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MAJDR SHifTS ON THE IDRlD SCENE
SHORT-LI'IED SMIL.ES.
Soviet
Forelgn Minister Gromyko.
"flllt
and
Japanese Prime Mlnlsler Mikl
chal
emlc.bly
in mld-Janvery - just
days prior to Japan
's
decision
ro
conclvde
a
peace rreaty w/lh China.
Moscow Rebuffed
"APAN AND
CHINA
X
FORGE CLOSER LINKS
~
heavy' diploma tic
1
pressure from the Soviet Union,
Japao decided in mid-January
of rhis year ro ftnally cooclude
a
peac:e
tteaty wtth Russia's arch–
rival China. formally ending
World War
11.
Tbe move
heralds
a much doser relationsbip 1»
rween Japan and lhe People's
Republic in the years ahead.
Thc
Ja~anese
were on the
verge of s•gning a similar pact
with the Soviet Union. but re–
jected the idea aner a
beavy–
handed last·m•nure visit by
So–
viet Foretgn Minister Andrei
Gromyko. The Jap8J!ese feh
lhat Gromyko's purpose was to
drive a "wedge" between Japan
and China. lronically, what
Gromyko succeeded in doing
was to drive
a
wedge between
Japan and Russia. The Japa–
oese bave now abandoned tbe11
lfaditional " poticy of equidi.s–
tance" whereby tbey lried
lO
maintain equally good relations
with both Moscow and Pekiog.
The Soviet Union is particu ·
larly irked at a pan in the texr
of the treaty which bi.nds botb
Japan and China to resist aoy
attempt on tbe
pan
or a tbird
nation (meaning. obviously, the
Russians) to achieve "bege·
mony" (or domination) in Asia.
This means that both Japan and
China are now on record as op–
posing Soviet expansion in Asia
and !he Paciftc.
And tbere are severa! in–
dicaiJons that the Soviet Unioo
indeed does have such plaos.
Contiouing pressure on thc Chi–
nesc border, inereased Soviet
MARCH
1976
navalstrength in the Paciftc. the
economic development of Si–
heria, and Brezbnev's proposed
sccurity pact for all ofAsia have
s•gnaled to the Japanese that
tbe Soviets bave bopes of pusb-.
tng their inJiuence castward.
Anolher reasoo wby the Jap–
anese bave tumcd away from
Moscow and now look lo Pe–
king is the refusal on the pan of
the U.S.S.R. to rerurn a number
of former Japanese islands
which carne under its control as
part of the
Y
alta ayeement
af.
ter World Wu
11.
( lronicaUy,
the czar had officially repu–
diated any Russian claim on the
islands years before.) The Rus–
sians insisted from the begin–
ning tbat retum of the islands
was "nonnegotiable." Two
e~
ceptions were held out : lf
Tolcyo would sigo wilb lhe Rus–
sians
and
remove American
bases from the Japanesc maín–
land. then the Sovtet.l would
give back two of the lesser,
nonstrategic islands which the
Japanese claim. The Japanese
gave tbis ill-disguiscd attempt
lO
reduce
American anftuence in
Asia a cool reception.
Another problem for the Rus–
sians was their own diplomacy.
The Japanese complained that
the Russian diplomats with
whom they had to negotiate
were awkward, rude, and sccre–
live. Furthermore, even while
the talb were bemg conducted.
Russian vesscls continued 10
shoot at Japanese fuhing ships
in the northern Pacifte. and
(Conrinued on page 4.
~o/.
5)
Healing HistorieWounds
TURKEY BOLSTERS TIES
WITH THE SOVIET UNION
Uncerta.inly in
its
relations
with the West
is
moving Turkey
10ward friendtier ties witb tts
long-time adversary, tbe Soviet
Union.
As a result ofthesudden U.S.
arms embargo levied against
'furkey last year, Turkish offi –
cials no longcr feel they can be
assured of support from lhe"
distan! American allies in the
even¡ of any future rnilltary
oonfroot.ation witb !be U.S.S.R.
Talting a eue from the U.S.,
thcy bave therefore begun en–
gaging in
a
bit of their own
d~
tente-making in an attempt to
case tensions witb tbeir giant
neighbor to the oorth.
Congress cut off
arms
aid
10
Turkey in February
1975
when
Ankara
used
American
weapoos
m
its invastonofCyprus. Tluswasa
sbarp blow lo tbe primarily
American-equipped Turkish
army. In retaliation, Turkey
closed <jown sorne
26
U.S. bases
in tbe oountcy lastJuly, including
scnsitive U.S. tistening posts
wbich eavesdropped on the
soutbem Soviet Union.
Altbough tbe U.S. ban on
anns shipments was relaxed lasr
Octo,ber, Turkey has failed
10
rcopen the bases.
lt
is generally
believed il will not do so until
Coogress promises mihtary
yaots and credits to Turkey for
1976,
which tbus far
has
not
been done.
H
istory of Antagonism
Turkey and the Soviet Union.
who shore a 380·mile frontier,
possess a centuries-long bistory
of confrontation and war.
lt
was
not unul !923 that Kemal Ata–
turk - wbose revolt in tbat year
had founded the Turkish Re–
public on !he ashes of the Otto·
man Empire - and Vladimir
Lenin signed a treaty of friend–
sbip and nonaggression.
But following World War 11,
the Kremlin denounced the
pact and Stalin demanded tern·
tottal concessions in eastern
Turkey, and even more impor–
tan!, a Soviet base on the Dar–
danelles - part of lhat narrow
passageway '!fhich provides !he
Soviet navy with its only outlet
from the Black Sea into the
strategic Mediterranean.
As
a
result of tbose Sovtet
pressures, Turkey moved into
the Westem camp and. in
19S2.
bccame a membcr
or
the
NATO alliance.
FoUowing sorne two decades
of Cold War confrontation.
TUtlcey and the Soviet Union
began reestablishins contaccs in
the late
1960s.
Various devel–
opment prOJeciS were initiatcd,
including the large lskenderun
iron and
steel
combine and an
aluminum factory at Seydisehir,
north oftbe Taurus mountains.
In
1975,
the Soviet Union
backed Tutkcy
m
1ts
oonfrontatioo
witbGreece ovcrCyprus. fearing
Greekconttoloflheislandwould
turn il into
a
possible NATO
••aircraft carrier."
Now, with problems in its re–
lations with the United States
and Western Europe (wbere
Turk~y
is an associate member
of the EEC), Ankua appears to
be finalizmg the proc:ess of rec–
oocitiation wnb the Soviets.
In December, Soviet Prcmier
Ale~ei
Kosygin paid a 4-day
visir
10
the Turkish capital at
Tuc–
key's invitation. The meeting
resultcd
in
a promise that the
two nations would sigo a upotit-
ical documeot on friendly rcla–
tions and
cooperat1on"
at a
bigh-level meeting in tbe near
fulure. The final joint commu–
mqué noted tbat the talks were
in the "tradition of friendly
co–
operation established by Kemal
Ataturk and Lenin."
· The communiqué also said
tbat Premier Demirel and Turk-
1Sh
Presiden! Fahri Koruturk
had accc:pted invitahons to visll
Moscow.
Al home. bowever, Premier
Demirel rernains as adamantly
opposed ro domestic commu–
oLSm
as
ever. And as the Soviet
Union still supports
e~iled
Turkish communists, Demirel is
sttll suspicious of the Kremlin's
ultimare designs
on
Turkey.
Sorne Turks feel the Soviet
Union's objective - domtnance
and. if possible, control over the
Bosporus-Dardanelles water–
way - has not changed, only
her tactics for achieving it. They
believe tbe Kremlin is trying to
(Conrin11ed on page 4,
~ol.
1)
Common Market Green
Ligbt
GREECE TO BECOME
NUMBERTEN?
BRUSSELS: Ncgotiations to
make Grcece the tentb member
of the European Eoooomic
Cornrnunity should start
as
soon
as possible. This was tbe deci–
sion rnade here in Brussels,
tbe n.ight of February 9, by
the nine foreign ministers of
tbe European Community.
Their decis1on overrides the
recommendation last montb by
the European Commission that
Greece should undergo a pro–
longed period of structural
change before being adrnitted
10
tbe Europe of Nine.
Greece lirsl apptied for mem·
bersltip to the Community last
year afler shakiog off' its mili–
tary dictatorship in
1974.
Ouring the next few monlhs,
the comrnittee ofpermanent rep–
resenta
ti
ves orthenine nations in
Brussels will work out
a
negotiat–
ing mandare which
will
then be
approved by the Council ofMin–
ISters.
This
IS
expected by Eu–
rope.'ssummcrvacationthis:ycar,
after which time formal negotia–
tions wiU begin. They are
e~-
pected to last for sorne umc.
perhaps rwo or
tbrec
years.
There
are
a number of eoo–
nornic problems to be over–
comc~
such as a rclatively weak
industrial base in Greece and
the fact that a large scgment of
lhe population
is
still •nvolved
in agnculture. Nevertbeless, the
decision made here yesterday
underUned tbe general feeling
that despite the eoonomie prob–
lems, the political factor is more
importan!. As Council of Minis–
ters Presiden!, Gastoo Thorn,
satd : " Politically they'll come in
when they want; economically
they'll come in when they can.'j
For years.
Plain Tl'llth
has
warned its readers that, based
on biblical prophecy. there
would arise an eod-time. ten–
nation union in Europe which
would eventuaUy becorne
a
new
superpower to challens e both
the United Sta\C$ and thc Sovtct
Unton. Tbe new decis1on re–
garding Greece could be a sig–
niflcant move in such
a
development.
O
3