Coll 28/112A ‘Persia. Tabriz – Monthly despatches of internal situation in Azerbaijan & misc. reports.’ [‎556r] (1114/1237)

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June 15, 1942.
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Sir R. Bullard to Mr. Eden.—(Received June 15 )
(No. 166.) 7
HIS Majesty’s representative presents his compliments to His Majesty’s
Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and has the honour to transmit
herewith a copy of Tabriz despatoh No. 15 of the 24th May, 1942, reporting on
the political situation in Azerbaijan.
Tehran, June 1, 1942.
Enclosure.
Consul-General Urquhart to Sir R. Bullard.
(No. 15. Confidential.)
Tabriz, May 24, 1942.
THE reports about trouble with the Kurds in Western Azerbaijan which
began to reach Tabriz from the 28th April onwards were alarmist, often contra
dictory and generally unreliable. It was clearly desirable that I should go to
Rezaieh as soon as possible and see what was actually happening, but I decided
not to rush into the middle of the matter too quickly. One of my reasons for so
deciding was that both the Russians and the Persians were eyeing the new
British Consul-General with something more than an innocent curiosity, and it
would have been only too easy in the first days after my arrival to create an
impression, possibly difficult to correct later, that my zeal had a bias for one side
or the other. In particular, I feared that the Russians would be suspicious of a
visit to Rezaieh at a time when the Persians were claiming that what was to be
seen there was the proof that the Russians were trying to detach Western
Azerbaijan, at the time, too, when the Russian Consul-General had verv properly
gone there to try to improve the link between the Russian military and the local
civil authorities. While I had no intention of surrendering my right to travel
in my district freely, it seemed good to me to find a normal excuse for making
the journey, and the arrival of the new Governor-General provided it. He asked
me to allow him a few days to take up his functions and then, after an exchange
of plain language telegrams which would, I knew, be read by persons interested
m my movements, I went to Rezaieh on the 15th May. I had intended to return
on the 19th, but I stayed one day longer in the hope of being able to report the
beginning of a movement of the refugees back to their villages.
2. I offered a seat in my car to my I nited States colleague, whose own car
has not yet arrived, but he did not accept.
3. My visit was an interesting one and, I hope, useful. I propose to submit
a detailed account as soon as possible, but so much of my time is taken up with
cyphering and office work that it may be delayed. I am therefore giving you now
my main conclusions. Before doing so, however, I think it will be useful to
describe briefly the background against which these recent events have taken
place, and the present atmosphere.
4. It is vividly within living memory that the last war brought the Russians
and the Turks into conflict in Azerbaijan, that disorders ensued in which the
civilian population suffered, the Christians particularly. The local officials of
the two countries are distrustful of each other to-day and the public cannot fail
to know it. To the ordinary man there is nothing far-fetched in the idea that
they may again be fighting one another, and that the civilians will again run the
risk of massacre. Whatever his race or religion, the ordinary man in these parts
is fear-ridden, easily startled by rumour. If he is a Shiah he is a poorish
[30—53] B