THE MIDDLE EAST

TURKEY (pop. 20,902,000): most progressive Moslem country, with constitutional government, compulsory schooling, woman suffrage. Head of state: President CELAL BAYAR, 67. Armed forces: 350,000 men, 22,000 officers, with a potential strength of 2,000,000; high on courage, low on equipment, planes, training.

IRAN (pop. 18,381,000): Head of state: SHAH MOHAMED, 31. Premier: MOHAMMED MOSSADEQ. Only large organized political party: the Tudeh (Masses, i.e., Communists). Army: 145,000 men, outdated equipment. Main issue: oil.

IRAQ (pop. 4,799,000): slice of Ottoman Empire mandated to the British after World War I, served up to Hashemite King Feisal I (Abdullah's younger brother) in 1921; independent since 1932; a constitutional monarchy. Head of state: KING FEISAL II, 16. Premier: NURI AL SAID, 63. Militant member of the Arab League. Army: three divisions, outdated British equipment. British work oil concessions with Americans, French and Dutch--so far without trouble.

SYRIA (pop. 3,227,000): another slice of Ottoman Turkey mandated to France after World War I; republic, completely independent since 1946. Head of state: President HASHIM BEY ATASSI, 85. Real boss: Colonel ADIB SHISHAKLI who seized power in a coup late in 1949. Army: 25,000, one armored brigade, French equipment, weak staff. Militant member of the Arab League.

LEBANON (pop. 1,229,000, half of them Christians): independent republic; split off from Syria in 1941. Head of state: President BECHARA EL KHOURY, 61. Capital, Beirut, is an intellectual center with famed American University. Army: tiny but loyal to government, with 5,000 men. Member of Arab League.

JORDAN (pop. 450,000): British mandate after World War I; 1921 an Emirate; in 1946, a kingdom ruled by the Hashemite family. Since KING ABDULLAH'S assassination last week, a regency under PRINCE NAIF. Army: 15,000-man British-trained Arab Legion, best Arab fighting force. Member of Arab League, but at odds with it over Hashemite aspirations for a union with Iraq, Syria, Lebanon.

SAUDI ARABIA (estimated pop. 3,500,000): desert domain of KING IBN SAUD, 71, who took parts of it by force in 1925 from Hussein, the Sherif of Mecca and Abdullah's father; in theory, a theocracy; in fact, an absolute monarchy. Member of the Arab League. Ibn Saud's main income: $100 million yearly in royalties for oil concessions to Aramco. Army: 15,000, plus tribal irregulars. At Dhahran: important U.S. air base.

ISRAEL (pop. 1,400,000): independent republic since May 1948. Head of state: President CHAIM WEIZMAN, 77. Prime Minister: Socialist DAVID BEN-GURION, 65. Universally hated by Arab, states. Army: 70,000 men, well-trained.

EGYPT (pop. 20,045,000): in World War I a British protectorate; fully independent since 1936. Head of state: KING FAROUK, 31. Premier: MUSTAFA EL NAHAS PASHA, 74. Strongest party: the Wafd (conservative nationalist). Army: 80,000 British-equipped, but poorly officered. A loud voice in the Arab League.

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