Bulgaria and Turkey to Negotiate Direct Over Events in Greece: New Offensive Against Rebels Begun Athens, Mar. 10, LTHOUGH still full of dangerous possibilities, the threatening situation in the Balkan area—precipitated by the Greek revolution and the subsequent massing of Turkish troops along the Bulgarian frontier—has eased perceptibly as the result of an agreement between Angora and Sofia to hold direct discussions to clarify their attitude towards events in Greece.
In order to facilitate such conversations the Bulgarian representative in Geneva has written to M, Joseph Avenol, the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, withdrawing the recent Bulgarian protest against the alleged concentration of Turkish troops in Eastern Thrace.
The formal denial by Italy that she is supporting the Greek rebels or fomenting Bulgarian ambitions to reach the Aegean sea is another factor which has helped greatly to ameliorate the situation.
The offensive, which is being directed against the insurgents in the Struma River area, on the Macedon an front, started at six o'clock this morning, being preceded by an inten ive artillery bombardment and the bombing, of enemy concentrations by government air squadrons, to General Kondylis, commander-in-chief of the government forces, who is personally directing the offensive, loyal troops expec! to occupy Serres' by this afternoon.
General Kondylis_ attributes the delay hitherto in, quelling the revolt to the weather. "We have been fight. ing the elements," he said to-day," fand not against our miserable ad-
Demichissar and that the rebels are jin full Might towards the Bulgarian border Dispatches received from Drama jand Kavalia declared that the Insurgente had evacuated those two felties and that more than 8,000 Jofticers and men had surrendered to the Loyalist forces.
In addition, st was announced that the rebels had abandoned the destroyer Elli in Kavalla harbour after the vessel had been subjected to heavy fire from the Government's warships which had bottled her up before turning their guns upon her.—United Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.