Evening star., 1921-02-27
NEAR EAST HOLDS
DANGERS FOR ALL
Allies Again Forced to Abandon Treaties
Through March of Events
to Gain Concessions.

the throne. This little affair never will
| be forgotten. Britain naturally In
supporting the Greeks in certain
| measure. for il the treaty finally il
sustained and the Greeks do win their
nSht before the near eastern negotia-
tions have borne fruit. then England
mas much to gain. for il is England'S
| extreme desire to perpetuate her in
teres-s all over the near east
Agreement On Syria.
The French and British apparently
have reached an agreement on the qucs-
ton OF Syria. An issue which, at one
t.me, threatened relationships between
the two countries because Of the French
utter disregard Of Emir Feisars inter-
! estS- Feisal. friend of the British
resisted French mandative powers and
, turned 10 Britain. who had promised him
/! il he lent the British assistance in the
war. The French regarded Feisal's ac-
tons as but British endeavor to COM
phcate the French task in Syria. and
as consequence feeling ran hghs II
would appear that the French however
thoroughly sick of the millions OF francs
drain on the French treasury through
the mandatory in Syria, has agreed 10
grant the British certain sections OF
/ Syria which will permit of the construc-
ton of a railway direct from the Medi-
terrancan TO India.
Just how or where the line OF COM
promise between the allied viewpoints
| will be- drawn is. of course not known
at the moment and il may take some
time TO determine whether or not there
ever will be reconciliation between the
allies, Turks and the Greeks But there
is general agreement in the foreign
offices of Europe that agreement is
necessary for the stimulation of ad-
vance in southeastern Europe.
Conxtnntine's Thrent.
King Constantine of Greece threat
ems again to show his contempt for the
allies by pressing the war in the near
east regardless of any decisions which
may be reached by the allies and Turks.
He stands firm for the treaty of Servres
and even though the allies and Turks
compromise territorial economic and
financial questions to the satisfaction of
all. it is declared the Greek army wilt
not retire either from Thrace or SMYRNA
If it is true that Lloyd George and Bri-
and have agreed to surrender fourth
of that territory now held by the Greeks
in Thrace there is certain to be trou-
bic even though Greece consents to give
up her territorial claims in Smyrna
proper. In addition to Turkish claims
in Thrace. the Bu.garians likewise are
interested in certain sections of Thrace.
particularly an outlet to the AEGEAN. and
revision Of the treaty in favor of the
Turks undoubtedly would lead to COM
nile" tions between the allies and the Bull
gars.
st how far the allies can be ex-
pected to so in enforcing any agree
, men1 remains to be seen. The Gre
clan army admittedly is the only
great force that can be depended upon.
The allies are loath to send new
armies against Turkey, and. even
though the British might use their
force of 100000 now in Mesopotamia.
there would be dangers both at home
md in, IA nf the Mnh1 e.
dan world controlled by the British.
The French are loath to act and the
Italians have had all the war they
want for decades to come.
Questions Before Allies.
The question naturally arises. How
can the allies expect the Greeks to
uphold allied dictates which permit
the loss of Greece of tons of thou
sands of square miles Of territory now
held under the treaty of Sevres? Fur
thermore, if the allies should let
events take their course and permit
of a conflict between the Greeks and
the Turks. the latter winning the
struggle. which. 1t is admitted, they
have it within their power to do, what
then would become of the allied agree
ments in case the Turks saw fit to re-
sist? What if the Turks should win
and. under the influence OF Moscow.
set about to create further trouble In
southeastern Europe? Suppose the
Bulgarians Joined a successful Turkey
in further muddling the situation in
those territories taken away by after
the-war treaties:
These are but few of the questions
that confront allied statesmen in the
" hole near eastern situation. and IL
they were not enough America has
claimed a voice in the disposition of
mandatorial territories, and the allies
know full well that the spirit of spe-
cial privilege of particular nations
would die if the Americans gain de-
sired ends.
With nations lining up as they are
and potential troubles looming as they
do. il may be expected that the near
eastern question will not be settled in
the immediate future. and allied
statesmen will once more fall back on
their decidedly dangerous policy of
waiting for the march of events-a
policy which has been largely instru-
mental in furthering inability to gain
concrete ends in multitudinous nego-
tiations looking toward the salvation
of the old world.