'Persian Gulf précis. (Parts I and II)' [‎35r] (69/120)

APPENDIX III.
Dated India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , London, the 13th (received 30th) April 1911 (Secret.)
From—F. A. H irtzel , Esq., C.B., Secretary, Political Department, India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ,
London,
To —The Hon'ble Lieutenant-Colonel Sir A. H. McMahon, K.C .I .E., C.S.I.,
Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department.
With reference to our letter to Foreign Office of 6th instant about Turkish aggression in the
• Foreign Office to India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , Uth April 1911, and Gulf (copy enclosed in my weekly letter No. 14
enclosure. . of 7th instant), I enclose copy of demi-official
I«d,. Office t« Foreign office, 12ft April 19u. correspondence* with the Foreign Office which
has taken place since.
Mr. R. P. Maxwell to Mr. Hirtzel.
Foreign Office,
11th April 1911,
Your official letter of 6th April marked immediate respecting the steps to be taken in
case Turkish acts of aggression become intolerable
1 enclose, for your confidential use, a X!opy of a memorandum which was s?nt by Sir A.
Nicolson on 6th March last to the Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence with a
request that it might be considered as soon as possible. A further communication has now
been addressed to Sir C. Ottley by Sir A. Nicolson asking that the question may be considered
early next month. I understand also that the Military and Naval experts are considering the
question now so as to be ready with their views when the Committee meets.
Yours very truly,
R. P. Maxwell.
P.S.—l write this privately because these C. I. D. papers are not dealt with officially
here—so will you please take this as an answer to your official letter of 6th April.
(Secret.)
Foreign Office,
6th March 1911.
Memorandum concerning Turkish aggression in the Persian Gulp.
1. Kuwaif.— lhz only act of aggression taken by the Turks as regards Kuwait is in con
nection with the Shaikh's Fedhagia property. This is a large estate on the Shat-el-Arab
purchased by the Shaikh about two years ago for JST^OOO. On previous occasions when the
Shaikh has bought land in Turkey he has had no difficulty in registering the transactions in
the local land office. In the present case the office has refused registration unless the Shaikh
enters himself as an Ottoman subject. This, acting on the advice of the British Agent at
Kuwait, he has hitherto declined to do.
There is, however, a constant possibility that Turkish aggression on Kuwait might take a
more direct form than this. Um Kasr Fort, at the head of Khor Abdullah, has been occupied
by a detachment of Turkish soldiers, but it cannot be said with confidence that Um Kasr
should really be regarded as within the ill-defined limits of the Shaikh's territories. There has
also been a small post on Warba and Bubiyan islands, which are considered as being undoubted!v
Kuwait territory. But if the Turks really wished to encroach on Kuwait they would probably
have very little difficulty in finding a plausible pretext. The embroilments which the Shaikh
occasionally has with neighbouring tribes, such as that with tLe Muntafik Arabs in 191U,
might furnish the Turks with specious grounds for active interveutiun; and with the
levelling tendencies which the present regime has displayed in various parts of the Empire,
it can hardly be doubted that the Turks would welcome a pretext for action if other conditions
were favourable to them. In such an eventuality we might fiud Turkish soldiers at Kuwait
itself.
2. Zakhnuniyeh. —This is a small sandy island about ten miles south-east of Ujair (the
southernmost point to which His Majesty's Government regard Turkish sovereignty as
extending) and close to the mainland. It has been occupied by Turkish soldiers or gendarmes
in 19U9 and 19iU. On each occasion the Porte has been informed that the island is claimed by
the Shaikh of Bahrain, by whose subjects it has been used for fishiug purposes, and that t&e
presence of the Turkish flag constitutes an infringement of the atatas quo. On each occasion,
in one manner or another, the island has been evacuated.