New-York tribune., 1922-09-24
Coming Back Because Moslem
Zealotry Forces Concessions
From England and France

Armenia. Yet, so far a. rcsusoitating
the old Turkish state was concerned,
the outlook was pretty desperate.
Salvation came from an unexpected
quarter. Venizelos called q general
election, and the Greek voters, In ft
of peevishncss, threw him out OF Office
and then recalled Constantine.
Slapped in the face the Allied gov
ernments drew away from Greece.
They could not trust the ex-Kaiser's
brother-in-law. who had tricked and
harassed them from Iel4 to 1917, to
carry out their Near Eastern policy.
Constantine was kemal's greatest
benefactor. He mounted at once. on
high horse and talked of reviving the
elories Of the ancient Greek Empire.
lie cherished the idea Of shifting his
capital to Constantinople. Only few
months ago he was planning to seize
that city and was deferred, only by
Joint utimatum issued by France,
Great Britain and Italy.
= Tino converted Greece into an un-
ruly associate, and the Allies soon
began to put him in the same class
with kemal. AT London, in the winter
Of 1921, they reshaped the Sevres com
pact. The Anatolian Turks were rep
resented III this conference, as we'll as
the Sultan's followers. The Greek
delegates were put unceromoniousiy on
the defensive.
Rejection Put Greece in
Light of Obstructionist
The Allied powers offered conces-
sions to Turkey along the line of the
Angora program. Greece was required
to abandon al the Asian territory she
held, eXfept the Smyrna district. This
was to be administered by the Greeks
for ten years and plebiseite was
then TO be taken to decide whether it
should remain Greek or revert to
Turkey. A similar p!ebiscite was to
be held in eastern Thrace. The two
Turkish delegations intimated that
they would accept these terms. Con-
stantine fatty rejected them.
This rejection put Greece, rather
than the Anatolian government, in the
light Of an obstructer Of Near East
settlement. The Allies felt at liberty
to support either against the other.
So France came to terms with Renal,
making q treaty with him for the pur-
pose of securing her Syrian border.
Italy also entered iuto friendly rela-
tiors with Angora, which thus OBJ
tanned at least the moral support of
two Of the major Western powers in
the inevitable duel with Greece. Great
Britain, though officially estranged
from Constantine, drifted unofficially
into an attitude Of thinking his sue
cess the lesser of two evils
The Greek program in Asia Minor
was one Of conquest far beyond the.
limits Of the Sevres treaty. With su-
periority in man power and far better
equipment, Constantine conducted two
ofensives against Angora--one in the
spring of 1921, the other throughout
the summer. Both failed After
September Of last year it was evident
that Constantine could never dictate
a Near Eastern settlement either to
Turkey or TO The Allies.
In three bitter campaigns last
OF them fought to a deadlock only
shout fifty miles west OF Angora-the
new Turkish state was finding itself
through heroic effort. 1t had estah-
hshed its right to existence through an
extraordinary display of national
spirit Its future was still obscured
in military sense. But politically
the skies began to clear. Nationalist
Turkey, able to sustain herself. was
again assuming the leadership of the
Moslem peoples.
Great Britain and France have mill
lions Of Mahometan nationals. In the
| peace conference Lloyd George, or the
one hand, and Clemenceau and Mile
rand on the other, ignored the i'm
- tA"| JGtb' y0SAl&lOuS son"
dar'ty goes deeper than political soli-
darity. The Mosiems of India and
northern Africa were willing to fight
against the Turks in political quar-
rel But they were unwilling to see
the spiritual authority Of the Caiiph
OF Islam, who happened also to be the
Sultan Of Turkey. undermined. In the
Mahometan theology the Caliph must
/ exercise temporal power over the seat
of the caliphate. TO stimulate recruit
! ing in India for the Palestine cam
pafens Lloyd George promised TIC
Indian Mahometans in 1913 that the
Sultan should not be deprived Of
sovereignty over Constantinople. When
he broke his word and agreed in the
Treaty of Sevres TO the information.
siisat'on of the Turkish capital. with
the Sultan political and rel;sious
prisoner there, The reaction in tho
moslem mind was sharp and universal
Disafeetion spread in India and
Egypt. The French African eolon;es
I sr.