and the consequent complete alteration of their attire. This movement, which was squashed after the revolution of 1908 and took serious shape during the war, is now widespread, at any rate in the larger cities, where the more modern ladies have discarded even the tcharshaf and, dressed in the latest fashions, mingle in the streets and in society almost as in any Western country. Such a change, accompanied as it is by the right of civil marriage, by the abolition of polygamy, by the equality of husband and wife in the matter of divorce, and by the permissibility of marriage between men and women of any religion, means that the position of women has been completely revolutionised by the present regime. The attitude of Turkey towards the rest of the world is governed partially by her internal policy of extreme nationalism which interferes with the work and activities of all foreigners and makes the importation of foreign goods difficult and expensive. On the other hand, the events of the last few years have proved that Mustapha Kemal never possessed and does not possess any external aspirations beyond those defined in the National Pact, and that he has cultivated friends and been on the point of going to war entirely with that object in view. The earlier and already mentioned agreements with Russia and France were highly advantageous when the Nationalists were badly in need of support, but it was always clear that there was not and could not be any lasting sympathy between Angora and Moscow. This made itself apparent at the Lausanne Conference when the three Allied Powers favoured the opening of the Straits to a limited number of warships, the Bolshevik delegates claiming that they should be closed to such vessels.* With the pre-war policies of Russia and of Great Britain thus reversed, the Turks, having hesitated between their new Allies and their former enemies, finally gave their support to Great Britain. Lord Curzon and Ismet Pasha came to an agreement during the first part of the Conference, and, in spite of M. Chicherin's endeavours, this agreement formed the Straits Convention. The Turks stood aside from the conflict between the Western Powers and Soviet Russia, and there was no open breach between the Bolsheviks and the Nationalists. Nevertheless, the facts that the Russians refused to sign the Convention during the Conference and that they only accepted it under protest at Rome, in August 1923, are sufficient to prove that, for the moment, the relations between the new and unnatural friends had become less cordial than those prevailing during the preceding few years. * For details, see 'Survey of International Affairs, 1920-1923,' pp. 374-376. The Mosul Question, finally settled in June 1926, is worthy of consideration from two standpoints. Firstly, the attitude of the Nationalists depended partly upon their fear that the Turkish Kurds would grow to desire union with their Iraq co-nationals and partly upon the contention that, as a great deal of the disputed area, including the town of Mosul, was not in Allied hands at the time of the Mudros Armistice, it came within the territories claimed by the Angora Government under the National Pact. Secondly, the adverse decision of the Council of the League upon this problem in December 1925, had the immediate effect of throwing Turkey back into the arms of Russia, who was only too anxious to retrieve her set-back of 1923. Thus on the day following the League's award, Tewfik Rushdi Bey, the Foreign Minister of the Angora Government, signed a new treaty with M. Chicherin in Paris. This treaty, binding each of the parties to neutrality in case the other were attacked by a third Power, is possessed of significance because it was the first of the Treaties of Neutrality and non-Aggression made by the Bolsheviks, and because it showed that, as in previous years, Turkey was still prepared to turn towards the East in times of need. The present international position as seen from Angora appears to be somewhat as follows. The Nationalists, whose earlier hostility towards us depended upon the pro-Greek policy of the Coalition Government and upon the Mosul Question, are certainly not now anxious to antagonise Great Britain. France was their first Western friend, and this, coupled with an agreement * made in February 1926 and with the possibility of a settlement of the debt and other financial questions, is likely to lead to a closer understanding between * This agreement made minor modifications in the frontier and regulated the use of the Syrian section of the Baghdad Railway. Atit vide T basis. the two countries. The policy of the Italian Govern- The prudent spectator of conditions in Turkey is always wise to refrain from prophecies because, even should such forecasts come true, things in the East are so uncertain that this will result from good chance rather than from sound judgment. Nevertheless, certain factors may be taken as a guide to the possible future. The Turk of all classes is very difficult to change, religion and the religious teachers will continue to have their influence even if this influence is now less open than heretofore, and the shortage of good officials, coupled with the ignorance of the general mass of the people, is bound to stand in the way of an early and complete purification of the administration. Moreover, the fact that Turkey is poor and that the Nationalists seem disinclined to borrow in the international market, must have the effect of delaying the introduction of many profitable improvements, and, therefore, of leaving the Government without the funds necessary for the adequate payment of their employees. On the other hand, after over five years of supposed civic Government, Mustapha Kemal Pasha and his colleagues have proved sufficiently strong to quash all avowed opposition and have attained a position in which only a far-reaching revolutionary movement could remove them from power. Unless Italy takes matters into her own hands or Russia reverts openly to her pre-war attitude towards Constantinople, of which Mr George Young provides such an interesting account, nothing in the external situation seems likely to lead to such a revolution. From the internal standpoint, the Kurdish insurrection appears to have been quelled, countless far-reaching changes have been introduced without serious conflict, and a new atmosphere undoubtedly prevails at least amongst those who took an active part in and realise the meaning of the Nationalist triumph. Furthermore, the reputation of the Ghazi, made in the European War, greatly increased during the campaigns against the Greeks, and still further augmented since the Treaty of Lauzanne, is an asset which has not existed in Turkey for many generations. Consequently, whereas the unforeseen may always occur, the future probably depends very largely upon the life of the President and the attitude of the Army, which now, as for many years, is the all-important element in Turkey. H. CHARLES WOODS. 20 385) Art. 12.-YELLOW ASIA. Asia Gialla. By Mario Appelius. Milan: Casa Editrice THE international situation in the Far East has under- 2 c |