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' [‎180v] (365/495)

opposed to Islamism, supposed to be the keystone of the new regime. The first claim
is barred by the absence of effective occupation for close on three centuries, and is
consequently inadmissible, as shown by the arrangements with Germany by which
His Majesty’s Government acknowledged the latter’s rights in the Cameroons, South-
West Africa, &c.
Should the present Turkish Government prove obdurate in the matters of
Zakhnuniyeh and the Mudir of Odeid, it would be well, I think, to remember that in
applying the methods of coercion, employed under the old regime, it was a question
of bringing pressure to bear on a Sultan who did not allow such incidents to be
discussed in the native press ; whereas the present rulers, who owing to youthful
inexperience have perhaps less sense of caution and responsibility, may, through the
native press—which is not allowed to criticise their acts—rouse public opinion by
appeals to the fanaticism and ultra-national feelings of the ignorant masses, and
by depicting England as aggressively hostile to Islam. I do not, however, think that
we should be deterred by such methods. Young Turkey is now on fairly friendly
terms with Austria, despite the amputation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while, though
the Russian Embassy have been extremely complacent and apparently in relations of
most intimate friendship with the leading members of the committee, the latter’s
organs have not refrained from fierce attacks on Russia and her policy. Again, (lining
the last nine months the blandishments showered by the French Embassy and
Government on the Young Turks have not deterred them from taking up a line of
sharp antagonism to French semi-official finance in the matter of a recent loan, and
courting the displeasure of French Government circles by rather violent criticisms in
the “Tanin,” &c. .
On p. 22 of the Confidential memorandum of February 1908, respecting British
interests in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. is said to extend to El Odeid, and
the Abu Dthabi are reckoned among the Trucial chiefs, while on p. 42 Colonel
Felly is quoted as having in 1872 regarded El Cdeid as properly belonging to Aber
Dthabi. In 1904, after the appointment by the Turks of a mudir at A\ akra had been
cancelled, the Government of India expressed forcibly their view that a treaty should
be negotiated with Sheikh Ahmed, but this course was deprecated by my predecessor.
Sir Y. R. O’Conor, who regarded the conclusion of the proposed treaty as then
inopportune. Should His Majesty’s Government and the Government of India now
decide on the expediency of making such a treaty, there would seem to me no objection
from the Constantinople point of view, and the time may not be far distant when, as
advocated by Lord Lansdowne in February 1905, a comprehensive, as opposed to
piecemeal, treatment of outstanding questions in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , including the
withdrawal, absolute or against some quid pro quo, of the Turkish post at El Bidaia,
may become imperative, if, indeed, it is not forced upon us. In their despatch of the
21st February, 1907, the Government of India expressed the view that the chances of
Turkey re-establishing her authority in Eastern Arabia to be remote, and even
contemplated the prospect of the Turks disappearing altogether from the whole of
Arabia south of Zobehr. The revival of the Turkish constitution in 1908 and the
events of the last two years have considerably, if not profoundly, modified the situation
in the near East. The Turkish revolution was not merely a change of regime and
m
reign, as it appeared to some, but meant the awakening of new and powerful forces on
the lines of an Asiatic or Turkish revival, fl In 1903 our position in the Gulf seemed
threatened by Russia, and Lord Lansdowne’s declaration in the House of Lords had in
view the possible aggressive expansion of other Powers than Turkey ; but the latter is
now bent on an active and forward policy there, and after the recent acquisition of
money in Paris and additions to her fleet from Germany, we may soon see one or more
Turkish naval units cruising in the Gulf. A ship flying the Turkish flag will certainly
produce a greater effect on the Arabs than did the “ Yariag,” while the meddlesome
tactlessness of Turkish naval officers and their desire to have coaling stations, &c., may
give rise to troublesome incidents.
I was recently confidentially informed of the drift of a report on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
and England’s position there compiled by Mahmoud Bey, the Ottoman consul-general
at Bombay, and his subordinate Jelal Bey, both of whom seem to be keen and active
officials. The report sketches the way in which Great Britain has built up her influence
by generous pecuniary treatment of the Arab chiefs at Muscat and elsewhere, and
urges that the Ottoman Government should employ similar methods, which, it says,
ought to be more successful than those of England, owing to the Islamic tie between
the Arabs and the Turks.
Some remarks in this despatch may sound like severe criticism of the policy of the
present rulers of Turkey, and I may perhaps point out that my official and private -