§ 33. Mr. SNELLasked the Prime Minister whether, seeing that the verbal notification, which the Allied High Commissioners caused to be made to the Turkish authorities, that the Turkish law prohibiting the sale of alcohol in Constantinople must not be made effective, constituted an interference with the internal affairs of the Turkish Empire which is incompatible with Turkish sovereignty, he will issue instructions to the British High Commissioner to withdraw his opposition to the wishes of the Turkish Government in this matter?
§ Mr. McNEILLIn reply to the first part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave to the supplementary question by the hon. and gallant Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Colonel Wedgwood) on this subject on the 17th instant. I would also 2241 remind the hon. Member that the state of war which was begun by Turkey's attack on the Allies in October, 1914, has not yet been brought to an end, and that the question of the rights now claimed by Turkey, to legislate for Allied subjects in matters where such rights did not exist before the War, is one which must be settled by the terms of the Treaty of Peace, and which cannot be decided by unilateral action on the part of the Turkish authorities in anticipation of that Treaty. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.