Assyrians, Kurds, and Ottomans: Intercommunal Relations on the Periphery of the Ottoman Empire By Hirmis Aboona

Assyrians, Kurds, and Ottomans: Intercommunal Relations on the Pe ...

Chapter 11:

Great Britain, the Ottomans, and the Assyrian Tragedy

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Canning considered the affair an appropriate opportunity for Great Britain to get an effective role in the region, while also using it to put pressure on the sultan’s government that would serve the interest of his own homeland.

Naturally, Canning’s conduct was a reflection of the official policy of his government, and accordingly his actions were always approved by the Foreign Office:

HMG, share in the regret expressed by your Excellency in your dispatch 69 of 1^st August…As to the attack on the Nestorian Christians near Mosul by some Kurdish tribes; and in which I convey to your Excellency the approval of your having called the attention of the Porte to the dangers by which the Christians were menaced. I have to instruct your Excellency to state to the Turkish ministers:

H.M.G. expect that the Porte will issue preceptory orders to the Pasha of Mosul to use the most energetic measures for the preservation of the Christians within his district from a repetition of like outrages, which you will point out to the Porte cannot fail to produce a most painful and unfavourable impression on all Christian Nations.¹⁴

Cunning’s efforts convinced the Porte to send a delegation of inquiry to Mosul headed by Kemal Effendi. This move coincided with the appointment of a new pasha for Mosul to succeed the deceased Mohammed Ince Beirakdar. Canning reported to Lord Aberdeen, stating,

I have availed myself of the departure of the newly appointed Pasha for Moussoul to promote the interest of the Nestorian tribes by recommending their affairs to his special attention, and engaging Rifaat Pasha to furnish him with instruction of a corresponding tenor. I have particularly urged him to exert his authority for the more complete execution of the Firmans already sent down for the recovery of the Slaves and if possible of the property destroyed or plundered in the late incursion. I have further solicited his good offices to deter Bedr Khan Bey from the design imputed to him of attacking the district inhabited by the Jacobites…in the spring.¹⁵