17 JANUARY 1941, Page 1

Turkey, Britain and Bulgaria

Admiral Sir Howard Kelly, General Sir James Marshall- Cornwall and Air Vice-Marshal Elmhirst were received last Tuesday by the Turkish Foreign Minister and the Chief of the Turkish General Staff at Ankara, where they are to engage in Staff talks—the first since France fell out of the war. There will be much to discuss, first in relation to military co-operation in the event of Turkey becoming engaged in the war, and secondly in regard to the supply of equipment. Germany and the Balkan countries have not failed to note that Turkey is in earnest, and would almost certainly act if Germany attempted to march troops across Bulgaria. In regard to the latter anxiety has been much diminished by the firm speech of Professor Filoff, the Prime Minister, who declared that Bulgarian revisionist policy meant peaceful revision, and that his country was determined to safeguard its independence. Since then an official denial of the presence of German troops in Bulgaria has been issued. Pressure on Bulgaria will no doubt continue, but Axis prestige has diminished and British prestige has increased since the victories in Africa and Greece.