§ 3. Mr. BLISSasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether there is any likelihood of the agreement made with 2098 representatives of the Turkish Government at Berne in December last, relating to the exchange of prisoners of war, being ratified; and, if not, whether there is any possibility of inducing the Ottoman Government, through the representatives of the neutral Powers, to ameliorate the treatment and conditions of British officers and men in their hands until such time as further negotiations for exchange may be begun?
§ Mr. JAMES HOPE (Lord of the Treasury)The terms of the Berne Agreement should be as satisfactory to the Turkish Government as to His Majesty's Government, and, judging from communications received recently from Constantinople, there is reason to assume that it will be ratified. My hon. Friend will recollect that the text of the agreement, for some unknown reason, is stated only to have reached Constantinople about the 10th of February.