NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 1926. MOSUL

Northern Advocate, 11 June 1926, Page 4

NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY

FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 1926. MOSUL

Registered for transmission through the post as a newspaper.

i l! The vexed question regarding Mosul,! which has strained relations between Britain and Turkey for so long, has been satisfactorily settled. At first sight, British diplomacy ■ has been notably successful, for a general agretment has apparently been reached on all outstanding points of dispute. Chief of these wx s the fixing of the Mosul boundary. The Mosul question was left unsettled by the Treaty of Lausanne. In 1924 the League of Nations took steps to arbitrate upon it, and in December last the League Council gave a decision which was generally favourable to Britain's claims in regard to the northern frontier of Irak. A slight modification of what is known as the Brussels Line was accepted as the frontier between Turkey and Irak, the Council making j it a condition that the British man- j date over Irak should be extended. A period of six months was allowed in which the two Governments ( eon- j eerned should discuss the position and reach a decision. The announcement of the League's decision created much excitement in Turkey, where threats of high-handed action were made. The Angora Government, however, expressed a desire to enter into negotiations, and Sir Austen Chamberlain, the British Foreign Secretary, met the Turks I in a spirit of conciliation and fairness, TJje consequence is that' six months’ negotiation has terminated happily. Turkey originally claimed the town of Mosul and the whole vilayet, asking for a frontier reaching almost to j Bagdad. Britain suggested a frontier northward of the'Brussela Line. This j has been accepted. It leaves the whole of the vilayet of Mosul in the possession ; of Irak, which ensures the people ’s freedom from Turkish oppression. This will relieve Britain from : extended occupation of the country, a relief which will be warmly welcomed.