New-York tribune., 1920-06-29
The turkish Mess
Bv Frank II. Simonds

The quarrel which has now broken
out between France and Great Britain
over the Turkish arrangement has been
brewing for many months. 1t is not in
any sense difference comparable with
the discussion over the size of the Ger
man indemnity or the treatment Of the
conquered enemy; it is purely and sim
ply the consequence of rivalry which
is exactly the sort of rivalry which in
the eighteenth century divided France
and Britain in America and in India; it
is a quarrel growing out of conflicting
colonial aspirations.
But in a sense the quarrel is not
limited to France and Britain; the whole
world is concerned, and the United
States is measurably responsible,
through President Wilson, for the
acuteness Of the present crisis. It is
the refusal Of the Armenian mandate,
which the President advocated at Paris,
which has in turn produced the whole
collapse of the Turkish solution.
Secret Treaties
! To go back to the origin of the present
dispute one must travel all the tortuous
| bypaths of secret treaties from the mo-
ment when the World War broke. Early
in the struggle France and Great Britain
agreed that Russia should have not only
Constantinople but also a broad strip
of territory extending from Russian
Armenia. Russia would thus not only
command the Straits, which are the
issue of the Black Sea. but would have
immediate access to the Mediterranean.
By similar bargains France was as
sured possession of Syria, with hinter-
land stretching back to the Euphrates
and the Tigris and including both Mosul
and Diarbekr, with the valuable oil aud
mineral lands adjacent. Britain was to
have Mesopotamia, protectorate over
Palestine, and Russia and Britain had
already divided Persia into spheres of
interest. Italy when she entered the
war was promised the Adalian coast
west of the Gulf of Acxandretta ta, ID
Greece was from time to time promised
Smyrna and its hinterland.
But the collapse of Russia changed the
situation. So also did the rise of ar
Arabian state, backed by the British
which proved a valuable aid to British
operations against the Turk, culminat
ing in the great victory of Samaria an(
the destruction of two Turkish armie.
about the Plain of Armageddon.
At Paris the inevitable collision oc
CURED. France insisted upon her treat.
rights, the Arabs upon theirs. TIL
United States inclined to support tn
Arabs, on the principle of self-dctermi
nation. But the main factor was still
the Turkish. Who was to undertak
the task of dealing with the great mas
of Anatolan Turks inhabiting an,
holding most of the peninsula of As
Minor? 1t was no little task, becaus
the Turks were capable of putin
armies in the field and making a de
termined resistance in a country who'll
;, suitable for warfare of the sort al
colonial nations most fear.
The U. S. Sphere
The Paris solution was simple. TIL
= United States was to take the creates
= burden, which was Armenia, the Frenc
= were to take part of Syria, the Brit
y ish Mesopotamia and Palestine, tn
Italians Adalia and the Greeks Smyrna
j. The combined nations were to suppl
3 the troops necessary to conquer an
subdue the Turks, each defending it
own mandate region. Thus it will
n seen the United States inherited tn
= Russian sphere. AS to Constantinopl
q it was to be placed under internations
l. control, while the remainder of Turke
in Europe was to be assigned to Greece
Unfortunately for the plan, tn