'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎21r] (46/454)

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THE TURKS IN MESOPOTAMIA
and India, while Pan-Turanianism was better suited to the
Ottoman territory and to Central Asia.
From 1908 till 1912, i.e., from the accession to power of
the Young Turkish party till the Balkan war, Tuikish policy
in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. was markedly aggressive
and inimical to British interests, and it is noteworthy that
this was coincident with the efforts of Germany to strengthen
her commercial position in these areas. Attempts were made
to induce the Shaikh of Kuwait to accept Turkish nationality,
in direct contravention of the agreement of 1901 between the
British and Turkish governments to maintain the status quo
there ; intrigues against the Shaikh of Mohammerah culminated
in 1910 in the use of fofce and were only tided over by the
diplomatic pressure of the British and Russian governments \
aggressive claims to the peninsula of Qatar, adjacent to
Bahrein, and parts of the " Trucial ” coast were advanced ;
and objections were raised to various long-standing British
privileges at Baghdad and on the Tigris. In 1912, however,
the attitude of the Turks towards the British underwent a
marked change for the better and led to a series of negotiations
and agreements between the two nations in 1913-1914. These
negotiations comprised twenty-three different subjects and
illustrate well the widespreading and long-standing questions
of great complexity which had for many years dominated
the relations of the two countries. They established complete
guarantees against discrimination in respect of British or Indian
merchandise on any railway, present or prospective, in Asiatic
Turkey, they brought about an acceptable compromise
regarding navigation on the Tigris and Euphrates; they
secured improved conservancy, with British expert assistance,
of the Shatt al Arab, for the equal advantage of all nations ;
they contributed to the final settlement of the Turco-Persian
frontier; and they led to the definite recognition of the
political status quo on the shores and on the waters of the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . At the same time the British Government
agreed to a number of fiscal changes and economic reforms,
as well as to British co-operation in the revision of judicial
procedure, to which British assent—necessary under existing
treaties and conventions—was desired by Turkey in order
to promote her commercial development.
It is impossible when discussing Turkish policy at this period
to avoid reference to the factor of German influence, for
Germany brought Turkey into the war against us ; and one
is forced to the conclusion that for many years previously