Coll 28/21 ‘Persia; Azerbaijan; Persia-Russian & Persia-Turkish Frontier.’ [‎418v] (836/845)

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quite close to Erzerum. A strong force was sent against them, but failed in all
three attempts to round them up.
18. The Turks were consequently themselves forced to postpone the resump
tion of boundary negotiations till this month (June).
19. I am now told that the Turks near Maku have informed the general y^-t
they intend to make a determined effort to exterminate the Kurdish rebels novW^n
Mount Ararat, and asked the general to guard his frontier effectively and prevent
refugees from there crossing into Persia.
I will give what is known of the resulting new disposition of Persian troops at
the end of this section of my report (paragraph 21). T r- n
20. The Kurds of Mount Ararat have their mam concentration at Kiralar.
This is an almost inaccessible position, honeycombed with caves, situated in the faces
of precipices, which can only be approached by goat-tracks or climbing, and upon
which neither cannon nor machine guns can be trained, but where the defenders
must be dislodged by hand grenades after an ascent during which the attackers
would be exposed to a merciless fire without the possibility of making any effective
replv The Turks failed at this very spot two years ago, and no one here—and
probably least of all the general—believes that the Turks can succeed now either.
The general has, however, acceded to the Turkish request, has gone himself to Maku.
and sent considerable number of troops there.
21. The following dispositions have, therefore, been taken :—
Yavar Fatullah Tohidi Khan was sent to Maku as commandant there some
weeks back.
From Tabriz one gurdan (i.e., 500 men) of infantry and six machine guns
left for Maku on the 3rd June. 350 more men were sent from Sauj-Bulak, and
there were already about 250 there.
On the 17th May, 200 conscripts were sent to Sauj-Bulak from Maragha;
while, on the 25th May, 130 conscripts were sent from Sarab to (so it was
reported to me) Tehran.
The present net dispositions along the Turkish frontier and at Tabriz are
reported to me as about:—
Tabriz : 1,200 infantry still here, and 400 cavalry.
Sauj-Bulak : 800-1,000 still there.
Urumia : 1,200.
Khoi: 1,000.
Salmas : 750.
Maku: 1,100, or, according to another report, 1,250, and at least six
machine guns.
Conscripts have been gradually drafted in, and time-expired men gradually
either disbanded or passed into the k Emnieh ” (gendarmerie). In this period of
flux I cannot hope at present to obtain very accurate figures, but it is clear that there
are much stronger forces along the Turkish than the Russian frontier.
The Julfa garrison has only been slightly increased, and the Ardabil Regiment
increased by recruits less disbandments. There should nominally be about sixty men
at Julfa, and about 1,000 infantry and 400 cavalry in the Ardabil district.
Khor H ussein Pashas Son.
21a. A further complication in the Mount Ararat problem is caused by the
fact that the only surviving son of Khor Hussein Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. has joined the Kurds there.
Khor Hussein was implicated in Sheikh Sayyid's revolt of 1924-25. He himself
who used to occupy the regions north-west of Lake Van—was detained in Angora,
but escaped to Syria. He was killed with his three other sons later on when trying
to re-enter Turkey.
22. The Turks would, therefore, seem to have to face a formidable band of
malcontents, established in a much stronger position than the Jebel of Cyrenaica—
which has proved too much for the Italians—and. under the leadership of a bitter
enemy; malcontents who are certainly backed by Persian moral support, and possibly
even supplied with Persian ammunition and such food as is not provided by nature.
23. Besides His Majesty’s Embassy at Angora, I am also sending copy of this
report to His Majesty’s Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. at Bagdad, as I am also informed that a move-