5 AUGUST 1922, Page 2

Greece, despairing of the procrastination of the Allied Powers, invited

them last Saturday to sanction a Greek occupation of Constantinople in order to induce the Turkish Nationalists to make peace. Mr. Lloyd George told the House of Commons on Monday that he had warned Greece of the serious conse- quences of such a step. The Greek Foreign Minister, in reply, had assured him that the Greek Army would not enter the neutral zone without the consent of the Allies. Mr. Lloyd George, in reply to questions, virtually admitted that Greece had cause of complaint. The Allies had agreed to send a com- mission of inquiry to Asia Minor, but while we had appointed 'commissioners the other Powers had not done so. It was still uncertain whether Mustapha Kemal would admit the corn- piission, though Greece, no doubt, would welcome it. The truth is, of course, that France and Italy, for reasons of their own, are backing the Turkish Nationalists, while Mr. Lloyd George is still anxious to save the Greeks of Ionia, from the Indiscriminate massacre that would follow the restoration of Smyrna to the Turks. Mr. Lloyd George has shown uncommon courage in withstanding the anti-Greek and anti-Christian agitation, conducted by a strange medley of politicians, Com- munists and Continental financiers.