Anxiety is, of course, unabated about the lonely garrison of
British troops which remains at Chanak, on the other side of the Dardanelles. Though we are absolutely opposed to the idea of fighting the Turks unless war is proved by events to be a stern necessity, we are not among those who think that the surrender of a neutral zone on the Asiatic side of the Straits does not matter. Clearly if the Turks plant themselves on the shore of the Dardanelles at its narrowest point they will be in a position, after all, to try to withhold that freedom of the Straits which the Western nations without exception demand. The Turks argue that they have every right to occupy positions recently held by the Greeks, but, as the British Government have pointed out, the Greeks were never at Chanak. The French are believed to have a good deal of influence with Kemal, and those who know something of his history say that he is not a man to harbour wild illusions. He is not likely to challenge a really united Europe. He is believed to have been distinctly Anglophile before the War, and to have deeply regretted the decision of his country to side with Germany.
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