Propaganda in Turkey and Iran
The friendly relations between Britain and Russia and their readiness to co-operate all along the line should do much to frustrate the sinister propaganda in which the Nazis have succeeded so well in the Near and Middle East. In Turkey the enemy have made every effort to play upon the fear of what Russia may do. Sir Stafford Cripps, it is learned, is exerting every effort at Moscow to bring British and Soviet diplomacy into line ; and it has been reported in Ankara that the Soviet Union have given Turkey definite assurances that they have no designs whatever on any part of Turkish territory. Up till recently far too little has been done by Great Britain to counteract the stream of propaganda which Germany has let loose in the Middle East. The success which she won in Iraq by this means is now a matter of history. She is attempting to repeat the same tactics in Iran and to a lesser extent in Afghanistan. None too soon Sir Reader Bullard, the British Minister in Teheran, has drawn the attention of the Iranian Government to the large number of Germans who have penetrated the country and may compromise its neutrality. It has been asked to arrange for the departure of this army of " technicians " and " tourists," who have been reinforced by Nazi agents recently operating in Iraq. Similar representa- tions have been made in Afghanistan. In all these regions British and Russian influences pulling together instead of against each other should be able to destroy the propagandist supremacy achieved by the Nazis.
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