File 3877/1912 Pt 3 ‘Turkey in Asia: oil concessions’ [‎291r] (349/372)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.!
TURKEY.
\Wt
[April 15.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
Section 4 .
[16548]
No. 1.
Messrs. Treheme, Higgins, and Co. to Foreign Office.-
—(Received April 15.)
Sir, 7, Bloomsbury Square, London, Apidl 14, 1914.
MR. R. H. SILLEY : Oil concessions in Mesopotamia.
We are requested by Mr. A. Parker of the Foreign Office to send you a copy of
the enclosed statement which was prepared by us and revised by Mr. Parker, and which
deals with the position of His Majesty’s Government in connection with oil concessions
in Mesopotamia and of our client’s claims with regard to certain concessions.
We should, perhaps, mention that the copy enclosed is in the form in which it
was revised by Mr. Parker, and a copy has been sent out to our client, Mr. Silley,
in Constantinople.
YVe are &c
TREHERNE, HIGGINS, and Co.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Statement.
BY the convention of the 5th March, 1903, made between Zihni Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , Minister
of Public Works for the Ottoman Government, and certain gentlemen representing the
Turkish Railway of Anatolia Peninsula that forms most of modern-day Turkey. , known as the Convention of 1903, a concession for the
Bagdad Railway was granted. Article 22 of this concession provides as follows :
“ Le concessionnaire pourra exploiter les mines qu’il aura decouvertes dans une
zone de 20 kilom. de chaque cote de 1’axe de la voie, en se conformant aux lois^et
reglements y relatifs, et sans que cela constitue pour lui un privilege ou un monopole.
It is doubtful what mining rights exactly were acquired by the Bagdad Railway
under this article, but it is thought that although the Bagdad Railway did not
acquire a monopoly in the mining rights over the areas concerned, they did at any
rate acquire a very definite prior claim over a wide area. . ~
By an agreement made between the Anatolian Railway and the lurkish Govern
ment (Civil List) in 1904, known as the Convention of 1904, the railway claims to have
received a monopoly in respect of the mining rights over wide areas, including those
concerned. This claim has, however, been held in some quarters to have lapsed
Whatever mining rights were acquired under the conventions of 1903 and 1904
by the Bagdad Railway have been transferred to the Turkish Petroleum Company, in
whose favour the British Government have asked for a concession in Mosul and
Bagdad from the Turkish Government. ,
It may be confidentially stated that an agreement was come to on the
19th March 1914, arranging for the fusion of the interests of the D Arcy group and
he Turkish Petroleum Company upon certain terms which dehne the t-nctalj^er t
which the various parties concerned shall have in the Turkish Petroleum Company.
The agreement does not, however, define what mm mg rig s ,, TO ud a nulled
Company has or in what areas it is interested, but in 1905 the J ) 5‘ R L g a °7 B ?lld
to the Turkish Government for a monopoly over ‘^ od areas of Mosu^
and were given definite undertakings and promises \ vosuc p g as
the promises being confirmed to His Majesty’s Ambassador-and this g° u P “ a8 - “
beino first in the field, had ever since the diplomatic support of His Maj . > .
O
Government.
(Confidential.) Turkish Government were anxious to obtain certain
In July of ^st y^r G me „ t w ;th regard to monopolies and other
concessions from His Majesty s nrmortunitv which then presented
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[2098 p—4]
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