Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-07
TURKS IN DILEMMA
ON STRAITS ISSUE
Undecided Whether to Accept
Russian or Allied Propo-
sitions
LAUSANNE AIR CLEARING

Lausanne, Dec. THE Turkish
delegates 10 the Near East confcr"n""
today fnced the difficult problem of de-
Gliding whether Turkey, in formulating
her plan for control Of the Dardancll's.
should east her lot with Russia or with
the Entente Powers and the nited
States. Turkeys suggestions for ia"
solution Of the perplexing straits ducs-
ton will be- made public iomorro" ut
the Hotel DIV Chateau.
Tsmet pasha and his assorintcs in
formulating their plans were cnnir"ni"d
BY the sharp differences in opinion be-
tween Great Britain and Russia in th"
discussion Uf the Dardanplles question:.
! II Turkey. on the ono hand goes over
to the British camp she fears tho rat"
Russian Army on her eastern frontier;
! II. on the other hand. she sides with
Russia in demanding complete control
OF the waterway. she fears the British
Navy in the strnits.
Tho Turks thus far have tcmporzcd
by saying that they favored n. chi.
cherin's plan. but they took this atti-
tndc before they had heard the solu.
tion offered BY the Powers. lsmct Pasha
aud his associates were greatly inn
| pressed by the plan presented by Lord
Curzon yesterday on behalf Of tho En-
tentc, which was approved in general
by the statement Of tho position of the
United States. The Turks apparently
cannot forget that Russia is Turkeys
! traditional enemy and that rrcmicr
Lcninc's Government may be not loss
/ rovetouS of Constantinoplc and tho
| straits than was Russia in the days
i of the Cars.
Turkey has always found protection
! in numbers. She has played the Eu-
! rOpean countries against each other to
! her grcat advantage time and again
and she hesitatcs to trust her fate to
Russia alone while the rest Of E,uropc,
! supported by tho United States. op-
poses an effort to turn the Black Sea
into a Russian lake
Chicherin. fighting hard to do.
feat Lord Curzon's plan. urges that it
would enable n combination of Powers
! like the Entente to keep Il great navy
! in the Black Sea, as cuch member OF
! the combination could maintain there
as many ships as belonged to Russia,
or whatever Black Sea Power happened
! to have the largest navy at the time.
Turkey. however. in considering Rus
sia's plan, apparently has an eye on
hcr own pockctbook If she adopted
Chichcrin's proposals Turkey would
be forced TO max" great out
lay for a feet and for forttcations.
and as she has no money. she would
prefer to have some one else bear the
expense of policing tn" straits.
! lsmot is in constant communication
with Mustapha Kcmal Pasha.
There are many rumors of possible
adjournment Of the congress for the
Christmas holidays. inasmuch as the
! situation between the Powers and Tur.
| key has cleared considerably.
! Ih" question of combinations is m
even worse tanglc than the straits prob.
! lem, but Great Britain, France and
Italy arc showing tact in handling Tur-
keys sensitive attitude toward her ac-
c"ptnncc of anything that would bring
! her sovereignty into question. Since
the Russian squall over the Dnr,lanellas
has been weathercd without disaster.
! the prospects seem much brighter for an
agreement on principles that will sat.
isfy all parties.
The various sub commissions nrc
meeting daily TO thresh out the details
of the questions on th" agen,la. bu, the
real work Of the conference Is largely
accomplished in private conversations
among the leading delegates.
! London. Dec. 1.--(By A. P.)--Thc
decisive dec laration of the Unitcd States
! through Ambassador Child at Lausanne
on behalf Of the freedom Of the straits
! OF the Dar,ancIl"s and tho Bosporus
! attracts universal attention here and
calls for big type in the headlines Of
/ the morning newspapers.
The declaration is mentioned in tho
Introductory news summaries with every
indication of appreciation and rcalizn.
ton of its Importance. and generally
is treated AS The outstanding feature
Of Wednesdays session Of the Ncul
East conference.
"Thc Allies have received through
the State Department an important nr-
ression in strength. says the Daily
| Mail edtorially. Great Britain /, in
warm sympathy with the American
view, which will have all our moral
! nrS