Coll 28/112A ‘Persia. Tabriz – Monthly despatches of internal situation in Azerbaijan & misc. reports.’ [‎433r] (868/1237)

COPY.
763/SA/43.
R’.'U/BGU
No. 30.
British Consulate-General,
Tabriz, 8th June, 1943«
SISCRBT,
Sir,
4 f 1 9
'-S-.
ft
With reference to my despatch Uo« 29« 1 have the honour to
submit a further memorandum by Mr. Vice-Consul Ogden, setting forth
general impressions formed on his recent visit to Rezaieh* ’
sv 2* I have already, in my despatc h ho» 29> commented on the good
behaviour and apparent contentment 'of the Kurds#
I commend as very interesting ^r# Ogden’s point about the
black-coat workers having, many of them, small properties from which
to eke out their admittedly inadequate salaries. You will have seen in
the local press suggestions that Dr# Millspaugh’s proposedcomb-out of
civil servants should be made with this fact in mind# It certainly
is true that in Azerbaijan most townsmen have one foot in the country,
that the towns are not genuinely urbanised areas like Tehran, ?/here
the majority of the citizens depend on the supplies coming into the
shops daily# When the shortage of bread occurred here we discovered
that the majority of the citizens had their own reserve of flour and ^
food-stuffs generally# Similarly most men who have saved money (and
few civil servants fail to set some money aside sooner or later)
hasten to acquire a-bit of land, and this fact makes powerfully
for stability# * 1
4# * have already reported the incursion by a British military party,
without passes* Such incidents are not, in my view, so likely to
damage good relations this year as last, when the military and
political situations were shaky in the Caucasus, and when Russian
suspicions were very raw indeed# But although less dangerous they
;remain none the less regrettable# We all resent the difficulties
about passes which the Russians create; ‘we all* find it hard to
understand that they do not allow us the freedom of movement in the
north which we allow in the south; but facts have to be faced, and
military men on our side ought to be the first to understand that if*
the Russian troops have orders to demand passes, the proper procedure
is to try to have these orders changed by diplomatic procedure, and
not to try to evade them* In any event the "port" of Hyderabad has been
reported on over and over again, and a mixed Anglo-Soviet party went
round the lake last September with the express purpose of surveying
transport possibilities# That another group should now return to
look once more at the single jetty which constitutes the port of
Hyderabad and then spend two nights in Rezaieh, and try to go to
Salmas, must convey to the Russians, either that our administration,
is inefficient, or that some deeper motive lies concealed# They
generally tend to choose the latter explanation# They do not
understand that our discipline is such that otherwise responsible
officers can undertake a jaunt into the Russian zone for no very
practical purpose, and in disregard of our general policy of
conciliation.
« PS.
lie low
3* ^r# Ogden states that the Russians are apparently making very
little propaganda and his.failure to discover any pamphlets in Kurdish
or/
Sir Reader Dullard, K*C#M. G#, C. I. E*
H.M# Legation#