"XXII\٨ سكة حديد بغداد" [و‎‎٩‎٣] (١٩٤/١٨١)

Company is of course already entitled, under the original oon-
-cession of 1903, to secure the allocation of revenues for that
tranch eventually, tut I think we should stipu_ate with Herr Kuhl—
-inann that, having regard to the exhausted financial condition of
Turkey at the inornent, the company should te content if they secure
the allocation of revenues for the main line up to Basrah, leaving [
the tranches till a later date. Otherwise there will te a sharp
divergence of opinion in the Financial Commission at ""aris.
Meanwhile, it seems important to maintain the position that
the question of securing the allocation of revenues for the railway
does not enter as a condition expressis vert is into our targain
with Germany. All that Herr Khulmann asked on the 7th May was a
sort of collateral assurance that we wou^d help then to get SKaurliq.
security for the main line to Basrah.
It seems very desiratle to tie the G-ermans down as soon as
possitle to their undertaking at out the river navigation, lest
they should whittle it away, and I venture to suggest that a Draft
Agreement should te prepared at referendum.
21st May 1913. A.P.
(Received on the loth June 1913 with Political oescretary s letter
No. 22 , dated the 30th _ay 1911).
ASIATIC TURKEY AND ARABIA (21st May)
CONFIDENTIAL Section 3.
23545.
No. 322
No. 1
Sir Edward grey to Sir F. Bertee.
Foreign Office,
21st ~~ay 1913.
Sir,
I exlained to the French and Russian Amtassadors to-day
the position at out the ^aghdad ““'ai-iway. We had made up 0 J.r minds
that nothing could prevent the railway from going to ^asrah, and
we had decided that the point for us to safeguard was that the
status quo in the Persian Gulf should not te disturted. An agree-
-ment,ad referendum, had therefore teen drawn up with a represen-
-tative of the Turkish Government, under which there were provi-
-sions at out Kuwait, Bahrain, El Katr, and so lorth, for securing
the status <£uo in the Persian Gulf, provisions at out the navi-
-gation of the Shatt-el-Arat, and a stipulation that the Baghdad
Railway