ملف ٣٨٧٧ لسنة ١٩١٢، الجزء ٣، "تركيا الآسيوية: الامتيازات النفطية" [و‎‎٢‎٢‎٦] (٣٧٢/٢١٧)

[This Docnment is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Governmpnt. j
TURKEY.
[June 2.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
'X
Section 2.
[24363] No. 1.
Sir L. Mallet to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received June 2.)
(No. 379.)
Sir, Constantinople, May 27, 1914.
SINCE the presentation to the Grand Vizier by my German colleague and myself
of the revised demand for the lease of the Mesopotamian oil concession to the Turkish
Petroleum Company I have twice spoken to the Grand Vizier with a view to hastening
a decision.
On the 23rd instant his Highness said that our new proposal did not help them at
all, because if they made the company the sole lessee of the Government it would
amount to a monopoly and bring upon them similar demands from other Powers,
which it was their object to avoid.
I told his Highness that there was no use in disguising the fact that the company
was asking for a monopoly which had been promised to His Majesty’s Government and
to the German Government if we could come to terms. We had come to terms, and
were asking fqr the fulfilment of this promise. The company would not be content
with anything less. If they adopted the means which we had proposed they would
have a perfectly sound argument to use to applicants for a monopoly in other provinces.
Whereas if they maintained that all operations in these provinces must be undertaken
in accordance with the mining law, and then proceeded under that law to give
practically all the fields to the company, whom nothing else would satisfy, they would
lay themselves open to claims cn the part of earlier applicants for “permis de
recherches,” which had been refused, and involve themselves in hopeless incon
sistencies, without escaping from the difficulties which they contemplated would arise
with other Powers.
I suggested that Mr. Weakley should go to the Ministry and explain the facts to
those who were studying the question, an offer which his Highness said that he would
be glad to accept when a preliminary investigation had been held.
I asked his Highness again yesterday what progress had been made, and reminded
him that he had not yet sent for Mr. Weakley. He replied that the question was still
under consideration. I said that I sincerely hoped that it would be settled before the
25th June, at which he exclaimed that it would be settled in a week.
It will be seen from the enclosed memorandum by Mr. Weakley that the Govern
ment are evidently unable to make up their minds how to proceed.
In the long run I think that they would be compelled to accept the fact and
recognise the existence of the concession, but it may yet take some argument to
convince them of this necessity.
It may be observed that a firman cannot be illegal, and as the two existing firmans
can only be cancelled by the issue of another firman this would only prove the validity
of the previous firman and strengthen our present contention.
I have, &c.
LOUIS MALLET.
Enclosure in No. .1.
Memorandum by Mr. Weakley re Civil List Firmans.
THE Council of State has been called upon by the Porte to convene a general
meeting of the Council in order to deliberate and to give a decision vith legald to
1. Whether the tenour of the two firmans which conferred the concession for
prospecting and working the oilfields found in the vilayets of Bagdad and Alosui on tne
Civit List must be respected ;
2. Or whether, in view of the vastness of the two provinces, these two firmans
lannot possibly have the force of law, and that consequently all operations concerning
°il in the two provinces must be conducted in conformity with the Alining a\i
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