Istanbul_ The Collected Traveler_ An Inspired Companion Guide - Barrie Kerper [37]
In a speech at today’s session Lord Curzon expressed the deepest regret at the necessity of deciding on an exchange of populations, but declared that a week’s discussion showed that no other decision was possible. Admitting that he detested the solution and deplored it, he said that he thought there was nothing else to do. What he meant was that there was no way of preventing Turkey from ousting the Greeks unless the Allies were prepared to fight, and, like the Americans, the English are not ready to fight the Turks—for humanitarian ends.
In the account of today’s events given by the spokesman of the Allies great emphasis is laid on “the Patriarchate Victory,” which simply represents a Turkish concession for which an ample price has been paid.
The decision was well stage-managed. Senator Montagna, Chairman of the Committee on the Exchange of Populations, reported that an agreement had been reached, except that the Turks still demanded the expulsion of the Greek Patriarch as one of the conditions of allowing the Greeks to remain in Constantinople. Lord Curzon in an eloquent speech referred to the American pronouncement against the expulsion and said that the whole world would be aroused by such a step. He suggested that the proper solution might be to take away from the Patriarch all powers and confine his activities to religious matters, allowing him to remain on these terms. Camille Barrère, speaking for France, agreed to Lord Curzon’s recommendation, and so did M. Venizelos. Ismet Pasha then read a statement renouncing the Turkish demand that the Patriarch be expelled and agreeing to his remaining as a purely religious leader. Of course, it had all been arranged beforehand.
CHANGE OF BRITISH POLICY TOWARD TURKS
The Allies’ action of yesterday and today under Lord Curzon’s leadership brings into relief the present British policy toward the Turks. After weeks of threatening them, the British seem now to have gone back to their traditional policy of buying them off against the Russians. In the negotiations over capitulations and Mosul the Turks are still demanding a high price, and on both issues Lord Curzon has declared that he will not yield. But one must wait and see. England is more likely to give way on the capitulations issue than on that of Mosul and its oil.
But there seems little doubt that the British have shifted their Lausanne policy, and it appears to be now a question of what price the British will pay for a treaty with the Turks. England has obtained a favorable solution of the Straits problem, whereas the Turks have certainly won out on the minorities issue and their determination to expel the Greeks. It seems likely that the capitulations settlement will be much nearer the Turkish than the Allied demands. That leaves Mosul as the big issue before the conference. The British realize that they will be criticized for giving in to the Turks on humanitarian issues, but their reply will unquestionably be that they could not be expected to fight alone for the humanitarian wishes of the world.
By the nature of their mission here the American delegates can do little more than sit by and watch the wheel spin, rejoicing when their numbers come up and remaining silent when their numbers lose. The movements of the powers that be here have given the Americans partial satisfaction in letting some warships through the Straits, and denied them satisfaction in placing a League commission over the Straits. Americans may feel satisfaction because the Greek Patriarch remains in Constantinople. Satisfaction was denied them when the project of a national home for Armenians was discarded. Americans will be pleased to know that the Greeks will be left in Constantinople. They will be displeased at the decree for the exchange of populations. One may