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File 36/1919 Pt 3 ‘KURDISTAN POLICY & SITUATION’ [42r] (92/608)
The record is made up of 1 volume (295 folios). It was created in 23 Dec 1919-4 Dec 1922. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Printed for the Colonial Office. November 1921.
1
COLONIAL OFFICE.
J
MIDDLE EAST COMMITTEE.
Minutes of a Meeting held at the Colonial Offiice on Thursday, ovembei 3, 1921,
at 3‘30 p.m.
Present:
Mr. J. E. Shuckburgh, C.B., Colonial Office (in the Chair).
Sir Bertram Cnbitt, K.C.B., "VY ar Office.
Honourable R. C. Lindsay, C.V.O., Foreign Office.
Air-Commodore J. M. Steel, C.M.G., C.B.E., Director of Operations and
Intelligence, Air Ministry.
Mr. M. F. Headlam, Treasury.
Lieutenant-Colonel F. W. Barron, O.B.E., R.A., ^ ar Office.
Colonel R. Meinertzhagen, D.S.O., Colonial Office.
Mr. R. W. Bullard, C.I.E., Colonial Office.
Miss K. 0. Greene, O.B.E., Colonial Office (Secretary).
THE Committee had before them telegrams from the High Commissioner for
Iraq to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, No. 503 of the dmd September, No. j
of the 26th' October, and No. 622 of the 28th October, and telegram No. 42o of the
3rd October from the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the High Commissionei
for Iraq.
The Chairman drew the attention of the Committee to the four questions put by
King Feisal to Sir Percy Cox, given at the end of telegram No. 61f>, and particularly
to the first two: (1) Whether Great Britain is prepared to undertake ■ to defend
Kurdistan if attacked from outside, and consequently to guarantee Iraq against
attack through Kurdistan; if so, for how long? and (2) Is she prepared to accept
responsibility to prevent internal disorder in Kurdistan which might be a danger to
Iraq; if so, for how long? These questions appeared to him to ave a \ei\ impoi ant
military and political bearing. He asked the War Office and Air Ministry represent-
tives for their views.
Colonel Barron said that the War Office answer to both questions would be
“No, with the forces at present allotted to Iraq. The reduced garrison uas on v
intended for the maintenance of internal order in Baghdad and Basra vi at eto, an is
calculated on the specific understanding that it was not designed to c ea wi aggre»
sion from outside. The preservation of internal order m Kurdistan won d necessitate
sending considerable reinforcements to Iraq, and the defence of Kuidistan agams
external attack would call for even larger forces. To send a force into Kurdistan from
Baghdad would be an operation of considerable magnitude. He consn eie< n.. re
Turkish invasion of Iraq would be quite feasible. Mditary operations in Iraq would
be possible in winter when they are not possible in
Anatolia
Peninsula that forms most of modern-day Turkey.
, and it is tneie ore
conceivable that the Turks could detach part of their forces now lacing t ie itevs 01
bllO LJUl UUot? dll ailiclL.1V uil Xiau* ^ -| •» 1 J'
And in any case there are considerable Turkish forces at and to the sou ,-^as. o
Sivas which have never been used against the Greeks at ah.
Air-Commodore Steel said that the Air Ministry would not be piepaied to give an
unqualified answer to either question. They could only say that the\ won < o 1 1 ® U
best to retard invasion. If an invasion through Kurdistan couhi not. be pie\ en ei o
[7272]
About this item
- Content
This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, newspaper clippings, parliamentary notes, telegrams and minutes. It mainly covers conversations between British officials regarding the political situation in Kurdistan, but also contains correspondence from Kurdish representatives and various British organisations.
The volume covers and includes the following:
- A description of the political situation in Kurdistan by Philippe Berthelot of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs
- Opinions expressed by British officials as to whether Turkish authorities should be excluded form Kurdistan, whether Kurdistan should be portioned, and whether its frontier should follow that of the ethnological frontier between Kurds and Arabs
- Opinions expressed by British officials on the growth of political and social movements related to Kurdish nationalism
- Descriptions of the political movement towards the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish state
- The views of Hamdi Bey Baban [Ḥamdī Beg Bābān] regarding the Kurdistan situation
- Minutes of monthly conferences on Middle Eastern affairs throughout 1920, giving views on Kurdistan from British and French officers and covering different subjects regarding the political situation in Kurdistan and Mesopotamia
- Aspects of the future administration of Sulaimaniyah [As Sulaymaniyah]
- Plans from British officers regarding the political situation in Mesopotamia and its possible future government
- Mentions of interest in Mesopotamia in ‘bolshevism’
- Reports on 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. recommendations regarding Kurdistan
- A memorandum on Kurdistan, with the following headings: ‘Kurdish political activity', ‘Aims of the Kurds’, ‘Turkish Scheme’, ‘Kurdish Objections’, ‘The immediate situation’, and ‘Suggested solution’ (ff 267-270)
- Opinions expressed by Kurdish people on Kurdistan and its politics
- Conflict in Mesopotamia and Kurdistan regarding: British refusal to allow visits to the tomb of Shaikh Kaka Ahmad [Ḥājjī Kākā Aḥmad al-Shaykh], including the imposition of heavy fines and prison sentences; arrests and deportations to Baghdad of unnamed ‘notables’; and the execution at Sakis [Saqqez] of Rusten Khan [Rustam Khān] by order of the Governor of Sineh [Sanandaj]
- Correspondence relating to Kurdistan, including: repatriation of Assyrian Christians; securing of borders; Kurdish districts in Persia [Iran;] Kurdish nationalism
- A letter from the Travellers Club regarding the situation in the Kurdistan.
The principal correspondents are: Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; High Commissioner, Constantinople [Istanbul]; Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for the Colonies; Political Officer at Sulaimaniyah; Hamdi Bey Baban.
The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (295 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 36 (Kurdistan) consists of 2 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/781-782. The volumes are divided into three parts, with parts 1-2 comprising the first volume and part 3 comprising the second volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the inside last folio with 293; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
The volume has four foliation anomalies: f 106a, f 111a, f 172a and f 203a.
A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 36/1919 Pt 3 ‘KURDISTAN POLICY & SITUATION’ [42r] (92/608), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/782, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100136722015.0x00005d> [accessed 14 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/782
- Title
- File 36/1919 Pt 3 ‘KURDISTAN POLICY & SITUATION’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1r:66v, 68r:106v, 106ar:106av, 107r:107v, 109r:111v, 111ar:111av, 112r:125v, 128r:129v, 131r:133v, 136r:138v, 142r:147v, 152r:168v, 168ar:168av, 169r:172v, 172ar:172av, 173r:176v, 178r:203v, 203ar:203av, 204r:285v, 289r:293v, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence