'Mesopotamia' [‎55v] (110/152)

100
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS fNo. 92
])artly to a general desire to limit the interests ot
Great Britain in the trade of Mesopotamia, but partly
also to the increase in importance of the trade done
on the rivers by the Turkish Hamadieh Company,
which was owned by the Turkish Civil List, hrom a
British point of view, the question became suddenly
extremely urgent when the Baghdad Railway Con
vention gave the concessionnaires the right to construct
harbours at Baghdad and Basra and on the Persian
Gulf as an integral part of the railway scheme. It
was clear that the control of these harbours, when
built, would mean the control of the rivers, and pro
bably the ultimate exclusion of Great Britain from the
trade of Mesopotamia.
Ultimately, in 1913, negotiations were entered into
in London between representatives of the British and
Turkish Governments, the outcome of which was the
grant by the Turkish Government of a concession to
Lord Inchcape (the Chairman of the British India
Steam Navigation Company, and therefore the repre
sentative of the strongest interest in British trade in
Mesopotamia). Its principal terms were as follows:—
1. Lord Inchoape was granted
(a) The exclusive right of navigation by steamers
and the like (with or without barges in tow)
on the Tigris from Kurna to Mosul, on the
Euphrates from Kurna to Meskene, on the
Shatt el-Arab, and on their navigable tribu
taries and canals, for a period of 60 years in the
first instance, and thereafter for successive
periods of 10 years unless and until determined
by the Turkish Government by 5 years' notice.
(/>) The right to carry out dredging and conservancy
works over the waters included in the concession
(provided that such works should not interfere
with irrigation), and to make the regulations
necessary for the proper control of navigation.
The Turkish Government on its part undertook
not to permit the use of the rivers for irrigation
to the prejudice of navigation.