Page:The Rebirth Of Turkey 1923.pdf/231

 Treaty to the new Russo-Turkish frontier in the Kars Treaty which was signed Oct. 13, 1921, brought about peace in the eastern provinces, and Azerbaijan and Afghan Ministers, accredited to Mustapha Kemal Pasha, were received in Angora. A Russian Ambassador was also received and the elaboration of consular and commercial treaties was begun.

Only three sections of the frontiers of the Turkish State now remained to be fixed—the Mosul frontier, the Smyrna frontier and the frontier in Europe. Communication with the West, with a view to the peaceful settlement of these disputed frontiers, was now open to Constantinople direct, the British command having opened the wire from the General Post-Office in Stamboul to "the interior" at the same time as it returned the deportees from Malta. The carriage road from Adabazar which was available by rail from Constantinople, on past the Greek left to Angora was also thrown open, but Greek and Circassian brigands raided it so frequently that its use was impossible without a strong guard. Access to Angora was in practice still confined to the railway from Mersina to Konia and thence by carriage to Angora, or up from the Black Sea coast through the mountains to Angora. Admission to the interior, however, was rarely granted by the Turkish Government's new representative in Stamboul, for the Greeks were still dug in before Eski-Shehr and Afium -Karahissar and the war was still on.

Conditions in Anatolia greatly improved during the winter of 1921-'22. The beginnings of a civilian administration appeared, but the military situation necessarily continued to dominate. Fevzi