THE MOSUL QUESTION AND THE TURKISH REPUBLIC: BEFORE AND AFTER THE FRONTlER TREATY, 1926

Abstract

(The Mosul Vilayet was part of the Oltoman Empire until the end of the First World War. Following the war it was occupied by Britain and the Vilayet became the bone of contention between the Oltoman Empire and Britain. After the War of Independence, the new Turkish Republic considered Mosul one of the crucial issues determined in the National Pact. Despite constant resistance. Britain managed to bring the issue into the international arena. scaling it down to a frontier problem between Turkeyand Iraq. In the Turkish historical literature, the Mosul Question has been studied until the Frontier Treaty (1926). According to these studies, the Turkish government, in accordance with the exchange of letters annexed to the Frontier Treaty (1926), agreed to receive a fıxed clJsh settlement of 500,000 pounds, rather than calculating the amount on a ten percent basis. That is to say. the Turkish government received the 500 000 pounds and the folio of the Mosul Question was closed. But some fındings proved that this was not the case. Some fıgures in the Turkish state budgets indicate that Turkey received payments on a ten percent basis instead of the fıxed cash settlement. From 1931 to 1952 Turkey received royalty payments regularly. After 1952, two issues caused serious problems between Turkeyand Iraq; namely, the unpaid years and insuffıcient payments. In lalter period, Turkey chose to pursue a conciliatory policyand the issue was put aside for the purpose of establishing friendly relations with Iraq.)