Coll 28/39 ‘Persia: Printed Correspondence 1929-1936’ [‎538r] (1086/1174)

He is alleged to have seized tins opportumtyto establish friendly relations with
the Turkish Kurds ; while he himself told me he intended to handle the Persian Kurds
very delicately and not disarm them at present.
14. In November 1929 it was decided that the Turco-Persian Boundary Com
mission, which seemed to ha\e reached a deadlock, should resume discussions in
April 1930. There, however, appeared no possibility then or now of an agreement
fully acceptable to both parties, 'there were acute disegreements, the chief point
of discord being that each party desired the other to make the first step towards
disarming such Kurdish tribes as were clearly within its own undisputed territoiy.
This the general had no intention of doing, as already said. Neither side was
willing to stir up a hornet’s nest, and nothing came of the discussions.
15. It would seem, moreover, that certain of the Turkish territorial claims
would never be acceptable to the Persians, and that the latter, far from being in
any hurry to resume the discussions this year, felt that they had everything to gain
by continual postponement in the hope that time and political changes might make
the Turks less exacting.
16. In any case, the general has spent several weeks this year in negotiating
with the Kurds along the Turkish frontier, and he is even reported to me as having
hinted that they would do well to resist any attempt of the Turks to disarm them.
17. Be that as it may, in April 1930 the Kurdish tribes of Mount Ararat made
several attacks on Turkish outposts at or near Bayazid, Kara Kilisseh, and even
quite close to Erzerum. A strong force was sent against them, but failed in all
three attempts to round them up.
18. The Turks W'ere 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 that-
they intend to make a determined effort to exterminate the Kurdish rebels now on
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).
20. The Kurds of Mount Ararat have their main 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 defend
ers must be dislodged by hand grenades after an ascent during wdiich the attackers
would be exposed to a merciless fire without the possibility of making any effectiv e
reply. 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, how r ever, 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 w^as sent to Maku as commandant there
some weeks back.
From Tabriz one gurdan (i.e., 500 men) of infantry and six machine
guns left or 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, l,2o0,
guns.
and at least six machine
MC445FD