'Lord Curzon's Notes on Persia' [‎656v] (1314/1386)

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Boulak; when the Heshmut-ud-Dowleh reaches Souj-Boulak, or near it, then the
Itimad-es-Sultaneh’s camp will leave for Oroomiah.
Please lay this before His Majesty the Shah. If he deems other steps advisable
and expedient than those which I have stated, inform me thereof, and I will have
them carried out.
No. 62.
Mr. Goschen to Earl Granville.—(Received December 9.)
My Lord, Constantinople, November 29, 1880.
I HAVE had another long conversation with the Foreign Minister about the
events in Kurdistan. I have also called on the Persian Ambassador, in order to
compare the impressions which the communications of the Ministers here have made
upon him with those which I have myself derived from my interview with them.
His Excellency Assim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. seemed to be in possession of no precise information
of any kind ; like another member of the Ministry, who had called on me the previous
day, he said they received the most contradictory intelligence according as it came
from Van, from Tehran, or from other quarters, and he could tell me nothing as to
whether Sheikh Obeidullah was still in Persia or had returned to Turkish soil. On
the other hand, the Persian Ambassador tells me that the Sultan had informed him
of a message which he had received from the Sheikh addressed to himself, stating
that, in obedience to the orders of His Majesty, he had returned within the Turkish
frontier.
I was surprised to see to what a degree the Foreign Minister minimized the action
of Turkish Kurds in the events which have taken place. He would not admit that it
was known that any but very small bands had crossed the frontier. The part played
by Sheikh Obeidullah himself was still surrounded with obscurity; as for his sons,
they had been resident in Persian territory, and one of them, Abdul Kader, had been
invested with authority by the Persians themselves.
When I urged the necessity of punishing the Sheikh, and explained to him that
the Persians would certainly either demand his surrender or his punishment, or the
permission to seize him themselves, his Excellency replied that the Porte had many
claims against the Persians for ravages committed by Persian Kurds on Turkish villages,
and that they had on many occasions vainly demanded the punishment of offenders.
I was the more struck by his remark as the Minister*of Justice, with whom I had
conversed on the expediency, from the point of view of avoiding complications with
Persia, of dealing severely with the leaders of the invasion, had replied in exactly the
same sense by a pointed phrase to the effect that the Porte would establish « an
account current” with Persia as to such offenders, and claim the punishment of
Kurdish Chiefs, subjects of Persia, who had committed crimes on the Turkish
boundaries.
It would appear, therefore, that the Ministers have decided on following this line
of argument when a formal demand is made by Persia. I endeavoured to explain to
Assim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. how dangerous it would be, from many points of view, to object to
dealing with the case in such a manner as international law required, or to raise
collateral objections. On which his Excellency repeated, what he had told me before,
that a Commission should be appointed which would inquire into all the circumstances
and try the Sheikh.
His Excellency on this occasion took some pains to explain to me that it was
impossible to believe that the Porte could view the events which had happened in any
other light than that of regret. What possible object could the Turks have in
encouraging the Kurds, or in arming them ? He dismissed the notion that the aid of
the Kurds was necessary to them in dealing with the Armenians. The Mussulman
inhabitants, exclusive of the Kurds, were strong enough to remain masters of the
situation in the provinces inhabited by Armenians, and if they were not, the Porte
would rely on the loyalty of the Sultan’s troops. Your Lordship will observe in what
striking contrast this language is to the feeling which I have reported to your Lordship
as, according to other accounts, being prevalent in Turkish circles.
I again failed to ascertain to what extent the Porte believes in the intention of
Sheikh Obeidullah to found an independent Kurdistan. My general impression was