File 2764/1904 Pt 4 'Baghdad Railway: Anglo-Turkish negotiations; proposals of Turkish Govt; status of Kowait' [‎88v] (181/674)

intervene Jointly with us in the affairs of the Gulf will be strengthened, and
will amount to something like a claim if Turkish authority is once recognised
and effective.
In Lord Crewe’s opinion no Convention, however strictly drawn, can
remove these disadvantages. He apprehends that the Turks will always
intrigue ; that when taxed with it they will deny it or produce sufficiently
plausible exouses; while His Majesty’s Government, with their many
commitments elsewhere, will always haAO sufficient leason for not taking at
any given moment an extreme step which would not be the less inconvenient
or expensive merely because it happened to be justified by the terms of the
Convention. The Turkish garrison at El Bidaa—unrecognised for 40 years,
but nevertheless in possession—may indeed be regarded as a symbol of
British policy in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
Turning now to Mohammera, Lord Crewe understands that the Turks are
advancing extravagant claims, in the hope, by subsequent concessions there,
of obtaining corresponding advantages elsewhere ; and in your letter under
reply the fear is expressed that if this hope is not realised, and the case goes
to the Hague Tribunal, the result might be even to give to Turkey the line
claimed by Dervish Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. in 1850. Lord Crewe, as at present advised, sees
no grounds for such an apprehension. That line was not accepted by the
Mediating Commissioners, and His Lordship imagines that the evidence upon
which they rejected it would weigh equally with the Hague Tribunal.
Moreover, it is clear that the Turks do not greatly trust their own evidence,
since otherwise they would not contemplate giving the line away in negotia
tion. It would seem to His Lordship to be more probable that the Hague
Tribunal would fix a line approximating to that of the Mediating Com
missioners ; and if the alternatives are to allow the consolidation of Turkish
authority in El Katr or to deprive the Sheikh of Mohammera of the district
between the Mediating Commissioners’ line and the frontier as locally
observed, he would choose the latter as the lesser evil.
In conclusion, I am to enquire whether Sir E. Grey is satisfied that it is
impossible to reserve the rights of Mohammera as regards any reference to
the Hague Tribunal. It does not appear that there has been any material
alteration in the status quo between Howeizah and the Shatt-el-Arab since
the Treaty of Erzeroum. In other words, there is no case in that region for
arbitration, and the situation therefore differs entirely from that on the
northern section, where it is precisely the vital nature of the alterations made
in recent years that is the cause of the whole difficulty. This essential
difference might perhaps be held to justify Persia in informing the Turkish
Government (and His Majesty’s Government in supporting her should
necessity arise), that while there would be no objection to minor
rectifications by the Hague Tribunal of the frontier locally recognised, as
compared with the Mediating Commissioners’ line, no award substantially
modifying it will be accepted.
Copy of a telegram addressed to the Government of India is enclosed:
their reply, with any further observations that may be necessary, will be
communicated to you in due course.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
"X our most obedient humble Servant,