File 705/1916 Pt 2 'Arab revolt: Arab reports; Sir M Sykes' reports' [‎65r] (127/450)

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achieved (such for instance, as the matter of the Ajman, about which I will write to
you separately).
This letter lias assumed such length that I will leave discussion of the other matters
for another letter which I will send vi4 Bahrein in a few davs’ time.
As regards the general war, things are going very well indeed with the Allies in
>Burope : 'Roumania has joined us, and Greece has joined, and the Allies’ armies are
gradually closing on the enemy from all sides. Here in Iraq, owing to the great heat
and the long line of communications, no active operations have been goino- on for some
weeks, hut now the conditions are changing: the weather is getting cold, and the water
will soon rise, and our forces m Mesopotamia are much superior to the enemy But
the actual operations are conducted in accordance with the general plan prescribed in
the councils of the Allies in Europe, so that it is not in my power to sav that we are
going to advance on this date or on that date, or in this direction or in that .direction.
But this you may know, that all is going thoroughly well with us, and (incidentally)
there are signs that many of the small tribes around Nasirivah, who have been
endeavouring to annoy us in small matters at the instigation of "the Turks, have got
tired of the deceptions and false promises of emissaries like Mizhar Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , and are
inclined to ask our forgiveness and seek friendship with us.
I do not wish to trouble you more for the present, for this is sufficiently long.
Another letter will follow in a few days’ time.
May you be preserved and Salam.
APPENDIX (B).
Miscellaneous Cuttings and Notes from the Press.
Big lunnel on Bagdad Railway Pierced.
(From our Correspondent.)
Amsterdam, November 23, 1916.
A telegram from Sophia reports that the tunnel through the Taurus Range was
completed on the 15th November. This was the last big obstacle to the completion of
the Bagdad Railway.
The piercing of the Taurus Range begins at Karapunar, and proceeds through
the mountains as far as Dorak by a series of tunnels connected by heavy embankments
a distance of about 20 miles, of which about 11 miles consist of tunnels. The tunnel,
3 miles long, through the Amanus Range, farther south, was completed last year.
[The “Times,” 24th November, 1916.]
5,000 Armenians Massacred.
Petrograd, November 23, 1916.
According to despatches to the newspapers from Baku, the Turks have massacred
5,000 of the 6,000 Armenians at Sivas, in Anatolia Peninsula that forms most of modern-day Turkey. .— Reuter.
[Ibid.]
Starving Syrians: Poet asks the King of Spain to Intervene.
Paris, Saturday.
The “ Matin ” publishes a letter from the Syrian poet, Chekri Ganem, addressed
to the King of Spain, urging the King to intervene on behalf of the Syrian population.
He says :—
“ In spite of the considerable quantity of provisions available, the Syrian
population is condemned to die of hunger. Already 150,000 have succumbed.
Djemal . Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. is allowing the food supplies to rot rather than let the starving
population eat. This is an attempt at deliberate extermination of the whole
innocent population.”
Chekri Ganem adds that he is aware that there are numerous international and
diplomatic obstacles of every kind in the way of any action by His Majesty, but
believes that they are not insurmountable if the King of Spain should decide to
intervene.— Reuter.
[The “Globe,” 25th November, 1916.]