, Emir Naif, and a suite of 16 ministers and notables, had traveled some 900 miles (via Turkish presidential yacht and train) to discuss the dream of an all-Moslem Orient. This would include Turkey, from which the Arabs broke away during World War I. One possible purpose: to serve as a road block to Soviet expansion in the Middle East.

No detail was spared to make the royal visit enjoyable. Official introductions over, Trans-Jordan's King and Turkey's President drove along Ankara's tree-lined main avenue, past granite Government buildings and cheering throngs to the presidential villa for a quiet evening of chess. Next day there were prayers at the Hadji Bayram Mosque and a state dinner at Premier Recep Peker's.

Said King Abdullah: "The Turks and the Arabs are neighbors and brothers who for centuries .. . shaped the history of the East. The day will come when they will unite again and serve the Orient to shine once more." But one chair was conspicuously empty at the feast. Syria's Minister, Ihsan Elsherif, had providentially absented himself. King Abdullah nimbly sidestepped the misunderstanding between Turkey and Arab Syria, which forms the chief bar to Arab-Turk unity. "Turkey and Syria are neighbors," he said, "much more qualified to understand the situation than myself."

By week's end King Abdullah and President Inonii had signed a formal pact of friendship.

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