Evening star., 1935-05-19
SHADOW OF TURK
D|STURBS EUROPE
Aras' Hint of Plan to Fortify
DardaneIles Alarms France
> and England.
BY RANDOLPH LEIGH.

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France and Russia have arrived at q
so-called final understanding, and for
the third time the shadow OF the
Turk is falling across the love feast.
Less than month ago, at Geneva,
the Turkish foreign minister. Aras,
presiding at the meeting to condemn
Germany for treaty violation, threw
the gathering into confusion by pref
acing his remarks by plain hint that
Turkey is preparing to fortify the
Dardanelles. That would be in dis
regard Of the treaty Of Lausanne, to
which she is party.
On the evening preceding that an
nouncement the French and Russian
ministers had reached com m n
ground for a military alliance. The
Aras speech, however, raised the ques-
ton as to secret Russo-Turkish
agreement hostile to the interests of
France and England. England ct
once brought pressure on Paris.
Cabinet Session Called.
I happened to be In Paris when
Laval returned from Geneva, and wit
messed the frantic and amusing moves
which were made to cover up the
true state Of affairs An extraordi-
nary session of the cabinet was called
for the announced purpose Of con-
graduating Laval on his handling of
the tar ring of Germany.
There is, as is well known in Paris,
deep and bitter feud between Pre-
mier Flandin and Foreign Minister
Laval, so that the former would
hardly go out of his way to applaud
his rival. What he really called the
meeting for was to compel Laval to
Immediately get in touch with the
Russian minister and diSavow the
agreement That was actually done,
by telephone.
Turkey Is Problem.
England and France dread the clos
ing of the Dardanelles by adequate
fortif1cations, because such q step
would threaten their vital oil re-
sources in Asia Minor and Rumania.
In fact, it seems almost certain that,
II the two dominant naval powers of
Europe are to continue to enjoy the
use of their immense pipe line system
for draining the Persian and adjacent
oil fields, they will have either to whip
or make concessions to Turkey. Tur-
key is determined to undo the treaty
Of Lausanne, by which she lost i'm
mensely valuable oil lands, and she
may yet succeed.
Turkey alone is one thing, but
Turkey with secret treaty for Rus
sian aid in controlling the oil Of the
Near East is quite another problem.
. English Press Concerned.
For weeks the English press has
=. openly expressed concern over this
issue, and the British foreign Office
has not ceased its quiet pressure upon
/, France, Russia and Turkey. using
different leverage IN each case, Of
!. course.
. Turkey has, relatively, progressed
more than any European nation (if
. she can really be regarded as such)
since the World War. Her advance
ment has been in that sphere in
which Europe places the highest i'm
portance-the military. Her army is
genuinely formidable, and in Kemal
Ataturk she has one of the great
leaders of this epoch. Furthermore,
her location is strategically as strong
as that Of any power, with the possible
exception of England.
With Turkey obviously moving to-
ward a bolder part In world affairs.
and with the extent Of the co-opera-
tion secretly pledged her by Russia a
matter of doubt, the position of
France in the Near East is an uncer-
tain one. That uncertainty reacts
upon the role which France will be
able to play on the larger stage of
Central Europe.
Influenced by Weak Nations.
Thus the relations between France,
strongest and most mighty developed
nations in Europe, are in large meas
ure being influenced by two Of the
least civilized nations.
The only thing that seems to offer
any chance for Germany's escape
from the encircling movement which
Is being worked out is the basic rivalry
and conflict of interests between the
very nations which are attempting to
ring her in
There are indications Of a decline
In the strength of the coalition gov
ernments now dominant in both
France and England. Out-and-out
conservatives in either or both of
those lands would almost certainly
upset the present plan Of close har-
mony with Soviet Russia. Even If the
present coalition systems continue in
France and England, 1t is doubtful
that they will see eye to eye with one
another and with Russia so long as
the Turk, who was supposed to have
lost all real significance in Europe,