File 757/1909 'Persian Gulf:- Turkey and Turkish aggression (Occupation of Zakhnuniyeh Island. Attitude in piracy cases. Mudirs at Zubara, Odaid and Wakra) British Relations with Turkey in Persian Gulf' [‎180r] (364/495)

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le nou Jegime, and the recent action of the authorities at Bagdad in the matter of the
0,1 demolitlon of Pi'emises and their intention of unnecessarily running a
roac ilough the grounds of His Majesty’s consulate-general are only instances in point.
• ^ cail ^ 10t liel P 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
pmately °i our commercial or political predominance in Irak or the Gulf, as such
asbei ions only nerve them to further attempts to diminish our prestige and undermine
our predominance.
^ iie ext ernal ^ manifestations of our special position in those regions which wound
t leir siisceptioihties are, apart from the general situation in the adjoining districts of
+n rS pV t vr 3 Q S1 u e n° f ° U n 1 ' esl( ^ nc y buildings and grounds at Bagdad, the sepoy Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank.
guaid, 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 Koweit, and his influence and
position as regards the Mumtefik, Ibn Saoud, &c., Bahrein, and El Katr, if not, indeed,
the Irucial Coast and Muscat.
^ The sepoy Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. guard and the “Comet,” which are the survival of a state of things
vlnch is passing away in proportion as Bagdad becomes accessible to the outside
world, are m a way incompatible with an effective assertion of Turkey’s territorial
soveieignty, and give a certain legitimate ground for umbrage to the Turkish
autlionties ; but until the new regime is able to stand alone without the prop of martial
lav 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-d-vis of
lurkey m the upper reaches of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
After the revival of the constitution an attempt was made to settle the question of
the British flag on Lynch’s steamers by fusing the latter with the Mehrieh Ottoman
Company, ana, had Kiamil Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. or Hilmi Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. 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 for
the present to endeavour to protect Lynch’s acquired rights, but the possibilitv of
friction ending in an anti-Lynch boycott cannot be excluded.
As regards Koweit and Sheikh Mubarek’s sphere of influence, His Majesty’s
Government m 1902 contended that he had always been independent, and that his
father had specially stipulated such independence when he allowed Turkish troops to
cross his 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 An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. accepted
by the sheikh. To this latter argument my predecessor replied that these were merely i
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 integral
part of their territory. In their mind England’s interference there was due to our
rivalry with Germany over the terminal section of and point of the Bagdad Railway,
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 in a way form one group, the
active forward policy of the Young Turk Vali of Bussorah and the Mutessarif of
El Hasa (Nejd) have already brought us into sharp conflict, and there seems no doubt
that we should insist on Turkish exclusion from the district south of Ojair. If the
Minister for Foreign Affairs, after studying the question of Zakhnuniyeh and Odied and
consulting his colleagues, does not give categorical instructions for the non-interference
or the Turkish local authorities, it would seem necessary, subject to the views ol His
Majesty’s Government, to take a strong line. For, to the Turkish mind, Zakhnuniyeh
is a sort of stepping-stone to El Katr, and perhaps even to the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. . The
Turks do not put forward any valid claims to justify their territorial acquisitions in
those parts, but it is not difficult to glean that they base their claims on the fact that
in the beginning of the sixteenth century a Turkish flotilla, under Piale Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. ,
annexed Gwadur, in South Baluchistan, and sailed up the Gulf, compelling the Arab
chiefs to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Ottoman Sultan and Caliph. They
further feel that as the dominant Islamic power they have undefined right to bring
under their allegiance and to protect the small Arab Moslem tribes, &c., in the Arabian
peninsula.
This second claim is of course untenable from an international law point of view,
and is a strange derogation from the much-vaunted principle of “ Ottomanism,” as