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Coll 6/81 'Syria: Status of Alexandretta and Antioch.' [‎220r] (440/576)

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The record is made up of 1 file (286 folios). It was created in 17 Sep 1936-31 Aug 1939. 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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Palestine, and both of them I had previously met in the East,
I laid dov/n the boundary from Karkemish (Jerabulus or Jerabis)
on the Auphrates to Antioch, which I described as ’’half Arabic
and half Turkish” e At this stage we had to enter *n the
most exact detail, I described the boundary of the Turkish
language as passing southwest and running out at a headland
south of Mount Cassius anc. the town of Kassab, with Suadea on
the Orontes as an Arabic island in a Turkish sea. I stated
that all the villages and small towns in the district were
Turkish speaking. The question was put to me regarding
Alexandretta as the ”natural port of Aleppo” and I was told
that for this reason the French wanted it. I admitted all
this and went further, stating that for strategic reasons
the line of separation ought to be north of Alexandretta,
probably by the route Alexander took over the mountains.
This route I was unable to outline but I was asked to explain
the route over the Beilan Pass, taken by Xenophon, and that
of the Crusaders, up the Crontes from Seleucia (Suadea) to
Antioch.
We then returned to the Language-question. I
maintained that the chief language of Alexandretta was
Turkish, but stated that a good deal of Greek was spoken,
chiefly by Levantines, and that Arabic had also a place,
being spoken mainly by people coming and going in connection
with trade, and who to some extent had members of their
families resident for some time in Alexandretta. T mentioned
that there was amission of the Reformed Presbyterian Church
from Ireland doing their work in Arabic, and that in April,
1904, I had there preached to them in Arabic in the forenoon,
while in the afternoon I interpreted from German to Arabic for
Paster Brunnemann of Liar a sh, who understood Turkish but for
this

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Content

This file documents the British response to developments regarding the status of the Sanjak [administrative district, referred to in Arabic as Liwa] of Alexandretta, including the cities of Alexandretta [İskenderun, Turkey] and Antioch [Antakya, Turkey].

The file features the following principal correspondents: His Majesty's Ambassador, Istanbul (Sir Percy Loraine, succeeded by Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen); His Majesty's Ambassador, Bagdad [Baghdad] (Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, succeeded by Sir Maurice Drummond Peterson); His Majesty's Ambassador, Paris (Sir George Russell Clerk, succeeded by Sir Eric Phipps); the British Consul, Aleppo (Archibald William Davis); the British Consul, Damascus (Gilbert MacKereth); His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Reader William Bullard); the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Anthony Eden); officials of the Foreign Office.

The correspondence includes discussion of the following:

  • The demography of the Sanjak of Alexandretta.
  • Turkey's claim for the Sanjak to be given autonomy.
  • The progression of Franco-Turkish negotiations, brokered by the League of Nations and resulting in the Sanjak's new autonomous status (in its internal affairs only), as granted in a League of Nations statute, concluded in January 1937 and brought into force on 29 November 1937.
  • Reports of both Arab and Turkish demonstrations in Alexandretta and Antioch during January 1937 (as well as Arab demonstrations in Aleppo).
  • Pressure from Syria and Iraq for the Sanjak to be partitioned between Syria and Turkey.
  • The reported registration of non-Turkish electors in the Sanjak as Turks.
  • Reported divisions in the Syrian Nationalist Government.
  • The conclusion of a treaty of friendship between France and Turkey in July 1938.
  • The announcement in September 1938 that the Sanjak of Alexandretta will in future be known as the Republic of Hatay, with Antioch as its capital.
  • The Franco-Turkish agreement regarding the change of status of Hatay to that of a Turkish province, concluded in June 1939.

The French language material in the file consists of several items of correspondence, plus copies of the aforementioned Franco-Turkish agreement (dated 23 June 1939) and the Turco-French treaty (dated 4 July 1938).

The file includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folios 2-3).

Extent and format
1 file (286 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 287; 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 6/81 'Syria: Status of Alexandretta and Antioch.' [‎220r] (440/576), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2154, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049233826.0x00002b> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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