"الملف 73/7 II (D 22) وضع الكويت - سكة حديد بغداد، والمفاوضات الأنجلو تركية" [ظ‎‎٢‎٢‎٣] (٥٤٠/٤٥٤)

(c) The terminus of the railway to be at Basrah.
(d) No railway to be continued beyond Basrah in the direction of the Persian
Gulf without prior agreement vath His Majesty's Government, and on conditions
acceptable to them.
Draft Con- (e) A convention to be signed, on the basis of the accompanying draft, for the
V (AmQx 3.) future conservancy of the Shatt-el-Arab. This convention must be read in conjunc
tion with a memorandum—which, as stated below, will shortly be communicated
to the Porte—on the subject of the frontier of Muhammerah.
(/) An undertaking that permission should be given for three British steamers
to navigate between Baghdad and Basrah in addition to the number already allowed.
(n) The respective interests of Great Britain and Turkey in the region of the
.j I* Persian Gulf.
7. His Maj esty's Government note with satisfaction that the Turkish Government
renounce their claims to Bahrain on conditions which there should be no difficulty
in accepting, but they have learnt with disappointment the attitude of the Imperial
Ottoman Government in regard to El Katr and Kuwait; nevertheless they do not
doubt that the Ottoman Government will appreciate the important sacrifice made
by His Majesty's Government in the matter of British participation in the Baghdad
Railway, and that they will meet that sacrifice by a corresponding modification of
the views set forth in the Turkish memorandum of the 15th April.
8. His Majesty's Government must, in the first instance, protest against the
contention that there is a misunderstanding with regard to the assurance given, and
repeatedly given, to Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople, to the effect
that Turkey did not entertain any intention of obtaining the supremacy over
Bahrain, Maskat, or the independent tribes on the coast of the Persian Gulf.
9. The original despatches, duly signed and dated, in which these assurances
were reported, have been carefully preserved in the archives of the Foreign Office,
and they can readily be produced for the inspection of the Turkish Embassy.
. l ®- Hls Majesty's Government maintain that prior toMidhat Pasha's expedi-
tion there were on the Arabian coast no symbols of Turkish authority, no Turkish
jurisdiction or occupation, effective or ineffective, And while they are now pre-
Annex 4. to . re cogmse Turkish sovereignty between the southernmost limits of Kuwait,
(as hereinafter defined) and Ojeir, they are unable to admit that any of the areu-
ments adduced in the Turkish memorandum in any way invalidates the statement
that south of Ojeir, m the district of El Katif, there is no trace of Turkish power ever
having been paramount; and they are fully persuaded that El Katr has never been
locally regarded as forming part of, or indeed as being subject to the influence of,
the Ottoman Empire. *
For themselves, relying no less on the obvious facts than on the Turkish assur
ances mentioned above, they have never so regarded it, and they have repeatedly
iniormed the Sublime Porte accordingly.
11 ■ H ( . is v , M , a]eSty l? G r rn T ! nent cal1 onl y reiter ate their opinion that any lasting
the 0^«n e w Wef!? ftr Powers must provide for the definite renunciation by
the Ottoman Empire of the whole of the peninsula of El Katr, including El Bidaa.
They have consistently opposed any consolidation of Turkish authority, which first
opposition a 80 reCent,y m0 ' and they are bound t0 contiaue that
12. The Turkish memorandum of the I5th April does not afford His Maiesty's
Government all the information which they consider essential to a due apmeia-
tion of the attitude of the Turkish Government respecting Kuwait. His Majesty's
fhTh orKi^r'Tfi t0 /" S T ? he con «— of the local government of the
bhaikh of Kuwait, as defined m their memorandum of the 29th July 1911 which
mcontestab y forms part of the status Further, His Majesty's Government
rTcoinke ShXhl ^T ^^l 6 ^ 0Ver Kuwait -deS to
reco D nise the Shaikh as a Turkish kaimakam, but they attach cardinal importance
60