أوراق بقلم كرزون بشأن الشرق الأدنى والأوسط [ظ‎‎٣‎٤] (٣٤٨/٦٨)

mosques, which might remain under Turkish administration. The real business of
Government would be conducted in Asia Minor, but the simulacrum of power and
prestige (so long as it was unaccompanied by authority) might be allowed to remain in
Europe.
I could not help thinking that, in the long argument which he developed on these
lines, the Greek Prime Minister had in view, more than anything else, a hope for the
expansion of his own people. British, French, or Russians in Constantinople might
close the door for ever to the ambitions of Greece, but it might well be that, at some
future date, an international administration (always a difficult thing to maintain)
would be glad to hand over the reins of power to those who would be the numerical
majority both in the city and in its neighbourhood. This idea was not expressed, but
M. Venizelos is so ardent a patriot and so far-sighted a politician that I could not
but feel sure that it lurked in his mind, even if it did not find expression on his lips.
I had expected him to say something about the position of the Greeks in Smyrna,
and had made up my mind that, if he did so, I would be candid in my reply. He did
not, however, perhaps fortunately, raise the subject, and I abstained from entering
upon so troubled a field.
I am, &c.
CURZON OF KEDLESTON.