§ Mr. HUME-WILLIAMSasked the hon. Member for Sheffield (Central Division), whether any of the 1,000 British prisoners in Turkey recently agreed to be exchanged have yet started; if not, will he say how soon it is hoped they will be able to do so; and whether any of the camps in Turkey where prisoners are interned have been inspected since the Berne Agreement, and with what result?
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Mr. J. HOPEThe Turkish Government have not yet given notice of the date upon which the 1,000 British invalid prisoners to be exchanged will be ready for embarkation; and I fear that in the most favourable circumstances it must be a considerable time before the first exchange takes place. It is unnecessary to add that His Majesty's Government have urged the Turkish Government to take the requisite measures at as early a date as possible. No inspections of internment camps in Turkey under the Berne Agreement have yet taken place, but a representative appointed by the Netherland Government to the Netherland Legation at Constantinople for this purpose left The Hague on the 24th instant, so that it may be hoped that the inspections will shortly begin.