Ext 6116/46(S) 'Secret Weekly Political Intelligence Summaries, nos 356-416, August 1946-November 1947' [‎328r] (669/978)

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wasted. Other conditions are only reason
able, viz., that Turkey (and Greece) shall
not pass on equipment or information but
shall safeguard it and shall not use the
money of the United States for the service
of any foreign loan.
-jThe Turks have thrown oh the Capitula
tions too recently (1914), and have too
much of the chauvinism of a new nation,
to relish anything that smacks of renewed
foreign control. While pocketing the cash
with profuse and genuine gratitude, they
are likely to contrive in practice to evade
more than a modicum of American inspec
tion and advice, as they have done in the
case of foreign inspectors and advisers in
the past—British, French and German.
(See also under “United States.”)
In any event, the assurance that it is no
longer Great Britain alone but also the
United States which is now behind Turkey
is doubtless responsible for the outspoken
remarks of Turkish commentators on
Soviet policy. They recall Russian
designs to get outlets to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
and Mediterranean, as revealed by pub
lished archives; to obtain bases on the
Straits; and to upset the present Turkish
regime. They rightly insist that it is
because the Soviet Government have never
repudiated their claims against Turkey,
that Turkey maintains the mobilisation of
which Soviet propaganda complains. If
Turkey were to succumb to Soviet pressure,
nothing could keep Russia out of the
Middle East and North Africa, and that,
they frankly say, is why the United States
is helping Greece and Turkey.
The Turkish parliamentary delegation
which is visiting this country consists of
six deputies belonging to the Republican
People’s Party and two belonging to the
Democratic (Opposition) Party. Among
them are the veteran journalist Yalgin, two
former Cabinet Ministers and Professor
Fuat Kopriilii, a shining light of the
Democratic Party.
THE MIDDLE EAST
Egypt
In the debate in the Chamber of Deputies
on 12th May, reported last week, Nokrashy
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. appears to have referred only to the
1936 Treaty as impossible to denounce,
and not to the 1899 Agreement,
although the specific reference to the
Agreement in Article 11 of the Treaty
appears to make such a differentiation
between the two instruments difficult.
Opposition deputies criticized the vague
ness of the Prime Minister’s statement and
the delay in presenting the Egyptian case.
There is a general feeling that Egypt will
not have an easy passage in the Security
Council; the recent course of events in the
General Assembly dealing with Palestine
and the permission given to the Jewish
Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. to state its case have given rise to
some apprehension.
Mr. Bevin’s references to Egypt in the
House of Commons on the 16th May have
provoked Nokrashy Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. into issuing an
official statement which was published
after a meeting of the Council of Ministers
on the 18th. It opens by roundly stating
that the presence of British troops is an
infringement of the sovereignty of a free
and independent nation as well as being
against the will of the people (a fact which
is well-known to the British Government)
and continues by repeating the demand for
their withdrawal unconditioned by any
treaty. In the Sudan Great Britain is
accused of pursuing a policy designed to
encourage separatist ideas among the
Sudanese, a policy contrary to the will of
the people of the Nile valley, whidh is that
it shall be united. The fact that there are
British troops in the Sudan is ascribed
(with factual accuracy rather than respect
for contingent circumstances) as the result
of the earlier British occupation of Egypt,
and their right to be there is denied.
Finally, Nokrashy announces again the firm
intention of the Egyptian Government to
appeal to the United Nations in the
expectation that “ the principle of the
sovereign equality of all its members, upon
which the United Nations is founded, will
guarantee Egypt her rights.” It was
officially announced later that Nokrashy
Pasiha himself will lead the Egyptian
delegation to the Security Council.
Mr. Bevin’s speech has, not un
expectedly, had a bad press in Egypt. His
reference to the interest of His Majesty’s
Government in improving the standard of
living in the Middle East is regarded by
the Wafdist papers as “ impertinent ”
because the only real British interest in the
standard of living, they say, is exploiting
it to British advantage. Both Wafdist and
Makramite organs attack the Egyptian
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