Evening star., 1950-10-27
Europe's Soft UnderbeIIy-II
Turks Spend Over Half of Taxes
To Modernize Primitive Army

aid is doing much to beef up Tur-
kish equipment but the job Of
training this army is hampered by
limitations imposed by a policy
board in Washington. Here's why:
The backbone of any army is
it's professional core of non-com-
missioned officers. In today's
Turkish Army, bringing men Of
semi-barbaric background into
sudden impact with the electronic
world, adequate leadership in the
ranks is indispensable. But Turk
ish noncoms are paid so little
that it is not worth while to be a
professional.
Turkey needs thousands more
noncoms at higher pay. But it's
military costs already are more
than half the budget in high
taxed economy, with no wealthy
class to draw on. Americans here
do not want American dollars to
pay Turkish soldiers, but they
think that some of the rigid rules
of what can, and what cannot, be
bought with American dollars
should be relaxed.
Need Freedom in Buying.
They point out that there is no
use bringing to Turkey equipment
urgently needed to put its army
in fighting shape by next spring if
the trained men are not available
to use it. 1t would be smarter,
they think, to bring fewer "elig-
ible" items and open up Gen.
Arnold's discretion to buy items
like clothing now paid for by the
Turks so this money would be
used to get needed soldiers.
Gen. Arnold, who has been here
only two months, is moving swiftly.
With Gen. Yamut, he is working
on a new timing of inductions.
The half -million-man force of a
few years ago has been reduced
to about 100000, but is stronger
today than it was then, the ex-
perts say, and eventually will be
much stronger.
In a sense, Gen. Arnold is presi-
dent of a big college of warfare.
He runs infantry, engineering and
air training schools. schools for
maintenance men, truck drivers,
electronics experts and supply
men. In these schools are trained
key Turks who will go back to
their outfits and train others.
System Being Changed.
Gen. Arnold is working with
Gen. Yamut for a complete re-
vamping of the training of re-
cruits. Now they are sprinkled
around outfits, diluting both the
training and the divisions combat
strengths. Gen. Arnold plans to
put them in training camps-that
will take housing. Communica-
tions for the new army" will take
more roads-these are being built
by the Turks with assistance from
ECA dollars. If the Turks are to
resist the Russians in their cold
eastern mountains they must have
winter clothing-to provide it
would take as many dollars again
as they now spend to clothe the
army.
Seizure of Turkey would give
the Kremlin the Dardanelles, a
Russian dream since Peter the
Great. It would close a vulner-
able flank that might be pierced
if the Red Army struck west. It
would make Soviet lake of the
Black Sea. 1t would remove a
threat to the Baku oil wells and
give Stain huge base from which
to move southwark into the
richest oil reserves in the world.
1t would close the Suez Canal.
make Communist power dominant
in the Eastern Mediterranean and
give its agitators a clear shot at
millions of underprivileged Arabs.
If the Russians could conquer
and make followers" Of the Turks
they would have the Middle East
in their grasp. But next spring
and thereafter. if they try, they
will run into one Of the toughest
armies in the world.