The incident took place in April 1920 when France and Britain
started a conference one morning in a small town in Italy. The agenda of the
conference was to finalize the partition of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle
East.
Exactly 101 years ago, at the San Remo Conference on April
19-26, it was decided that Lebanon and Syria would be under French rule and
that Iraq and Palestine would be under British rule.
The division between the world's two largest colonial powers
was agreed in a secret meeting four years ago, and Russia agreed.
The agreement, known as the Sykes-Pocket, was signed by
France's Franواois Georges
Pocket and Britain's Sir Marc Sykes.
Not only the current maps of the Middle East, but many of the
problems that have arisen to this day are based on this spring.
"The consequences of what happened in San Remo were very
dramatic," said Jean-Paul Changenold, a Middle East expert and professor
of political science at the University of Sergei-Pontois. For years, France and
Britain continued to make decisions, resulting in countries that could not call
themselves countries because they were not independent.
Also read
Ottoman Empire: Sultans of three continents
The conquest of Constantinople, which Europe has never forgotten
Belfort Agreement: Demonstrations in Palestine, Ceremony in
London
Declaration that sparked the Arab-Israeli conflict
"There is no doubt that the problems we see today in
Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria are related to the events of the 1920s and
beyond."
In 2016, when the 100th anniversary of the Sykes-Picot
agreement came to an end, there was a lot of interest in the media, but the 100
years of the San Remo conference went by as if no one cared.
Perhaps it was because the Sykes-Picot deal was kept secret
and when it was leaked, it was seen as a historic event. Diplomats from both
Britain and France believed that the Middle East would be better off under a
European system.
Britain's promises
The Arab world was unaware for years that the agreement
reached between Britain and France buried the promises that the British had
made to them.
Britain had assured the Arabs that if they revolted against
the Ottoman Empire, it would end their domination and they would gain the
status of an independent country.
The Allied victory during World War I is said to have marked
a turning point in the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
According to the post-World War I plan, Syria was ruled by
France and Iraq and Palestine by British rule.
And it all happened under the auspices of the League of
Nations (an international body before the United Nations).
"Britain helped the Arab uprising against Ottoman rule
in the Middle East," said Priya Setia, a British historian and professor
at Stanford University. But during the war, Britain made many promises to
different powers.
"Britain has told the Arabs that they can rule Palestine
freely. He promised the French that he would divide some territory among
himself. And then in the Balfour Declaration, he promised to provide a homeland
for the Jews in Palestine.
He is not ready for freedom.
But at the San Remo conference, then-British Prime Minister
David Lloyd-George, former head of the French government Alexander Millerind,
then-Italian Prime Minister Francisco Nitti and Japanese Ambassador Cashiro
Matsui agreed that the Middle East should be fully independent. Not ready for
"France and Britain have already divided the Middle
East," said Professor Changenlad. The talks in San Remo focused on the
decision on the rights of the administration in these areas. There was a long
debate about Palestine and the Balfour Declaration that lasted for hours.
The Balfour Declaration was signed on November 2, 1917,
during World War I. In it, Britain promised to give Jews a home in Palestine.
Britain and France planned to divide the Levant on the basis
of religion. The Levant covers most of Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon,
Palestine and Turkey.
Lebanon was seen as a haven for Christians and Druze.
Palestine was chosen for the Jewish community. The Bekaa Valley, which borders
Lebanon and Syria, was declared a Shiite area. Syria is reserved for Sunni
Muslims.
Pencil and scale maps
When you look at a map of this region of the world, it is
very much confirmed.
Many experts agree that the borders of Middle Eastern
countries were drawn on the map with the help of pencil and scale without the
knowledge of the region.
France and Britain ignored the differences in race, community
and language of the people living in the region.
There were some differences of opinion at the San Remo
conference. There was no complete consensus between France and Britain on many
issues.
"France supported the Balfour Declaration but also
wanted to guarantee the political rights of the Palestinian people," said
Professor Jean-Paul Changenlad. The issue was hotly debated between the two
countries.
Earlier, it was feared that the British mandate would be
enforced in the US-occupied territory, but after months of diplomatic
negotiations, Britain agreed to reorganize France in the region.
Pencil and scale maps
When you look at a map of this region of the world, it is
very much confirmed.
Many experts agree that the borders of Middle Eastern
countries were drawn on the map with the help of pencil and scale without the
knowledge of the region.
France and Britain ignored the differences in race, community
and language of the people living in the region.
There were some differences of opinion at the San Remo
conference. There was no complete consensus between France and Britain on many
issues.
"France supported the Balfour Declaration but also
wanted to guarantee the political rights of the Palestinian people," said
Professor Jean-Paul Changenlad. The issue was hotly debated between the two
countries.
Earlier, it was feared that the British mandate would be
enforced in the US-occupied territory, but after months of diplomatic
negotiations, Britain agreed to reorganize France in the region.
The role of the United States
Henry Lawrence, a professor of contemporary history of the
Arab world at College de France, said: "Britain agreed to include France
in its plan because it understood that it had the resources to control the
whole of the Middle East. Are not.'
The United States withdrew from the talks after the Warsaw
Pact was approved by the Senate. The Warsaw Pact came after World War I.
The San Remo conference also discussed the issue of a
separate state for Armenia and the Kurds. The United States has refused to
issue a mandate to Armenia. The conference also discussed the fate of some
areas of the Ottoman Empire.
Four months later, in August 1920, the Treaty of Severus was
signed, in which the Ottoman rulers accepted British and French rule over the
defeated territories.
From here, the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the founding of
Turkey began, and three years later, Turkey came into being.
The Severus Agreement was formally implemented at the San
Remo Conference.
Three principles of distribution
Initially, it was planned under the Sykes-Picot agreement
that the Middle East would be divided into independent countries and the areas
controlled in Iraq would be decided.
But as early as 1919, the plan was abandoned. When it was
decided that there was only one thing left to do and that was to determine the
boundaries of the areas under their control.
At the San Remo Conference, the colonial powers laid the groundwork
for three guiding principles. Under the first principle, Palestine was linked
to the Bible.
Professor Henry Lawrence says that the second principle
adopted is that France does not want Jewish settlements in its territories.
That is why a small area between Lebanon and Syria, Gilali, was included in the
British Raj in Palestine instead of French-controlled Syria because there were
Jewish settlements there.
And last but not least, Britain wanted Palestine and Iraq
under its control.
"If we look at the map, the area from Iraq to Jordan
feels like a corridor and the Syrian border does not meet with Saudi
Arabia," said Professor Henry Lawrence.
France and Britain just drew the map
Professor Henry Lawrence says that although France and
Britain had drawn a map of the Middle East, influential people on earth have
gradually taken power.
He says: "Influential people in Jerusalem took over
Palestine, political families in Beirut took over Lebanon, and those with
influence in Damascus and Baghdad took control of Syria and Iraq."
However, this took decades.
It didn't take long for people moving from one region of the
Middle East to another to be seen as foreigners.
Professor Henry Lawrence says: "By the 1930s, a Syrian
born in Iraq was considered a foreigner. When a Palestinian refugee entered
Syria, Lebanon or Jordan in 1948, he was called a foreigner.
Another San Remo conference
Another conference in San Remo this week focused on the
distribution of oil resources in the Middle East.
It was only during World War I that it became clear how
important it was for great powers to have their own energy resources.
Henry Lawrence drew attention to the fact that once it was
decided who would dominate the territories, Britain and France began
negotiations for the "black gold" of the Middle East. done.
It was agreed that France would receive a quarter of the
Turkish Petroleum Company. The company later became the Iraq Petroleum Company.
Henry Lawrence explained that "France's share was later
reduced due to technical reasons. But it had far-reaching effects on oil mining
and sharing
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