15 DECEMBER 1923, Page 3

The decision of the Turkish Nationalists at Angora to divest

the Sultan-Caliph of all power and make Turkey The decision of the Turkish Nationalists at Angora to divest the Sultan-Caliph of all power and make Turkey a Republic with Mustapha Kemal as President has speedily caused trouble within and without. The Aga Khan, on behalf of the Indian Moslems, has written a letter main- taining that the Caliph should have as much dignity as the Pope, and that his degradation must divide and weaken Islam. The adherents of the Committee of Union and Progress, who dislike the Angora extremists and who control the Constantinople Press, made haste to publish this letter before it was published in Angora. The Kemalists have treated this as an act of high treason. The leading editors have been arrested and arc being tried for their lives before a special " tribunal of inde- pendence." The open feud between Constantinople and Angora will not be healed by this drastic procedure, and the quarrel over the Caliphate must gravely weaken the Angora Government at a time when it has no friends in Europe. Possibly Mustapha Kemal will now see the virtues of moderation in his dealings with the Greeks and with the Allies.