As Sykes-Picot`s centenary approached in 2016, the long-term effects of the agreement attracted a lot of media interest[109] and universities.[110] The agreement is often cited as creating “artificial” borders in the Middle East, “regardless of ethnic or sectarian characteristics that have led to endless conflicts.” [111] The extent to which Sykes-Picot actually shaped the borders of the modern Middle East is controversial. [112] [113] Hussein`s letter of February 18, 1916 called McMahon for £50,000 in gold plus weapons, ammunition, and food, stating that Feisal was waiting for the arrival of “no less than 100,000 people” for the planned revolt, and McMahon`s response of March 10, 1916 confirmed British approval of the requests and closed all ten letters of correspondence. In April and May, there were discussions initiated by Sykes on the merits of meeting Picot and the Arabs to connect the wishes of the two sides. At the same time, logistics were dealt with in relation to the promised revolt, and there was a growing degree of impatience for Hussein to take action. Eventually, McMahon was informed of Sykes-Picot`s terms in late April, and he and Grey agreed that they would not be communicated to the Arabs. [54] [55]:57-60 As a result of the Sazonov-Paleolegue agreement it contains, Russia was to receive Western Armenia alongside Constantinople and the Turkish Strait, which had already been promised in the Constantinople Agreement of 1915. [8] Italy accepted the agreement in 1917 through the Treaty of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and received Southern Anatolia. [8] The Palestinian region, with a smaller area than later Mandatory Palestine, was to fall under “international administration.” On Monday, January 3, 1916, they agreed and initialled a joint memorandum with what would become the Sykes-Picot Agreement. They had agreed on a compromise in the two main areas of divergence – they divided Vilayet Mosul on the Little Zab River into two parts, with the French taking the northern part (Mosul and Erbil) and the British the southern part (Kirkuk and Sulaimaniyya), and Palestine to be placed under an “international administration”, the form of which was to be decided after consultation with Russia. and then in consultation with other allies and representatives of the Sheriff of Mecca. [31] [25] Much will be said about the 100th century. Anniversary of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, a small event in the chaotic period surrounding the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. Sir Mark Sykes, a British diplomat, and François Georges-Picot, a French lawyer and diplomat, were tasked by their governments with drawing a map that would place the two countries in the vacuum left behind when Ottoman civilian and military forces entered the new state of Turkey.
They designated areas from the Mediterranean coast to Iran`s border, from west to east, and from the Turkish border to the Red Sea, from north to south, that would fall under British or French influence and control. They established a two-tier system: “influence” in the hinterland and “control” in large cities and productive countries. . After the Constantinople Agreement, the French turned to the British to develop their mutual wishes, and the British formed the De Bunsen Committee on 8 April 1915 to explore British options. [45] Zionism was not taken into account in the Committee`s report[46] presented in June 1915, which concluded that in the event of partition or zones of influence, there should be a British sphere of influence including Palestine, while accepting that there are relevant French and Russian and Islamic interests in Jerusalem and the Holy Places. [47] [48] The agreement effectively divided the Ottoman provinces outside the Arabian Peninsula into areas of British and French control and influence. The lands controlled by the British and French were divided by the Sykes-Picot line. [5] The agreement gave Britain control of present-day southern Israel and Palestine, Jordan and southern Iraq, as well as a small additional area that included the ports of Haifa and Acre to allow access to the Mediterranean. [6] [7] [8] France was to control southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. [8] In the chain of agreements between France, Russia and Britain, Russian claims were first approved: France confirmed its agreement on April 26 and Britain on May 23, with formal sanctions on October 23. The Anglo-French agreement was confirmed in an exchange of letters on 9 and 16 May.
[37] His foreign policy adviser Edward House was later informed of the deal by British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, who was to include his name in a statement 18 months later that would have an even more fateful impact on the region. .
