The Comfortable Friend

One of the mixed blessings of world leadership is the U.S. preoccupation with its many and varied allies. Around the volatile Italians, the politically neurotic French and the sensitive Spaniards, there is never a dull moment. Even those stout hearts of oak, the British, sometimes lash about and quiver like the restless bamboo.

Outside this titillating company stands the stolid Turk. He does not need to be sold on antiCommunism. U.S. aid moves him to sober appreciation, not to riot. He considers it a privilege to fight Communism in Korea--and there is no neutralism in him.

Last week Turkey's head man, solid, stolid President Celal Bayar, came to the U.S. He shook the proper hands, placed the proper wreaths on the proper tombs, beamed the proper smiles and said the proper words to Congress, diplomats and the press. His mission had no specific goal beyond an expression of friendship--no protests to make, no new loans or grants to ask--all in all, a colorless performance by the standards to which Americans have become accustomed.

Celal Bayar's life has been anything but colorless. The 70-year-old President can look back on his part in the late great Kemal Ataturk's revolt, upon the epic years when a modern nation was created upon the body of a dying empire, upon a successful career in banking, upon a break with the party founded by Ataturk, upon victory in a free election, followed by a dramatic reversal of Turkey's trend toward statism.

Few echoes of this exciting life found their way into Bayar's visit. The most interesting incident gleaned by a busy press was Bayar's smiling rescue of a bashful little boy named Ferhat Ara, who hid under a table during a reception at the Turkish Embassy.

Celal Bayar and his people are not only against Communism; they are in favor of farm tractors, free enterprise, the two-party system and children. The U.S. found Celal Bayar's visit dull and comfortable--a most welcome change.

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