The Alexandretta Settlement A welcome reminder of the ability of
the League of Nations to deal successfully with certain types of disputes is provided by the settlement of the Franco-Turkish dispute over the Sanjak of Alexandretta. Turkish opinion was not unnaturally alarmed at the Franco-Syrian Treaty of September, whereby Syria, on assuming an independent status, took over the responsibility for the Turkish minorities in the Sanjak. This district is a special administrative area within the Syrian boundaries, inhabited mainly by Turks, and it was their rights which were thought to be threatened. The two main points at issue, the frontier and language problems, have been settled by a compromise, and it is further agreed that the . Sanjak shall enjoy complete home rule under a League High Com- missioner. The whole of this strategically important area is to be demilitarised, and Turkey is to have full use of the port of Alexandretta. This settlement, like that at Montreux, not only does considerable credit to Turkish diplomacy, which prefers to settle its disputes by peaceful means, but also demonstrates the value of League machinery. Both France and Turkey were willing to submit their differences to the League, and much of the credit for the settlement must go to Hr. Sandler, the Swedish Foreign Minister, who acted as rapporteur for the League Council. His endeavours and the unobtrusive advice of Mr. Eden emphasise the part dis- interested friends of two parties to a dispute can, and regu- larly do, play at Geneva.
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