Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs [‎125v] (250/290)

10
the European Power which would undertake its protection—not in
the technical sense—and that this agreement should be laid before
the League of Nations.
Mr. Montagu concurred. As far as Palestine was concerned, he
was inclined to agree with Lord Allenby.
The Chairman said that the point on which he wished to be
quite clear as regards Mesopotamia was whether the people were to
be left free to form their own views, or whether the Committee
was to draw up a Wilsonian scheme. He noticed that in his
telegram of the 28th March Colonel Wilson suggested something
on the lines of a Legislative Council. What was required was an
Executive Council. He was anxious that no cut-and-dried scheme
should be presented to the Councils for their approval. He would
be glad to know exactly what instructions had been given to
Sir Edgar Bonham-Carter’s Committee.
Another point which struck him was that Sir Percy Cox, who
would probably be going to Mesopotamia in the autumn, ought to
be consulted before any definite step was taken.
Sir John Tilley asked whether Sir Percy Cox would be likely
to agree to go to Mesopotamia if an Arab King were set up there.
Mr. Montagu said that it was unlikely that the Government
would be set up before Sir Percy Cox came to London. In the
meanwhile there was no reason why we should not proceed with the
proposed announcement.
The Conference decided —
1. That the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in consultation
with the Secretary of State for India, should draft an
announcement to Mesopotamia on the lines suggested by
the Chairman.
2. That the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. should ascertain from Colonel Wilson
the precise instructions given to Sir Edgar Bonham-
Carter’s Committee.
3. That as soon as the announcement was finally drafted,
explicit instructions should be sent to Colonel Wilson
as to the steps which should be taken to put it into
effect.
Reverting to Kurdistan, Mr. Montagu said that he would like
to see a similar announcement made to the people of Southern
Kurdistan.
Replying to a question by the Chairman, he suggested that we
should explain to the French that we regarded Southern Kurdistan
as part of Mesopotamia, and that the remainder of Kurdistan should
be treated more on the lines of the suggested clause which the
Conference had previously discussed (Appendix (A)).
Colonel Gribbon, replying to a question by the Chairman, said
the War Office view was that the French should be kept away, if
possible, from the route between Bitlis and Sairt. In view, however,
of the fact that their detachment at Nisibin had recently been forced
to withdraw, he thought it unlikely that they would be able to
penetrate far into the country. The only people who could get rid
of the Turks were the Kurds themselves.
Mr. Forbes Adam pointed out that the provisional frontier of
the French sphere ran south of Diarbekir.
Mr. Montagu thought that provision should be made for the two
parts of Kurdistan eventually to come together if they desired it.
Replying to a question by the Chairman, he agreed that this might
mean the evacuation of British officials and Air Forces from Southern
Kurdistan.
If
il
4
it
*
* ?;
t