File 1855/1904 Pt 9 'Koweit:- Relations with Turkey. Sheikhs claim to Bubiyan, Warba & Umkasr' [‎272r] (145/228)

iThis Document j-sJ.he Propert y of His B rita nnic Maj e . „ G6vernmen
KOWEIT.
[May 23.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
Section 2-
No. 1.
Sif N. O’Conor to the Marquess of Lansdowne.—{Received May 23.)
(No. 372. Confidential.)
My Lord, Constantinople, May 16, 1904.
WITH reference to your Lordship’s despatch No. 178 of the 10th instant, I have
the honour to report that I reminded the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the remarks I
had made to his Excellency in March 1902, as reported to your Lordship in my despatch
No. 144 of the 25th March, in regard to the establishment of Turkish military posts at
Um Kasr and Bubian Island.
I said that, in expressing astonishment and regret at these proceedings, I had distinctly
reserved the Sheikh of Koweit’s rights to these places, and had deprecated a disturbance
of the status quo. I had hoped that, in consequence of these representations, the Imperial
Government would have taken an early opportunity of withdrawing their soldiers from
both these places. Two years had elapsed since then, and, according to a report which
had lately been received and to which your Lordship had drawn my attention, no steps
had apparently been taken in this direction, and it appeared that a military post of some
ten men was still maintained on Bubian Island. I trusted, therefore, that his Excellency
would see the propriety of causing these soldiers to be withdrawn, and save me from the
unpleasant duty of returning to the subject again in a more unpleasant form, which I
should be obliged to do unless the matter was arranged within a short time.
Tewfik Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. remarked, in reply, that though the Sheikh of Koweit enjoyed a sort
of semi-independence, and had a special understanding with His Majesty’s (iovernment,
the limits of his province were very vague, and it was desirable that proofs should be
produced showing that Bubian Island belonged to him. The mere fact that Koweit
fishermen repaired there annually was in itself no proof of possession or ownership, and
if an incident like this justified a claim to possession, there was no saying where his
demands would end.
I said there was no danger of the Sheikh of Koweit preferring unreasonable claims,
and still less of their being supported by His Majesty’s Government if he attempted to do
so, but I considered his claim to Bubian was fully justified, and it seemed an undoubted
fact that his supremacy and authority in Bubian, which was annually occupied by one of
theKoweit tribes, had not been questioned till the Ottoman Government had sent a
nnlltary detachment there in 1902. The island was probably of little or no importance
pecuniarily, but a denial of His Highness’ authority and rights would be a serious blow
to his prestige and influence in Koweit itself, and His Majesty’s Government, who had
done so much to preverit his interference in the internecine troubles of those parts, were
bound to see that he did not suffer in consequence of their advice and protection.
The Minister did not pursue the conversation, and it ended by his saying that he
would submit the question in the proper quarter.
In replying to the Minister, I evaded as far as possible entering into a discussion
as to the Sheikh of Koweit’s rights to Bubian Island, for reasons which I venture to
think will be obvious to your Lordship on referring to paragraph 5 of the Government
of India’s Secret despatch No. 25 of the 4th February last, of which a copy was inclosed
in your Lordship’s despatch No. 107 of the 22nd March.
I thought it also advisable, on the grounds stated in my despatch No. 249 of the
5th April last, not to entirely disconnect the question of the evacuation of Um Kasr
with that of Bubian Island, and for the further reason that it opens the door to a sort of
compromise, which is always agreeable to the Oriental mind, and which may, in this
instance, render it easier to obtain satisfaction in regard to Bubian Island.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
N. K. O’CONOR.
[1986 z~2]