File 36/1919 Pt 3 ‘KURDISTAN POLICY & SITUATION’ [‎168av] (351/608)

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propaganda, but was coldly received, while another entered the Mosul Wilayat on a similar
mission. ‘Ali Ihsan was removed towards the end of February, but in March representatives of
|the Kurdish National Committee at Constantinople passed through Mosul on their way to
I Sulaimaniyah with letters urging the Kurdish tribes to ris'e against the British. The Zakho
1 disturbances were not therefore a spontaneous local growth ; they were engineered by the Turks
j through men who had the advantage of first hand local knowledge and all the backing wb : nh
could be provided by the state of ferment which existed in the Ottoman Empire.
On April 1st Major Noel left for Nisibin with the concurrence of the Commander-in-Chief of
the Egyptian Force, General Allenby, in order to ascertain the position of affairs, and from Nisibin
he went on to Diyarbakr. The gist of his reports was to the effect that there was an active
pro-Turkish party which was anti-British and supported by pan-Islamic elements, but side by
side with these irreconcilables a pan-Kurdish party, the aim of which was the complete indepen
dence of Kurdistan. The latter he described as not definitely anti-British though it was alienated
from us by the fear that we intended to pursue a vindictive policy on behalf of the Christians.
The Kurdish Club which had at first been fairly subservient to the Ottoman Government had
shown an increasingly independent spirit. “The tantalizing version of President Wilson’s
doctrine that everyone should do as they liked,” Major Noel wrote, “ has slowly dawned on
their horizon, with all its alluring possibilities, and Turco-Kurds are now convinced that if they
shout loud enough President Wilson will hear and allow them to mismanage Diyarbakr by
themselves and to continue to fatten on the Christian property that they stole during the
massacres, without even having to share the spoil with the Turks.” The Ottoman Govern
ment regarded the. Club with growing disfavour and finally decided to. liquidate it.
The events which led up to this occurrence” continued Major Noel| “are not without
interest in that they give a typical example of the marty undercurrents of intrigue which are
fiowing here and the methods to which the Turks are having recourse. When news of the
occupation of Smyrna was received, the Turks were not slow to turn it to their own uses. News
was spread of a massacre of Mohammedans by 7 Greeks, and the British were represented as
having bi ought in the Greeks. The Kurds were invite^ to apply the analogy of Smyrna to
Diyaibakr : the English would come first and occupy the town, which would be but a prelude
to the arrival of Armenian troops. All these measures had their natural effect. A good deal of
fanaticism was aroused among the common herd, and the old reactionary and corrupt townsmen,
who wet e now so-called members of the Kurdish Club and who dreaded an enquiry into their
misdeeds of 1915, hoped for another massacre which would destroy the last remaining witnesses
of theii past and would effectually confuse the issues. By this time the Christians were thoroughly
hightened. A deputation was sent off in hot haste to me at Mardin to ask for British intervention.
le Cioveinment also began to have its qualms, for its propaganda had slightly miscarried.
/ ee in ^ U tis h ave been worked up against the British, not against the Christians, while the
1 ra? PC ![ tUneneSS . ano ^ ler massa cre was fully realized. However, a neat way out of the
ar icu y suggested itself, ihe Kurdish Club was'to be made the scapegoat, which could be
TT 0n f .'Vi a Sh ° W £ j ustice ■ owing to the activities of its more corrupt and fanatical members.
Jnc ei ic guise of protecting the Christians, an inconvenient organization opposed to Turkish
sovereignty could be suppressed. Ihe Christians were accordingly told that it was the Kurds,
ms iga ec )y ie Kurdish Club, who thirsted for their blood. After their experiences of the
years ’ th fy were always ready to believe the worst, and it was only natural that they
nrnrV^ri^w*’ 1 ' 4 ! 11 V Cl ^^ ence to this new presage of disaster. From words the Government
off +i° . tee . cs ' r™ 8 were mounted on the citadel to overawe the town, the military were
on the 4tb tl J e T leade %° f Kurdish Club were arrested, and finally the Club itself was closed
June. ie Government had saved the situation—the situation of its own creation !”
imoossible co ^y* nced ^ la ^ lia til fern of Christian predominance was allayed it would be
desired o f Pt l e , !l!!en S ^ fanaticism -™' unrest. He believed that many of the
with them tirev inielit c ° vv u to the pursuit of agriculture and.given a sound policy in dealing
comparathr'elvnearehu’ f adual V eas ? to be a menace to their neighbours and develop-into a
ek steme does not ?mnb, m ' nUn ' ty ' r K must be borne in mind that their sense of national
bralmostimna sable mount SenSe ° '“‘l 0 ™ 1 Tbe h ibes are divided from each other
their chiefs are' bitterlv lent, amS c UK eac 1 on - ’ s swayed by immediate personal interest, while
of theh prindpa oroLds fT l 0f ,.° ne an ? tbe '\ They are all alike abysmally ignorant and one
of the latter would uive them t] 11 U1 j an , d ^ eatan g the Armenians is that the higher attainments
superior fighting 1 qualit^s^are^ on the"sfde’of 1 Hie < Ktirds.’ r ^ ™ cia >^ ^
to massacres^cmTied’o'ut'tw’the Kurds’af thTinstina .P rocbuTlabo n should be published with regard
together with a formal rWlarat;™ u +. “^tigatiofi or under the direct orders of the lurks,
only. Failing this he thought that a verhal'a f 1011 d ln ? lst 0,1 th e restoration of immovable property
give it, would be suKt In f, '° ,n himself ' if he might be permitted to
intentions we were allowing our adversaries to ft-’’ "i 0U .‘! s,leilc e with regard to our ultimate
harbouring future inteSs "^ 0 ^ a^ h0S,d ' 1 '' a S ai " st a " d charge us with
the power of the Allies to carrv mu ‘ -r a ^ becoming more evident, it would never be m
only our credit in Kurdistan nr nm- ° n ( ? onsidera bon they were approved. It was not
which was spreading through the conn Vv' 0 ' 1 if 1 Y )0rders which was imperilled by the agitation
renewed massacres which we shnnlrl 1 ^ ’ S i lC 1 ^ rmenians as had survived were in fear of
American missSnar7es on The s^ot P 0 Y erleSS to P^vent. and their anxiety was shared by
Smyrna by the Greeks which Ivirl f dan ^ et was greatly enhanced bv the occupation of
n is y significant thTrwfen in Hie ai,H,,n i e m? A,nT eW S jf Uation 1“ ‘he whole of the Turkish Empire,
an opinion based on personal nhc^.- f- A -” ierican Commission was sent to Asia Minor to form
that it would be impracticable to estabUshan AnnS'llate Came ‘ 0 ““
Ma j o7Noe t . he was P Tr V ec'ted f ST'M.ay Z en t b o y and ° f ‘ he ^mander-in-Chibf
announce a general amnesty on
in Mesopotamia,
the lines he had