'Kurdistan and the Kurds' [‎42v] (84/122)

82
Conference. • ‘Ali Ibsan Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. at the same time was visiting the Kurdish
chiefs to discuss the same question and was supplying them with arms,
horses and money for use against the British, whenever they should come
to occupy the country, i He also, it is said, incited the Barazi Kurds in the
region round Seruj to rise against the followers of Basrawi and massacre
them for their friendship with the British, with the result that frequent
encounters occurred between the two tribes. ‘Ali Ihsan’st relations with
the Kurds dates from before the war, when he was one of the chief insti
gators in the murder of Armenians in Bitlis and round Lake Van.
Another side of his character is shown by his behaviour in Persia, where
he used to plunder the inhabitants in order to reward his subordinate
officers. Toward the end of the same month a feeling of unrest became
noticeable among the Kurds of Diarbekr; ‘Ali Ihsan Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , assisted by the
Turkish authorities, was active in this district also; he had one of the
chiefs of the Karakechili tribe arrested and imprisoned at Diarbekr for no
other reason than that he was apparently opposed to the Turks. (Though,
in fact, he is working in favour of an independent Kurdistan, it would seem
that he only does so to embarrass the Allies ; what he really wishes is to
discourage them from taking over the control of Kurdistan, whereupon he
will do his utmost to bring it again under Turkish rule. \
Sometime in the course of January Sir Mark Sykes sent an emissary to
the Kurds in the region of Midiat and the Tur-el-‘Abdin to find out
whether they were likely to assist the British and to try to prevent them
from providing ‘Ali Ihsan Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. with supplies. ‘Ali Batti at Muzeza and
Rashid at Midiat proclaimed their adherence to the British cause and
reported that they could bring into the field about o,000 armed men ; at
the same time they refused to be coerced by the qaimmaqam of Midiat
into signing a document in favour of Kurdish independence till they had
received instructions from the British Government. Their attitude was
directly opposed to that of the surrounding tribes, with most of whom ‘Ali
Ihsan Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. had successfully tampered. Thereupon Sir Mark Sykes sent
instructions to these chiefs and to ‘Abd-ul-‘Aziz and Melki Agha, who had
joined them, to refuse all assistance to ‘Ali Ihsan Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. and to protect the
Christians in their districts. Shortly afterwards their loyalty was put to
the test and proved. ‘Ali Ihsan Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. sent to demand from them 1,000
rifles, as well as sheep and other supplies; ‘Ali Batti refused to obey, and
wrote to the qaimmaqam of Midiat to the effect that he would fall upon
the garrisons at Midiat and Sa‘our if the Turks should molest the
Christians.
I Another party appears to have come forward at the same time
to agitate for a so-called “ Turco-Kurdish Independence,” which seems to
mean that, if the Kurds are not to be embodied in the new Turkish Empire,
they must not, at any rate, come under a foreign power. \ At Diarbekr, one
‘Ali Bey was endeavouring at the end of the month to found a paper, with
f Till February, 1919, he commanded the Sixth Turkish Army.