Coll 17/4 'Iraq-Syria & Syria-Transjordan frontier: delimitation' [‎13v] (31/788)

i6
3 -
The Interpretation of Article
by the Governments.
Owing to the wording of Article i ^^ ^fXrs It 5 therefore not surprising that each
difficult to divine the real intentions of the g Y diff ntly an d that, when the elasticity
of the parties should have interpreted this article quite a ^ ^ its official interpretation
£ ^ CouncTinthe 8 "noffit wMchwe deem it desirable to reproduce here in exUnso:
■ j • 0 1 j.i. r fmm the French Government to the Secretary-
fa) French interpretation, contained m a letter trom
General of the League of Nations.
[ Translation^
January 23rd, I 93 2 -
To the Secretary-General. ....
By a resolution dated December 9th last ; t ^® g^peSro^th^difficulties raised by the
the British and French Governments request tha orm its conc]usions as to the intentions of Article 1 of the
delimitation of the frontier between Y ria ani j 1 ’ ' chnnld then indicate a frontier between Syria and Iraq
==
“o. the frontier described and briefly commented upon
below:
I. Tigris Sector.
To the east, the Tigris from Jeziret-ibn-Omar to the boundaries of the former vilayets of Diarbekir and Mosul.
ThP Tm-ro Irani frontier as a result of the decision of the Council of the League dated October 9th, 1925, and
of the 5 Tigris and of the Kabur, this confluence is the point of departure of the Syro-Iraqi frontier^ .
From this confluence the frontier is marked by the thalweg of the river as far as the point where the river 2
intersected by the boundary between the former vilayets of Diarbekir and Mosul, as shown on the 1 : 1,000,000 map.
II. Tigris-Rumelan Keui Sector.
To the south and south-east the aforesaid boundary of the former vilayets southwards as far as Rumelan Keui.
From the point of intersection between the thalweg of the Tigris and the boundary of the vilayets, the frontier
follows this boundary, as shown on the 1 : 1,000,000 map; 2 the boundary bends towards the south in its w ,
portion and passes slightly south of Rumelan Keui.
The expression “as far as Rumelan Keui ” should therefore be taken to mean “as far as the point opposite
Rumelan Keui ” — i.e., as far as the nearest point to Rumelan Keui on the boundary of the vilayets.
The position of Rumelan Keui is determined by the geographical co-ordinate assigned to it on the said map.
III. Rumelan Keui-Euphrates Sector.
Thence a line leaving in the territory under French mandate the entire basin of the Western Kabur and passing in a
straight line towards the Euphrates, which it crosses at Abu Kemal.
Albu Kemal is not on the Euphrates, but 400 metres to the west of the right bank of the river. The frontier
cannot cross the Euphrates at Albu Kemal itself; it crosses it at the nearest point on its course to Albu Kemal.
The beginning and end of this line being thus determined, the line should, according to the Convention,
(1) Leave the whole of the Kabur Basin to the French mandate;
(2) Proceed in a straight line to the Euphrates, which it crosses opposite Albu Kemal.
If reference is made to the 1 : 1,000,000 map, a straight line joining the two above-mentioned points seems to
answer to these two conditions.
IV. Euphrates-Imtan Sector.
Thence a straight line to Imtan, to the south of Jabal Druse.
This definition calls for no comment.
The foregoing definition is based on the British 1 : 1,000,000 international map, published in 1916 and revised
in 1918, 2 which the negotiators of the Franco-British Convention of December 23rd, 1920, had before them.
The following maps should also be mentioned for reference: The map of 1 : 1,000,000 annexed to the Treaty of
Sevres; the map annexed to the report of the Commission of Enquiry appointed by the League of Nations to consider
the question of the frontier between Turkey and Iraq; the map of 1 : 1,000,000 annexed to thelBritish White Book
containing the text of the Treaty concluded at Ankara on June 5th, 1926, between the United Kingdom, Iraq and
Turkey (Treaty Series, No. 18 [1927]). 3
I enclose for your information a copy of the British 1 : 1,000,000 international map on which the Syro-Iraqi
frontier between the Tigris and the Euphrates has been traced in conformity with the definition given above.
I should be obliged if you would communicate the particulars of the present letter to the Members of the Council.
( Signed ) Berthelot.
Document C.106.1932.VI.
See map, Annex No. 1.
This treaty is also published in the League of Nations Treaty Series, Vol. LXIV, No. 1511.