File 2764/1904 Pt 4 'Baghdad Railway: Anglo-Turkish negotiations; proposals of Turkish Govt; status of Kowait' [‎236r] (476/674)

Enclosure 3 in No. 1.
^ Memorandum.
th „ meetm , g T hic , J l: 00 ^ Pj ac f this morning it was decided that the reply to
the iurkish proposals should be drafted on the following lines '
„ USSe j lt °!' H '; S i Mf t i , eSt ?’ 1 s , G< l ver ' llnellt to the customs increase shall be given /or
a fixed pe 7 wd, subject to the following conditions :
T t e assent of al] othel ' Powers, and especially France and Russia, must be
secured to the increase.
■S h d Al‘- W Turkish company shall be formed for the line south of Bagdad ; of the
capi a o ^ is company, which shall, if possible, arrange both for the construction and
e wor mg o e Jme, 50 per cent, shall be British, and the remainder German or
uico erman. he Turks insist on separating the construction company from the
wor ing company t le above conditions shall apply to the working company, but this
would be a less desirable arrangement. . & r >
(c.) There shall be two British members on the board of the Bagdad Railway
Company. l. & j
(Butttus is a matter for us to arrange Math the company, not with Turkey.)
(a.) iheie shall be no sort of discrimination in freight rates, or other matters
aiiectmg the carriage of goods or passengers^ on any railway in Asiatic Turkey
connected with Bagdad. J
. .(f*) That the chairman of the new company shall either be British or alternately
British and German in successive years.
. .(/•) P er cent, of the capital of the new company shall always be retained in
British control, and, in order to secure this, a suitable arrangement shall be drawn up f
by the Board of Trade in consultation with the National Bank of Turkey.
(g.) The railway terminus, if on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , shall be at Koweit.
(h.) The policing of the port of Koweit, both ashore and afloat, shall be carried
out, in the interests of international trade, by the agents of the Sheikh of Koweit,
under the direction of British officers of experience.
(i.) Koweit shall in no circumstances be fortified.
(j.) The harbour of Koweit shall be constructed by British contractors, and it
shall be built on land to be leased for this purpose by the British Government, and
controlled by a separate company.
(k.) Harbour dues, on a scale to be determined, shall be arranged, and the net
proceeds of those dues shall be divided in equal portions between the sheikh and the
harbour company, which shall be British.
(?.) The territorial status quo of Koweit shall be guaranteed by Turkey and Great
Britain.
frJLu)
in a
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(m.) An arrangement shall be made for the levy, in the interests of Turkey, of
customs dues on all through traffic entering Turkey through the port of Koweit.
(n.) The administration of local affairs at Koweit shall remain, as heretofore, in the
hands of the sheikh or his successors.
(o.) The suzerainty of the Sultan of Turkey over Koweit shall be recognised, and
the limits of the sheikh’s jurisdiction defined (territorially).
(p.) The sheikh shall take out Turkish nationality certificates in the names of his
sons. (This was, I think, agreed to by the Government of India ; it would also
facilitate the matters relating to the sheikh’s Turkish date properties.)
(q.) Koweitis resident abroad shall enjoy Turkish consular protection.
(r.) No fortified base, or naval arsenal, shall ever be created on the shores of the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
(s.) The southernmost limit, in a southerly direction, of Turkish jurisdiction on the
littoral of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. is Ujeir, in the district of El Katifi The Ottoman Govern
ment shall renounce all claim to the supremacy over any point on the littoral of the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. south of that point, or to the island of Bahrein, Moharrog, Zakhnuniyeh,
or adjacent islands.
(i.) His Majesty’s Government and the Turkish Government both undertake to
recognise the territorial status quo on the littoral of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
('ll.) Bahreinis in Turkish territory shall enjoy British consular protection.
(v.) Subjects of the Trucial Chiefs, and of the Sultan of Muscat, who may be resident
in Turkey shall enjoy British consular protection.