1939: Turkey

The general policy of the Turkish Republic followed during 1939 the lines laid down by the founder of the Republic, Kamal Ataturk, under his successor, President Ismet Inönü. The change of leadership involved, however, a reconstruction of the cabinet. The Parliament was dissolved on January 25, new elections were held, and a new cabinet was formed with Dr. Refik Seydam as president of the Council and with Shükrü Saracoglu, formerly Minister of Justice, as Foreign Secretary. Under this new Cabinet the Turkish Government pursued during 1939 a policy of friendly cooperation with the western democracies.

Franco-Turkish Pacts.

This close cooperation brought its first results in the Franco-Turkish pact of June 23 according to which the Hatay Republic, formerly the district of Alexandretta and a part of Syria under French mandate, was ceded to Turkey. Simultaneously, France and Turkey signed an agreement aiming at reciprocal engagements in the interests of their national security. A similar pact had been concluded already between Great Britain and Turkey in a common effort to establish peace and a feeling of security in the Near East and the Balkans, in which areas Turkey is vitally interested. The cession of Hatay to Turkey further strengthened the bonds between Turkey and the western democracies. In the agreement concerning Hatay, Turkey promised to respect the frontiers of Syria and in no way to engage in any enterprise which might affect the territorial integrity and the internal peace of Syria. With the conclusion of these pacts the policy of Turkey received a new and definite orientation towards peace and democracy, which found its expression also in the exhibits of Turkey at the New York World's Fair in 1939.

Relations with Arabian Countries.

The rapprochement with the western powers brought about also a closer cooperation between Turkey and the Arab lands. The new president of Turkey was generally regarded as less hostile to Islamic traditions than Kamal Ataturk had been. He accepted the Europeanization of Turkey as carried through by his predecessor; but he seemed less inclined to a complete separation from the Islamic past, and therefore more receptive to the idea of Turkey's leadership in the Mohammedan Near East, as already anticipated in the Eastern Pact of Saadabad, which links Turkey with Iran (Persia), Afghanistan and Iraq. The most remarkable development in this respect was the cordial reception accorded to the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of his visit to Ankara, the capital of Turkey. (See also EGYPT.)

Turk-Soviet Relations; Mutual Assistance Pact with Britain and France.

The outbreak of the second great war and the new alliance between Germany and the Soviet Union put Turkey in a very difficult position. For more than eighteen years a close friendship had bound Turkey and the Soviet Union together. On the other hand, Turkey had recently entered into most friendly relations with Great Britain and France. The pact between these countries had been regarded by many as the prelude to a pact between the Soviet Union and the western democracies. In the new situation created by the estrangement between the western democracies and the Soviet Union, Turkey tried very hard at first to preserve her friendship with both sides. The Turkish Foreign Minister visited Moscow in September and stayed there for several weeks; but his efforts to arrive at an understanding with the Soviet Government and at the conclusion of a non-aggression pact failed, in view of the insistence of the Soviet Government that Turkey should close the Dardanelles to Great Britain and France in case of war. The question of support for Rumania in case that country became involved in war played a major rôle also in the negotiations between the Soviet Union and Turkey, as Rumania had received a pledge of support from Great Britain in case of aggression against her, and as Turkey was fundamentally interested in maintaining peace in the Balkan peninsula. The result of the breakdown of Turkey's negotiations with the Soviet Union was the conclusion, on October 19, of a mutual assistance pact between Great Britain, France and Turkey in which France and Great Britain promised help to Turkey in case of aggression of a European power against her; and on the other hand, Turkey promised to assist France and Great Britain in case of a war in the Mediterranean or in case Great Britain and France came to the help of Greece or Rumania. The pact was followed by military conversations in Ankara between the Turkish General Staff and the commanders of French and British forces in the Near and Middle East.

Unsuccessful Negotiations with U.S.S.R.; the Balkan Entente.

The Turkish Government regarded the demands of the Soviet Union as incompatible with the Turkish Government's policy regarding the Dardanelles and with the engagements which Turkey had assumed towards Britain and France. Nevertheless, relations between the two countries remained friendly, and the Turkish Foreign Minister received a most cordial send-off from the Soviet authorities when he left Moscow on Oct. 18, where he had spent twenty-three days in futile negotiations. The President of the Turkish Republic declared in opening the first session of the Sixth Turkish Parliament that Turkey's pact with Britain and France was directed against no other state and would come into operation only if some states sought to violate Turkey's independence or security. He stated that the friendship between the Soviet Union and Turkey rests on a solid basis and that circumstances and obstacles arising from the temporary necessities of the present time must not be allowed to impair the traditional friendship. The pact was ratified on Nov. 8 by Turkey. (See also U.S.S.R.)

To make the peace in the region in which she is most vitally interested more secure. Turkey tried to arrive at a closer understanding with the other Balkan countries and to transform the Balkan Entente into an alliance. Her efforts so far failed on account of dissensions among the Balkan States. Relations with the Soviet Union did not continue as friendly as Turkey had hoped. On Dec. 7, the Turkish press alleged that the German ambassador to Turkey, Franz von Papen, was attempting to provoke a conflict between Turkey and the Soviet Union. The new aggressive policy displayed by the Soviet Union in her attack upon Finland and in her threats against Rumania increased the uneasiness in Turkey in December, which only reflected the general uneasiness of the world. See also BALKAN ENTENTE; RUMANIA.