The Danger to Turkey
The Turkish Government has as yet pronounced no opinion on the Soviet-German Pact ; but there is reason to believe that the firm attitude adopted by the French and British Governments have somewhat diminished the dismay caused by the news of Herr von Ribbentrop's visit to Moscow. Russia's volte-face alters the whole situation in which Turkey entered into her agreements of mutual assistance with Great Britain and France ; for Turkey's policy has been largely based on the friendship which for years she has maintained with the Soviet Union and the confident expectation that the Peace Front would finally receive her support and assistance. Indeed it has been stated that her agreements with the democracies would not enter into force unless an affiance with the Soviet Union were concluded. But the defection of the Soviet Union only increases the dangers which have forced Turkey into the Peace Front ; for if in fact it gives Germany a free hand in Eastern Europe, and hence opens the way to expan- sion in the Near East, Turkey will be directly threatened, as the strongest obstacle in the way of the Drang nach Osten. Such a danger is the firmest foundation for the close co-operation which exists between Turkey and Great Britain, neither of whom can afford to allow any further progress in Germany's eastward march.
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