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'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎53r] (107/501)

The record is made up of 251 folios (1 file). It was created in 15 Nov 1922-3 Nov 1923. 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. .

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3
[180 q—11 B 2
\ able I.— Population of the Vilayet of Mosul by Religions according to an
Estimate made in 1919.
Division.
Sunni.
Shiah.
Jewish.
Christian.
Other
Religions.
Total.
Mosul
Erbil
Kirkuk
Suleirnaniyah
Total ...
244,713
.96,100
85,000
153,900
17,180
5,000
7,635
4,800
1,400
1,000
50,670
4,100
600
100
30,180
1,000
350,378
106,000
92,000
155,000
579,713
22,ISO
14,835
55,470
31,180
703,378
Table IF—1
Population of the Vilayet of Mosul by Races according to an
Estimate made in 1921.
Division.
Arabs.
Kurds.
“ Turks.”
Christians.
Jews.
Total.
Mosul
Erbil
Kirkuk
Suleimaniyah
Total ...
170,663
5,100
io'ooo
179,820*
77,000
45,000
152,900 •
14,895
15,000
35,000
1,000
57,425
4,100
600
100
9,665
4,800
1,400
1,000
432,468
106,000
92,000
155.000
185,763
454,720
65,895
62,225
16,865
785,468
* Including- 30.000 Yazidis.
2. Political.
The next claim of the Turkish delegation is that the population of the Mosul
Vilayet desires to return to Turkey because of its political or historical affinities
with Turkish rule. Even if this were true of a majority of the inhabitants of the
Turkoman towns who, under Turkish rule, enjoyed a position of privilege by no
means warranted by their numbers, it cannot possibly be sustained in so far as the
Kurds, the Arabs and the non-Moslem elements of the population are concerned.
It is undeniable that the Arabs of Mosul are enthusiastic supporters of the new
Irak State and of King Feisal. The result of a plebiscite conducted throughout
Irak in 1919 gave a unanimous vote on the point that Basra, Bagdad and Mosul
should be united and form one State. Since then, on the arrival of the Emir Feisal
in the country, the Mosul Arabs showed quite unmistakably their desire to be
connected with the Arab Government at Bagdad and to be under the rulership of
King Feisal. They received the Emir with acclamation, they voted unanimously
that he should be King, they swore allegiance to him. This latter plebiscite included
the whole of the vilayet except the Kurds in the Suleimaniyah, Raniya and Rowanduz
areas, who, being a compact body of people of an entirely different race and language,
obviously required separate treatment. The Arab areas with the Kurdish districts
adjacent to them, and the Turkoman towns, all gave their votes, and with the
exception of Kirkuk all voted for inclusion in the Irak State and for the accession
of Feisal to the throne of Irak.
As to the Kurds, they are a people with a keen sense of nationality, a deep
pride in their race and language, and a desire to be as free to manage their own
affairs as their pursuit of economic progress will allow.
It is said to be the contention of the Turkish delegation that the Kurds of the
Mosul Vilayet are one with the Turks of Asia Minor in aim. Two points may be
stated in reply :—
1. It is perfectly well known to people who lived in Irak before the war that
communications between Suleimaniyah on the one side and Bagdad and
Mosul on the other were constantly cut, that Turkish officials appointed
to Suleimaniyah often waited at Mosul for months before they could
venture to set out on their journey, and that when such Turkish officials
reached their posts in Southern Kurdistan they were frequently helpless
in the face of the determination of the Kurds to brook no interference
from the distant Government of Constantinople.

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Content

Letters and papers on the frontier between Iraq (also written as Irak in the file) and Turkey, with particular reference to Mosul and questions concerning oil. The file consists mainly of correspondence between Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs George Curzon, and officials in the Foreign Office, Air Ministry, Colonial Office and Ismet Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. [Mustafa İsmet İnönü]. The contents of the file are as follows:

Following documents are undated:

  • Lord Balfour to League of Nations. Speech: The frontier between Turkish territory and the territory of Iraq
  • The President of the League of Nations. Reply: after Speech by Balfour
  • Typewritten report: The question of Mosul
  • Typewritten report: The Question of Mosul

The file also includes handwritten notes by Curzon on the Mosul vilayet and groups residing there.

Extent and format
251 folios (1 file)
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 front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 251; 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
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'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎53r] (107/501), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/294, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100130546285.0x00006c> [accessed 14 June 2026]

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