File 2764/1904 Pt 4 'Baghdad Railway: Anglo-Turkish negotiations; proposals of Turkish Govt; status of Kowait' [‎133v] (271/674)

It would furthermore be necessary for the Ottoman Government to undertake
formally not to impose river dues on British shipping or cargoes without the assent
of His Majesty’s Government. . i x-u i? ^
There remains the question of the terminal port: having regard to the tact that
important commercial interests are already established at Bussoiah, His Majesty wt
Government cannot but feel that substantial advantages would accrue from the
establishment of the terminus at that point 5 and they consider that the poit should
be constructed and controlled by the proposed new company in the interests of the
unrestricted commerce of all nations. But if such an arrangement is adopted, they
must stipulate that, in the event of the railway ever being prolonged to the Persian
Gulf, it must be brought to Koweit under conditions to be settled by agreement
between Great Britain and Turkey alone, and a clause to this effect must be embodied
in a convention dealing with these matters.
(ii.) The respective Interests of Great Britain and Turkey in the Region of the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
His Majesty’s Government are willing to meet the wish expressed in the concluding
paragraphs of the Turkish memorandum that a precise definition may be reached as
to the respective position of the two countries, commercially and politically, in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; and they see no reason why a lasting settlement of the questions
involved should not be reached. His Majesty’s Government are in no sense opposed
to the legitimate claims of the Turkish Government. The most southerly point to
Avhich they have ever recognised such claims on the littoral of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. is
Ojeir, in the district of El Katif. South of this point there is no trace of Turkish
power ever having been paramount; in 1870 the Ottoman Minister for Foreign
Affairs conveyed to Pier Majesty’s Ambassador formal assurances that the Sublime
Porte did not entertain any intention of obtaining supremacy over Bahrein, Muscat,
or the independent tribes on the coast of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; and it is only since that
date that certain attempts have been made by the Ottoman Government to establish
mudirates and other emblems of Turkish authority at points to the south of Ojeir.
The position of His Majesty’s Government in regard to these tribes has been
entirely different. With Bahrein they have had direct relations since 1805 ; these
relations have found concrete expression in a series of treaties dating from 1820, and
having as their objects the suppression of piracy and the slave trade ; the regularity
of the succession to the throne ; the protection of the island against foreign aggression ;
and the safety of the pearl industry, of which Bahrein is the centre. In Muscat
and the territories of the Trucial Chiefs His Majesty’s Government have, in virtue
of various treaties and agreements, conferred similar benefits for many years ; and
their policy in each case has been inspired by the importance of upholding the
maritime peace, of securing open markets to the commerce of all countries, and
of protecting the long-established interests of British-Indian subjects.
His Majesty’s Government cannot acquiesce in any arrangement which might
restrict or undermine the authority which they have exercised uninterruptedly
with such beneficent results ; they conceive that any extension of Turkish jurisdiction
along the littoral of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to the south of Ojeir would be prejudicial to
those results and unsupported by any legitimate claims of Turkish sovereignty ; and
they have accordingly resisted any attempts which have been made to encroach upon
these regions. They are therefore of opinion that any lasting settlement between
the two Powers must provide for the definite renunciation by the Ottoman Govern
ment of Bahrein and adjacent islands and of the whole of the Peninsula of El Katr
(including El Bidaa), where the Sheikh of Bahrein has important rights; and they
consider that such a settlement would finally remove a perennial source of local
friction.
The Ottoman Government express a wish to regularise the relations of Koweit
towards the Ottoman Empire, and His Majesty’s Government will gladly contribute
to such a solution, on the understanding that their rights and claims are not to be
regarded as prejudiced by any proposals which may now be put forward, should such
proposals prove abortive.
As the Ottoman Government are aware, His Majesty’s Government have never
admitted that Koweit is under Turkish protection, and, inasmuch as some divergence
of opinion was manifested between the two Governments as to the position there, a
modus vivendi was reached in September 1901 by His Majesty’s Government consent
ing to give an assurance that, provided the Turkish Government abstained from