Evening star., 1945-12-30
End of Year Finds Allies
In the Red, Despite Peace
UNO Holds Hope That Way NAV Be Found
to Prevent War, but Present Situation
Holds Many Unsoved Problems
By Constantine Bro,vu

has been won, but few, if any, of the
promises which filled the hearts of the
hundreds of millions of people with the
been fulfilled thus far.
The only optimistic note is that the
United Nations Organization will func-
tion effectively and efficiently and its
members will not allow it to be used
as mere rubber stamp to confirm
private deals and actions contrary to
the solemn declarations made during
the war by the great powers.
The Iranian and Turkish governments
have already limited that if their great
neighbor, Russia, continues a policy of
expansion" at their expense, they in
tend to submit the matter to the UNO.
This will be real test case for the
organization, which has promised to
keep the world at peace and has been
provided with sufficient armed forces to
attain this objective. The supporters
of the now deceased League of Nations
complained that the lack of these forces
was the greatest handicap and prevented
it from functioning efficiently.
Those responsible for Americas for
eign policies, from President Truman
to the members of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, admit frankly
that unless the UNO is a living thing
with sufficient enforcement powers to
put any peace-breaker back in his place,
the prospects for a lasting peace are
small.
Already the same elements-greed,
hunger for power and ruthless suppress
sion of freedom-which were responsible
for the Second World War are at play.
Iranian Issue Like Czechs
Fundamentally there is only a tech
nical difference between the situation
in 1888, when Germany insisted that
the Sudetenland be detached from
Czechoslovakia and placed under the
swastika, and the voluntary" detach-
ment of Azerbaijan from Iran. The fact
that the democratic party in Azer-
baijan has declared that portion of Iran
an autonomous country is just a legal
istic alibi created in Moscow. The
Teheran government has placed sufi-
ciently substantial proofs at the dis
posal of the American and British
authorities to convince them the whole
independence movement" was engi-
neered in Moscow and assisted in every
possible way by the Red armies which
entered the country in 1941 as honored
guests.
The territorial integrity of Czecho-
slavakia had been guaranteed by all the
major European powers by treaties
which the Germans also signed. The
independence and territorial integrity
of Iran has been guaranteed by the
United States, Great Britain and Rus
sia. Unfortunately, Northern Iran is
rich in oil and, like the Sudetenland, has
strategic Importance for its powerful
northern neighbor.
The principal guarantors of Czecho-
slavakia's independence met at Munich
in spirit of reconciliation and appease-
ment. They signed Czechoslavakia's s
death warrant in the hope that the dis
appearance of that small country would
prevent an armed clash with Germany.
They were mistaken because the ap-
petite of an expansionist nation in
creases in proportion to the concessions
it obtains from the powers imbued with
the philosophy of appeasement.
Press Attacks Turkey.
Whether Turkey is earmarked as the
next victim of Russias ever-increasing
appetite Is a matter which cannot be de-
termined with any degree of finality at
this time. But there are strong indica-
tions that she may be the next sufferer.
The Russian press, which always voices
the views OF its government, has been on
the warpath against the Ankara gov
ernment for some time.
The Soviet papers have described the
present Turkish regime as pro-German
and Fascist, although the President of
the Turkish republic, Ismet Inonu. has
clearly shown that the Allies have bene-
fitted greatly from Turkeys neutrality
in the war and from her stubborn refusal
to join the Axis at time when it looked
as if the United Nations might lose the
war.
The troops concentrated on the Black
Sea borders which form the subject of
bitter recriminations on the part of the
Soviet press and radio against the
Turkish regime were placed at their
stations with the consent and approval
of Moscow, which once thanked Inonu
for the timely move
The diplomatic preparations for a
clash between Russia and Turkey have
been going on ever since Moscow re-
nounced the treaty of amity and nom
aggression with Ankara about six
months ago.
Clouds Are Threatening.
The military preparations reported to
Washington by reliable sources are of
more recent origin The concentration
of 81 crack Red Army divisions on the
Bulgarian Turkish border the concen-
tration of two airborne armies at
Odessa and the gathering of between
450, 900 and 100000 men in the Caucasus
and Northern Iran started only a few
weeks after vi day.
Thus the skies in the Middle and Near
East are filled with threatening clouds
which can be dispersed only if the
Western powers make it very clear to
their Muscovite ally that the first para
graph of the Atlantic Charter saying
that the Allies seek no territorial ag-
grandizement must be respected in its
full meaning.
So far as the -Four Freedoms are con-
death sentence on their fellow-F Fascist
William Joyce ought to be warning to