'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎204v] (406/501)

to settle a frontier, and I will tell the conference why. First, you have to decide who
are to vote, what are to be their a^e, cjiiahtications and length of residence in the
country. A.s Ismet Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. has said, many of the people in the Vilayet of Mosul are
nomads, constantly going to and fro between tbe hills and the plains and sometimes
migrating into Persia. Which of all these people are to vote and on what giounds are
they to be selected? Secondly, you have to decide who is to keep order when the
voting takes place. In every plebiscite held since the war it has proved necessary to
have an army to keep the people quiet and prevent them from cutting each other s
throats. Where is the army to come from to keep the peace in Kurdistan ? It cannot
be Turkish or British, as those two countries are interested parties. Is there any
gentleman in this room who is willing to offer an army to go and keep the peace during
this plebiscite ? He will be a great fool if he does.
“ I can give two illustrations of what has happened in recent plebiscites with which
some of us are familiar. One of them was to take place under the Treaty of Versailles
at Teschen in connection with a dispute between the Czechs and the Poles. It gave
rise to so much agitation, rioting anti disorder that the Plebiscite Commission eventually
had to decide that it should not be held at all. then there was another and far worse
case, that of Upper Silesia. There was so much disturbance that the proceedings had
to be postponed for many months. The people who were going to vote were so
disorderly that 20,000 to 30,000 French, British and Italian troops were required in
the area to keep the peace. During the plebiscite period constant raids and murders
disfigured the country. After great difficulty the plebiscite was held, and when the
Plebiscite Commission had to report on tne result they could not agree among
themselves on the line of frontier which they should recommend. They therefore sent
the question to Paris for the Great Powers to settle. I was there myself. We too
could not agree. Thus, after one and a half years had been spent and all these lives
sacrificed and this trouble created, we had to send the question to the League of Nations.
We ended up at the point where I now wish to begin. I therefore respectfully
recommend this example of a plebiscite to the attention of Ismet Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. .
“ Let us imagine a plebiscite in Kurdistan. What would happen ? As Ismet
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. has said, the population is always moving. ' The majority of the Kurds and a
great part of the Arabs are quite illiterate. They will not know how to vote;
they have never seen a ballot box in their lives, and if they did they would probably
throw it at your head. Then again, who is going to find the troops to keep order ?
How are you to explain to the people what they are to vote about ? The Kurds would
doubtless vote for an independent Kurdistan ; the Arabs for an Arab State ; the Turks
for Turkish nationality ; and the Christians for anything which will keep them away
from the Turks. How can you define frontiers under such conditions ? The result
would be inextricable confusion, and the Great Powers would hold themselves up to
ridicule. Plebiscites are only good for a unified, not a mixed, population, and for a
single, not a confused, issue.
“ That is why a plebiscite in Kurdistan is a proposition which no one who has any
experience'of recent events can possibly support.
“ I now come to my final proposal and to the Turkish reply. I ended by suggesting
that this difficult and disputed question should be referred for examination and decision
to the League of Nations. This proposal received the warm support of my French and
Italian colleagues on behalf of their respective delegations ; it therefore came before
the commission with the full weight of Allied approval. No other delegation spoke on
the matter, but I venture to say that there is not a single representative of a single
delegation here who will not agree with M. Bompard that it is a wise, equitable and
liberal proposal. The Council of the League of Nations is a body composed to a large
extent of representatives of neutral States, detached, absolutely impartial, and
possessing great moral authority. Great Britain is ready to put her case into its
hands ; but Turkey has so little confidence in her case that she dare not submit it to
arbitration of any kind. Ismet Pasba has just rejected arbitration in general and he
therefore presumably rejects arbitration by the League of Nations. I will now tell him
what it is that he has rejected.
“ Supposing my proposal is accepted, what will happen ? Here is the Covenant of
the League describing its procedure and the action to be taken by the States which
belong to it. Only three weeks ago the Turkish delegation signified that their first
step after the conclusion of peace will be to ask to join the League. If this dispute
were referred to the League, Turkey not being a member, the first act of the League
under article 17 of the Covenant would be to invite Turkey to become a member for
the purposes of the dispute. The Council of the League would then institute an

'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎204v] (406/501)

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'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎204v] (406/501)

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