ملف رقم ١٦٠ لسنة ١٩٠٣ "الخليج الفارسي: قطر؛ تعيين مديرين أتراك؛ مسألة معاهدة الحماية مع قطر" [و‎‎٥‎٩] (٨٦٠/١٢٢)

the new regime, and the recent action of the authorities at Bagdad in the matter of the
arbitrary demolition of Lynch’s premises and their intention of unnecessarily running a
road through the grounds of His Majesty’s consulate-general are only instances in point.
One cannot help sympathising with the desire of a regained consciousness of national
independence to assert itself, but the present mental attitude of the Young Turks is
rather destructive and devoid of a feeling of give and take. Given this frame of mind
it would seem only prudent of us not to remind them either in the public press or
privately of our commercial or political predominance in Irak or the Gulf, as such
assertions only nerve them to further attempts to diminish our prestige and undermine
our predominance.
The external manifestations of our special position in those regions which wound
their susceptibilities are, apart from the general situation in the adjoining districts of
South Persia, the size of our residency buildings and grounds at Bagdad, the sepoy
guard, the R.I.M.S. “ Comet,” the British flag flown by two of Lynch’s steamers on
Turkey’s internal waters, the status of the Sheikh of Ivoweit, and^ his influence and
position as regards the Mumtefik, Ibn Saoud, &c., Bahrein, and El Katr, if not, indeed,
the Trucial Coast and Muscat. _ .
The sepoy guard and the u Comet,” which are the survival of a state of things
which is passing away in proportion as Bagdad becomes^ accessible to^tbe outside
world, are in a wny incompatible with an effective assertion of turkeys territorial
sovereignty, and give a certain legitimate ground for umbrage to the Turkish
authorities ; but until the new regime is able to stand alone without the prop of martial
law in the capital, if not, indeed, until the time comes to do away with the Capitula
tions, it would seem premature to consider any suggestion towards abolishing them,
except, perhaps, as part of a general bargain or liquidation of our position vis-a-vis of
Turkey in the upper reaches of the Persian Gulf. - 4 ?
After the revival of the constitution an attempt was made to settle tho question ox
the British flag on Lynch’s steamers by fusing the latter with the Mehrieh Ottoman
Company, and, had Kiamil Pasha or Hilmi Pasha retained power, the scheme would
doubtless have been sanctioned; but, as will be remembered, a section of the committee
took up an uncompromising attitude, the project fell through, and it only remains or
the present to endeavour to protect Lynch’s acquired rights, but the possibility o±
friction ending in an anti-Lynch boycott cannot be excluded. .
As regards Koweit and Sheikh Mubarek’s sphere of _ influence, His Majesty s
Government in 1902 contended that he had always been independent, and that his
father had specially stipulated such independence when he allowed B'^sh Moops to
cross liis territory during Midhat Pasha’s expeditions to El Hasa (called Nejd by the
Turks) The Turks maintained that Koweit was an integral portion of the Ottoman
Empire and pointed to the Turkish flag flown there, and the grade of pasha accepted
bv the sheikh. To this latter argument my predecessor replied that these were mere y
emblems of the sheikh’s spiritual dependence on the Caliph, and the status quo basis
was agreed to, but the Turks interpreted it as meaning that Koweit was an Integra
part of their territory. In their mind England’s interference there was^ due to our
rivalrv with Germany over the terminal section of and point of the Bagdad Rai vwy,
and they expect to get the question settled favourably to their contention when final
arrangements are made for the completion of that enterprise.
As regards Zakhnuniyeh, El Katr, and Bahrein which m a way form one group, the
active forward policy of the Young Turk Yali of Bussorah and the Mutessarif of
FI Hasa (Nejd) have already brought us into sharp conflict, and there seems no doub
tharwe sS insist on Turkish exclusion from the district south of Omir If the
Minister for Foreign Affairs, after studying the question of Zakhnuniyeh and Odied an
consulting his colleagues, does not give categorical instructions for the non-mter eren
ofX Turkish local authorities, it would seem necessary, subject to the views o£ His
Matsty’s Government, to take a strong line. For, to the Turkish mind Zakhnuniyeh
onnexed Gwadur, in South Baluchistan, and sailed up the Gulf, compe l ^ <
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and is a strange derogation from the much-vaunted principle of Ottomamsm,