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'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎55v] (112/501)
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'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎55v] (112/501)

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'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil'
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Ref: Mss Eur F112/294

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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came to Irak long before Osman founded the Ottoman Empire, probably from those
Turkomans whom the Abbaside Caliphs hired to defend their territory. The theory
that the Turkomans are descendants of what was formerly a foreign mercenary
garrison is supported by their distribution. Tall Afar, an almost exclusively Turko
man town, stands guard 45 miles west of Mosul on the border of the Syrian desert.
Except for this town and the neighbouring Turkoman villages, and for
a few scattered Turkoman villages in the Mosul plain, the whole of
the Turkoman population is distributed along the eastern road from
Mosul to Bagdad, notably in and around the towns of Erbil, Altun Keupru, Kerkuk,
Taza Khurmatu, Tauq, Tuz KTmrmatu, Kifri and Qara Tepe. The estimates of
numbers are :—
Tall Afar and surrounding villages ... ... 10,000
Villages in the Mosul plain ... ... ... 4,895
14,895
Kirkuk and surrounding villages ... ... ... 25.000
Kifri, Taza Khurmatu, Tauq, Tuz Khurmatu and
Qara Tepe ... ... ... ... ... 10,000
35,000
Erbil and Altun Keupru ... ... ... ... 15,000
Grand total of “ Turks " (the few in the Suleimaniyah
area being omitted) ... ... ... ... 64.895
The proportion of “ Turks ” to Arabs can be shown most effectively by the
statement that the “ Turks " in the whole of the Mosul Vilayet are less numerous
than the Arabs in the town of Mosul alone.
The Kurds are estimated to be more than twice as numerous as the Arabs in the
Mosul Vilayet, and about seven times as numerous as the Turkomans. They are
separated from the Arabs by a line which follows roughlv the line of Turkoman
towns mentioned above and north of that the foothills of tne mountains. They are
believed to be descended from the Medes, who were so closely identified with the
Persians in early times; but whether this is true or not, they speak an Iranian
tongue closely allied to Persian and resemble the Persians far more closely than
either the Turks or the Arabs.
Of the non-Mahommedan populations, though in the aggregate they outnumber
the Turkomans considerably, it is not necessary to speak in great detail. The
estimates are :—
Yazidis (probably of Kurdish origin, but holding a non-
Moslem belief) ... ... ... ... 30,000
Christians (mainly Assyrians—some Nestorian, some
Catholic) ... ... ... ... ... 62,225
Jews ... ... ... ... ... ... 16,865
The main body of the Yazidis live in Jebel Sinjar, but there are many Yazidi
villages north-east of Mosul. The Christians are to be found mainly in Mosul city,
in the Erbil area, in a string of prosperous villages (of which A1 Qosh and Tall
Kaif are the largest) to the east of the Tigris, and in the Dohuk-Amadiyah country.
Most of the Jews live in Mosul city, but Jewish communities are to be found in the
Kurdish and Turkoman towns, and isolated individuals or families among the
Kurdish tribes.
The case of the Turkish delegation in so far as it is based on ethnic considera
tions comes, therefore, to this :—
They ask that there should be united with the Turks of Asia Minor a population
consisting as to one-twelfth ol Turkomans, with whom they may be admitted to have
some racial affinity; as to nearly seven-twelfths of Kurds, who have no more affinity
with the Turk, except the possession of a common religion, than have the Chinese;
as to three-twelfths of Arabs, who not only differ from the Turks in race and language,
but are connected by the strongest bonds of language, race and sympathy with the
population of Bagdad and Basra; and as to .more than one-twelfth of non-Moslem
elements, which, however much they may differ from each other, have not a single
bond—racial, linguistic, religious or cultural—with the Turks.

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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' [‎55v] (112/501), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/294, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100130546285.0x000071> [accessed 14 June 2026]

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Reference
Mss Eur F112/294
Title
'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil'
Pages
1r:28v, 28ar:28av, 29r:72v, 91r:167v, 170r:218r, 218r:251v
Author
East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
Usage terms
Open Government Licence