'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎139] (148/568)

ADMINISTRATION 139
Ifiil; The German aim was to secure for their representative at Con-
talltjt stantinople the position which Lord Cromer built up in Egypt, and
tfev in this they had partially succeeded when the Great War broke out.
iTimtl f^ ie Young Turks, allured by the prospect of freeing their country
. i irom all non-Turkish trammels, proceeded to abolish the Capitula-
'Httions and the rights of the non-Moslem millets, and then, despite the
x: written assurances of territorial integrity offered them by Great
tt . Britain, Russia, and France, boldly plunged into war by attacking
fwdii ^ us,, i a an d Egypt. Since the inauguration of the Young Turk
. regime in July 1908, the Ottoman Empire had, up to Maich 1916,
lost 1.005 460 square miles of directly or indirectly administered
. teiriiory in Europe, Africa, and Asia, there being some 700,000
;■ square miles (i.e. three times the size of Germany) still remaining.
l^. ji^
Turkish Administrative Divisions in Mesopotamia 1
The following table gives a list of administrative sections in the
iMjiU vilayets of Diarbekr, Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra, exclusive of
nahiyes.
Of otner vilayets the following divisions are within our area:
tiajtii Vilayet of Aleppo: sanjaq of Urfeh (kazas of Urfeh, Seruj, and
nfit Kum ; also parts of the kazas of Membij and Raqqah in the
:> iWB sanjaq of Aleppo.
dtif* Vilayet of Bitlis: sanjaq of Sairt {kazas of Sairt, Kharzan, Hazo,
- i - Ridhwan, Eiru, Berwari, Shirwan) also parts of the kazas of Bitlis
jv and Khizan in the sanjaq of Bitlis.
warf , Vilayet of Van : in the sanjaq of Hakkiari the kazas of Beit esh-
Shebab, Chal, Amadiyeh, Oramar, Shemsdinan, Gavvar, Julamerk,
- Norduz, and Mamuret el-Hamid (Bash QaTah); in the sanjaq of
,, Van the kazas of Mukus and Shattakh.
■vSBI 1 See Ma P 1- In January 1918 the Turkish Government brought before the
jUjIll Chamber a bill to create three new independent sanjaqs. The object of the
proposal was to establish an administration which should bring under effective
control the tribes (Arab, Yezidi, and Kurdish) in the regions affected.
; The three new sanjaqs are to be :
i.; f jrfcS («) Sinjar. This is to be cotnposed of the districts (kazas?) of Tel A'far, and
ujj'El-Lediban' (possibly Umrn el-Dhiban, i.e. the country west of the Tel A'far
^ , district). The head-quarters of the sanjaq are to be at Beled Sinjar.
(&) Khabur. This is to comprise the present kaza of Has el-'Ain and the
,. N jt'northern part of the kaza of Deir ez-Zor, including ' Em Mudatta' (Umm Madfa,
-jr.; south ot the Jebei 'Abdul Aziz?). The head-quarters of the saniaq are to be at
' ' Hasbay' (?).
^re ;1|t (c) Jezireh. This to consist of the districts of Shernakh and Zakho, with
the regions of Kuhkeuzan (.?) and Beit (Beit esh-Shebab ?). The head-quarters
| # of the sanjaq are to be at Jeziret-ibn-'Omar.
The law is to come into force in March 1919,