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File 1356/1912 Pt 2 'Turco-Persian Frontier:- negotiations at Constantinople. (Mohammerah Boundary)' [‎154r] (316/680)

The record is made up of 1 volume (334 folios). It was created in 26 Aug 1912-4 Sep 1913. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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[This Document is the
Property of Eis Britannic Matiesty’s Government,]
[April 30.]
Section 4.
Sir G. Lcwther to Sir Edward Grey .— [Received April 30.)
(No. 352.)
Sir, Constantinople, April 26, 1913.
WITH reference to my telegram No. 196 of the 16th instant, 1 have the honour
to transmit to you herewith copy of a memorandum, showing the Hue which my Russian
colleague and I have agreed to recommend to our Governments as the future Turco-
Per si an frontier in the Zohab district. If the line is approved by His Majesty’s and
the Russian Governments M. de Giers proposes to append this memorandum to a note
which he will address to the Ottoman Minister for Foreign Affairs, in accordance with
the promise of a further communication on the subject of the frontier in these districts
contained in his note to the Porte of the 10 th April (my despatch No. 302 of the
12 th April). M. de Giers has been so good as to furnish me with the draft of this note,
which he is about to submit to the approval of his Government, and I enclose a copy of
these herewith.
This document, which in substance is a reply to the annexe to the Turkish note to
his Excellency of the 31st March, on the one hand rebuts the arguments adduced by
the Porte in support of Turkish proposals for the modification of the frontier, and on
the other explains the reasons which, we consider, justify our counter-proposals. The
draft note ends by suggesting that Great Britain and Russia should be represented
in the commission which is to be appointed for the actual demarcation of the new
frontier line. f
The description of the frontier given in our memorandum is based on the original
identic map, a photographic reproduction of which, produced in St. Petersburgh in or
about the year 1873, has recently been discovered at the Russian Embassy, and which,
as it contained greater and more accurate detail than the reduced copy prepared at the
Survey Office at Southampton in that year, seem more suitable for the purpose. There
is, however, no difficulty in following the proposed line on the latter map.
The frontier that we suggest corresponds in the main with the second proposals of
Messrs. Orloff and Soane and, therefore, provides for the cession of Tchia Sourkh to
Turkey, but our recommendations differ from that proposition in that they reserve to
Persia the district south ofShemiran, to the east of the Bn mu range, and also the valley
of Serkala. As regards the former district, we have thought it as well to keep some
further concession in reserve in the event of further bargaining with the Porce, while as
to the latter, apart from the reasons set forth in my telegram No. 152 of the 18th ultimo,
the Russian Ambassador is unwilling to cede the valley to 'Turkey, as it possesses some
strategic value in the facility it offers for attack on the town of Zohab. We have
entirely declined to accede to the Turkish pretensions to the Sinjabi and Kalhur districts
south of Zohab, although we suggest that the opportunity should be taken to reach a
settlement of the long-standing dispute about Genguir.
1 only received the enclosed document from M. de Giers yesterday evening, and it
has been impossible to prepare a corresponding draft note for presentation to the Porte
in time to transmit it to you for your approval by this post. The form of M. de Giers’s
note, and the fact that no written negotiations on the present phase of the Turco-Persian
frontier negotiations have yet taken place between the Turkish Government and
ourselves here, precludes the possibility of an absolutely identic note, and I therefore
propose to prepare and forward to you by next post a draft embodying the arguments
employed in the Russian draft and to attach it to the memorandum on Zohab. I
venture to hope that by this means the identic character of our communications on this
point will be sufficiently preserved, but the final form of the note cannot be suggested
by me, as I am not yet in possession of the text of Hakki Pasha’s written
communication.
Unless you consider that a separate communication on the subject is preferable I
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Content

The volume discusses the ongoing negotiations in Constantinople between the Ottoman, British and Russian Governments through 1912 and 1913 regarding the Turco-Persian Frontier. Also discussed is the decision in July 1913 to establish a delimitation commission to which Albert Charles Wratislaw and Arnold Talbot Wilson are appointed as representatives of the British Government.

Also discussed in the volume is the region of Kermanshah and in particular Qasr-i-Shirin [Qaşr-e Shīrīn], along with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's concerns over the rights accorded to them in their 1901 concession should some of that territory be ceded to Turkey.

Further discussion relates to the movements of Russian and Turkish troops near the frontier and the withdrawal of Turkish troops from certain places along the frontier.

This volume is part two of two. Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (334 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 1356 (Turco-Persian Frontier) consists of 2 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/266-267. The volumes are divided into 2 parts, with each part comprising one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 334; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the two leading and ending flyleaves. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 1356/1912 Pt 2 'Turco-Persian Frontier:- negotiations at Constantinople. (Mohammerah Boundary)' [‎154r] (316/680), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/267, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100029736523.0x000075> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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