The Turkish Peace — Page 47
47 against Christians. Again, it defies justice for the [port city of] Smyrna to fall under Greek rule. A national minority which forms a majority in a particular city or place does not entitle it rights of governance. No such political principle exists and [the implementation of something like this] can only be a source of future conflict. Such a policy will, in a few years, inevitably lead to the Greeks of Smyrna fomenting instability in the surrounding territories as they seek to enlarge their sphere of inf luence. Further, there was no reason for control of Thrace to be taken from Turkey and given to the Greeks. Even the British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, conceded that the Turks formed the majority of the population there. How then can the handover of this territory to Greece be justified? Even if a later statement made by a British minister claimed that larger parts of the population in this territory are non-Turks, the fact remains that a significant portion of them are still Muslims. Therefore, if the Turks must cede their control on the grounds that a majority of the population are not Turkish, there is even less justification for Greece to govern there. Under these circumstances, the territory should become an independent state. Handing control over to the Greeks