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File 4880/1913 Pt 2 'Turco-Persian Frontier Commission: protocol of 1913' [‎287r] (441/499)

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The record is made up of 1 item (248 folios). It was created in 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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CONFIDENTIAL.
(No. 204.) R.
Sir Edward Grey to Sir G. Buchanan (St. Petershurgh).
Foreign Office, March 9, 1913, 12'30 p.m.
PLEASE make a communication in the following sense to Russian Minister for
Foreign Affairs for his confidential information :—
Hakki Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. has been discussing informally here various questions connected
vdth the assent of His Majesty’s Government to the proposed 4 per cent, customs
increase. As the Russian Government are aware, the recognition of the frontier
status quo, in the neighbourhood of Mohammerah, as described in the British note of
18th July, 1912, forms one of the desiderata put forward by His Majesty’s Govern
ment.
Hakki Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. said that he recognised that the question must now be settled,
and that the adoption of a definite line would be in the best interests of Turkey
herself; but he said the whole frontier line was interdependent, and the south
our view-; and that the Russian note of 1912 seemed to outline a very just and desirable
solution.
He then said that he would like to lay before the Grand Vizier, and strongly
recommend the adoption of, a formula, which his Highness could put forward at
Constantinople. The formula he is understood to contemplate is as follows :—
“ 1. Admettre que la frontiere, dans toute son etendue, depuis le Mont Ararat
jusqu’au Golfe Persique, se trouve dans les limites de la zone indiquee sur la carte
‘ identique.’
“ 2. Pour la partie septentrionale de la frontiere, depuis le Mont Ararat jusqu’a
la hauteur du 36 e degre de latitude, accepter la ligne indiquee dans la note russe
“ 3. A partir du 32 e degre de latitude jusqu’au Golfe Persique, accepter la ligne
indiquee dans la note anglaise du 18 juillet, 1912.
“ 4. Pour les regions comprises entre les 32 e et 36 e degres de latitude, accepter
le statu quo actuel, tout en offrant a la Turquie comme compensation dans^ les
regions au nord et au sud de Zohab (ville) les districts occupes par les tribus Sunnites,
ainsi que, du cote de Mendalli, quelques endroits a determiner ulterieurement. Les
villes de Zohab et de Kasr-i-Shirine resteraient en possession dela Perse.”
Hakki Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. said that it was necessary to save the Government from adverse
criticism, and that to do this the settlement must appear in the light of a compromise
and not of a Turkish surrender all along the line. He also said that Turkey might
ask for certain minor compensations in the north, but within the “ zone.” He asked if
His Majesty’s Government would support Turkey in this formula.
He was informed in reply that it would be impossible for His Majesty’s Govern
ment to undertake to do this without consultation with the Russian Government, who
were even more interested than His Majesty’s Government; but that, if the Grand
Vizier replied to the Russian and British notes at Constantinople, and put forward
proposals on the above lines, they would be examined there on their merits : w T hile
His Majesty’s Government attached great importance to a final settlement of
the whole question without further delay, and had therefore taken the opportunity of
the informal discussions with him to emphasise this wish, they would deprecate trans
ferring the formal negotiations from Constantinople to London. He recognised that
this v r ould be undesirable.
The gist of his argument was that if Turkey accepted Russia’s wishes in the north,
and our wishes in regard to the south, she ought to receive some compensation in the
middle.
(Repeated to Tehran, No. 115, and Constantinople, No. 132.)
could not be settled and the north left undecided. He w r as informed that this w r as
de 1912.
[409-200]
! COPY TO INDIA
! 9 13
I SECRETARY'S NS....U

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Content

Correspondence, reports and maps relating to the 1913 Turco-Persian Frontier Commission, and the production of the Protocole relative à la Délimitation turco-persane, signé à Constantinople le 4 (17) Novembre, 1913 .

The primary correspondents are: HM Consul-General at Teheran (Sir Walter Beaupre Townley); HM Consul-General at Constantinople; HM Vice-Consul at Kashr-i Shirin (E B Soane); the 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. Political Department; the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs (Said Halim); the Russian Consul-General in Baghdad (M Orlof); the Russian Ambassador to the UK (Count Von Benckendorff); HM Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir Edward Grey); and Albert Charles Wratislaw, head of the British section of the Commission.

The file opens with correspondence regarding reported Turkish military build-up in Kasr-i Shirin [Qaṣr-e Shīrīn], disturbances on the Baghdad-Kermaāshāh route, local raids by Persian and Turkish tribesmen, possible concessions to Turkey in the Zohab [Zohāb] district, and the difficulty of reaching an agreement which would be acceptable to Sunni and Shia tribes in the Zohab region. A map of the Zohab region is included at folio 305.

The bulk of the file concerns arrangements for the Frontier Commission, discussing: the push for a settlement; the composition of the British, Russian, Turkish and Persian commissions; the need to use surveying and triangulation to improve on pre-existing, inaccurate maps; the wording of the internal rules [ Règlement Intérieur ] to govern the Commission; arrangements over work to be conducted by the northern and southern sections of the Commission; and arrangements to preserve the rights of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in regions to be transferred to Turkey.

Key items:

Folios 224-29 Declaration regarding the frontier, signed by Sir Edward Grey and I Hakky Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , with four accompanying maps:

  • Map No 1, Sketch Map showing Turco-Persian Frontier West and South of Hawizeh [Howeyzeh];
  • Map No 2, Sketch Map of Muhammareh [Khorramshar] to indicate the Turco-Persian Boundary;
  • Map No 3, Sheet No I, Map of Shatt-Al-'Arab & Bahmanshir [Rūdkhāneh-ye Bahmanshīr] including Muhammareh [Khorramshar] & 'Abbádán I [Ābādān];
  • Map No 4, Sheet No II, Map of Shatt-Al-'Arab & Bahmanshir, including Muhammareh & 'Abbádán I.

Folios 68-87 Copy of the Protocole relative à la Délimitation turco-persane, signé à Constantinople le 4 (17) Novembre, 1913, plus: additional copies of the four maps detailed above; Annex (A), Règlement intérieur de la Commission de Délimitation de la Frontière turco-persane ; Annex (B) Statement by the Ottoman Government pledging to maintain, within the territories granted by Persia to Turkey, the rights and obligations granted to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company Ltd by the Persian Imperial Government under the Convention of 28 May, 1901; also included are notes on the meetings of the frontier delegates at Constantinople, 4-9 November, written by the British Commissioner, Albert Charles Wratislaw.

Folio 67 is a collection header sheet, giving the subject heading and a list of correspondence references found within the part, listed by year.

Extent and format
1 item (248 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in rough chronological order from the rear to the front of the section

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 4880/1913 Pt 2 'Turco-Persian Frontier Commission: protocol of 1913' [‎287r] (441/499), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/430/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040878371.0x0000b3> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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