Before the House adjourned on Friday, August 4th, for the
autumn recess, the Prime Minister made an important statement on the Near East. He ridiculed the suggestion that we had alienated a friendly Turkey, and reminded the House that the Turks by joining our enemies in 1914 had prolonged the War and caused the collapse of Russia. The Greeks went to Smyrna at the instance of all the Allies ; it was not our fault that France had changed her mind since then. The continuance-of the war in Asia Minor was entirely due to the refusal of Mustapha Kemal at Angora to make terms or to accept an armistice. The Greeks
might well decline to evacuate the country without guarantees for the safety of their kinsmen, when they knew that the Turk had exterminated the Greek Christians in Pontus. Mr. Lloyd George very reasonably repudiated the fantastic interpretation put upon his speech of 1917, offering terms to Turkey. It was an offer and not a " pledge," and as the offer was rejected, it fell to the ground.
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