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Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs [97r] (193/290)
The record is made up of 1 file (145 folios). It was created in 7 Jan 1919-7 Dec 1920. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
7
o
The Chairman said that if it was decided that we should
evacuate Kurdistan altogether, which was the solution which he
was inclined to favour, he thought that the Kifri-Kirkuk railway
should be suspended. If the Kurds became unfriendly, it would
always he possible to push out a garrison to Kirkuk, and, if necessary,
to lay down the branch line suggested by General Cobbe. It oil was
discovered in any large quantities in the Kurdish areas, a railway to
the oil-producing districts woidd undoubtedly have to be built, but
he did not think that it was necessary now r . We must look to the
future. Mesopotamia was likely to l)e an increasing source of
anxiety to His Majesty’s Government; the principles of self-
determination, of which so much had been heard, were likely to
gather increasing force as time went on, and w T ould certainly affect
our policy in Egypt and Mesopotamia. We had to contemplate the
possibility of a resuscitated Turkey, and it was, he thought, advisable
for us now to consider whether the provision of a little help towards
the establishment of the Kurds as an independent nation would not
repay us a hundred times over. He suggested that the
India Office
The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors.
should inform the Acting Civil Commissioner at Baghdad of the
general tenour of the discussion, and give him a final opportunity of
expressing his views.
The Conference decided—
That, subject to any further remarks which the Acting Civil
Commissioner, Baghdad, might have to offer in response
to a telegram in the sense suggested by the Chairman, it
was desirable for His Majesty’s Government to withdraw
entirely from the area inhabited by Kurds, and to stop the
construction of the Kifri-Kirkuk railway line.
(Initialled) 0. of K.
Foreign Office,
November 17, 1919.
About this item
- Content
This file is composed of papers produced by the Foreign Office's Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs. It consists entirely of printed minutes of meetings of the conference, most of which are chaired by George Curzon.
Those attending include senior representatives of the Foreign Office, the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. (most notably the Secretary of State for India), the War Office, the Admiralty, the Air Ministry, and the Treasury (including the Chancellor of the Exchequer). Other notable figures attending include Harry St John Bridger Philby and Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell.
The meetings concern British policy in the Middle East, and mainly cover the following geographical areas: Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, Trans-Caspia, Trans-Caucasia, the Caspian Sea, Palestine, Persia, Hejaz, and Afghanistan. Some of the meetings also touch on matters beyond the Middle East (e.g. wireless telegraphy in Tibet, ff 79-80).
Recurring topics of discussion include railways (chiefly in relation to Mesopotamia), Bolshevik influence in the Middle East (particularly in Persia and Trans-Caspia), and relations between King Hussein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] and Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd].
Several sets of minutes also contain related memoranda as appendices.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (145 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 145, these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs [97r] (193/290), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/275, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100070539234.0x0000c2> [accessed 13 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/275
- Title
- Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:144v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence