أوراق بقلم كرزون بشأن الشرق الأدنى والأوسط [ظ‎‎١‎٢‎٦] (٣٤٨/٢٥٢)

importance of the necessity of sanctions in such a contingency been urged with greater
insistence than France. What then is the nature of the sanction that the Allies should
now hold in view ? Allowing that the exact nature of any sucli sanction is a legitimate
subject of discussion, it is nevertheless clear that if the intended discussions at Paris
are to be regarded solely as in the nature of friendly advice to be offered to the
combatants, which either of them is to be at liberty to accept or refuse, or which the
Greeks are expected to accep>t while the Turks will be at liberty to refuse, there is
little to be gained from entering upon the discussions at all. For if either the Greeks
or the Turks may reject the terms with impunity, then the labours of the conference
will have been thrown away, the meeting in which the terms are offered and refused
will end in a humiliating fiasco and the responsibility for the crowning failure will rest
upon the Allies.
It seems therefore to be essential that some prior understanding on this subject
should be reached before the conversations begin, and that we should not enter blind
folded on a path which may end in a precipice. From this point of* view it is a matter
for satisfaction that the issue has been so explicitly raised bv the apparent reservations
of the F ranch despatch.
In conclusion, it the first impressions of the British Government have been stated in
this communication with absolute frankness, this has arisen from no desire to create
difficulties or to question the sincere and earnest desire of the French Government to
arrive by methods of conciliation at the goal of peace, but only from the profound
conviction that there could be no greater disaster than the failure of the projected
meeting, and that unless there is a clear understanding beforehand on the subjects
i eferred to in this letter, such failure may not be remote.
I shall be glad if you will read this despatch to the Minister for Foreign Affairs
and leave a copy of it in his hands.
I am, <fcc.
CURZON OF KEDLESTON.