The Sykes-Picot Agreement , officially known as the Asia Minor Agreement , is a 1916 secret agreement between Great Britain and France, where the Russian Empire agrees. The agreement defines a mutually agreed environment of influence and control in Southwest Asia. The agreement was based on the premise that Triple Entente would succeed in defeating the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The negotiations leading to the agreement took place between November 1915 and March 1916 and signed May 16, 1916. The deal, publicly exposed in Izvestia and Pravda on November 23, 1917 and in the UK Guardian on 26 November 1917, still mentioned when considering the area and the current conflict.
The agreement was allocated for control of the British territory which roughly comprises the coastline between the Mediterranean and Jordan, Jordan, southern Iraq, and a small additional area that includes the ports of Haifa and Acre, to allow access to the Mediterranean. France controls southeast Turkey, northern Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Russia will get Istanbul, the Turkish Strait, and Armenia. The controlling power is left free to determine the boundaries of the state in their territory. Further negotiations are expected to determine the international administration in the "brown area" (an area including Jerusalem, similar to and smaller than the Palestinian Mandate), a form to be decided upon in consultation with Russia, and then consult with the other Allied, and deputy Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca.
The agreement effectively divides the Ottoman Arab provinces outside the Arabian peninsula into British and French control and influence territories, and led later to the next partition of the Ottoman Empire after the Ottoman defeat in 1918. The Acre-Haifa zone was intended to be England's enclave in the North to allow access to the Mediterranean. Britain then controlled the brown zone and other territories in 1920 and ruled it as a compulsory Palestinian from 1923 to 1948. They also ruled the Iraqi Compulsory from 1920 to 1932, while the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon lasted from 1923 to 1946. The terms were negotiated by British diplomat Mark Sykes and a French counterpart, FranÃÆ'§ois Georges-Picot. The Tsarist government was a small party of the Sykes-Picot treaty, and when, after the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks published a treaty on November 23, 1917, "The British were embarrassed, the Arabs were anxious and the Turks were happy".
This deal is seen by many as a turning point in the relations between West and Arab. This negated the British promises to Arabs made for the national Arab homeland of the Greater Syria region, in return for supporting England against the Ottoman Empire.
Video Sykes-Picot Agreement
Motivation and Negotiation
In the previous Constantinople Agreement in 1915, after the start of a naval operation ahead of the Gallipoli Campaign, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Sazonov wrote to the French and British ambassadors and staked his claim to Constantinople and the Dardanelles Strait. In a series of five-week diplomatic exchanges, Britain and France agreed, while filing their own claims, to the sphere of increased influence in Iran in the case of Britain and to an annex of Syria (including Palestine) and Sicily to France. British and French claims are equally agreed upon, all parties also agree that the proper governance of the Holy Place should be left for completion in the future. Although this treaty is ultimately never implemented because of the Russian revolution, it applies as well as direct motivation to it at the time of the Sykes-Picot Agreement being negotiated.
The report of the Committee of De Bunsen, which was prepared to determine the wartime policy of the British against the Ottoman Empire, and submitted in June 1915, concluded that, in terms of partition or zone of influence options, there must be British influence covering Palestine. while accepting that there are relevant French and Russian interests and Islamic interests in Jerusalem and the Holy Places.
On October 21, 1915, Gray met Cambon and suggested that France appoint a representative to discuss the future border of Syria because Britain wanted to support the creation of an independent Arab state. At this point Gray is confronted with competing claims from France and from Hussein and the previous day has sent a telegram to Cairo to inform the High Commissioner as clearly as possible in his next letter to Sharif when discussing the northwest corner of Syria from the Husein region claiming and leaving McMahon with "wisdom in this case because it's urgent and there's no time to discuss the right formula", adding, "If something more precise than this is needed, you can give it away."
Mark Sykes was sent on the instructions of the War Office in early June to discuss the Committee's findings with British authorities in the Near East and the Middle East and at the same time to study the situation in place. He went to Athens, Gallipoli, Sofia, Cairo, Aden, Cairo for the second time and then to India back to Basra in September and the third time to Cairo in November (where he was assessed from McMahon-Hussein Correspondent) before returning home on December 8 and finally sent his report to the War Committee on December 16th.
The first meeting of the interdepartmental committee of England headed by Sir Arthur Nicolson with FranÃÆ'§ois Georges-Picot had taken place on November 23, 1915. Picot told Nicolson's committee that France claimed to own land from where Taurus Mts approached the ocean. in Cilicia, following the Taurus Mountains and the mountains farther east, covering Diabekr, Mosul and Kerbela, and then returning to Deir Zor in the Euphrates and from there to the south along the desert frontier, finally ending at the Egyptian border. Picot, however, added that he was prepared "to propose to the French government to throw Mosul into an Arab pool, if we do it in Baghdad case".
The second meeting of Nicolson's committee with Picot took place on 21 December 1915 where Picot said he had obtained permission to approve the cities of Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus belonging to the Arab region to be managed by the Arabs. Although France has reduced their demands to some extent, Britain also claims to include Lebanon in the future Arab State and this meeting also ends with a deadlock.
On December 28, Mark Sykes told Clayton that he was "given a Picot negotiation". On January 3, 1916, an initialed memorandum was forwarded to the Foreign Office and after being circulated for comment, an interdepartmental conference was hosted by Nicolson on 21 January. On January 16, Sykes told the overseas office that he had spoken with Picot and that he thought Paris would be able to agree. After the meeting, the final draft agreement was circulated to the cabinet on 2 February, the War Committee considered it on the 3rd and finally at the 4th meeting between Bonar's Law, Mr. Chamberlain, Lord Kitchener and others where it was decided that:
M. Picot can tell his government that acceptance of the whole project will require the resignation of considerable British interest, but provided that the cooperation of the Arabs is guaranteed, and that the Arabs meet the requirements and obtain the cities of Homs, Hama, Damascus and Aleppo, the British Government will not object to the arrangement. However, since the Blue Area extends so far eastward, and affects Russian interests, it will be crucial that, before anything is concluded, Russian approval is obtained.
Picot was informed and 5 days later Cambon told Nicolson that "the French government had complied with the proposal on Arabic questions".
Later, in February and March, Sykes and Picot acted as advisers to Sir George Buchanan and their respective French ambassadors, during negotiations with Sazonov. Finally, Russia has agreed (by price, having acquired a substantial part of Ottoman territory in the bargain, including Constantinople and the Malacca Strait) on 26 April 1916, the final requirement was sent by Paul Cambon, the French Ambassador in London, to the Secretary of State for Overseas Affairs, Edward Gray, on May 9, 1916, and ratified in Gray's answer on May 16, 1916.
Maps Sykes-Picot Agreement
Agreement in practice
Syria, Palestine, and Arab
Asquith Government (1916)
While Sykes and Picot are negotiating, the discussion runs in parallel between Cairo and Hussein (Correspondent McMahon-Hussein); Hussein's response January 1 to McMahon December 14, 1915 was accepted at the Foreign Office, McMahon's cover saying:
Satisfactory as it may be possible to record its general acceptance for the time being French-proposed relations with Arabia, its reference to the future of those relationships contains the source of the problem that would be wise not to be ignored. I have been more than once brought to the notice of Your Majesty's Government, the deep antipathy with which the Arabs regard the prospect of the French Administration of any part of the Arab region. In this case there is considerable danger to our future relationship with France, because it is difficult and even impossible although it may be possible to convince France of its guilt, if we do not attempt to do so by warning him of the true state of Arab feeling, we can hereafter be accused of inciting or encourage opposition to France, which the Arabs now threaten and will surely give.
After discussions, Gray instructed that the French were informed of the situation even though Cambon did not take the matter seriously.
Hussein's letter on February 18, 1916 attracted McMahon's attention for 50,000 pounds of gold plus weapons, ammunition and food claiming that Feisal was awaiting the arrival of "no less than 100,000 people" for the planned rebellion and McMahon's reply of March 10, 1916, affirming Britain's approval of the request and completing ten correspondence letters. In April and May, there was a discussion initiated by Sykes on the merits of the meeting to include Picot and the Arabs to bridge the desiderata of both sides. At the same time, the logistics in relation to the promised insurgency are being addressed and there is an increased level of impatience for the actions to be taken by Hussein. Finally, in late April, McMahon was informed of the terms of Sykes-Picot and he and Gray agreed that this would not be revealed to the Arabs.
The Arab rebellion was officially initiated by Hussein in Mecca on June 10, 1916 although his sons Ali and Faisal had begun operations in Medina beginning on 5 June. The time has been proposed by Hussein and, according to Cairo, "Neither he nor we were at all prepared at the beginning of June 1916, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that minimal sufficient help in material could be dredged together, to ensure early success."
Colonel Edouard BrÃÆ' Â © mond was sent to Arabia in September 1916 as head of the French military mission to Arabia. According to Cairo, Bremond intends to hold up the rebellion so that the Arabs are not likely to in any way threaten France's interests in Syria. This concern is not taken in London, the British-French cooperation is considered important and Cairo is aware of it. (Wingate was informed at the end of November that "it seems desirable to impress your subordinates the need for the most loyal cooperation with France whose Reign of His Majesty does not suspect the hidden design in Hijaz".)
As 1916 came to an end, the Asquith government, which had been under increasing pressure and criticism mainly because of its war behavior, gave way on December 6 to David Lloyd George who had been critical of the war effort and had succeeded Kitchener as Secretary of State for War after his death in June. Lloyd George wanted to destroy the Ottoman Empire as the main goal of the British war, and two days after taking office told Robertson that he wanted a great victory, preferring to capture Jerusalem, to impress British public opinion. The EEF, at the time, was in defense mode on a line on the eastern edge of the Sinai in El Arish and 15 miles from the border of the Ottoman Palestine. Lloyd George "immediately" consulted with his Cabinet of Regulations on "further campaigns to Palestine when El Arish was secured". The pressure from Lloyd George (on the objection of the Chief of the General Staff) resulted in Rafa's arrest and the arrival of British troops on the border of the Ottoman Empire.
Lloyd George's Government (1917 onwards)
Lloyd George set up a new Little War Cabinet originally composed of Lords Curzon and Milner, Bonar Law, Arthur Henderson and himself; Hankey became Secretary with Sykes, Ormsby-Gore and Amery as assistants. Although Balfour replaced Gray as Foreign Minister, his exemption from the War Cabinet and his members' activism weakened his influence over foreign policy.
France chose Picot as the French High Commissioner for the territory to be occupied soon in Syria and Palestine. Britain appointed Sykes as Chief Political Officer to the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. On April 3, 1917, Sykes met with Lloyd George, Curzon, and Hankey to receive instructions in this regard, which was to keep the French onside while pressing for an English Palestinian. Sykes first in early May and then Picot and Sykes together visited Hijaz later in May to discuss the agreement with Faisal and Hussein. Hussein was persuaded to agree on a formula stating that France would adopt a similar policy in Syria like Britain in Baghdad; because Hussein believed that Baghdad would become part of the Arab State, which ultimately made him satisfied. Later reports from participants expressed doubts about the exact nature of the discussion and the extent to which Hussein had actually been informed of the provisions of Sykes-Picot.
Italy's participation in the war, administered by the London Treaty, ultimately led to the Treaty of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in April 1917; At this conference, Lloyd George had asked questions about British protectorate in Palestine and the idea of ​​"been received very coldly" by France and Italy. The War Cabinet, reviewing this conference on April 25, "tends to the view that sooner or later the Sykes-Picot Agreement may have to be reconsidered... No action should be taken nowadays in this matter".
Among the meetings with Hussein, Sykes had told London that "The French Military's mission was faster removed from Hedjaz for the better" and then Lord Bertie was ordered to ask the same from France on the grounds that the mission was hostile to the Arab cause. and which "can not but diminish the relations and policies of the Allies in Hedjaz and may even affect the entire future of French relations with the Arabs". After the French response to this, on May 31, 1917, William Ormsby-Gore wrote:
The British government, in endorsing the letters sent to King Hussein [Sharif of Mecca] before the outbreak of Sir Henry McMahon, seems to cast doubt on whether our promise to King Hussein as head of the Arab state is consistent with France's intention to make not only Syria but Mesopotamia Over another Tunisia. If our support of King Hussein and other Arab leaders whose origin and prestige mean little it means that we are ready to recognize the full sovereign independence of Arab and Syrian Arabs. It seems that it is time to introduce the French Government with our detailed promise to King Hussein, and to clarify it to the latter whether he or anyone else will be the ruler of Damascus, which is the sole capital for the Arab State, who can order the compliance of the other Arab Emirates.
In the next sign of British dissatisfaction with Sykes-Picot, in August, Sykes wrote a "Memorandum on the Small Asian Treaty" which was tantamount to advocating another renegotiation which led him to explain to France that they "made good - that is to say that if they did not can make military efforts in accordance with their policies, they must modify their policies ". After much discussion, Sykes was directed to conclude with Picot an agreement or supplement to Sykes-Picot ("Collapse Projet") which includes "the future status of Hijaz and Arabia" and this was reached in late September. However, by the end of the year, the treaty has not been ratified by the French Government.
The Balfour Declaration along with its potential claim in Palestine at that time was issued on 2 November and England entered Jerusalem on December 9, with Allenby walking 2 days later accompanied by representatives of French and Italian detachments.
After public disclosure (1917-18)
Russian claims in the Ottoman Empire were rejected after the Bolshevik and Bolshevik Revolutions released a copy of the Sykes-Picot Agreement (as well as other agreements). They revealed the full text at Izvestia and Pravda on November 23, 1917; after that, the Manchester Guardian printed the text on November 26, 1917. This caused a huge embarrassment between the allies and the growing mistrust between them and the Arabs. The Zionists have previously confirmed details of the Agreement with the British government, earlier in April. Wilson has rejected all secret agreements made between the Allies and promotes open diplomacy and the idea of ​​self-determination. On 22 November 1917, Leon Trotsky presented a note to the ambassadors at Petrograd "which contained proposals for a ceasefire and democratic peace without annexation and no compensation, based on the principle of national independence, and their right to determine the nature of their own development ". Peaceful negotiations with the Quadruple Alliance - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey - began in Brest-Litovsk a month later. On behalf of the Quadruple Alliance, Count Czernin, replied on 25 December that "the question of the allegiance of the State of the national groups without the independence of the State" must be resolved by "every State with its people independently in a constitutional way", and that " forming an important component part of the constitutional right of society for self-determination ".
In turn, Lloyd George delivered a speech about the purpose of the war on January 5, including a reference to the right of self-determination and "governed consent" as well as secret agreements and changing circumstances concerning them. Three days later, Wilson weighed down with his Fourteen Points, the twelfth was that "the Turkish part of the Ottoman Empire should now be assured of its safe sovereignty, but other countries now under Turkish rule must be assured of undoubted safety of life and opportunities completely uninterrupted autonomous development ".
On December 23, 1917, Sykes (who had been sent to France in mid-December to see what happened with Projet Detention) and representatives of the French Foreign Ministry had delivered a public address to the Central Syrian Congress in Paris on non-Turkish elements of the Empire Ottoman, including the liberated Jerusalem. Sykes has stated that the facts achieved from the independence of the Hejaz made it almost impossible that effective and real autonomy should be rejected to Syria. However, the treatise also notes that Syrian Arabs in Egypt are unhappy with progress and there is no clearer and less ambiguous statement about the future of Syria and Mesopotamia, so the Allies and King Hedjaz will lose much Arab support..
Sykes was the author of Hogarth's Message a secret January 1918 message to Hussein after his request for an explanation of the Balfour Declaration and Bassett's Letter was a (also secret) letter dated February 8, 1918 from the British Government to Hussein after his request for an explanation of the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
The failure of the Projet bill reflected poorly on Sykes and followed from doubt about his explanation of Sykes-Picot to Hussein the previous year, undermining his credibility on Middle Eastern affairs throughout 1918. Still (at his own request, now Acting Adviser on Arabian and Palestine Affairs at the Foreign Office ) he continued his criticism of Sykes-Picot, February 16, that "the Anglo-French Agreement of 1916 in relation to Asia Minor should be submitted for review" and then on March 3, wrote to Clayton, "provisions relating to the red and blue can only be regarded as very contrary to the spirit of every ministerial speech that has been made over the past three months ".
On March 28, 1918, the first meeting of the newly formed East Committee was held, led by Curzon.
In May, Clayton told Balfour that Picot had, in response to the suggestion that the treaty was contested, "allowing sufficient revisions to be made in light of the changes that have taken place in the situation since the treaty was made", but still assumes that "the Agreement applies, by principle any".
Britain issued the Seventh Declaration on June 16, the first British statement to Arabs promoting the principle of national self-determination.
On September 30, 1918, supporters of the Arab Revolution in Damascus declared a government loyal to Sharif in Mecca. He has been declared an Arab King by a handful of religious leaders and other prominent figures in Mecca.
The Anglo-French Declaration of November 1918 promised that Britain and France would "assist in the establishment of government and indigenous governments in Syria and Mesopotamia" with "national governmental and administrative arrangements that take their authority from free practice initiative and indigenous choice". France reluctantly agreed to issue a declaration of British pressure. The minutes of the British War Cabinet meeting revealed that the British had cited the law of conquest and military occupation to avoid sharing administration with France under the civil regime. The UK stresses that the provisions of the Anglo-French declaration have replaced the Sykes-Picot Agreement to justify new negotiations over the allocation of Syrian, Mesopotamian and Palestinian territories.
George Curzon says the Great Power is still committed to the RÃÆ'¨glement Organique treaty, which concerns government and non-intervention in Maronite, Orthodox, Druze and Muslim communities concerning Vilayet Beirut in June 1861 and September 1864., and added that the rights given to France in modern Syria today and parts of Turkey under Sykes-Picot not in accordance with the agreement.
At the French embassy in London on Sunday 1 December, David Lloyd George and Clemenceau held a private meeting in which the latter surrendered the French rights to Mosul and Palestine that had been granted by the Sykes-Picot Agreement. There is a conflicting view, whether France accepts or not in return. Although Lloyd George and others claimed that nothing was given in return, according to Rutledge and others, Lloyd George promised at least one or even all of, support for the claims of France in the Ruhr, that when oil production in Mosul starts, France will receive a share and that Sykes-Picot obligations will be maintained as a Syrian greeting.
Paris Peace Conference (1919-20)
The East Committee met nine times in November and December to draw up a series of resolutions on British policy for the benefit of negotiators. On October 21, the War Cabinet asked the Smuts to prepare a peace report in summary form and he asked Erle Richards to carry out this task of producing a "P-memo" for use by delegates to the Peace Conference. The conclusions of the Eastern Committee on page 4 of the P-memo included as the objective of the Sykes-Picot annulment and supported the Arabs in their claim to a state with capital in Damascus (in line with the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence).
At the Peace Conference, officially opened on 18 January, The Big Four (originally, a "Ten Council" composed of two delegates each from England, France, the United States, Italy and Japan) agreed, on 30 January, the outline Mandate system (including three levels of Mandate) then becomes Article 22 of the League Agreement. The Big Four will decide which community, under what conditions and which one is Mandatory.
A few minutes taken during the Big Four meeting held in Paris on March 20, 1919 and attended by Woodrow Wilson, Georges Clemenceau, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando and Lloyd George and Lord Balfour, explaining the British and French views on the agreement. It was the first topic to be raised during discussions about Syria and Turkey, and shaped the focus of all the discussions thereafter.
The Anglo-French Declaration was read into the treatise, Pichon commented that it indicates the unattractive position of both governments with respect to the Arabs and Lloyd George that it is "more important than all old covenants". Pichon went on to mention the February 15 agreement scheme based on a private agreement reached between Clemenceau and Lloyd George in December. (According to Lieshout, just before Faisal made his presentation for the conference on the 6th, Clemenceau submitted a proposal to Lloyd George that seemed to cover the same subject: Lieshout after accessing related English material dated 6 while the date in the news was not sourced.)
In subsequent discussions, France staked its claim to Syria (and its mandate) while Britain attempted to carve out the Arabian territories of zone A and B on the grounds that France implicitly accepted such arrangements even though Britain had entered into arrangements with the Arabs.
Wilson intervened and emphasized the principle of consent of the governed whether it was Syria or Mesopotamia, that he thought the issues involved were world peace and not always just a matter between France and Britain. He suggested that the Inter-Allied Commission be established and sent to know the wishes of local people in the region. The discussion ended with Wilson agreeing to draft a Terms of Reference to the Commission.
On April 21, Faisal left for the East. Before he left, on 17 April Clemenceau sent a draft letter, in which the French government declared that they recognized "the right of Syria to independence in the form of an autonomous government federation in accordance with the traditions and wishes of society", and claimed that Faisal had acknowledged "that France is the Power eligible to provide assistance to Syria from the various advisers needed to introduce order and bring about the progress demanded by the Syrian population "and on April 20, Faisal assured Clemenceau that he had been" deeply impressed by the hospitality of your statements to me when I was in Paris , and should thank you for being the first to advise the sending of the Inter-allies Commission, who will soon leave the East to ensure the local will of the people for their country's future organization.I am convinced that the people of Syria will know how to show acceptance their love for you. "
Meanwhile, at the end of May, the impasse between France and Britain regarding the disposition of troops continues, France continues to press for the British replacement by French troops in Syria amid arguments about precise geographical boundaries and generally suffering relationships; after the meeting on the 21st, Lloyd George had written a letter to Clemenceau and canceled the Old Receipts Oil Treaty (a revised version approved at the end of April) claiming to know nothing about it and not wanting it. becomes a problem while Clemenceau claims that it has not been the subject of any argument.
In June 1919, the American King-Crane Commission arrived in Syria to investigate local public opinion about the country's future. After many changes, "mired in confusion and intrigue," "Lloyd George has second thoughts...", France and Britain refused to participate.
The Syrian National Congress was held in May 1919 to consider the future of the Syrian Empire and present the Arab view contained in July 2 resolution to the King-Crane Commission.
The Peace Agreement with Germany was signed on 28 June and with the departure of Wilson and Lloyd George from Paris, the result was that Turkey/Syria's problems were effectively postponed.
On September 15, the British handed Aide Memoire (which had been privately discussed two days earlier between Lloyd George and Clemenceau) where England would pull their troops to Palestine and Mesopotamia and hand over Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo to the Faisal troops. While accepting withdrawals, Clemenceau continues to insist on Sykes-Picot's agreement as the basis for all discussions.
On September 18th, Faisal arrived in London and the next day and on the 23rd had a long meeting with Lloyd George explaining Aide Memoire and the British position. Lloyd George explained that he was "in the position of a man who inherited two sets of engagements, they were to King Hussein and the people to France", Faisal noted that the arrangement "seems to be based on the 1916 treaty between England and England." Clemenceau, countered with respect to Adjutant Aide, refused to move to Syria and said that the matter must be left to France to be dealt with Faisal.
Faisal arrived in Paris on 20 October and finally on 6 January 1920 Faisal received the French mandate "for the whole of Syria", while France gave back "to the establishment of an Arab state which included Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo, and to be managed by Amir with the help French advisors "(recognized" the right of Syria to unite to govern themselves as an independent nation "). Meanwhile, British troops withdrew from Damascus on 26 November.
Fiasal returns to Damascus on January 16 and Millerand takes over from Clemenceau on the 20th. The Syria National Congress meeting in Damascus declared the Syrian independent state on March 8, 1920. The new state was intended to include parts of Syria, Palestine and northern Mesopotamia. Faisal was declared the head of state. At the same time Prince Zeid, Faisal's brother, was declared the Mesopotamian Regent.
In April 1920, the San Remo conference granted the Class A mandate on Syria to France, and Iraq and Palestine to Britain. The same conference ratified the oil treaty reached at the London conference on February 12, based on a slightly different version of the Long Berenger agreement previously initiated in London on 21 December.
France has decided to govern Syria directly, and take action to uphold the Syrian French Mandate before the terms have been accepted by the League of Nations. France issued an ultimatum and intervened militarily at the Battle of Maysalun in June 1920. They overthrew the Arab native government, and removed King Faisal from Damascus in August 1920. The British also appointed a High Commissioner and established their own mandatory regime in Palestine, first obtaining approval from the League Council of Nations, or obtaining an official cession of territory from the former sovereign, Turkey.
Iraq and the Persian Gulf
In November 1914, the British occupied Basra. According to the report of the Committee de Bunsen, British interests in Mesopotamia are defined by the need to protect the western side of India and protect commercial interests including oil. Britain also became concerned with the Berlin-Baghdad Railway. Although never ratified, Britain has also embarked on the 1913 Anglo-Ottoman Convention.
As part of the Mesopotamian Campaign, on 11 March 1917, Britain entered Baghdad, the Mudros Ceasefire was signed on October 30, 1918, although Britain continued their progress, entering Mosul on 14 November.
After the awarding of the British Mandate in Mesopotamia in San Remo, Britain was confronted with an Iraqi insurgency against Britain from July to February 1921 and a Kurdish rebellion in northern Iraq. After the Cairo conference it was decided that Faisal should be installed as a ruler in compulsory Iraq.
Kurdi
As a native, Sykes-Picot allocated a portion of Northern Kurdistan and an important part of Mosul vilayet including the city of Mosul to France in area B, Russia acquired Bitlis and Van in North Kurdistan (the Arab States in question including the Kurds in the Eastern border divided between A and B area). Bowman says there are about 2.5 million Kurds in Turkey, especially in the mountainous region called Kurdistan.
Sharif Pasha presented the "Memorandum on Claims of the Kurds" to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and the report pressed by the King-Crane Commission also recommended a form of autonomy in "the natural geographical region situated between proposed northern Armenia and Mesopotamia in the south, Euphrates and Tigris as the west border, and the Persian border as the eastern border ".
Russia handed over territorial claims after the Bolshevik revolution and at the San Remo conference, France was awarded the French Mandate of the Syrian and British Mandate of Mesopotamian England. The subsequent agreement of SÃÆ'¨vres has the potential to grant the Kurdish region subject to a referendum and sanction of the League of Nations within one year of the treaty. But the Turkish War of Independence caused the treaty to be replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne in which there was no provision for the Kurdish State.
The end result is that the Kurds, along with their Assyrian neighbors, belong to the territories of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran.
Conflicting promises and consequences
Many sources argue that Sykes-Picot was in conflict with Correspondent Hussein-McMahon 1915-1916 and that the publication of the treaty in November 1917 led to the resignation of Sir Henry McMahon. There are several points of difference, the most obvious being Iraq is placed in the red area of ​​England and less clear, the idea that the British and French advisers will control the territory designated as an Arab country. Lastly, while the correspondence does not mention Palestine, Haifa and Acre are British and the brown region (Palestine is reduced) internationalized.
By the hundred years of Sykes-Picot in 2016, great interest has been generated among media and academics about the long-term effects of the agreement. This agreement is often cited as having created an "artificial" border in the Middle East, "regardless of ethnic or sectarian characteristics, which has resulted in endless conflict." The extent to which Sykes-Picot is actually forming a modern-day Middle Eastern frontier is disputed.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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