Boiling Pot

The dreams of a great unified, Arab Near Eastern State--so carefully fostered by Great Britain's warrior-statesmen in 1914-18--were wrecked in the subsequent peace treaties by European "divide-&-rule" policies. Men like Lawrence of Arabia believed, led the Arabs to believe, that with the defeat of Turkey and the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire one great homogeneous Arab nation of essentially the same race, same religion, same culture, would stretch from the southern borders of the Anatolian plateau to the fantastically shaped rocks of Aden.

Colonel Lawrence's promises were largely forgotten in post-War "realistic" diplomacy and the half-legendary hero-philosopher of the desert revolt retired to write, refused all honors and titles offered by "perfidious Albion," died in a motorcycle accident three years ago. Instead of one Arab nation, so far there have emerged from the old Ottoman confines five major states: Saudi Arabia, the Yemen, Trans-Jordan, Palestine, Iraq. Lebanon and Syria are soon to come to independent statehood. Of these, only Saudi Arabia, ruled by strong-willed King Ibn Saud, can really call its soul its own.

The Sanjak (province) of Alexandretta*is in the transition stage. It became technically autonomous last year when it was eased from the control of French mandated Syria. This week, the Sanjak's 220,000 inhabitants will go to the polls, in an election conducted by the League of Nations, to vote themselves a legislature. The predominant nationality of the legislature will profoundly influence the Sanjak's destiny. That this destiny was important to its neighbors as well as . the Sanjak, was plain last week. Turkish soldiers were reported concentrating on the northern border and French Foreign Legionnaires enforced martial law in Alexandretta and Antioch. Riots had broken out between tarbooshed, orthodox Moslem Arabs and European-hatted, free-thinking Turks.

Nestling in a mountainous region along the Turkish border on the eastern Mediterranean, the 1,500-square-mile district, is a true Levantine melting pot. The Sanjak contains substantial numbers of Turks, Alaouites, Arabs, Armenians, Kurds, Greeks and Circassians. Only two and a half hours by car from railway junction Aleppo, 200 miles from Damascus (see map), the Sanjak has one irresistible attraction for Great and Small Powers alike: the landlocked Gulf of Alexandretta, even in its undeveloped state one of the safest, best ports of the Levantine coast.

As long as a great European power like France ruled over Syria, President-Dictator Kamal Atatikk ("Father of the Turks") bothered little over his Sanjak children. Two years ago, however, France agreed to relinquish her mandate in 1939, decided to split Syria into two parts (Syria and Lebanon), left the Sanjak to be governed from Damascus by Syrian "Arabs. For the Father of the Turks, the spectacle of a petty Arab nation, formerly a subject people, ruling over their oldtime Turkish masters was too much. He protested to France and the League. Twice he moved his troops to the border to "protect" his Sanjak children, once he held a military powwow on a border-bound train. Only his cautious prime minister, deaf, stubborn Ismet Inonii, persuaded him from ordering his soldiers to fire.

The Turks constitute some 40% of the population, hold 75% of the region's wealth, are by far the largest minority. France agreed to the present arrangement, which is supposed to give the Sanjak Assembly home rule, except that Syria will control foreign affairs and communications, France, Syria and Turkey will defend the Sanjak from invasion, and Turkey will have a free port in the city of Alexandretta. What Turkey was betting on was that once a Turk-dominated Assembly was seated, the Sanjak would become effectually Turkish.

But Kamal Atatuerk reckoned without the strength of Armenians, Kurds, Arabs and Circassians, all past victims of heavy Turkish oppression, who banded together for once in a firm anti-Turkish bloc.

To build up a strong Turkish majority, Dictator Kamal Atatuerk dispatched from 4,000 to 5,000 persons into the Sanjak, all carrying authentic passports indicating they were born in the district. Most striking blow against the Father of the Turks, however, was the discovery that 12.000 real Turks had registered as Arabs. The wily Arabs sent chiefs into the Alaouite districts to stir up anti-Turkish feeling, get out the vote. Most serious development was the free flow of arms into Alexandretta, creating a charged atmosphere, leading to clashes in which 100 were killed, many wounded. Meanwhile, Arab numbers grew until from neutral Near Eastern sources last week came assurances that in a free, honest count the Turks would have little chance of winning.

*Sanjak originally was Turkish for the Standard carried by a district's governor.

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