Evening star., 1922-12-27
Lord Curzon Informs Turks
ProIongation of Near East
Conference Will Not Help.
REUTERS SAYS PARLEY
MAY BECOME ABORTIVE
Entente Delegates Ignore Protest Of
Ismet Pasha Against Hearing
Armenians' Plea.

T., 'Hc Associated Press.
LONDON, December 2,.-A Reuter- S
dispatch from Lausanne says: There
i- serious danger of the near east
conference becoming abortive il the
Turks persist in their present meth
DDS
Er the Assoc lated Press.
LAUSANNE. December 2i.-Great
Britain. through Foreign Secretary
''urzon informed Turkey today that
tho British never will abandon the
Mosul oil vilayet. as requested by the
Turkish delegation. and that no pro-
lorsation of the near east conference
can influence the British government
to recede from the position IL mas
taken on this matter.
The British position is outlined IN
letter sent by Lord Curzon to Ismet
pasha. head Of the Turkish delesa- :
tion. covering the formal reply Vi
the British delegation to the Turkish
note of Sunday last. which insisted
Mosul belonged to Turkey.
lord Curzon said in this letter that
the British government had expelled
occupied and administered 1t. the
british had taken Il pledge to free the
arabs from Turkish rule and estao :
lish the government OF lrak. ana
England since then had repeatedly
-iven her word that the Araos "ouio
not he intcrfered with.
VIII Not Recede.
Lord C'urzon added that Great
Rritain had given her solemn pledge
TO let no foreign power take any part
Of this territory and that she would
steadfastly adhere to her promise
The foreign secretary said, however.
that Great Britain was prepared to
have her experts meet the Turkish
experts 70 define the northern
boundary OF the Irak-.
The British dcIegation's formal re-
ply to the Ottoman note questions
the reliability of the statistics put
forth by the Turks to justify their
claim TO MosuL Although the Turks
uled this district for centuries they
never collected exact information, 1t
was pointed out. and no confidence
could be placed in their statistics.
The British note concludes:
The British government reiterates
It's refusal even to contemplate the
surrender of the Mosul viliayet and
IS unable to see any advantage which
"an result from further argument"
in discussing what Lord Cursor meant
hv the statement in his letter that the
British delegation was willing to have
It's experts discuss with the Turkish eX-
perts the precise tracing of the north
crn boundry of the Mosul Vilayet. a
British spokesman said this merely
meant that the British delegation stands
ready to adjust the northern boundary
to move 1t A few miles south il the
Turks SO desire. to give a more natural
and more easily defensible frontier.
Kurdish Revolt Cited.
The British reply cited numerous in
stances of Kurdish revolts against Turk
,sh rule and denied absolutely the Turk
are identical and should be treated as
one people.
Lord Curson's letter also stated that
the British were ready to grant the
Kurdish dirtricts In the Mosul Filayet
autonomy III cases where this was de-
red.
Armenia was the storm center of
the near east conference yesterday
The Turks refused to attend a meet
ing of the subcommission which had
arranged to hear the plea of the Ar
mcnianS for the establishment of a
national home in Turkey. and both
ismet Fasha and Ria Nur Bey sent
strongly worded communications to
The conference protesting against the
state their case.
They declared that if the Arme-
mans. who had no official standing
and represented no independent gov
crnment. were heard by the confer
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