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Coll 6/90 'Syria: Anglo-French relations in the Near East. French policy in Syria.' [‎58r] (115/169)

The record is made up of 1 file (83 folios). It was created in 23 Mar 1939-29 May 1947. It was written in English. 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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British Embassy,
Angora.
v
Copy.
(E.3415/474/93)
(307/3/39).
29th April, 1939.
My Lord,
With reference to my despatch No. 218 of the
28th April reporting the visit of Naji Shaukat, Iraqi
Minister of the Interior, to Angora, I have the honour
to inform Your Lordship that, in the course of a talk
with the Counsellor of this Embassy, the Minister said
that the President of the Turkish Republic had given
him a solemn assurance that Turkey had no designs on
Syria, or any intention of attacking Syria.
2. The Minister expressed to Mr. Morgan his concern
about Syria. Arabs, as a whole, he said, had hoped that
Turkey would have agreed to a partition of the Hatay between
Turkey and Syria, leaving Antioch to Syria, but AtatUrk had
firmly vetoed the notion, and the Arabs accepted his
verdict. It now appeared to Naji Shaukat that Prance was
ready to acquiesce inthe union of Hatay to Turkey, on
condition that the sea and land frontiers of Syria were
jointly guaranteed by Turkey and Prance, and his view was
that Iraqi opinion would strongly resent a Turco-Prench
guarantee of the Syro-Iraq frontier. Passing to the Syro-
Prench treaty of 1936, Naji Shaukat emphasised that an
early ratification of this treaty by Prance was essential.
It would be indifferent to Syria if Prance maintained
military forces in Syria after the ratification, for Syria
would have obtained the great boon of its independence* If
Prance did not ratify the treaty, and continued to keep
Syria/
The Right Honourable
The Viscount Halifax, K.G. , G.C.S. I., G.C.I.E. ,
etc., etc., etc.

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Content

This file concerns Anglo-French relations in the near East, particularly relating to French policy in Syria.

Much of the correspondence relates to British efforts to obtain information from the French Government regarding the latter's future policy in Syria. The correspondence includes discussion of the following:

  • British concerns in 1939 regarding public support in Iraq for the Syrian Nationalist cause.
  • Differences between the French Mandate in Syria and the British Mandate in Palestine.
  • British misgivings regarding the French Government's decision not to proceed with the ratification of the treaty between France and Syria (the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence), which was concluded in 1936 and amended in 1938.
  • The reception given to King Faisal II of Iraq upon his visit to Damascus in July 1939.
  • Reactions in the Iraqi press to the suspension of the Syrian Constitution in July 1939.
  • The suspension of the Lebanese Constitution and the dissolution of its Parliament in September 1939, reported as a 'wartime measure'.
  • An increase in the number of French forces in Syria in September 1939.
  • The French Government's concerns in 1946 regarding the activities of the Arab League in North Africa.

The file features the following principal correspondents: His Majesty's Ambassador in Paris (Eric Phipps, succeeded by Ronald Ian Campbell); His Majesty's Ambassador in Bagdad [Baghdad] (Basil Newton); the British Consul, Beirut (Godfrey Thomas Havard); officials of the Foreign Office.

The date range of the file is 1939-47; however, with the exception of three items dating from 1946-47, all of the correspondence dates from 1939.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).

Extent and format
1 file (83 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 84; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Coll 6/90 'Syria: Anglo-French relations in the Near East. French policy in Syria.' [‎58r] (115/169), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2162, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100043035211.0x000076> [accessed 12 May 2024]

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